Limited Places for Children's Book Week. Reserve your workshop now.
NOT A THOUGHT-LEADERSHIP BLOG ...
This is a virtual pile of field notes from the wild: curiosities, experiments, and more than a few bad ideas.
I'm hoping to create an ongoing record of experiments, observations, strange resources and educational side quests.
I make no promises, but with luck, you may find the odd instance of accidental insight.
Saturday, 9 May 2026
Learning is a risky business.
I have a vague suspicion that modern parenting culture would consider parts of my child-rearing philosophy somewhere between “concerning” and “unhinged renegade.”
When my children were about seven and ten, we made tiny bows and arrows out of hair clips, floss, and matchsticks. I found instructions buried somewhere on the interwebs.
We dipped cotton tips in kerosene, lit them, and fired flaming projectiles at a cardboard castle we had built earlier that week in the backyard.
Before anyone contacts local authorities: it was winter, the castle was sitting on brick paving, the hose was nearby, and I was supervising closely while quietly questioning my own judgement and/or sanity. We had a grand time.
Also, in fairness, the castle had it coming.
Wednesday, 6 May 2026
We warned our kids for centuries not to stare too long into ponds.
The Greeks, as they were prone to do, made it weirdly sexual.
A beautiful youth kneels at the water’s edge, falls in love with his own reflection, and dies there.
Moral of the story: vanity bad. Hydrate responsibly.”
