Lauren Laverne has a feature on her BBC 6 Music radio show called 'Biorhythms'. For this feature, listeners are invited to submit three songs: one that connects with them on a physical level, one on an intellectual level, and one on an emotional level.A few weeks ago, Lauren's guest was a woman called Stephanie, and… Continue reading My love affair with music
How to cure hypochondria
I've always been a hypochondriac. When I was about 8 or 9 I remember listening to a tape of Jacqueline Du Pre and my mother explaining to me how she had been cut down in her prime by this awful disease, MS, that gradually makes you unable to move until finally you're completely paralysed and… Continue reading How to cure hypochondria
Finally… a food post
I've always wanted to write a food blog, but could never think of a unique way to do it so didn't bother. What I've realised now is that you don't need a point of uniqueness to blog about anything - in many ways blogging is a therapy and an end in itself that doesn't require… Continue reading Finally… a food post
A relapse, and a change of tack
We're nearly halfway through September, the kids are back at school, and there's a nip in the air. Time, once again, to wonder where summer went. It's always the same, and those early autumn conversations are oddly comforting in their repetition, but this year I really have missed out on summer and feel oddly as… Continue reading A relapse, and a change of tack
A Day At Sea
Back in June, I went to sea with some friends on the 1852 Thames sailing Barge 'Greta', which sails out of Whitstable. It was the most perfect day imaginable, under a sky of azure studded with small white clouds, on seas totally still and calm. Lying on the deck, with silence all around but for… Continue reading A Day At Sea
A hiatus: stop the rollercoaster, I want to get off!
Well, I was quite good at keeping this blog up to date for a bit. And then... well, it all caught up with me. It was fine when I was putting a brave face on everything in the whirlwind of adrenaline that followed my first scary medical appointments, but you can't do that forever -… Continue reading A hiatus: stop the rollercoaster, I want to get off!
The MRI experience
I've got the MRI out of the way. It went as well as could be expected I suppose, the sound is now familiar and I remembered not to open my eyes which helped me not to panic.The MRI machine, the room it was in, the waiting room were all incredibly futuristic and clean. The people… Continue reading The MRI experience
Music to magnetise my brain by
I'm having an MRI scan later. It'll be my third - one brain scan in 2008, and a knee scan and a lumbar spine scan last December. This one is going to be different for a couple of reasons: firstly, it's going to take about 90 minutes - significantly longer than any MRI I've had,… Continue reading Music to magnetise my brain by
Wobbles
Physically, I wobble, and I always have done. I'm one of those people that always tends to be disorganised and untogether so I've always seen my lack of coordination as an inevitable consequence of my being too distracted to walk properly or to make the effort to get fit and strong.Physical wobbles are a part… Continue reading Wobbles
Back to the story
I'm aware I've deviated somewhat from the tale I started off telling. Part of my problem is that there are a lot of places to go next - not unlike the Choose Your Own Adventure books that I used to love when I was about 9 - and as a lifelong dilettante I just can't… Continue reading Back to the story
Falling & Laughing 