First published on July 10th, '14 On a perfect day I felt it was time to give my musings some fresh air. So I went wayfaring, to places just over the horizon seen from my study window. Walk a mile and you reach two villages, separated by common land. It’s an easy stroll or horseback… Continue reading The Middle of Nowhere
Author: Vincent
I've lived in this town for 34 years, but never actually worked here. The nearest was Bracknell, in neighbouring Berks (Berkshire). I called it Babylon Town influenced by Rastas I'd encountered in Jamaica:
"Rastafari teaches that the black African diaspora are exiles living in "Babylon", a term which it applies to Western society. For Rastas, European colonialism and global capitalism are regarded as manifestations of Babylon.
Soliloquy
First published 21st July 2017 Along Desborough Road, 20 minutes' walk from the town centre: The Step In Café has a "no loitering" sign. Loiterers throng the frontage of Mo'Fro Barbers & Coral Betting Shop—a favourite spot for Afro-Caribbeans and their admiring hangers-on. At far right is Cool Runnings, where they sell Jamaican food Idle… Continue reading Soliloquy
Dancing on the Bar
Originally published on May 30th, 2019 I'm finding that life is full of pointers from a friendly universe, to guide us on our way, if we are open to the moment like a small child seeing everything for the first time. These words from author Earl Mckenzie spoke to me this morning, and helped crystallize my… Continue reading Dancing on the Bar
Straw Dogs, Wild Flowers and — this Moment
Things they are a'changin', here in this wonderful free space with no strings attached alive and growing since 2006. Time for a bit of pruning for a start: the bin is filling up. Then there are the damaged posts, where pictures have gone and got lost by some mysterious process I don't understand. But here's… Continue reading Straw Dogs, Wild Flowers and — this Moment
Rock-climbing
See also "The Climbing Gene" Bill Cheverst was a legendary figure, as these quotes indicate: I met Terry after walking 26 miles in October 1964 over Holme Moss, Bleaklow and Kinder Scout with Bill Cheverst and his Birmingham mates. Terry and Linda Potter turned up after we had got back to the tents in Edale.… Continue reading Rock-climbing
Engineering and Angels
A Journal from St Michael’s Green, Beaconsfield As in the previous post, this was written in the 1990s Structure is a male word, relating to that part of the brain which does engineering. It’s related to discipline, in the sense that I might structure my day, or my life (which doesn’t sound a good idea—to… Continue reading Engineering and Angels
Eternity in the City
[This was written in the early Nineties and published on a website, before the dawn of blogs.] Cloistered all day, I had forgotten once again that an outside world existed. In a windowless office I saw no seasons, no day, no night. There was only harsh lighting, never switched off. The shock of emerging into… Continue reading Eternity in the City
Liking or commenting
Back in the day, there were usually comments on my posts, e.g. the one on the Book of Gilgamesh, which had 50, and Time Consumes, Art Distils , which had 12. These days there are no comments, only Likes, by bloggers I'm following or have seen my posts on Facebook, Instagram or X Twitter. You'll notice… Continue reading Liking or commenting
The Phoenix Trail
first published on 17th Feb 2011, photos restored today The trail largely follows the route of a disused railway line, the Wycombe Railway, which connected Princes Risborough and Thame with the city of Oxford. The line through Thame remained open until 1991 to serve an oil depot based in the town. (Wikipedia) It's open to pedestrians, horses,… Continue reading The Phoenix Trail
The Charabanc of Trippers
previously published 13th May 2014 on Perpetual-Lab, somehow lost in transit I didn’t explain what happened to the book Wayfaring, which was briefly published under Creative Commons in pdf, before being withdrawn from free distribution. I feel no compulsion to give a reason, but here are two. (a) Uncertainty (b) a decision to postpone publication… Continue reading The Charabanc of Trippers
To Laurence Ferlinghetti
previously published on 20th May 2014, lost and restored today This is for you, dear poet of my youth, still 23 years and 21 days older than me (therefore 95), still here with the rest of us, enabling me to write this with a possibility it might reach you. I would say I’ve admired you… Continue reading To Laurence Ferlinghetti
