Tag: dailyprompt

‘Hector’s Mission Statement’: a parable for a world that never thinks and feels at the same time.

January 10, 2024

What is your mission? Each day he used the same route to work and each evening the same route in reverse back to his home. Each evening, he sat exhausted in front of the TV, and registered very little from its surface. One day, his employer decided that the business needed revamping, and found a … More ‘Hector’s Mission Statement’: a parable for a world that never thinks and feels at the same time.

Do I really ‘want’ to read more books by Naguib Mahfouz? The psycho-cultural limitations in creating and destroying the  desire to read & the ‘vital necessity’ of reading.

January 6, 2024

Do I really ‘want’ to read more books by Naguib Mahfouz? The psycho-cultural limitations in creating and destroying the  desire to read & the ‘vital necessity’ of reading. Prompted by his 1975 novella Heart of the Night (trans Aida A. Bamia, 2011, The American University in Cairo Press). Naguib Mahfouz (2016). “Sugar Street: The Cairo … More Do I really ‘want’ to read more books by Naguib Mahfouz? The psycho-cultural limitations in creating and destroying the  desire to read & the ‘vital necessity’ of reading.

The fallacy of ‘allow not nature more than nature needs’. The danger of reductionism and a blunt Occam’s razor.

January 4, 2024

Rhetorical questions are those which ask you to assume a lot of meaning before you answer them. ‘Where can you reduce clutter in your life?’ First of all I must assume I accept a common definition of clutter. Yet there is no definition of this word that is culture-free and value-free. It assumes notions of … More The fallacy of ‘allow not nature more than nature needs’. The danger of reductionism and a blunt Occam’s razor.

Men in Lycra (to play Sports of course), it’s time to forget your ‘Macho’: Let ‘The Shiny Shrimps’ Ride Again (in rainbow colours)!

January 3, 2024

If you started a sports team, what would the colors and mascot be? Sports have never been my thing, and to be frank I don’t think, but can’t be sure, that this has anything to do with what people used to see as a masculinity compromised by me being queer. As a student in London … More Men in Lycra (to play Sports of course), it’s time to forget your ‘Macho’: Let ‘The Shiny Shrimps’ Ride Again (in rainbow colours)!

A very long life? ‘Tis ‘A white-hair’d shadow roaming like a dream / The ever-silent spaces of the East’

December 30, 2023

Okay, said young Tithonus, to the goddess of the Dawn, as she senses that this boy has prominent qualities that make him worth the effort of capture – ‘but as long as I can live forever’ he says. At which the Goddess possibly smiled. Humans never work their wishes through do they? Tennyson says it … More A very long life? ‘Tis ‘A white-hair’d shadow roaming like a dream / The ever-silent spaces of the East’

A bibliophile talks to himself almost all the time! Even when shopping 🛍️

December 29, 2023

List your top 5 grocery store items. Go to town today and buy a good book But whilst you are there, why not take a look At the market, you could draw up a list Of groceries needed, items you missed When last you dashed round Aldi, at least five Come to my mind straight … More A bibliophile talks to himself almost all the time! Even when shopping 🛍️

How have your political views changed over time? This question demands a story or two in answer?Forever RED in the UK or Just Nostalgic for a RED past?

December 26, 2023

I recently  blogged on the work of the brilliant Matt Colquhoun as it touches upon and works with the thought of his no less brilliant deceased mentor, Mark Fisher (see it as this link). I summarised the view they both promote and which Matt is consciously developing apace now, that the left of UK politics: … More How have your political views changed over time? This question demands a story or two in answer?Forever RED in the UK or Just Nostalgic for a RED past?

The skills and lessons that assist us are usually old ones we later ‘learn’ to disregard or fail to respect: recently, via a blog I am preparing about the artistry of Maurice Sendak, I have begun to relearn the value of reading looks using, let’s call it, ‘primal vision’.

December 23, 2023

What skills or lessons have you learned recently? When I taught literature at the Roehampton Institute, I once composed a lecture on Jane Austen’s Persuasion, my favourite of her novels, about the agency of ‘looks’ in that story. It matters because it is a novel of total concern with both how you look (the vanity … More The skills and lessons that assist us are usually old ones we later ‘learn’ to disregard or fail to respect: recently, via a blog I am preparing about the artistry of Maurice Sendak, I have begun to relearn the value of reading looks using, let’s call it, ‘primal vision’.

Wake me up when it’s yesterday. Nostalgia revisited because tomorrow should not WAIT.

December 22, 2023

Below is a starter on our nostalgia trip. This is a brilliant photo-collage showing triggers to possible nostalgia and I suppose it is things like these pictures or the objects in them that this question looks for us to name – and what is amazing is that they all, as photographs at least, sort of … More Wake me up when it’s yesterday. Nostalgia revisited because tomorrow should not WAIT.