I’ve often wondered if all the hours I spent reading under the blankets with a torch when I was a kid contributed to my bad eyesight. I’m short sighted – I can’t see anything more than a few centimetres in front on my nose. Too vain to wear glasses, I have worn contact lenses since… Read More
Although I don’t believe in the concept of God as a supernatural being with an interest in the thoughts and action of human beings, I do believe in a collective consciousness. The simplest term to describe this, is to call it the Universe. I see it as the amalgamation of the spirit in all living… Read More
I read in a book once about the difference between a traumatic event and a terrible one. I’ve spent the last couple of hours trying to find the exact words, but to no avail. I thought it was in this book about a chaplain whose job it is to notify people of the death of… Read More
I was taught at church that having sexual desires and/or attracting sexual desire was a sin. They gave it a special name — the lust of the flesh. Human sexuality was seen as a rampaging carnal impulse which must be abolished at all costs. Impure thoughts, even without any action, had the potential to cast you… Read More
It’s been raining since Monday. A low pressure system off the coast has been beating down on us relentlessly, bringing with it winds gusting up to 125 km/hr. We live on a hill, right on the beach. Our dead-end street is lined with trees that have fallen over, taking down the power lines with them. We… Read More
I‘m not sure if it’s age, rampant hormones, or too much time on my own, but these days I find myself becoming more and more querulous. Querulous is a glorious word. It means cantankerous, cross, dissatisfied, grouchy, hard to please, irritable, whining and touchy. Although I swan around on the internet, dispensing love and happiness with my tiny, twinkly… Read More
Unlike other days, it didn’t take me long to come up with a word starting with O. Orgasms are a subject near and dear to my heart. But when it comes to writing a post about orgasms, what does one say? Orgasms are good. The end. Anything else, doesn’t quite cut it. I could describe… Read More
It was my husband’s day off and he seemed in a pleasant mood. Mid-morning — late enough for him to be awake and early enough for him not to have started drinking — he was in the kitchen tidying up from the night before. Years of beer and takeaway had made him heavy and slow.… Read More
The 15th April, 2010 was a day not much different to today. The autumn sun had slipped lower in the sky, making the day cool enough for a jacket. As I was putting my mascara on in the bathroom, ahead of a normal day at work, the telephone rang. The man on the other end of… Read More
Before I was married, I spent most of my time sampling a smorgasbord of lovers, without feeling any need to restrict my appetites to only one person. During those heady days of sexual freedom, there was always the thought in the back of my mind that I would one day ‘settle down’. I never questioned the expectation that… Read More
When I first met my boyfriend on the street outside my house five years ago, he hugged me and then kissed me on the lips. Just as they describe in books and songs, the heavens opened and the angels sang. This man was hands down the best kisser I’d ever met. They say you can… Read More
He is walking up the road in front of me, wearing the heavy boots he never took off, black jeans and a backpack slung over his shoulder. In his hand is a silver gift bag, like the ones they give away in expensive shops. When he gets to the top of the hill, he turns… Read More
Women of a certain age complain loudly about feeling invisible. They report being ignored in shops and restaurants, eyes glancing past them as though they weren’t even there. Many women are reluctant to stop colouring their hair because they think this will make the problem worse. In the society we live in, older people in general,… Read More