Then and Now continued
Dress Female Dress (1890 edition) It is well known that a loose and easy dress contributes much to give the sex the fine proportions of body that are observable in the Grecian statues, and which serve as models to our present artists, nature being too much disfigured among us to afford any such. The Greeks… Continue reading Then and Now continued
Enquire Within: Then and now
This morning one of the houses on Green Street left an open cardboard box full of books. only one was of interest to me: Enquire Within, by Moyra Bremner. I helped myself as intended by the owner. That's what we do round here. I've left things out myself on occasion, they don't stay long. I've… Continue reading Enquire Within: Then and now
I and Thou
Transcribed verbatim from a 9-page manuscript which I found on a bookshelf while looking for something else. It was written in early 2017, not long after I'd been diagnosed with CLL—Chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and before treatment with chemotherapy, which didn't work for me. For the last seven years I've been taking a daily pill (ibrutinib)… Continue reading I and Thou
Our Trip to Brussels in 2016
On 22 March 2016, two coordinated terrorist attacks in and close to Brussels, Belgium, were carried out by the Islamic State (IS). Two suicide bombers detonated bombs at Brussels Airport in Zaventem just outside Brussels, and one detonated a bomb on a train leaving Maelbeek/Maelbeek metro station in the European Quarter of Brussels. Thirty-two people… Continue reading Our Trip to Brussels in 2016
Who was Fernando Pessoa?
Here are three fragments posthumously found in his trunk: I've reached the point where tedium is a *person, the incarnate fiction of my own company The outer world exists like an actor on stage: it's there but is something else. ... and everything is an incurable illness. The indolence of feeling, the frustration of never… Continue reading Who was Fernando Pessoa?
The Book of Disquiet, continued . . .
I've here chosen some excerpts from my Kindle version of the complete manuscripts found in the trunk in his Lisbon apartment after his death. The Richard Zenith paperback version makes careful selections, and it's easy to find examples worth reproducing by turning real pages. I had a first go at it in my earlier post.… Continue reading The Book of Disquiet, continued . . .
The Book of Disquiet . . .
. . . to be continued in my next Fernando Pessoa's book is my favourite of all time, and I'd like to share with you some of the things I love his writing for and revere the man, not just the author, for his profound insights about life, the world and everything. He achieved this… Continue reading The Book of Disquiet . . .
Lucid Waking
first published on 15th March 2017 I see things as imbued with meaning, like fragments written in a foreign language. Sometimes I can decipher them; sometimes even put them in English. For instance, from my bedroom window I can see the Victorian factory opposite. I wake as the early sun catches its gable ends. As… Continue reading Lucid Waking
a Moment Captured in Time
Originally drafted 7th January 2007 on "perpetual-lab" in Blogger and never published there. Sometimes I wonder if I’ve chosen eccentricity as an alternative spiritual path. I was encouraged down this track by reading John Cowper Powys, who I consider to be the greatest novelist in English of the twentieth century, despite being hardly known.… Continue reading a Moment Captured in Time
Traherne 3, by Denise Inge
Edited from this article in the Church Times The poetry of Thomas Traherne (written sometime before his death in 1674) has often seemed purely and innocently devotional in comparison with that of George Herbert, John Donne, or Richard Crashaw, poets whose religious work, at least occasionally, is sexually explicit. ‘Until recently’, Denise Inge comments in… Continue reading Traherne 3, by Denise Inge
Thomas Traherne Centuries, 1
Author’s inscription on the first leaf of CENTURIES OF MEDITATIONS This book unto the friend of my best friend As of the wisest Love a mark I send, That she may write my Maker’s prais therin And make her self thereby a Cherubin. An empty book is like an Infant’s Soul, in which anything may… Continue reading Thomas Traherne Centuries, 1
Not what we were taught at school …
"Eureka!" Now he can't wait to tell the world
A Little Lower than the Angels
Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him.… Continue reading A Little Lower than the Angels
The Testament of Light (1)
