Archive for the ‘My life & thoughts’ Category
Back from Iran
November 7th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
Vee and I returned home this morning from our week’s holiday in Iran. We had a wonderful time. All went well and we had no political problems, although we were in the country for the 30th anniversary of the taking of the American Embassy hostages. More so than any other country I’ve visited – and […]
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Iran – here we come
October 21st, 2009 by Roger Darlington
Today I collected our visas and tickets from Cox & Kings for our forthcoming holiday in Iran. I’ve already read two books on the history of Iran. Another thing I do before each trip abroad is to check out my own advice on “How To Travel Wisely”.
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The perils of being a writer
October 17th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
In an article in today’s “Guardian”, writer Lionel Shriver explains how basing her fifth novel on her own family proved disasterous for familial relationships. All writers face the problem that inevitably they will draw on the lives of people they know – perhaps most especially their own – but one does not want to cause […]
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My 12th short story
October 17th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
I haven’t published a short story for a couple of weeks – too many work meetings. But today I’ve added to my web site my latest – and my shortest – story. It’s entitled “An African Adventure”. Please check it out and let me know what you think.
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Three libraries and one Marxist
October 11th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
This week, I visited Manchester to speak for Consumer Focus at a fringe meeting of the Conservative Party Conference [my blog posting here]. I took the opportunity to see my step-mother who lives outside the city. Now I love books and she is a former librarian, so she took me to no less than three […]
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Dinner at “Bakko”
October 11th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
Now that our good friend Eric has moved from Finchley to Muswell Hill in north London, we’re exploring new eating venues each time we see him. This evening, we went to a Turkish place called “Bakko” and had the set menu. Delicious food and friendly service.
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My visit to Toryland
October 9th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
I’ve been a member of the Labour Party for 40 years and, in my younger days, between 1972-1983 I attended 12 consecutive Labour Party Conferences at various seaside venues. But this week was my first visit to a Conservative Party Conference and the venue was Manchester (actually my home town). I was a speaker for […]
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How to recognise a stroke
October 7th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
“Hi Roger, I am a single 44 year old female living in Darlington, a recent stroke survivor just home after 5 weeks in hospital and 2 weeks in Eastbourne Care Home! On 31st July 09 at 3pm my life changed forever when I collapsed at home alone and a neighbour heard my screams for help! […]
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My 11th short story
October 2nd, 2009 by Roger Darlington
My latest short story is entitled “A Life In A Box” – the first one to be stimulated by my course in short story writing. Please check it out and let me know what you think.
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My short story writing course (2)
September 30th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
This morning, I attended the second session of my course in short story writing at the City Lit in central London. Much of the session was spent discussing the homework from last week when we were asked to draft 500-800 words as the opening of a short story picking up on an object in the […]
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