It will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that I am, in fact, “not from round here”. Like countless millions before me, of all races, creeds and colors, I moved to the United States of America in pursuit of a better, happier life. I moved to escape lingering shadows, holding me back with guilt and false loyalty and inhibiting every attempt to better myself. It would be a new beginning; pressing the reset button on a life going nowhere…. Read more »
Generally speaking, I do not get very personal in my blog posts. I tend towards breezy intimation rather than Freudian analysis with regards to my early life. Being British means never having to talk about “feelings,” or other embarrassingly messy things. We arm ourselves with sarcasm and alcohol to deflect horrifying “touchy-feely” confessions. This Mother’s Day, however, I thought that I would toss aside my scratchy English bonnet for my jaunty US citizen’s baseball cap, and reminisce a little about my mother… Read more »
“Time, time, hear the bells chime Over the harbor and the city Time, one more vodka and lime To help paralyze that tiny little tick, tick, tick, tick” Time the Avenger – The Pretenders 1984 So it happened again last week – another musical icon from my youth passed away. This time it was The Purple One – the genius that was Prince. I remember seeing Prince’s movie, “Purple Rain” at Film Society night in college, with everyone in the audience singing along to… Read more »
It is one of the joys of my life that both of my daughters love to read. At ages 10 and 7, they have progressed from board books to picture books to chapter books; from “Goodnight Moon” to “Green Eggs and Ham” to “Harry Potter”. I was a voracious reader as a child. My mom taught me to read before I went to school and I never looked back. Many an hour was spent curled up in a chair, absorbed… Read more »
Recently, I joined an online writer’s group offering the challenge to write 500 words a day for 31 days. Each day, you receive an email with a topic, theme, inspiration or suggestion for you to base your day’s writing on. Members join together on the group’s Facebook page to empathize, support and generally encourage one another – I’m finding it to be very helpful. Day 7’s challenge was to offer guidance to your younger self about life and lessons you have learned from it. I… Read more »
