This is a test piece of writing… It’s been said many times before, that the most intimidating thing, for a writer, is a blank page.
Category: Stuff
A Super-hero meets a fan
(a storyboard by Vin…)
People Problems
I have a friend, let’s call her Amanda Nicol, who, in 2003, wrote a highly insightful and devastatingly emotional novel about a young guy and
Apple; treating users like they just don’t matter
Full title: How Apple could take a leaf out of Microsoft’s book and enhance the user experience… My laptop is downloading the latest iTunes update
Horses, illnesses, bikes, writing, music
… and the bitter taste of something… bitter-tasting… Horses: So, that scoundrel Tom. Tsk. Tom is nothing but a worry to his ‘dad’. He spends
Big Brother, season 11
Updated 16th July 2010, edit identified below The (allegedly) final series of Big Brother is upon us and do you know what? It’s nowhere near
Whistling like a boiling kettle
I am not well. No! Please, you have to at least try to keep that massive outpouring of grief and sympathy in check. It’s just
The birds and the bees. And the cats
Since we moved in to this house, almost two years ago, we have had a running battle with every cat in the parish. The house,
Saturday’s One Day Event
By the time Tom and I got to do our stuff the photographer had all but given up and gone home. Well, we were the
Fuel for Thought
I am in pain. Not the deep, dark, tortured pain that we all literary geniuses suffer. This is a more intense, physical kind of pain.
Leading from the rear
We were working in for the dressage phase of the Ascott-under-Wychwood Horse Trials when I heard Tom’s near-hind shoe flapping. Fortunately the farrier on call
Testing times
Tom’s times for the Ascott-under-Wychwood British Eventing Horse Trials are: 15.16: Dressage 17.43: Show-jumping 18.31: Cross-country If he Show-jumps like he did on Sunday, we’ll
A hot, horse-centred weekend
The Brize Norton/Witney forecast for this weekend is 23c and sunny on Saturday and 20c and sunny on Sunday, which is good and not good.
Cat got your tongue?
I went to the stables at the livery yard to get my pony in for the night. When I walked out to the field I
Some more bad writing
Lest anyone thinks bad writing is solely the domain of foreigners… The BBC News website (http://news.bbc.co.uk) is home to writing crimes too. Some. What does
The fine art of critical writing
Leading on from the last post, it seemed logical to look at a good example of professional writing. Instead, though, I’d like to share an
The writing is on the wall
There are so few contemporary writers who are truly excellent. And by using the words ‘truly excellent’ in this context, I mean writers who have
BT outage, 01993 exchange (part 4)
Friday 28th May 2010, 7.20am I ran through what has become a daily routine; switch off the router and BT Vision box, make a mug
BT outage, 01993 exchange (part 3)
Thursday 27th May 2010, 5.50am I try to load web-pages, run an FTP command and access BTs own NNTP server. I also try to access
BT outage, 01993 exchange (part 2)
Wednesday 26th May 2010, 5.40am I try to load web-pages, run an FTP session and access BT’s own NNTP server. All of these functions fail.
BT outage, 01993 exchange (part 1)
Tuesday 25th May 2010, 7pm For the second time in the last couple of weeks, our BT Broadband and BT Vision services have dropped out.
Pissed at BT
Soz for being so quiet. We’re both still here but we have no broadband service (no BT Vision too, but that is less important). We
Phonio, phonio, wherefore art thou phonio
On 21st May 2009 – yes, 2009! – I started, failed to finish and left languishing in ‘drafts’ this post. Time to shake the dust
OMG I am turning in to my wife!
There’s a strange smell around here; it is most peculiar. It is lunchtime and I’ve just had breakfast. That’s nothing to do with being lazy
Nellie the elephant
It’s been a while since I did an equine update so… Vin’s headshaking continues to improve; the treatment seems to be capable of mitigating about
iPasapalabra!
I love this television show (Pasapalabra, obv), it’s not just a fast-paced word game, it’s also an instant vocabulary builder/combined language teacher. We hardly missed
Volunteers needed
Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th of June 2010 sees the first of the Ascott-under-Wychwood British Eventing One-Day Event of the season. The classes being run
Music for your ears
Who is the female acoustic singer described as charming, self-effacing, pretty and extremely talented? And just how wonderful does her work sound? Who is the
No television due to a service ‘improvement’
I seem to be going through a spell of ‘service meltdown’ and I’m beginning to wonder who has got it in for me… We’re on
Not much cop
This post was written in real-time, but posted this evening when I got home to find we had working broadband again… ‘BT’ and ‘customer service’:
Daily Mail in Nazi Sympathising Outrage
It’s a funny thing. The Daily Mail recently dragged up a piece that Nick Clegg wrote and delivered years ago. Being the Daily Mail the
Absent friends, not close enough to touch
I have a friend. Her name is Ruth. Ruth has been a gossip buddy for many years – since before Daughter was born (though Daughter
Exclusive! Daily Mail staff in sex horror!
So I was just in the kitchen cooking one of my speciality snacks (you will notice I didn’t say ‘meals’), when I started wondering about
Daily Mail in Headline Fiasco, Fiasco
The Daily Mail, one of the most widely-read tabloids in Europe (but only, many people suspect, because people buy it because they can’t quite believe
Broadway result
Big write-up follows in due course, but there’s only 24 hours in a day so here’s the headlines: Dressage penalties: 30.0 Show-jumping penalties: 0 Cross-country
Only when I larf…
It is 8.30am Sunday and we seem to be watching Episodes 2, 3 and 4 of the new Doctor Who (or is it Dr Who?).
Feeling it?
We’re sitting on the couch listening to/watching a band from Soph’s youth on YouTube. Soph’s youth, obviously, wasn’t so long ago – her being a
WordPress comment problem, anybody?
Earlier today I got a tweet from a reader of this blog to say she had been trying to submit a comment here, but the
All change…
Just a few short weeks ago (what a stupid phrase that is. How can weeks be short?) I was constantly looking upwards, begging the rain
Sometimes my head just freaks me out
In last night’s/this morning’s dream, I invented, built and test-drove… A Fishing Car. Yes, I know. Because fishing is such a big part of my
Hot, horsey and lazy
Saturday: On Saturday I drove Tom to Aston-le-Walls which is in Northants (but only just, it’s a few miles from Banbury), to take part in
Gurgle, glug, squelch, gurgle, squelchhhhhh
the sounds you can hear seem to be emanating from my tummy. i blame the pizza and jacket potato skins that i’ve just sent to
Sinning with syntax
I love the Daily Mail, here’s two examples from today’s online offering to help explain why I love it so much… Headline: ‘Prisoner brain-damaged after
A little Tom update
We had a mini-meeting after the cross-country schooling on Monday, brought on by the discovery that Tom had bitten his tongue at some stage while
Wide awake at 2am is not helpful, but…
Last night’s vegetarian food-fest (prepared, cooked, eaten – half of it anyway – and washed-up afterwards by me, lest there be any misunderstandings) was a
You are what you read?
This posts comes courtesy of a couple of gentle digs about a newspaper I tweeted I was reading… I think it is important to begin
Man, I am so tired and I almost wrecked the lorry yesterday…
A mere two-and-a-half hours sleep last night, on top of the general stress, activity and rushing around of the weekend, all compound together to make
Nerves, nerves, nerves
pre-competition nerves starting to hit right now We plan on leaving the yard at 11.30 tomorrow morning. Our times are: Dressage = 15.16 Show-jumping =