
For today’s (late) Messy Tuesdays post I wish to dwell momentarily on the mess associated with my packaging skills, or – put more bluntly – my inclination towards making parcels which have been strengthened with sellotape and gaffer tape to the point that they have become unsightly. Ugly Parcels, if you will. Let us dwell […]

I have learned from my copy of “Waterloo Sunrise” that the district in which I live is called Katesgrove, and that this area of Reading once housed three kilns from whence the many bricks required to build the town’s Victorian terraced houses came. Our search for the redbrick history of Reading begins at Katesgrove Lane, […]

Yesterday was my perfect kind of day. It started out with an installment of Reading brick-watching* and knit-dreaming. (Don’t all these brickwork patterns just scream “FAIRISLE” at you?) Chequered brickwork. Re-done brickwork wall. TAM-PATTERN brickwork. Wouldn’t it be the most amazing TAM? Brickwork with fine tea urn. Brickwork with ageing shop signage. Brickwork doorway leading […]

1. Curating A LOOK on Pinterest! There is something indescribably pleasing about collating together all the great things that you see online and organising them into pinboards, then using this as inspiration to refresh one’s wardrobe. 2. Photographing Reading’s bricks. I am amassing a library of photos of bricks on my errands about town and […]

I am working on a new piece for a performance next Friday at The Rising Sun Arts Centre in Reading. The performance is part of Active Crossover; a project by Simon Whetham. Here is some information on Active Crossover: Active Crossover 2011 ‘Active Crossover’ will be running in four gallery spaces in the year 2011. […]

I was so excited to read Kirsty’s post reviving the Messy Tuesdays concept that I immediately vowed to write a Messy Tuesdays post of my own this week. Happily I am never short of a creative mess or two (or three or four or five…) to document on Messy Tuesdays, and the affirmative power of […]

A couple of Sundays back, the Sticks’n’String knitters plus some Bluestockings came over for a yarn-swap and a tasty feast. The rules were simply that everyone should bring some kind of local fare for the table plus some yarn to swap. Everyone bought amazing things to eat – pies, sausages, cheeses, cakes, chutneys etc. – […]

Here’s what’s on my FUNLIST this week; a mostly-ticked off list, which is full of the sounds I need to record whilst here in Wales, staying with Brenda and Tonia and their adorable animals. The sounds relate to the project Brenda talked about in her last podcast; Jasper in Brenda’s knitting basket; keeping busy and […]

Since I began producing podcasts I have become a frequent consumer of them. As a consumer of podcasts, I love that I can curate very specific listening experiences from the smorgasbord of free audio that exists on the Internet. As a producer of podcasts, I like that the DIY nature of the podcast means it […]

The past few months have been manic. Since my PhD studies came to an end and my AHRC funding ran out, I am relying 100% on my own wits and skills to make an income. I am trading as a self-employed artist, which is not the fantastically high-paid profession that one might hope. However, I […]

I spent today sawing and drilling and swearing at broken drill bits and I shall spend tonight editing audio and writing a script. Why? Because tomorrow I am setting up my work for Oxford Brookes’ Audiograft festival. Before I get right back onto tonight’s editing and varnishing, I wanted to share with you here the […]

Mikal, doing some knitting amidst our afternoon tea! I immensely enjoyed organising Liz’s Hen Do. I have never been to a Hen Do before, so I was slightly unsure as to what would be de rigueur. The Internet cafe where I worked in my early twenties was frequently assailed on weekend nights by drunken women […]

I started knitting these fingerless mitts (Fresco Fair Isle Mitts by Pam Allen, Interweave Knits, Fall 2008) way back in October when I last visited with Brenda and Tonia. Casting these on represented the start of the ALICE STARMORE YARN MANIA (which has pretty much reigned over my knitting ever since) and I am really […]

Since many of you emailed to say you missed the BBC iplayer and didn’t hear the show on Boxing Day, I posted it here for download. However the show was downloaded so many times that I have had to pay for excess bandwidth on this site! Additionally, the mp3 file for Around the A4074 was […]

I am very sad today because yesterday my Godmother died. She was 91 years old. Although she was not technically my Aunt, (she tried to explain the family tree to me many times and I was never able to fathom its complexities) the whole family has always referred to Hilary as “Aunty Hilary,” and she […]

Here is the tracklist for Around the A4074, which will be available to hear on the iplayer for one week. Soundwalk stationery, created for World Listening Day, (July 18th) and designed to draw attention to the sounds around the A4074 especially around Dorchester, Warborough and Shillingford Joe Moran speaking about his book, On Roads and […]

Some of you may be interested to learn that the radio show I dreamt up back in October 2009 will air on Boxing Day at 6pm on BBC Oxford. In Around the A4074 I explore how the everyday context of the commute may be considered differently. There are interviews with Joe Moran – writer of […]

The first things I did after moving in with Mark and redecorating our bedroom involved 1. creating a sock-knitting area in the bottom of my wardrobe and 2. curating a shelf-load of books on my side of the bed themed around adventures and journeys. I organised my books and my sock-knitting books/yarns etc. in tandem […]

The instant I saw Kate’s amazing hat – Tantallon (Rav pattern link) – I knew I had to make it! When I read the A.D.D. knitter’s post on the subject I am ashamed to admit that I immediately began to badger Kate about when the pattern would be available, when I could begin knitting it, […]

It feels like ages and ages since I wrote here. But really, it’s only been a month. However, it has been a pretty big month. From left to right: Teg, Pops, me, Ferg, Sian, Bam, Ned. Firstly, one of my three brothers – Fergus – got married. I am overjoyed for him and Sian. I […]

Thanks to everyone who was involved in Sound:Site. I hope everyone came away with something… with ideas about what it means to record sounds and with ideas about how we can play more in the world. I really loved the whole day, and have huge respect for all the projects and artists who represented their […]

Venue: South Hill Park, Bracknell, RG12 7PA. UK Box Office: Tel 01344 484123 Sound:Site – Sonic Arts Festival Date: Saturday 2nd October Time: 10.00-5.30pm / 7.00pm evening concert Tickets: £26.00 / £18.00 (students/membs) Box Office: 01344 484123 Talks and demonstrations exploring the Internet as a destination for making and showing artwork, for sharing sounds, bringing […]

It has been a good week. I enjoyed writing and presenting my paper on Wednesday at Sounding Out 5 and meeting the other folks there. My paper was about my use of radio as an artist and how sound is important to me in terms of both discovering a sense of place, and being able […]
I posted a few months ago about the importance of Good Weekends and so far, that is what today and tomorrow are shaping up to be. Incidentally, the grunting pigs sound which I posted from Mudchute Farm on that post is now up on the UK SoundMap (my new favourite thing!) and The London Sound […]