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.

Sunday, 10 March 2013

brrr!, almond blossom, king cups, guardian books blog, disputed land by tim pears, the next day


















Can't believe it's forecast to be only one degree above freezing tomorrow. I was quite getting into the comparatively balmy temperatures of a few days ago.

Some signs of spring, nevertheless. Spring is late, though. Saw the almond blossom above out on an Oxford street midweek and was thrilled to see the first king cups out in a ditch along Calcroft Lane.

Oxford full term ends this week but as far as creative writing courses are concerned, it's business as usual till almost Easter.

Was really pleased that A Conscious Englishman by Margaret Keeping got a terrific mention in the Guardian Books Blog last Tuesday. Btw you can now follow StreetBooks on Twitter.

Yesterday, I started reading Tim Pears' 2011 novel Disputed Land, which is set in a big house in Shropshire and is told from the point of view of a perceptive 13-year-old boy called Theo (they grow up so fast these days!). It's a great read!

Meanwhile, I haven't looked forward to a new David Bowie album so much since Scary Monsters!
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1 comment:

  1. Margaret Keeping10 March 2013 at 16:37

    I'm very keen on on Tim Pears so I'll look out for Disputed Land.
    His child characters in 'Landed' were remarkable, and his writing on the countryside of borderlands like Shropshire.

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