PREFACE In this anthology, though for the sake of convenience it bears another title, the thread of an earlier argument is resumed: the three sentences of Chekhov which closed the first volume provide the prelude to the second. The Pattern of Courtesy differs from The Testament of Light not in spirit or general aim, but somewhat in… Continue reading The Testament of Light (1)
The Pattern of Courtesy
Gerald Bullett was born in London . . . and educated at Jesus College, Cambridge. During the Second World War he worked for the BBC in London, and after the war was a radio broadcaster. Bullett also contributed to the Times Literary Supplement. Politically, Bullett described himself as a "liberal socialist" and claimed to detest… Continue reading The Pattern of Courtesy
Freud and superstition
I'm cataloguing my bookshelves, and was attracted to this one by its cover showing cards from the Tarot pack. Just as I was years ago when I bought it from a stall in the Old Amersham Market. The author quotes Freud in these words: Our patient was to a high degree superstitious, and this although… Continue reading Freud and superstition
Awakenings, Part 2
This is my favourite piece of writing ever. I make no apologies for reproducing it here in full, but give thanks to the the copyright holder Oliver Sacks, © 1985, who died in 2015. Rebecca was no child when she was referred to our clinic. She was nineteen, but, as her grandmother said, 'just like… Continue reading Awakenings, Part 2
Awakenings
Last night we watched Awakenings on Netflix: a moving portrait of inmates in a secure mental hospital in the Bronx. Dr Sayers, pictured below with his patient after successful treatment, plays the part of neurologist Oliver Sacks. The inmates are all suffering from encephalitis lethargica, a mysterious disease described in Wikipedia as attacking the brain,… Continue reading Awakenings
International Strips
English Childhood Comics, from Mine to Yours
Speak to us of Carpeting
Visit to Dalkey in 2014
"The James Joyce Tower and Museum is a Martello tower in Sandycove, Dublin, where James Joyce spent six nights in 1904.[1] The opening scenes of his 1922 novel Ulysses take place here, and the tower is a place of pilgrimage for Joyce enthusiasts, especially on Bloomsday. Admission is free. The novel starts like this:… Continue reading Visit to Dalkey in 2014
Running a Half Marathon?
I just sent my son this book for his 58th birthday. from the Oldie Magazine "The propensity for humans to intentionally put themselves through pain never ceases to amaze. Whilst the pursuit of euphoria through physical exertion is a noble one, the fact the attitude persists in a society which encourages, nay endorses, convenience and… Continue reading Running a Half Marathon?
The Mysterious Stranger in Gerrards Cross
Here's a post from Bedroom 42 I thought worth a revisit: The Secret Life of Strangers
Working for Volt Delta Europe Ltd
As an American company, VoltDelta didn't just have Dress Down On Friday, it had Donut Day, not just on June 4th but every Friday. One fresh doughnut, English style, per employee. As a newbie I was told where to queue up. Invariably there were some not in the office that day, or didn't want them,… Continue reading Working for Volt Delta Europe Ltd
High Voltage
I was working under contract to an American company Volt Delta between June and August 1997. I wouldn't have remembered these dates had it not been for an extraordinary phenomenon just yards from our door in High Street, Egham, Surrey. There was a round wooden bench, big enough to seat 6 people without them encroaching… Continue reading High Voltage
Manuela—Not looking for Love Anymore
This is the final photo in my series. As I've said this project is about looking for connection, not romance. Women are taught to talk with each other about romance the same way men are taught not to talk about their feelings. There are whole industries hinging on women's obsession with romance. The amount of… Continue reading Manuela—Not looking for Love Anymore
Goddess
I know I said I just wanted to be accepted, but I've been thinking about it, and I want to be accepted for my whole self AND treated like a goddess - which I think this photo neatly captures. I'm done with the: 'I'm so low maintenance and I don't need you to put any… Continue reading Goddess
Manuela on the Chase
This one is about when someone tries really hard to make you fall for them and then loses interest when you let your guard down. I've been on both sides of this and it's not fun or nice.
