In my time as mother to four secondary school students, I’ve written and received emails with such high frequency (my children being the subjects of these in various heart-sinking ways), that I’ve had to be creative in my responses in order to avoid boring both myself and the kids’ schools. When emails have led to … More Blooming late on exam day
When I was a young child, my parents used to take us kids with them when they went to friends for dinner. This was a win-win. They didn’t have to pay for a babysitter, and my brothers and I got to stay up late listening to the grown-ups downstairs getting louder and louder until there was a sudden stop – … More Headlights in the Treetops
The woman who works in the co-op walks up to me with a laugh on her lips and a light in her eyes as if she’s about to tell me a joke. She’s always there helping customers smooth wrinkly bar codes at the self-scan checkouts, speaking loud and clear for those who can’t hear, and … More Seeing double
Yesterday, I did something I’ve never done before. I went to the cinema in the afternoon, on my own. At least I can’t remember having done this before, but now a vague memory is whispering that this is not true and that many years ago, when I lived in Mainz in Germany, I fled a … More Alcarràs
I wrote the end of my story in a bit of a rush, delighted to have got the job done. One of my readers, who hasn’t yet got to that part, recently commented that the penultimate segment is a bit “traumatic“, and he queried: “does the story just drift to a heartbreaking close or is … More A great reveal
On Aide-Mémoires: Shopping Lists – An Exhibition Lists – for bread and beer, red and green apples, dark soy sauce and cajun spice. Word associations with ‘Martha is crackers‘ and ‘Mummy is nuts‘. A child’s script. A spidery hand. (Mis-)spellings. On paper shaped as a dress or jotted with music. On the back of an … More Does Alan want cheese?
I know a woman who sprays herself with perfume each time she goes for a run. Afterwards, she takes a shower and washes both sweat and fragrance away. I know a man whose right hand clenches into a fist when he runs. His left hand always remains relaxed, even when he tries to clench it … More On ‘Being young until you get old’.
I was taking photos of shadows, cats, bricks and steps in the city of Cuenca in Spain. Everything that I could see right in front of me. It was sunny and mild and even the grafitti seemed to have had a spring clean. I thought I had the old town all to myself, but someone … More Los Ojos
On watching The Humans with my humans. (A movie by Stephen Karam that centres on the gathering of what some have called a ‘dysfunctional family’.) Six members of a multi-generational family gather together in Chinatown, Manhattan, at the newly acquired duplex of the youngest (adult) daughter, Brigid and her boyfriend, Richard. The building is old … More The Humans
Happy New Year.
Have Paprika, Will Travel 