About & FAQs

Why do you have a blog?
I like to docu­ment things. I’ve lived in a few differ­ent places over the years, and read­ing someone’s blog is a good way to keep up with what’s going on in their life. I like getting an insight into other people’s lives by read­ing their blogs and zines too. I prefer read­ing blogs that are done for person­al interest rather than commer­cially, for that reas­on. I also like look­ing back at my old entries and remem­ber­ing where I was in my life then.

How do you choose what to write about?
Whatever interests me. I don’t really write much about the times I stayed in on Friday night to do my tax return or was horrendously bored wait­ing at the train station for 2 hours, because quite frankly, I don’t think I’d be able to make them inter­est­ing to read about. I don’t tend to share much of my private life here unless I really want to public­ally call someone out, either.

Do you run adverts or do sponsored posts?
No, I do this blog for fun, not to earn advert­ising money. I don’t use affil­ate links either, because I think they’re shady, and places like Amazon already have enough of a market share. If someone sent me a free sample, I wouldn’t feel obliged to give it a good review. If I recom­mend some­thing, it’s because I genu­inely like it, not because I was paid to do it. The only ads at the side are for my own things, and the only things sold here are my own work.

Where does the name come from?
“A note on a rainy night to a friend in the north” is the best known English trans­la­tion of this poem I like.

Do you update on a sched­ule?
No, just when I feel like it. I try to make sure I write some­thing at least once a week.

Do you have anoth­er blog?
Yes I do, Wonders of Stereo (currently under repair), about strange second hand records.

Would you do a zine table at my gig/​club night?
Yes, as long as I liked the music and could get there. I live in SE England, but I visit other places pretty frequently too.

Why do you draw the food in the recipes?
I’m no good at food photo­graphy. I don’t seem to have the knack of making things look appet­ising.

Tell me all your mystic­al details.
Capri­corn. I don’t believe in astro­logy in the slight­est. INTP. I’m skep­tic­al about that too.

What are your tips for second-hand shop­ping?
I would say visit the shops quite regu­larly, and only when you’re in the mood for brows­ing. I only look at what I’m in the mood for look­ing at that day, so often I don’t look at everything. I just think it should be fun, rather than a grim-faced bargain hunt.

What’s your polit­ic­al stance?
Left-wing. I’ve been a veget­ari­an for a very long time. I’m very anti the current Conser­vat­ive govern­ment. If the Tories of the 40s were lower than vermin, this lot are some kind of ünter-cock­roach.

How tall are you?
5 ft 9.

What camer­as do you use?
Please see this link.

What camera film do you use?
It varies really. If it’s c41 film, just the cheap stuff from Pound­land or Aldi. If it’s cross-processed slide film, then I like the Kodak ones and Fuji Astia. I find Velvia comes out too green in x-pro. I use a Canon film scan­ner to scan them in, so I don’t pay much for devel­op­ment.

What writers do you like?
Margaret Atwood,  Paul Auster, Jorge Luis Borges, Mikhail Bulgakov, Angela Carter, Susanna Clarke, Colette, Dostoyevsky, Gerald Durrell, T.S. Eliot, Michel Faber, Esth­er Freud, Graham Greene,  Zora Neale Hurston, Tove Jans­son, Diana Wynne Jones, Franz Kafka, Hilary Mantell, Martin Millar, George Orwell,  Mervyn Peake, Raymond Queneau, Patrick Süss­kind, Dylan Thomas, Evelyn Waugh, Virgin­ia Woolf

What bands do you like?
I could fill up a huge amount of space with this list, but here’s some long-term and current favour­ites, arranged alpha­bet­ic­ally: Anim­al Collect­ive, Arab Strap, Syd Barrett, Belle and Sebasti­an, Björk, Boards of Canada, David Bowie, Kate Bush, Can, Cap’n Jazz, Cat Power, Codeine, Leonard Cohen, Shir­ley Collins, the Cure, Datbly­gu, Deer­hunter, Nick Drake, Do Make Say Think, Echo and the Bunny­men, the Fall, Faust, Felt, Godspeed, Gorky’s, Guided by Voices, PJ Harvey, Hüsker Dü, Kraft­werk, Love, the Magnet­ic Fields, Modest Mouse, Mogwai, My Bloody Valentine, Nirvana, Neu!, Neut­ral Milk Hotel, Jim O’Rourke, the Pastels, Pave­ment, the Pixies, Pulp, Sebadoh, Silver Jews, Slint, Elli­ott Smith, the Smiths, Sonic Youth, Super Furry Anim­als, the Velvet Under­ground, Wild Noth­ing

How do you make your zines?
See this entry

Can you help me run a zine event?
Here are my tips.

Would you trade for a zine?
Yes, email me to sort out the details.
I like to trade for:
Other zines, of course
UK first-class stamps
Vintage dress patterns 34″ bust
View­mas­ter reels of any topic
Rolls of expired slide film

What art mater­i­als do you use?
I use black posca mark­ers to draw with, the kind with a fine nib. I often draw straight in pen rather than making a detailed pencil sketch. In my sketch­book I often use letra­set mark­ers or indi­an ink. If I’m using the computer, I scan in the black line art, auto­trace it in silhou­ette mode on Illus­trat­or, and colour it in either on Illus­trat­or or Photoshop.

Are you avail­able for weddings, funer­als and Bar Mitzvahs?
I suppose so, but I’m not sure what you expect me to do there.

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