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short stories.
Today I am thinking about short stories. What are some of your favourites? I'm always up for recommendations! Here are some of mine ( Read more... ) -
Feminism, #2.
In Today's Guardian, Naomi Wolf cites Carrie Bradshaw of Sex and the City as one of the defining icons of the last decade, referring to her as a "feminist icon" who has done as much for the cause of feminism as any actual, real-life feminists. I find this a staggering notion. I loathe Sex and the City, in all its capitalism-worshipping, privileged ( Read more... ) -
School.
I'm getting nervous about starting at the new school. I went to meet with the Head of English a week or two ago to get a better idea of what I'll be doing. I'll be teaching from Y7 up to Y10, in the first-half term it's going to be stuff like creative writing and fairy tales for the younger kids, then Macbeth for Y9 and some pre-1914 poetry ( ( Read more... ) -
Feminism.
I have been reading recently about what constitutes feminism, who should consider themselves feminist, and whether feminism is even necessary in the world we live in. I consider myself to be a feminist and am proud to say so, and I feel that a feminist movement is actually vital. There seems to be a lot of misconceptions about what feminism is and ( Read more... ) -
Republicanism (you are a flatulent pain in the arse).
People used to tell me that I'd "calm down" or otherwise end up softening my republican position, back when I was 18 or so and listening to The Queen Is Dead. That I'd grow out of it, like acne. But it hasn't happened. If anything, my anti-monarchical position has only got stronger as time has passed ( Read more... ) -
alan hearts books.
Strangely enough, I think I haven't mentioned it here, but for the last few months I've been doing a blog where I review books that I've read. Nothing spectacular but I enjoy it. Any comments are always welcome.
http://alangarner.wordpress.com -
Atheism.
Isn't it funny how passionate, strident atheists like Richard Dawkins are described as "fundamentalist" and being "just as bad as those they rail against", and then more laid back campaigns like the Athiest Bus are derided as "ineffectual" and "pointless." WHAT DO YOU WANT ( Read more... ) -
from "The Adventures of Augie March"
Anyhow, I had found something out about an unknown privation, and I realized how a general love or craving, before it is explicit or before it sees its object, manifests itself as boredom or some other kind of suffering. And what did I think of myself in relation to the great occasions, the more sizeable being of these books? Why, I saw them, first ( Read more... ) -
Science.
I would like to talk about science. In particular I would like to talk about the supposed objectivity of scientific endeavour (as near to impossible as makes no practical difference, as it seems to me), and how those who support such claims to objectivity respond to Thomas Kuhn and the idea that communities of scientists exists within particular ( Read more... )