If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? Daily prompt? I have seen this question come and go and shuddered at the assumptions that I feared were its motives. Today, I want to confront it, in the light of my visceral response to it, for the world is too much with … More ‘Eyeless in Gaza, at the mill with slaves’: The dream of a permanent home or the choice of a luxury setting?

Who is the most famous or infamous person you have ever met? Daily prompt Emily Dickinson is quite ‘somebody’ nowadays. I haven’t met her though I read her work frequently and THAT IS A KIND OF MEETING. I think it is unlikely that you, dear Reader (surely there’s one of you! La!) have met her … More “I’m nobody! Who are you? / Are you nobody, too?”

What was your favorite subject in school? I take my title from Henry James’ What Maisie Knew, a wondrous novel in which a little girl (Maisie of course) is exposed to the hidden facts of illicit adult sexual liaisons and the secret knowledge about adult life they normatively occult from children in the interests of … More Life is ‘a pathway literally strewn with “subjects”. … It must do us good – it’s all so hideous,” …

Do you need time? In the 1970s we crooned about wanting ‘a little more time’ all the time to try and rectify we things we did too hastily or other things we did without  thinking out the consequences. One that sticks in my mind is a group of nattily and glittery dressed not-so-young men called … More ‘Give me just a little more time’, before you go. As go you must!

What will your life be like in three years? Man Proposes, God Disposes depicts an imagined Arctic scene in the aftermath of  Sir John Franklin‘s expedition in 1845 to explore the Northwest Passage but lost in the process. It is by Edwin Landseer – 1864 painting, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9065315 Edwin Landseer’s Man Proposes, God disposes of 1864 is supposedly a lesson … More To propose is not to dispose

Invent a holiday! Explain how and why everyone should celebrate. This is a question that seems asked over and over again so why not start responding by referring to an old blog on what holidays mean to the retired and ruminant. A celebrant of the holy days of retirement. Some thoughts about the fate of … More ‘Love Choice Day’ 28th January

What are your favorite websites? Today’s is not a question that I immediately relate to for I use the web as a tool and rarely ‘favour’ a particular site, except when it meets a need in my learning, leisure and, in the case of social media, pleasant (and sadly unpleasant) aspects of my personality. I … More Do I have a favourite website?

Is there an age or year of your life you would re-live? I would relive the moment of the death Of your frail ‘love’. The month, the day, the minute of that breath Obscuring now the hours since you lifted The latch above The door guarding space wherein was sifted Hard memories from the daily … More Sad but not destroyed, I am not that keen on reliving that time. But there ya go …. !