We British have one or two polite stock phrases readily to hand for those times when we want to say something, but don’t really have anything meaningful in mind at that moment. Apparently they are known as ‘phatic exchanges’. ‘Nice weather we’re having…’ is one, and ‘lovely day isn’t it?...’is another. Also ‘must do lunch... Continue Reading →
Thoughts behind the song ‘That Ain’t Livin'’, from the album ‘Fears, Secrets and Lies’. Yesterday, stopping for an urgently needed call of nature at a motorway service station on the M4, I was assailed by a large poster of a cheerful young woman, confidently encouraging me to ‘follow the road to happiness’. Her ‘road to... Continue Reading →
When we were in Holland just before Christmas, we were giving lots of our little grey boxes of ash away; we talked about ash being what’s left when everything else is used up and burnt out, and we told this story: A young Jewish boy (for these purposes, we’ll call him Asher) wanted to hear... Continue Reading →
I used to be marketing director for a small design company; my job was to come up with ways to get companies and their products noticed and thought of in the best light possible. This boiled down to making their services and products look more exciting, more leading edge, better value, more attractive, effective and... Continue Reading →
One of my favourite games, when my son James was small, was to get him to jump, or ‘tip off’ small distances, from a chair, table, side of a swimming pool, in fact, anywhere a little bit higher than me, so that I could catch him. It is a delightful game of trust, that has... Continue Reading →
I’ve talked about grief before. The grinding, end-of-world kind of grief that shatters lives. No promises are made to contrary – the one thing we can all know is that there will be pain,, hardship, suffering. The best we can hope for is that we might be spared it for long enough to reach our... Continue Reading →
I was one of those kids who chatter a lot. My family called it waffling, and my brother would make a hand signal of fingers and thumb being opened and shut together like a barking dog whenever I was caught in the act of talking too much. Which was most of the time. I was... Continue Reading →
He had given me the very desire of my heart. And in doing so, he gave me my life’s work. So what has given me this heart for running a gospel choir and getting people to sing? I’ll tell you. I come from one of those hatchings, matchings and dispatchings families. You know the kind? It’s... Continue Reading →
It’s time to come clean with you all – or maybe, it’s more about being honest with myself – I am a singer of only moderate talent. Also, whilst in the general run of things I’m fairly intelligent - when I speak, I regularly make more noise than sense. And my ability to work hard... Continue Reading →
Rose was an ageing friend of the family who I never got to meet. Up until I was about ten years old, there would be presents from Rose, every Christmas, for my two sisters, my brother and myself. Nothing big, but dutifully chosen every year, reliable as rainfall. Until she died... I never saw a... Continue Reading →
The Blog of Penny Lyon 