‘To His Coy Mistress’? To Her Coy Master
July 18, 2011
A poem of inexperience gone wrong, or experience writ large? Thoughts on Andrew Marvell’s ‘seduction’ poem, ‘To His Coy Mistress’. … More ‘To His Coy Mistress’? To Her Coy Master
Tag: Secrecy
Privacy and Parliamentary Privilege
June 14, 2011
This recent period has been plagued with privacy issues, the biggest of which, no doubt, has been the issue of super-injunctions and the exercising of parliamentary privilege. So, what is parliamentary privilege? … More Privacy and Parliamentary Privilege
“Finders Keepers, holder Seekers hidden Secrets”: Writing in Cryptics
May 29, 2011
Most of us are guilty at some point of writing in cryptics. Why do we do it? Why express ourselves in terms that are not meant to be understood? Is it, perhaps, a deep subconscious desire to be public with our privacy? Is it more about reaching out, or being reached out to? A few thoughts on why we so often seek to tangle rather than untangle. … More “Finders Keepers, holder Seekers hidden Secrets”: Writing in Cryptics
An MP Turning Down a Secret Bribe? Bipolar Privacy
January 22, 2011
There are two sides to privacy: the bright side and the dark side. It is often politics which brings these to the fore. I was pleased to stumble across an anecdote about Andrew Marvell from the mid-eighteenth century that celebrates (as well we might today) the value of an honest politician. … More An MP Turning Down a Secret Bribe? Bipolar Privacy
A Green Thought: Private Minds
January 10, 2011
It is a great shame that it is so difficult to make personal experience count in professional or academic writing. The first time I attempted genuine research was looking at Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray through the lens of dysmorphophobia, or body dysmorphic disorder. Of course, it wasn’t random reading of somatoform disorder textbooks that brought this match to my attention, but personal experience. … More A Green Thought: Private Minds
Skimming Stones: An Epilogue, 2010
December 31, 2010
An end-of-year epilogue for 2010, a sad year deserving of some reflection amid music and colour. … More Skimming Stones: An Epilogue, 2010
Presenting Privacy: Marvell and London
July 11, 2010
Both professionally and personally, privacy has been a daunting and fascinating topic over the past two weeks. A paper entitled ‘Denying Authorship: Marvell, Maniban and the Quest for Privacy’ was given in Geneva, followed by ‘Marvell in Manuscript and Print: Public and Private Experiences, 1649-1660’ at the University of Hull. … More Presenting Privacy: Marvell and London
Circles
October 27, 2009
Marking the ten-year anniversary of a nasty incident that shaped much of the subsequent decade. … More Circles
Body Schema
September 30, 2009
There are times when taking nothing seriously is a perfect remedy, and there are many kinds of humour to be found in English Civil War literature. … More Body Schema
Crackpot Culture (Gareth Malone, The Choir, and Libera)
March 10, 2009
Has choirmaster Gareth Malone’s work in schools broken down some of the rigid stereotypes surrounding music? Something I contemplated as a attended a concert by the boys’ choir, Libera. … More Crackpot Culture (Gareth Malone, The Choir, and Libera)
Writing Privacy 