Category Uncategorized

The Guardian, Story Terrace and twisting the facts about lockdown stories

Double Portrait, a book that I ghostwrote for the Story Terrace biography writing service, was prominently featured in a Guardian article by Amelia Hill in December 2020. It reveals how the enforced separations caused by Covid-19 lockdowns have driven the demand… Continue Reading →

Minnebok, memories and mosaics: keeping a diary in the 1970s

For years I thought that the five-year diary (above, left) was my first attempt at keeping a daily record of my thoughts, activities and evolving taste in film, TV and books. It’s a handsome, leather-bound volume that lends itself to the… Continue Reading →

Why blue is still my warmest colour

This picture of a Drizair 1200 dehumidifier isn’t something I expected to be posting on my blog. This spring the latest bit of tech that landed in my flat wasn’t from the Apple store or the growing range of Amazon… Continue Reading →

BFI London Film Festival 2017: Battle of the Sexes

I was looking forward to the BFI London Film Festival screening of Battle of the Sexes, the movie about the 1973 tennis showdown between feminist heroine Billie Jean King and chauvinist jackass Bobby Riggs. I love tennis, I love the… Continue Reading →

Billy Joel: boxing clever

Since I got a portable record player for Christmas 2016 I’ve been transported back to the music of my teenage years, when Billy Joel was my doe-eyed, bouffant-haired pop idol. I bought Billy Joel’s fifth album, The Stranger, soon after… Continue Reading →

Divorce is no laughing matter

Sky claims its new HBO comedy Divorce is “following the slow unwinding of a marriage”. But the pilot episode seemed to be heading in the direction of a shotgun divorce for Frances (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Robert (Thomas Haden Church),… Continue Reading →

Back to black: seven things I love about vinyl records

On a recent episode of the BBC’s Back in Time for the Weekend we got a timely reminder that vinyl records still have the wow factor. I thought teenager Daisy Ashby-Hawkins would be far too entrenched in the world of… Continue Reading →

War and Peace: big hits and some misses

For once the BBC content warning about “upsetting scenes” was not misplaced. I’m not talking about those hyperactive leeches that made an appearance early in Episode 5 of War and Peace, or the demise of Prince Nikolai Bolkonsky (magnificently played… Continue Reading →

Who cares about the Oscars?

The Oscars are essentially parochial, popularity driven and largely irrelevant to people who aren’t fascinated by frocks, flash-bulbs and side-boobs. Oh we do love a Hollywood drama – especially one in which Tinseltown’s hallowed institutions take centre stage. I’m talking… Continue Reading →

© 2024 Notreallyworking — Words by Susannah Straughan

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