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.

The National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh (2018 exhibition): ‘Rembrandt: Britain’s Rediscovery of the Master’ (reissue)

January 30, 2024

Sunday, 12 Aug 2018, 19:47 Visible to anyone in the world Edited by Steve Bamlett, Sunday, 12 Aug 2018, 19:49 The National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh (exhibition): Rembrandt: Britain’s Rediscovery of the Master The reviews of this exhibition sometimes play the ‘great master’ game: The Guardian’s reviewer says of the use of Glenn Brown, in … More The National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh (2018 exhibition): ‘Rembrandt: Britain’s Rediscovery of the Master’ (reissue)

A blog on finding a second-hand copy of his ‘Tell Me the truth About Love: Fifteen poems by W.H Auden’.

January 29, 2024

W.H. Auden, in his poem O Tell Me the truth About Love, mentions amongst his many happenstance encounters with people who claim to know, or ‘looked as if ‘ they ‘knew’ about it, and the passing written references in history to times when it appears it did not pass without effect:  “…. ; / I’ve … More A blog on finding a second-hand copy of his ‘Tell Me the truth About Love: Fifteen poems by W.H Auden’.

Leadership must be the object of reflection, I think, not just based on the assumption that leaders are needed.

January 28, 2024

The study of leadership rather than an obsession with it is a vital task. It is the latter which produces what we too often call ‘leaders’ in contemporary life, who are, in brief, people who abuse relative power over others in order to assert a line of action whose success they alone are allowed to … More Leadership must be the object of reflection, I think, not just based on the assumption that leaders are needed.

‘… If / I have the time to work / Before ending up stiff / In death, I hope I shirk / Dreams. ….’ A doggerel verse for a dogged time and a worse prompt! LOL.

January 27, 2024

What’s your dream job? A dream job? If your job is a dreamThen dream on in silentAssurance that to seemIs enough. ViolentSounds raise the alarumThat bruits wretched war,Dispatch to a haremA child, in fear of lawThat favours the powerful:The privileged man,Who knows not how hurtfulHands that go where they canGet access are. To rapeRemains the … More ‘… If / I have the time to work / Before ending up stiff / In death, I hope I shirk / Dreams. ….’ A doggerel verse for a dogged time and a worse prompt! LOL.

‘Weave a circle round him thrice’: is ‘Steven’ a name which strains for significance rather than having it.

January 26, 2024

Write about your first name: its meaning, significance, etymology, etc. An unlikely avatar: Steven Universe, a character by Rebecca Sugar This is a blog I have resisted because all of the common stories of my name’s origin seem rather strained versions of a thing that is rather common and unremarkable, if ubiquitous. And then there … More ‘Weave a circle round him thrice’: is ‘Steven’ a name which strains for significance rather than having it.

Queerness, allusion, metaphor and metamorphosis in Seán Hewitt (2024) ‘Rapture’s Road’.

January 25, 2024

‘beyond the light of memory / behind your life / there might be / other lives, waiting – ‘, ‘… I could have spent / a thousand lives changing myself,’. Queerness, allusion, metaphor and metamorphosis in Seán Hewitt (2024) Rapture’s Road London, Cape Poetry. I have waited a long time for the publication of this … More Queerness, allusion, metaphor and metamorphosis in Seán Hewitt (2024) ‘Rapture’s Road’.

“Pairing paintings might create a “dialogue”, but who decides what these strange bedfellows are saying to each other?” This blog reflects on Aimee Ng, Xavier F. Salomon & Stephen Truax (Eds.) [2023] ‘Living Histories: Queer Views and Old Masters’

January 23, 2024

From September 2021 to September2022, the Frick Museum in New York decided to place each of 4 classic paintings from its collection one by one ‘in conversation’ with a newly commissioned artwork from painters who are currently working and who identify their work as from a queer orientation to the world. Reviewing the publication based … More “Pairing paintings might create a “dialogue”, but who decides what these strange bedfellows are saying to each other?” This blog reflects on Aimee Ng, Xavier F. Salomon & Stephen Truax (Eds.) [2023] ‘Living Histories: Queer Views and Old Masters’

To trust she is safe with us and will always be loved. To Daisy.

January 22, 2024

If you could make your pet understand one thing, what would it be? We have lived with Daisy, our Staffie, since we bought her from a rescue centre about eight years ago. Yet, although she clearly loves being with us and can be deeply happy, rolling in the grass when she enjoys her walks, she … More To trust she is safe with us and will always be loved. To Daisy.

“… / And Time a MANIAC scattering Dust”: Uninventing ‘Artificial Intelligence (AI)’: What it feels like to read true ‘science fiction’: Benjamín Labatut (2023) ‘The MANIAC’.

January 21, 2024

If you could un-invent something, what would it be? Un-invention is, like invention, a means of realising through thought and work some solution or respite, pragmatic, and perhaps temporary, though it may be, to ones currently unmet desires or the dread of anticipated fears. We un-invent in order to pretend something never existed: the ending … More “… / And Time a MANIAC scattering Dust”: Uninventing ‘Artificial Intelligence (AI)’: What it feels like to read true ‘science fiction’: Benjamín Labatut (2023) ‘The MANIAC’.

‘There ain’t no answer. … That’s the answer’.

January 20, 2024

My photograph of page 12-13 Jean E. Mills (2024) ‘Gertrude Stein’ in Richard Scneider Jr. (ed.) ‘Outer Appearances: More Faces from the Annals of the G&LR’ (a retrospective on the art of Charles Hefling),  Illustrated by Charles Hefling. Pages 32f., Like most people who do it, I communicate too much online. Some who do it pretend … More ‘There ain’t no answer. … That’s the answer’.

Book into Film: Alasdair Gray’s (1992) ‘Poor Things’, a film & book. Reflections (3): Truth, lies and ‘Poor Things’.

January 19, 2024

Book into Film: Alasdair Gray’s (1992) Poor Things: Episodes from the Early Life of Archibald McCandless M.D., Scottish Public Health Officer Edited by Alasdair Gray  and Poor Things, a film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos with screenplay by Tony McNamara (The Favourite). A series of reflections on seeing the film on 15th January 2024 at the … More Book into Film: Alasdair Gray’s (1992) ‘Poor Things’, a film & book. Reflections (3): Truth, lies and ‘Poor Things’.