Manuela on Romance
Manuela on Being Accepted
A good few years ago I was angstily listening to The Stone Roses' 'I wanna be adored' and I realised I wanted to be absolutely worshipped. I told my boyfriend at the time who said something nice about how he did already. But I was pretty insecure, and I wanted him to give me so… Continue reading Manuela on Being Accepted
Manuela’s Hoop Earrings
This whole series came from this poster which was a play on the white van man posters you find taped to street lamps with the rip-off phone numbers. I was thinking about the idea of someone having a physical 'type' that they exclusively go for and how bizarre that is. I think people who have… Continue reading Manuela’s Hoop Earrings
Manuela Not Forgetting to Play
I think the saddest thing about growing up is the self-consciousness which stops us from expressing ourselves like kids do. The other day I was jogging and so badly wanted to spin and leap and stretch my arms out. Sometimes I'll run down the hill and pretend to look a little worried as if I'm… Continue reading Manuela Not Forgetting to Play
Manuela’s Pure Genius
Last summer I worked with my dad who's a gardener. It's really physically hard work but I enjoyed it. He'd have me cutting back brambles and mowing lawns and my personal favourite—leaf blowing. The idea for this sign came to me in a flash. Pure unadulterated genius! I probably even laughed incredulously out loud to… Continue reading Manuela’s Pure Genius
Manuela on Being Alive
I've rewritten this so many times and it always feels like I've said the wrong thing. Being alive is hard, so being excited about it isn't an option for a lot of people. Objectively I know that, but when I was planning this photo, I was thinking back to how difficult it is when people… Continue reading Manuela on Being Alive
Manuela puts herself out there
I actually don't want to escape; but I feel like I should want to. When I was a little I remember being really scared about starting new classes or clubs - anything new. I couldn't read yet and I was embarrassed of people finding out so I told my mum that I would go to… Continue reading Manuela puts herself out there
Manuela Amey on Being Scared of Love
I don't want to paint myself as a long-suffering victim of unreasonable boys because it's not the whole truth and I've done my fair share of being selfish and unkind. I think we all start out open-hearted and wanting to love as that's what we wired to do both platonically and romantically. But being that… Continue reading Manuela Amey on Being Scared of Love
Manuela’s Dreams of Looking for a Man
The well-read amongst you will know this is a reference to the cornerstone of romance novels: Pride and Prejudice. Though, perhaps you're like me and have only watched the film and BBC series with Colin Firth, co-starring his incredibly beautiful smile (worth a google). If you're ever feeling heartbroken or feel like your happiness is… Continue reading Manuela’s Dreams of Looking for a Man
My Kon-Tiki Expedition
There are two alcoves at the back of the pub, each with a table and benches for four. The one at the right is devoted to showbiz, biographies and reminiscences of actors. But the vacant alcove yesterday was the left-hand one. It has a mixed bag of mainly tattered books: fiction, travel, memoirs (not showbiz)… Continue reading My Kon-Tiki Expedition
Manuela on Being a Criminal, Loving Porridge, Seeking Connection
For this series I had to do a few extremely illegal things -mostly mild trespassing, punishable with a stern telling off from a security guard. I wanted to take one of the photos at the top of my art building, but the gate to the fire escape is padlocked and the only way in is… Continue reading Manuela on Being a Criminal, Loving Porridge, Seeking Connection
Manuela Amey* on Advertising Yourself
"This project is a parody of the personal ads found in newspapers. I think they are funny and sweet and desperately earnest. For this series I painted posters and banners, writing on them what I was looking for in a partner. I would hold the signs up in public like a huge, off-screen dating profile,… Continue reading Manuela Amey* on Advertising Yourself
Getting Out of Bed
"Cauda Equina Syndrome is a very rare but serious condition, where the bundle of nerves called the Cauda Equina at the bottom of the spine get compressed. The Cauda Equina control the function of the bladder and bowel, and the sensation to the skin of the genitals and bottom area. The most common cause of… Continue reading Getting Out of Bed
Rumours—and Resignation
When I wrote this in March this year, it was prompted by finding I had a duplicate CD. But there's an interesting story of my months working there which remains vivid in my mind but never written up in any form. In the end it was humiliating, to the point where I pleaded ill-health, and… Continue reading Rumours—and Resignation
Entertainment for the Elderly
Well I'm one and I find it fun, worth my annual subscription. There are serious literary articles, readers' letters and a regular section called "Pursuits": Gardening, Kitchen Garden (this month on growing Beetroot), Cookery, Restaurants, Drink, Sport, Motoring. None of which interest me in the slightest. But there's entertainment too, whether intended or otherwise .… Continue reading Entertainment for the Elderly
Greenhayes Across the Years
These old photos have been put online mainly for family, but regular readers of Wayfarer's may be interested too . . . Mark in 1955 “Is it legal to take stones from the massive deposits lying around the mountains? If it is illegal then who should I contact to collect said stones?” “No, it would… Continue reading Greenhayes Across the Years
“Better at Home”—without carers twice a day
I'd been an inpatient at Stoke Mandeville Hospital for a procedure performed by a spinal surgeon, Mr Blagg Cauda equina syndrome is a rare and severe type of spinal stenosis where all of the nerves in the lower back suddenly become severely compressed. . . It requires emergency hospital admission and may require emergency surgery,… Continue reading “Better at Home”—without carers twice a day
Happy Birthday Mary
Some pictures of Hastings that you and I will recognize from childhood. Much has changed since, I'm sure. Welcome to Memory Lane! . . .and there's a cave, long abandoned but didn't smell nice when I looked in as a child
My Best Film – Ever
I was 13, staying at Granny's house in Springfield Road, St Leonards-on-Sea. I lived on the Isle of Wight, but sometimes went there in the Christmas holidays. It was a rainy evening when I went to see the film, always on my own - I had no friends there.
