Author Archives: Steve

So, Karen and I have both received our second doses of Oxford AstraZeneca and, weirdly, we haven’t turned into zombies or started worshipping Bill Gates or grown gills or whatever nonsense the self-serving, exploitative, fear-peddling snake oil salesmen are spouting (No, Mr. Conspiracy Man, I do not want to buy your cocktail of cheap bleach,Continue reading “Jab Jab”

I love taking photos but I’m not very good at it. I tend to take a hundred shots and then hope one turns out OK. I have a friend in California who is brilliant at, not only taking photographs, but seeing the image in her mind before reaching for the camera. I guess that’s theContinue reading “Captured Light”

I’ve got to that point in life where, when the celebrities are revealed to great fanfare, I have no idea who they are. When I can be bothered, which isn’t very often, I ask who they are and the answer falls into several categories. Firstly, that guy in that thing that I’ve never seen andContinue reading “Celebrities”

I draw a lot of skulls. I don’t know why. Maybe there’s still something of the biker in me or maybe I’m secretly a pirate. On the subject of pirates – why are pirates called pirates? Because they arrrrr! (pause for groans and eye rolling). The skull is apparently the symbol of postmodernism which isContinue reading “Skulls”

We celebrate Pentecost this Sunday, the birthday of the Church, the unleashing of the Holy Spirit, the empowering of the Gospel of love. So, I should post something about that. I’m not. Not really. Instead I’m going to share another piece from my Exiles collection which I wrote about the Resurrection. There’s just something aboutContinue reading “Not Really, but…”

Once there was a town where everything was grey. The houses were grey, the gardens were grey, the people were grey and even their pets were grey. It wasn’t even a particularly interesting grey – it was the most tedious, uninspiring grey there ever was. It was hardly surprising then that the town was calledContinue reading “Grey (a story)”

I’ve been thinking a lot about the people on the edge of things recently; the lost, the hurt, the disillusioned, the broken. Admittedly it’s part of my job but I also like to look at stuff from different angles; to focus on the things in the background; to study the minor characters. I’m that annoyingContinue reading “Exiles”

We’ve been re-watching Parks & Recreation which, if you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend giving it a try. It’s quirky, warm and genuinely funny. It’s one of those shows which takes a few episodes to get to know the characters but then you really start to care about them. My favourite character is RonContinue reading “Ron”

So, I finally got into the Barber Shop for a haircut. Naively, I tried on Monday when restrictions were lifted but the queue went right down the street. I still had to wait an hour or so until it was my turn and then sat there as the barber hacked through at least 5 monthsContinue reading “Hair”

I’m not a royalist in any way. I don’t believe that a few privileged people are given the right by God to rule over everyone else. I definitely don’t believe that the right to lead is then passed down to the next generation. I think history can bear me out on that one. Not thatContinue reading “However”