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.

An Atlantic of a difference in ‘How I Practise as a person following a religion’ or ‘Practicing religion’. And then my answer!

May 22, 2024

“Strictly speaking,” said Mr. Strict DyasDust, who spent his life correcting others, “this question is nonsense because it uses the word ‘practice’ as a verb whereas it is only a noun. Ask me, if I practise religion, or do not ask at all”. In the UK there probably are people who still care about the … More An Atlantic of a difference in ‘How I Practise as a person following a religion’ or ‘Practicing religion’. And then my answer!

Reflection on sex/gender in painting before seeing ‘Discovering Degas’ at the Glasgow Burrell Collection.

May 21, 2024

Degas in 1859, as a young artist scoping and sketching the European art on a Continental grand tour, said that: ‘Nobody ever rendered the charm and finesse of woman, the elegance and chivalry of man, nor the distinction between the two, like Van Dyck’.[1] He also, in 1891, according to Daniel Halévy, said in response … More Reflection on sex/gender in painting before seeing ‘Discovering Degas’ at the Glasgow Burrell Collection.

When I am cold / the world feels  old/ My heart’s in hiding!/ The train buffered at a siding.

May 20, 2024

How do you feel about cold weather? Snow, snow, snowis how the snow speaks,Is how the page reads. Snow, from Simon Armitage’s (2020) Magnetic Field: The Marsden Poems  London, Faber & Faber. It must be different reading Simon Armitage’s poem Snow outside on Pule Hill near Mardsen in Yorkshire, inscribed in stone, than in a book. And maybe even … More When I am cold / the world feels  old/ My heart’s in hiding!/ The train buffered at a siding.

X’d. From communication to controlling others in one social media application, once called Twitter. It did not need to be thus.

May 19, 2024

Of course, having been born in 1954 and schooled in the sixties, I remember that time. My first computer was an early Amstrad bought in the 1990s. Even in the 1970s, I was subnitting essays at UCL in my own handwriting and using real books in real libraries. We now call that using hard copies. That fact … More X’d. From communication to controlling others in one social media application, once called Twitter. It did not need to be thus.

James and John, due to be executed for ‘sodomy’, were visited by Charles Dickens. This is a blog on Chris Bryant (2024) ‘James and John: A True Story of Prejudice and Murder’.

May 18, 2024

James and John, due to be executed for ‘sodomy’, were visited by Charles Dickens and the editor of the Monthly Magazine for which he wrote under the pen-name, Boz. He wrote in his coverage of that visit of the look of men who ‘had nothing to expect from the mercy of the crown’ and who … More James and John, due to be executed for ‘sodomy’, were visited by Charles Dickens. This is a blog on Chris Bryant (2024) ‘James and John: A True Story of Prejudice and Murder’.

Consider legacy: the case of Jack Hilton’s ‘Caliban Shrieks’ (1935)

May 17, 2024

‘CALIBAN IS A MAN YOU SHOULD KNOW WELL. … He holds opinions about his rights; such foolishness he should overcome’.[1] This is a blog on Jack Hilton (with introductions  by Andrew McMillan & Jack Chadwick) [2024, but first published in 1935) Caliban Shrieks, Vintage Classics. Did Jack Hilton leave a legacy? If so, how should … More Consider legacy: the case of Jack Hilton’s ‘Caliban Shrieks’ (1935)

You could never know what doing a job is like by doing it for one day. Reflecting on ‘The Last Cage Down’, an exhibition of the survival of miner’s memories with the help Of Andrew McMillan’s ‘Pity’.

May 16, 2024

What’s a job you would like to do for just one day? You could never know what doing a job is like by doing it for one day. Reflecting on ‘The Last Cage Down’, an exhibition of the survival of miner’s memories with the help Of Andrew McMillan’s Pity. This blog comes from many other prompts … More You could never know what doing a job is like by doing it for one day. Reflecting on ‘The Last Cage Down’, an exhibition of the survival of miner’s memories with the help Of Andrew McMillan’s ‘Pity’.

‘At fifty-two, he knew himself to be a traitor to the class of his youth and a freak to his own moral understanding’. This blog reflects on Andrew O’Hagan (2024) ‘Caledonian Road’.

May 15, 2024

‘At fifty-two, he knew himself to be a traitor to the class of his youth and a freak to his own moral understanding’.[1]When a literary intelligentsia loses faith in its own social purpose and integrity, the fate of the ‘state-of-the-nation’ novel is to betray the backward-looking values of the perspectives that attempt both  to assess … More ‘At fifty-two, he knew himself to be a traitor to the class of his youth and a freak to his own moral understanding’. This blog reflects on Andrew O’Hagan (2024) ‘Caledonian Road’.

You can’t escape the history of words, so my top favourite fruits are all wonderful queer men.

May 14, 2024

List your top 5 favorite fruits. To imagine a quintet of beautiful guys playing strings, you only have to look at the string quartet, Well Strung, and place amongst them the best person to interview them. Let’s go for Andrew Scott for only the intelligence of a great actor might do to bring out the … More You can’t escape the history of words, so my top favourite fruits are all wonderful queer men.

The evolution of types: Men in focus. A photo-essay.

May 13, 2024

As he contemplated marriage, he wondered how he ended up like this. After all, he rather fancied the padre. Tennyson dreamed of a classical torso somewhat fragmented, Dickens just dreamed. Hanif Kureishi was just glad he was neither a soldier or a lawyer. Shakespeare dreamed of a Longshanks as if he too were part of … More The evolution of types: Men in focus. A photo-essay.

Minor Autopoesis: learning a lesson from ‘Doctor Who’.

May 12, 2024

Minor Autopoesis: learning a lesson from Doctor Who. Autopoesis is a jargon term created from two Greek words to mean ‘self-making from within’. The Greek words are, as cited in Wikipedia, the words, αὐτo- (auto-) ‘self’, and ποίησις (poiesis) ‘creation, production’). For a time,  in art and literary criticism (in the 1990s) there was a … More Minor Autopoesis: learning a lesson from ‘Doctor Who’.