Welcome to justthoughtsnstuff

I started posting to jtns on 20 February 2010 with just one word, 'Mosaic'. This seemed an appropriate introduction to a blog that would juxtapose fragments of memoir and life-writing. Since 1996, I'd been coming to terms with the consequences of emotional and economic abuse that had begun in childhood, and which, amongst other things, had sought to stifle self-expression. While I'd explored some aspects of my life through fiction and, to a lesser extent, journalism, it was only in 2010 that I felt confident enough to write openly about myself. I believed this was an important part of the healing process. Yet within weeks, the final scenes of my family's fifty-year nightmare started to play themselves out and the purpose of the blog became one of survival through writing. Although some posts are about my family's suffering - most explicitly, Life-Writing Talk, with Reference to Trust: A family story - the majority are about happier subjects (including, Bampton in rural west Oxfordshire, where I live, Oxford, where I work, the seasons and the countryside, walking and cycling) and I hope that these, together with their accompanying photos, are enjoyable and positive. Note: In February 2020, on jtns' tenth birthday, I stopped posting to this blog. It is now a contained work of life-writing about ten years of my life. Frank, 21 February 2020.

New blog: morethoughtsnstuff.com.

Monday, 20 June 2011

bl, aclaiir, jack c, spitfire, sausage & mash

London is wet and on the X90 it's sweltering.

Had a great day at the ACLAIIR AGM at the British Library, though. Everyone was so welcoming and the talks were really interesting. The only disappointment was getting to the BL after the library tour had started. Just how early do you have to get up to make King's Cross by 9:30 am? Earlier than 4.30, obviously.

Realised, as the coach reached the city, that I haven't been to London for a fair few years. Although it's not been quite as long a gap as Jack on the Island meant when he told me in the late 90s that he'd not been to London for a 'year or two, boy'. Turned out his last visit was in 1945 when he was demobbed.

Had a pint of Spitfire and a plate of sausage and mash for supper.

Now, a snooze.

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1 comment:

  1. Rupert Neil Bumfrey21 June 2011 at 06:58

    After much puzzlement, wondering what games device the X90 is, like Jack I have been away too long, an inter-village charabanc!

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