A linguistic overview of the university In 1997, I abandoned a PhD in mathematics, which I had begun in 1993. It had started to go seriously wrong in 1996, if not earlier, but I persisted for a ridiculously long time with the illusion that I could still finish. I was completely unaware at the time… Continue reading To PhD or not to PhD?
unixpost (infix numeral edition)
Still in the land of unposts. Life at the moment is too chaotic for me to bring you sense or structure. Bear with me, or go and read something interesting by someone else. Life is short. I won’t hold it against you. Poetry competition! Write me a poem that includes rhyming lines ending in Pilates… Continue reading unixpost (infix numeral edition)
The eighth (8th) unpost
I’m back, after a bit of a hiatus. I know it’s just another unpost, but February 2019 was my first whole calendar month without a single post since I began my blog. Yikes! (Isn’t ‘eighth’ a weirdly spelt word, by the way?) My last (un)post was the first written on my new laptop, and this… Continue reading The eighth (8th) unpost
unpost vii no colon in title
I’m back – I have a new laptop now. Woohoo! If you’re on Twitter, you might be aware that my old one died at the end of 2018, leaving me unable to write my blog in comfort – yes, I could have used my iPad, especially for an unpost, but it just felt like more… Continue reading unpost vii no colon in title
Unpost 6: extended café remix
I’m feeling quite drained of energy and whatever that other stuff is that goes with energy. I managed to drag myself out of the flat for a late lunch of a bowl of soup at my usual café, having bidden farewell this morning to a friend of my ex’s who has stayed in our flat… Continue reading Unpost 6: extended café remix
Unpost in a gap
First of all, my NaNoWriMo (national novel-writing month)-inspired story is suffering a brief hiatus, for which I apologise. I find it difficult to write a chapter (or any other blog post) without devoting an unbroken chunk of time to it. When there are other demands on my time and what’s left is too fragmented, my… Continue reading Unpost in a gap
Chapter 7|Seven across
| Back to Chapter 6 | Back to the beginning It’s starting to get dark. The sun is just setting behind the straggly line of houses on the edge of town. A wonder of nature unfolds above them as a vast murmuration of starlings begins to swoop and swirl, moving as one in a mesmerising… Continue reading Chapter 7|Seven across
A fantasia on aphantasia
Once again, I interrupt my as-yet-still-untitled long-form story to bring you a personal blog post. This one’s not quite an ‘unpost’ but might nevertheless be a bit on the rambly and ill-formed side, hence ‘fantasia’. That’s because it’s a reaction to something I discovered about myself (and everyone else) only yesterday. And when I say… Continue reading A fantasia on aphantasia
Chapter 6|The top floor
| Back to Chapter 5 | Back to the beginning Walking from the station towards the small business park on the edge of town, Kate and Jude try to reassure each other that everything will be fine, despite both being convinced that something terrible has happened. They comment on the cold, dry spell of weather,… Continue reading Chapter 6|The top floor
Remembering the beautiful people
All of us are broken in some way. Many of the beautiful people were more broken than most of us, even before their lives came to an abrupt end. And though they may not all have been beautiful in the eyes of the world, each had their own unique beauty which leaves the world diminished… Continue reading Remembering the beautiful people
