Gary Strachan – "Write" Said Fred
Whimsical observations from deep within an erratic mind
As alluded to in yesterday's journal Hide & Seek With The Pathogen, I've aspirations of a Pepysesque chronicling this era at the mercy of COVID-19's conniption. Consequently, for the duration of the viruses brutal grip, I'm treating these daily journals as diary entries of how Gj Strachan's emotions fluctuate during these unprecedented times. Links to... Continue Reading →
Day two of isolation amongst the Yorkshire Dales' aesthetically pleasing rural mural. My temporary residence, a 19th century cottage, hopefully my sanctuary from contracting the coronavirus. Misguidedly, I poetically like to think COVID-19 wouldn't dare darken the door of this idyllic setting with it's stark agenda, but it's clearly a notion of folly. Overnight, I've... Continue Reading →
Lately, I've regularly been accompanied with a background narration from an audio book. A literary entertainment medium which I've found solves the erratic concentration levels I experience when physically reading a hardback or paperback tome. Predominantly streamed while I'm driving, this method of audio delivery fuels seedling aspirations I've held for a few months of... Continue Reading →
Tomorrow, my daughter Rachel leaves her childhood home in Leeds, moving into a flat with her partner in Kent. The town of Tunbridge Wells becoming her new home, in the county whose aesthetic beauty earns it the moniker of 'The Garden of England'. What amazes me is how many people seem to know she's moving... Continue Reading →
I treat these narratives as a sort of diary. The existential journal of a random middle aged northern man’s ups and downs. Capricious meanderings based on truth, but given a light hearted fictional spin to ameliorate days which in all reality are predominantly pretty drab. Ordinarily, I attempt to avoid my diary becoming the type containing the sentimental... Continue Reading →
This is the first narrative I've had the opportunity to pen for a few days. The hours ordinarily spend getting my daily literary fix instead taken up preparing for readings I've committed to perform next week in Bedfordshire. Consequently, as opposed to writing a blog on Wednesday and Thursday, yours truly spent several hours editing... Continue Reading →
Yesterday afternoon, I arrived back in West Yorkshire following an excellent week at a Strachan clan gathering in Aberdeenshire. The five hours it took to drive home from my overnight stop in Dumbarton diminishing energy levels, but not my high spirits borne from seven days of mixing with my tribe. On returning into chez Strachan... Continue Reading →
Meteorological inclemency may've spoiled a multitude of Bank Holiday plans for our sceptred isles populace, however the shrubs and bedding plants providing natures kaleidoscopic bounty in my garden have benefited no end. Looked through my dining areas bay window the euphorbia, aquilegia, forget-me-nots, forsythia, rhododendrons, azaleas et al seem to have doubled in size they... Continue Reading →
For no other reason that attempting to broaden my intellectual horizons, within the last week or so I've watched a number of political, religious and social debates on YouTube. Among these verbal interactions the thought-provoking and erudite notions of late writers Christopher Hitchens, William F Buckley Jr and Gore Vidal. Individuals with differing ideologies, but... Continue Reading →