An Epic

Maybe I'm slightly biased but the love story of Gillian and Ralph Stone is one of THE great untold love stories, an epic spanning seventy years since they met just after the chaos of world war 2 through the second half of the 20th century, until now amidst the chaos of 2017.

Families, seeds and flowers

Families expect domestic bliss and togetherness to continue for ever,

but familiar forms fall apart and the child leaves the family. 

Carrying the essence of what they know as a hidden seed,

 like a burr brushed past caught coincidentally and carried  on a sock.

It will flower sometime in the future

The child doesn't choose  its parents

The Story of the Wandering Goodie

Do you see that tallman?' she said, as a doctor approached a nearby patient on nearby bed,
' he' she said secretively, 'is a wandering goodie'

The phrase 'This hospital is full of wandering goodies' came into my head.

I laughed at the thought - it sounded like guardian angels or wandering souls. I imagined these nomadic spirits wandering around the world looking for a place to help people and congregating around  hospitals.

Later, wanting to write more but in a quandary because she had triggered the image,
I said to her 'can we make a collaboration?'
 I imagined a story around the idea of the Wandering Goody.
 She inspired it but I would write it.

'You don't have to ask me to collaborate ' she said as she lay weakly semiconscious on her hospital bed,
she had probably forgotten that she even said 'wandering goodie'

Tickboxes

RESEARCH INTO TICKBOXES
You may tick more than one box if they apply. Think and be
truthful

Do you like tickbox questionnaires?
     yes

     No
     Yes, but with reservations
     No but they are useful sometimes

Do you use tickboxes?
     Always

     Very often
     Occasionally
     Never

Do you like yes/no questions?
     Yes

     No
     Occasionally
     Sometimes

Thats alright then isn’t it?
     I strongly agree

     I strongly disagree

Do you agree with this statement: “If it was always good i’d
be much happier”

     I agree
     I disagree
     I nearly agree
     I nearly disagree
     Nothing is perfect

Do you like it when things go wrong?
     Always

     Very often
     Occasionally
     Never

Generally, do things chug along nicely for you?
     Always

     Very often
     Occasionally
     Never

Do you want it to be perfect?
     Always

     Very often
     Occasionally
     Never

And when is it perfect?
     Always

     Never
     More often if I worked at it

How often do you think?
     Always

     Very often
     Occasionally
     Never

How do you feel?
     Numb

     I don’t
     Emotional
     I can’t explain

If I was to ask you an open ended question how would you
answer?

     An open ended question?
     Yes
     No

Are you positive?
     Always

     Occasionally
     Often
     Never

Is this a joke?
Yes
No
You’re weird
Don’t be silly. A box is a box is a box

Do we know more about you than when we started this
questionnaire?

     Yes, I feel robbed, naked and ripped off

     Slightly
     Depends on what algorithm you are using to assess the

results
     No, I am an unknowable fortress and mystery even to my

closest friends
     Who me? I’ve got nothing to hide

Complete the following sentence using one of the following
options:
Tickboxes ________

     1)______  magically sum up what I was thinking anyway

     2) _____ are rubbish.Who cares? I just tick any box and
     move on

     3) _____are great because they distil all my thoughts
     into a simple yes no decision thereby circumventing
     much  angst and verbal diarrhoea enabling the assessor
     to see how  I truly truly feel

     4).___ are  a bit freaky because I don’t know how who
     is going to see them

     5)If you truly cared for me you would give me a big box
     like the one below where I could explain exactly how I
     truly am.

6) I don’t understand this form of question. I want a tickbox please (ok)

please read this survey aloud to friends

Please put any other comments or feelings in the box
below

Thankyou for completing this survey.
 Please return to jonijonjon@mac.com

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