The Handyman, by Brian Spaeth
I am a handyman. No, that is not really accurate—I flatter myself—a real handyman would, at the very least, have a business card, a roster of clients, some form of advertising, and maybe a car or small truck to get around town and to carry tools and supplies. I possess none of these things—therefore I… Continue reading The Handyman, by Brian Spaeth
Mom’s Sunflowers
Grown in Mom's garden cut for us yesterday Mom and Vincent lounging on sofa. Photo by Karleen
In Town Today
It was actually a week ago. I didn't have time to finish it same day. Will try and do better when some new adventure seems worthy of chronicling in my octogenarian life. But things are changing. Muscles are strengthening daily. My Australian father made it to 100 not out, retired from life at 101. I… Continue reading In Town Today
Nature’s Infallible Rules . . .
You lose something and you tell your house-mate. She says, in my case Karleen, " Where did you have it last?"or perhaps "When?" Then you say "well I don't know, I only just realized I don't have it," referring to something precious, in this case the glasses I use all day except for close work… Continue reading Nature’s Infallible Rules . . .
How Authors wrote in 1953
In that year, I was a voracious reader of war books published in Pan This wasn't one of them but I've mentioned others elsewhere, such as The Naked Island: The language of these pages fills me with nostalgia for a world I'd never lived in as an adult: the literary circles in London
My Hospital Bed at Home
Since I was delivered back home from three weeks in a hospital bed I've been getting daily visits from district nurses, healthcare visitors and physiotherapists. As soon as I arrived I found a bed installed in our front room. It barely fits - the mantelpiece had to be removed. Somebody pointed out that Vincent van… Continue reading My Hospital Bed at Home
Life springs forth unstoppably
It's the sixteenth day of my stay in Stoke Mandeville Hospital, world-famous for its treatment of spinal injuries and midwife to the Paraplegic Games, now incorporated into the Olympics.. In the early morning, after the need of nursing help after an embarrassing incident and I was clean and fresh again, I looked online for views… Continue reading Life springs forth unstoppably
Testament Ya Bowule
My favourite african song Translation
Letters from Ward 1 . . .
The book which we'll continue to read in bed when I get home From chapter 2 of the book we're reading: Mix of dialects in an old Caribbean country ---likely Jamaica I just found this after a cannula had been removed The other side From my bed I can see my own private washbasin and… Continue reading Letters from Ward 1 . . .
