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.

Saturday, 29 June 2013

mst, academic year turns, peony, a girl is a half-formed thing by eimear mcbride, bobby "blue" bland, nook

















Great to see the MSt students at the Guided Retreat earlier in the week and to hear the readings at the showcase.

The academic year turns and other courses are coming to an end (lots of marking). Soon there will be the summer schools.

At the libraries the reading rooms are so much quieter since the undergraduates and taught master's students left. A brief lull, though, because soon the summer researchers will be here--some are already.

Meanwhile, our peony (a Sarah Bernhardt) is in flower. Glorious to look at; glorious fragrance!

I'm really pleased to have received my signed copy of A Girl Is A Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride, which I ordered from the publishers' website (Galley Beggar Press). The review of the book in the TLS made it sound unmissable (despite the 'Gob impressive' headline). Looking forward to reading this.

About to download Two Steps from the Blues (original LP, Hoogan Records 1961) by Bobby "Blue" Bland, who died this week, aged 83 (see Guardian obituary).

Contemplating buying a Nook e-reader.
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