Author: stevendouglasblog

Born in 1954. Chequered career including Lecturer in English, Social Worker and Lecturer in Social Work. Had breaks related to mental health that also meant I worked in social care. Now retired.

‘without transformation / Men become wolves on any slight occasion’. This blog takes as its starting point, Jacob Kerr (2025) ‘The Wolf of Whindale’, London, Serpent’s Tail.

January 15, 2026

‘without transformation / Men become wolves on any slight occasion’. This blog takes as its starting point, Jacob Kerr (2025) The Wolf of Whindale, London. Is it conceivable that, asked to choose an animal you like, you would choose one you consider yourself to be like. There is no certain link or even line of … More ‘without transformation / Men become wolves on any slight occasion’. This blog takes as its starting point, Jacob Kerr (2025) ‘The Wolf of Whindale’, London, Serpent’s Tail.

‘Dog problems usually have a human component. …. Always remember to consider your role in frustrating canine scenarios’. How can I offer to teach you that which I cannot easily learn? The mutuality in the meaning of trust.

January 14, 2026

Baz came into the life of my and my husband,  Geoff, in September 2025 from Darlington Dog’s Trust. He was 10, and his history, according to his adoption form, was somewhat shaded by rare single issues of behaviour that have challenged human owners and foster-carers in the past and have made getting insurance difficult and, … More ‘Dog problems usually have a human component. …. Always remember to consider your role in frustrating canine scenarios’. How can I offer to teach you that which I cannot easily learn? The mutuality in the meaning of trust.

Here is the issue with Sir Keir Starmer. The point of a good leader is the deconstruction of the myth of the agentive forceful leader, able to actively carry forward into fulfillment all requisite tasks to meet group needs. Indeed, without this, leaders become ‘the focal point of group projections, idealized as saviors (sic.) or blamed as scapegoats’.

January 13, 2026

Wilfred Bion reading Plato, what a combination! Summarising the ideas of Wilfred Bion on group psycho-social dynamics, in his November 2024 Linked-In paper on ‘Understanding Group Dynamics Through the Lens of Wilfred Bion: A Guide for Leaders’, Rafael Chiuzi, an organisational psychologist, says that, according to Bion: …. leaders often become the focal point of … More Here is the issue with Sir Keir Starmer. The point of a good leader is the deconstruction of the myth of the agentive forceful leader, able to actively carry forward into fulfillment all requisite tasks to meet group needs. Indeed, without this, leaders become ‘the focal point of group projections, idealized as saviors (sic.) or blamed as scapegoats’.

Memories clutter but are dangerous to seek to clear out sometimes.

January 12, 2026

Source: https://observer.co.uk/culture/books/article/the-sunday-poem-burning-car-by-andrew-mcmillan I suppose even physical clutter is the residue of memories, sometimes transmuted into obsessional and repetitive images – the better if repeated with a kind of nuance that varies each token from others in its type of memory. I use the words type and token as in philosophical metaphysics, explained in the link … More Memories clutter but are dangerous to seek to clear out sometimes.

The plea for improved ‘communication styles’ still needs to take into account the fact that the ‘truth’ is not always a ‘compromise’ between ‘opinions’.

January 11, 2026

Professor Anne Rasmussen at Kings College London Professor Anne Rasmussen wrote a blog on the Kings College London website in July 2025 summarising the results of a study by herself with Tobias Heide-Jorgensen and Gregory Eady (University of Copenhagen), using AI generated models of online post types that had qualities deemed to ‘more productive’ of … More The plea for improved ‘communication styles’ still needs to take into account the fact that the ‘truth’ is not always a ‘compromise’ between ‘opinions’.

Uninventing the myth of Shakespeare: seeing the film of Maggie O’Farrell’s ‘Hamnet’.

January 9, 2026

Uninventing the myth of Shakespeare: seeing the film of Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet. There is a real issue of ontology involved in this question – for it raises the question not only of what to choose but what, being ‘uninvented’ that something might be, if indeed it could be anything at all, for to uninvent ‘it’ … More Uninventing the myth of Shakespeare: seeing the film of Maggie O’Farrell’s ‘Hamnet’.

You mostly remember the road trip you didn’t take only because the ‘other one’ is an illusion, ‘knowing how way leads on to way!’

January 8, 2026

You mostly remember the road trip you didn’t take only because the ‘other one’ is an illusion, ‘knowing how way leads on to way!’ First, let’s read the poem by Robert Frost once again! It is a well-trod road trip – by us and so many more. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry … More You mostly remember the road trip you didn’t take only because the ‘other one’ is an illusion, ‘knowing how way leads on to way!’

You can’t breathe? Let me sell you some ‘air’. You have no money. That means you have no ‘demand’ for our air supply effectively. Can I sell your relatives a funeral?

January 7, 2026

Our ideas of what might be sold at a cost that allows for profit to its investors, rather than just payment for the technicians that discover and refine it from sources, has been deeply influenced by water. Consider this blog post (full post linked here) which posits that some people already pay to breathe air, … More You can’t breathe? Let me sell you some ‘air’. You have no money. That means you have no ‘demand’ for our air supply effectively. Can I sell your relatives a funeral?

Despite the literary establishment, biography can be done differently. Reflections on James Campbell (1991) ‘Talking at the Gates: A Life of James Baldwin’.

January 6, 2026

The white literary establishment once considered itself to be colour-blind, dealing equally with all writing free of categories such as ‘Black writing’, as distinguished from ‘White writing’, neither of which this establishment considered valid categorisations of the written literary text. For a literary biographer however it may be possible to tell the story of black … More Despite the literary establishment, biography can be done differently. Reflections on James Campbell (1991) ‘Talking at the Gates: A Life of James Baldwin’.

‘He’d now the power he ever loved to show, / A feeling being subject to his blow.’ In 1810, a long time ago, a rhyming vicar, George Crabbe, could trace the origins of domestic abuse to the leeway given to men to ‘assert the man’ by the exercise of power and control. Why is it possible to see no end of this leeway in the future?

January 5, 2026

‘He’d now the power he ever loved to show, / A feeling being subject to his blow.’ In 1810, a long time ago, a rhyming vicar, could trace the origins of domestic abuse to the leeway given to men to ‘assert the man’ by the exercise of power and control. Why is it possible to … More ‘He’d now the power he ever loved to show, / A feeling being subject to his blow.’ In 1810, a long time ago, a rhyming vicar, George Crabbe, could trace the origins of domestic abuse to the leeway given to men to ‘assert the man’ by the exercise of power and control. Why is it possible to see no end of this leeway in the future?

They call it life – that item I did love, …

January 4, 2026

They call it life – that item I did love,Youth coloured it; age has made it blanche.Has life so lightly flown, some height aboveMy head, some dove alighted on a branchWhere olives bring it peace, but no return To me, its long absence soon urged I learn.”Life’s not an item’ lad”, my father’s ghostDid sing, … More They call it life – that item I did love, …

‘If it be now, ’tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all.’ Hamlet defines the time to designate ‘playtime’.

January 2, 2026

An man ready to play It always amazes how often one can turn to Shakespeare’s Hamlet for assistance in interpreting a WordPress prompt question. Play is a word used as a verb and a related noun and is used so in this question, with the links well established between noun and verb for Hamlet too … More ‘If it be now, ’tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all.’ Hamlet defines the time to designate ‘playtime’.