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 12 October 2013

murky, josé, desktop, calming, digging?, 0th week


















Got soaked when cycling this morning.

Some years ago, a Venezuelan friend fell in love with the English word 'murky' because he felt that its sound summed up much of our weather. Well, José, this morning was certainly murky, as the two photos above show. Incidentally, these contrast with a pic taken from a similar angle back in the summer (the photo btw that I use as my desktop background at work - I find it very calming).

Now, fortunately, the sun is shining and I'm hoping that the allotment will soon dry out, so that I can do some more autumn digging this afternoon.

Meanwhile, we've just had Oxford 0th Week - the time when the Freshers arrive and inductions are held at the libraries. A very busy few days but great to be meeting the students for the first time.
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