When it comes to memories, we are all unreliable narrators. The human brain will go to great lengths in order to create a coherent sense of self, sometimes inventing things that never happened and even people who don't exist simply to hold the story together. Memory is not like a video camera. It reframes and edits events to fit our current map of the world. So next time you go for a walk down … [Read more...] about How to use an old photograph to tell a meaningful new story
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Thanks William and Harry for sharing a story from your scars, not your wounds
Back in the dark days of summer 2012, when I had just separated from my husband, I signed up for a public speaking course called Speak Like a TED Talker. The aim was to find my TED-style “idea worth spreading”. As I cast around for ways to articulate my message, it came down to this: I wanted to put an end to silent suffering. Looking back, it was a cry for help. I hadn’t told anyone … [Read more...] about Thanks William and Harry for sharing a story from your scars, not your wounds
What the Ancient Egyptians can teach us about story as legacy
I blame Miss Hughes. She was my history teacher in the first form at Bromley Technical High School for Girls – a tiny, silver-haired lady nearing retirement but still full of fervour about her subject. She taught us about the ancient civilisations – the Assyrians, the Babylonians, and then the Egyptians. I was captivated by her stories about the pyramids and how they were built, the mysteries … [Read more...] about What the Ancient Egyptians can teach us about story as legacy
C30, C60, C90 – don’t go!
It's hard to imagine now but in the summer of 1980 what passed for disruptive technology came in a compact plastic box with a cardboard inner sleeve. Ah yes, the cassette - I remember it well. In my first year as a staff writer for the music paper Sounds, I was deluged by the little devils, as bands up and down the country sent me demo tapes after I did the first major published interviews … [Read more...] about C30, C60, C90 – don’t go!
Rest In Purple: My long-term love affair with Prince
It seems that these days the only time I feel inspired to write a blog is when a musical hero dies. I paid a personal tribute to Bowie earlier this year, but now I have lost Prince... In many ways he impacted me more directly than Bowie. This is what I wrote about him in my (still unpublished) memoir Hit Girl: My Bizarre Double Life in the Pop World of the Eighties: "In 1981, another unique … [Read more...] about Rest In Purple: My long-term love affair with Prince
RIP David Bowie: his script is you and me, boys…
David Bowie terrified me. I was a late developer, a shy teenager who looked up to the cool girls at school flashing their well-worn copies of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, reinforcing the feeling that they had joined a club I could never be part of. He was theirs, not mine. He didn’t belong to me. I was standing outside the door, looking in and not even … [Read more...] about RIP David Bowie: his script is you and me, boys…