LAM on the Farm
Don’t know about you lot, but I’ve had this song on the brain most of the week, ever since the news came though that LAM is coming back, at least for one day. It’s been a long, strange few months, … Continued
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Have mask, will definitely travel.
There seems to be a steadily-increasing amount of evidence to the effect that face-coverings reduce the spread of the plague. A combination of mask-wearing, hand-washing and staying outdoors – or at least in very well-ventilated spaces – looks likely to … Continued
Iconoclasm Isn’t Everything
There’s a possibility that, here and there, throughout the UK, there are various mid-level council workers frantically Googling for something other than porn and how to cheat at Minecraft. They are the ones who’ve been assigned a Statue Hunt. … Continued
#BlackLivesMatter: Armchair activism that works
And no, FFS, no, this is not a suggestion that you put a black square on your social media and stop posting for a week. I know some people did that with kind thoughts and good intentions but FFS NO! … Continued
Pet Names and Honorifics: What Do You Call Theirs?
(I just can’t face any more of my own political ranting, so if you’re looking for something else to think about or write about…) There are several terms of address within BDSM circles which have tremendous resonance, both for the … Continued
A Paean to Pubs
(I’m a writer, I’m allowed to use Big Words). Pubs will be one of the last things we get back, perhaps unsurprisingly – they are, after all, enclosed spaces where people mingle, and you can’t really sink a pint with … Continued
Writing, Ranting and Rage as the Days Go By
There are five or six unfinished rage-drenched blog posts sitting on the laptop right now. Some are just too incoherently furious to publish, others are about what was awful last week but has been diminished by the horrors of this … Continued
Lockdown Life: Learning to Vlog
It’s fairly crap, I know. (Whether I’m referring to the lockdown or my initial attempts at vlogging, I will leave up to you to decide.) But I promise no pious platitudes or fingerwagging: we all get through this as we … Continued
Thoughts on St George’s Day 2020
St George’s Day is a day I like to celebrate. To me, enjoying it, making it a party at which everyone is welcome, takes it away from deluded flag-shagging wingnuts (not least because the historical figure most likely to have … Continued
Names Have Power, Remember
The idea that names have power is one of those cross-cultural concepts that we are all aware of, on some level. It’s still the case that many celebrities – and aspiring celebrities – rename themselves at some point, though it’s … Continued