First letter from Ward 1
Below you'll find our current reading book, which will be resumed as soon as I no longer need to be luxuriously immured in Stoke Mandeville Hospital. — click title to read on ... By my bedside: looks like an old-fashioned bicycle basket Selfie showing washbasin and own wetroom Here's my swing-over bedside table showing my… Continue reading First letter from Ward 1
From a Comfy Sofa
I've become 95% bedridden! There's a number of reasons and some remaining issues, which keep the NHS doctors very concerned as to my full condition. The basic one is this. All my life I've had a slight spinal curvature, not like that of Richard III's hunchback as portrayed in Shakespeare; but in the lower spine.… Continue reading From a Comfy Sofa
An Irish Connection
On my birthday in 2014 we had a visit from my daughter Rosemarie and son-in law Padraic O'Riain. As an an immigrant from Dublin, he's about as Irish as you can get. His first name is pronounced Porric. I've never been on second-name terms with him but I imagine it's pronounced O'Ryan. Their son is… Continue reading An Irish Connection
Mother’s Day Visit
In England, Mother's Day was on Friday March 19th, a celebration for three Jamaican mothers who live in England. We're not in a position to visit them in South-East London, as we don't have a car any more. What with this and that, we weren't able to meet up till last Saturday 20th May. We… Continue reading Mother’s Day Visit
Peter Gabriel: Us
Track 1: Come Talk to Me The wretched desert takes its formThe jackal proud and tightIn search of you I feel my wayThrough slowest heaving nightWhatever fear inventsI swear it makes no senseI reach out through the border fenceCome down, come talk to me In the swirling curling storm of desireUnuttered words hold fastWith reptile… Continue reading Peter Gabriel: Us
Driving again
I stopped driving three years ago, started to feel frightened of hitting other vehicles, or worse. Even in daylight. Carefully made my last journey up the hill to WeBuyAnyCar, was amazed to get back nearly half of what I paid for it new ten years earlier. (v. low mileage full, maintenance history—plus inflation?) But I'm… Continue reading Driving again
The Impending Gleam, English wit and humour, Pictorial . . .
My Day, by Victoria Roberts
I've no idea how I came to acquire this book, but it was published in 1984, when my youngest daughter was five years old. I'll ask her how old she would have been to write her name thus. (She reckons 9) I've selected a few out of the fifty strip cartoons. Victoria Roberts was born… Continue reading My Day, by Victoria Roberts
A Portrait of General Gordon
DURING the year 1883 a solitary English gentleman was to be seen, wandering, with a thick book under his arm, in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. His unassuming figure, short and slight, with its half-gliding, half-tripping motion, gave him a boyish aspect, which contrasted, oddly but not unpleasantly, with the touch of grey on his hair… Continue reading A Portrait of General Gordon
Mother’s Day
Here in England, and I guess throughout the British Commonwealth, yesterday was Mother's Day. It was a special and poignant event, Karleen having lost her beloved daughter to Covid in the prime of her life. I'd made a compilation album for our anniversary three years ago, but the CD was labelled with a Sharpie, the… Continue reading Mother’s Day
A World Split by the Same God …
. . . Un Mondo Separado Por El Mismo Dios in the original Spanish I put this compilation together about 12 years ago. 1. Weep No More My Baby - Brenda Lee I'd just left school and got a summer job washing dishes in a Shanklin hotel - heard it in the street and loved… Continue reading A World Split by the Same God …
Secrets of Happy Family Life
2189. Husband and Wife.—Being hints to each other for the good of both, as actually delivered at our own table :— 2190. Hints for Wives.—If your husband occasionally looks a little troubled when he comes home, do not say to him, with an alarmed countenance, " What ails you, my dear ? " Don't bother… Continue reading Secrets of Happy Family Life
World Music
I've got two copies of this CD. One is for sale to the first reader who comes along, at any price to be agreed. Drop me a note if you're interested. I'll post it to anywhere in the world, which is appropriate when you consider how many countries have contributed to the track list. Two… Continue reading World Music
Dimples
I mentioned "Dimples" by John Lee Hooker in The Day the President Died. I have two copies of the Dimples album, both of the same quality. One of them is for sale, drop me a line if you're interested. Here's the title song: Here's what happened, as reported in the post linked above A friend… Continue reading Dimples
Storms
The songs I like best in this album by singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith are "You Made This Love a Teardrop" and "It's a Hard Life Wherever You Go". Each song is a dignified lament, as typified by the title "If Wishes Were Changes". Most sentimental songs in the world of Pop are about "me", my… Continue reading Storms
Live Dead
"Live Dead explains why the Dead are one of the best performing bands in America, why their music touches on ground that most other groups don’t even know exists. "A list of song titles would mean very little in terms of what actually goes on inside the album. Like the early Cream, the Dead in… Continue reading Live Dead
a wayfarer’s notes 