This is the story of a band that could have been. I hated music lessons at school. You know – the compulsory classes, often on a Friday afternoon, where you had to learn what crotchets and minims are, and play things on Casio keyboards. Someone would always manage to trigger one of the pre-loaded backing… Continue reading Where it all began
Category: being a teenager
Choose your camp?
A few days ago, I became one of those awful people who starts a conversation with a stranger on public transport. Ordinarily, I’d say there’s a circle in Hell reserved for these shameless types, but sometimes you overhear a morsel that’s so gosh-darn up your street that you’ve chimed in before you’ve realised what’s happening.… Continue reading Choose your camp?
Talking to yourself
Talking to yourself is an art. I don’t mean the “oh, Jesus Christ!” you exclaim aloud as you stumble out of bed forty minutes after your alarm went off, or the “I am a terrible person who deserves nothing but misery” following the consumption of an entire Terry’s Chocolate orange (what is it about those… Continue reading Talking to yourself
On choosing ignorance
Imagine for a moment that History was made an optional subject for schools to teach. “You can teach them about the past – tell them about world wars, and uprisings, and revolutions and dictatorships. Like, if you want. If you’ve got a spare hour or two in the timetable to fill, that’s cool, revisit the… Continue reading On choosing ignorance
On growing up
Read on to find out why these are in any way relevant… I’m not a proper grown-up yet. I know this because, firstly, I still live with my parents (no, it’s not out of choice; how on earth would it be?); secondly, I can’t drive; and thirdly, I still get excited about my birthday (it’s… Continue reading On growing up
Girl problems
What’s wrong with this poster? So this is festive. I wrote about sex & relationship education relatively recently, but in the last week or two, I’ve stumbled across a couple of articles that only reinforce the worry that our whole attitude to teaching young people about relationships is dangerously out-of-touch. Firstly, there was this, which… Continue reading Girl problems
Advice I’m not qualified to give, but am giving anyway
Or, “stuff I wish I’d known sooner – not that I would have listened, in the event of actually being told”. My sister officially became a teenager last Sunday. I say “officially” – emotionally, she’s been one for about the last four months. It’s come as quite a shock to my mother: “she doesn’t talk… Continue reading Advice I’m not qualified to give, but am giving anyway
