Charlie Brown and the War on Terror

There’s a Peanuts cartoon that basically boils down to ‘Everyone has a best day ever’ – ‘What if you’ve already had yours?’ We kind of know that Charlie Brown, though only a kid and only … Read More

Lucy and the Fury Of Common Sense

Lucy is probably the most contemporary character in Peanuts. Normally this would mean that she represents contemporary thought and values. And she does. Just not particularly positive thought. In the Peanuts world there’s no happy … Read More

An Abridged Edit/or…

I was going to try and articulate what a contemporary editor does in this essay but quickly realised how pointless and probably very boring that would be. Instead (and perhaps inevitably) I will focus on … Read More

This Curated Face

We’re all natural editors, particularly those of the generations that grew up in around here (Northern Ireland) in the 1970s/1980s. We avoided certain people or certain streets in certain areas, editing ourselves out of our … Read More

Scarred Essay 6: The Doctor Is In.

I’m worried about a little boy who sits in front of me at school. He cries every day. This afternoon I tried to help him. I whacked him one on the arm…There’s nothing like a … Read More

Started Out Oliver, ended up Fagin…

There’s nothing so great, or for some so annoying as having a line of a song continually in your head. On this occasion the song in question being The Wrong Road by The Go-Betweens, those … Read More

Goodbye and Hello to all that…

Well, 2020 has been an experience and undoubtedly a trial for everyone. Our world suddenly contracted and became much more dangerous. It has definitely become more Abridged. Intimacy is always the first casualty of a … Read More