Blondie, Beedi, and our beloved Brothel Creeper-in-drag
cindyphillips from my Substack archives: 1 July 2025 It’s a nice day for music birthdays. There’s Jeff Wayne, turning 82 today, the guy who gave us the prophetic Jeff Wayne’s Musical…
#stetwalk
How come I know Marla Maples, and holding on for 80 000 rabbits.
from my Substack archives: Perfect album for today, how come I know Marla Maples, and holding on for 80 000 rabbits. Cindy Phillips, June 30, 2025 The noise of post-Glastonbury…
SEGUE, SEGUE, SATURDAY
From my Substack archives: Segue Segue, SaturdayCindy Phillips, Jun 28, 2025 I love a slooooow segue; the learning is the aphrodisiac, and I type my own em dashes – because…
MAYBE YOU DON’T OWN YOUR NOVEL DRAFT, DID YOU KNOW THAT?
"Penguin Random House has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging its chatbot ChatGPT violated copyright by mimicking and reproducing the content of a popular series of German children’s books. The…
So long, WordPress, hello, Substack (for a while…)
I’ll be back soon, writing regularly on everything from history and culture to the odd bit of kitchen-sink philosophy. Need a distraction from the news? Yesterday’s piece covered the perfect…
Doughnuts and Dreams: Of Presidents, Pastries, and Presley’s Private Pain
Today's post unwraps a curious blend of faith, folklore, and that feeling of being just a little bit too clever for your own good. Featuring literary gossip, a nod to…
You’re So Vain, You Probably Think This Blog Is About Pigs
My birthday calendar says we’ve got Orwell and Carly Simon on the same day? That’s literary-political sass and 70s self-aware sparkle rolled into one. Delicious! “All animals are equal, but…
Ambrose Bierce and Mick Ralphs, Wondernauts
“Quotation, n: The act of repeating erroneously the words of another.” Ambrose Bierce I told Aggie I almost named him Ambrose, so many years ago, when I thought he was…
WHY NOT NOW?
You own your story, why not write it now? Is there a story inside you just waiting to be told? Whether you’re at the beginning of your writing journey, stuck…
ROTTERDAM IS ANYWHERE ALONE
Aesop’s Fables, The World’s Best Known Collection Of Morality Tales (circa 260 BC), provides the first instance of the caution ‘Be careful what you wish for’. I thought of this…