2006: poetry, hate crimes in the news, and a loss still keenly felt today
It’s an entry from 2006 that, every year since, gets an impressive flurry of hits around GCSE exam time. Thankfully, I know the information I posted in Carol Ann Duffy: A Beginner’s Guide, all about one of Britain’s most successful poets, is correct—but really, despite GCSE results around the country usually being quite good, it concerns me that kids are still using the Internet for last-minute revision despite all the warnings that, when it comes to study, books should be used and not websites that haven’t been given a stamp of educational authority. I mean, I know the stuff I wrote isn’t fiction, but I agree with the advice. Sites like Wikipedia are most often used, despite anyone being able to contribute to them.
tags: 2006, archives, bereavement, Carol Ann Duffy, cats, China, David Morley, Dolly, Iran, poetry, retrospective, UN, US, ZimbabweThe life story of an extraordinary cat
My tabby cat Dolly died aged 19 on Midsummer’s Eve. I am aware there are those in the world who most likely cannot ever comprehend how the loss of a cat could ever be compared to that of, say, a son or daughter. Yet I say to those people, look at the time span involved. I was 21-years-old when Dolly came into my life as a kitten. As I write this, I’m less than a year off 40. Then imagine how many formative life experiences I have been through with my cat either at my side or waiting for me at home to remind me I am loved.
tags: animals, autobiography, bereavement, cats, Dolly, grief, obituary, pets
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