Every so often somebody will make a comment and you’ll let it pass over your head. And then, half an hour later, as you cross a busy street, the full impact of the comment strikes you and you’re nearly run down by a brewer’s dray as you forget to concentrate on what is happening around … More The Orchidaceous Maljie
The city of Port Naain may at times present a visage formed of endless grim, smoke encrusted, streets but this is a façade. A ‘front’ presented to the sea so that visitors are not tempted to stop for long. The Partannese go home and tell their families, dupes, and co-conspirators what a dour and dreadful … More The risks of Hedging
Staffan Valeed was one of those young men you knew would always go far. Opinions varied. Some claimed that as he wandered about with his nose in a book he would end up being mugged by the crimp and sold for a sailor. Others commented that his habit of being naturally charming to young ladies … More Miles and Miles of Damn All.
I suppose one can become jaded, but frankly I find watching people ensures that I am never bored. Irritated perhaps. But still, never bored.I was sitting watching the sun rise over Exegesis Square. This is something I find myself doing more than I would like but you know what it’s like. A patron summons you … More The Human Condition
I confess that I have never had a professional relationship with a window cleaner. This isn’t a matter of policy but of pure chance. After all, I live in a barge. Our windows, portholes or whatever, are all at a sensible height. I can clean them all in less than half an hour. Similarly window … More Cleaning windows
When I was a child on the streets of Port Naain, there was a phrase that struck with me, ‘You’ve been feeding the mimes again.’ This was a way of saying that you were in trouble and had brought it upon yourself. I confess that I never thought a lot about it. But then I … More Don’t feed the mimes
In Port Naain, people get married. This can be done comparatively simply and cheaply at the Hall of Records. All the happy couple need do is sign the paperwork, pay over one vintenar, and you are married. Notice of the wedding is posted widely on various official noticeboards and anybody who objects, like another spouse, … More Brides, blushing or otherwise
Maljie, (who changed into something less formal and more suited to a pleasant summer’s day) captured by Jen People do comment, from time to time, (but never within earshot of Maljie) that here in the Shine of Aea in Her Aspect as the Personification of Tempered Enthusiasm, our services lack a certain style. It may … More Observing the Ecclesiastical niceties.
There is doubtless much to be said for amateur theatre, some of it probably printable in a respectable publication. Certainly it is not a medium that a reputable poet would wish to become entangled in. I lay the blame firmly at the door of my oldest friend, Calina Salin. She is a fine dancer, but … More Art for Art’s Sake
People seem to think that at the shrine of Aea in Her Aspect as the Personification of Tempered Enthusiasm, we effortlessly ricochet from crisis to crisis. In reality, days can flow tranquilly past with barely an incident to leave a ripple of the surface. There are days I can drop into the shrine when moving … More Move along, nothing to see here
