Category Archives: Laurens Blog

Diplomacy is a 67-year old game about taking over Europe. It’s a truly classic board game. Highly influential, intensely beloved, widely acclaimed. The beating heart of Diplomacy is in the alliances and agreements 7 players make in-between submitting orders. It is a game conducted not on the board, but in whispered conversations and secret messages.Continue reading “The True Object Of All Human Life Is Play”

Glasgow South Side, 1893: The Glasgow Boys “Japan?” 29-year old Edward Hornel blinks in disbelief. He looks at his friend and fellow artist George Henry. Tea from a china cup in the grand drawing room of shipping magnet William Burrell? What a heck of a journey their paintings had brought them on. George grins atContinue reading “Glasgow and Edinburgh: A Tale of Two Loaves”

I LOVE GLASGOW. The people, the art, the culture, the buzz. Quite simply, Glasgow is like nowhere else in the world. Born an Edinburger (Portobello, to be precise – once a beach-o-phile, always a beach-o-phile), I have come home. I love this beautiful, vibrant, friendly city. There is nowhere I would rather live and work.Continue reading “‘The Glasgow Effect’ and why it REALLY MATTERS”

Blessed with three sons, I have an impressive knowledge of superheroes. DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, Image, IDW. Yaaay. Kick-ass mum. I know them all. After seventeen years of trying hard to stay awake… my conclusion? That superhero movies have a formula. There’s: A good guy; A supportive but hard-to-get girlfriend; Some evil villain he needsContinue reading “Why I Want To Be…… Harley Quinn”

Monteveglio, Northern Italy. Spring 1325. The imposing Abbazia overlooks the valley of Samoggia and the Bolognese Apennines. The women of the abbey scurry about their business dutifully. They know their fortunes depend on servitude, no matter how distasteful. “Our Pope has the leadership and the appendage of a maggot on heat.” Pagolo spits his malevolenceContinue reading “War of the Bucket”

“Everyone has a story to tell. Everyone is a writer, some are written in the books and some are confined to hearts.”Savi Sharma THE END…. THE PERFECT ENDING. With a final late-night, all-consuming, impassioned push my literary baby is born. A culmination of love, perfection, emotional fragility, she lies swaddled in my arms as everyContinue reading “Let’s Talk About….. Writing Books”

“Look, I’m sorry.” The dog stares me out with his guilt-inducing ‘hang dog’ expression (it’s hard to take him seriously when he has a hot pink ball-on-a-string hanging out his mouth). “It’s not like I deliberately whapped you in the face, is it? You got in the way. Anyway, it’s my hoopin’ ball, not yours.”Continue reading “Middle-Aged Hoopin’ – WEEK ONE”

“Slowly… take the raisin to your mouth. Notice your arm knows where your mouth is. Place the raisin on your tongue. Don’t bite.” Shit, too late. I bit the raisin. Damn it. “Explore the sensation. Perhaps the raisin goes to one side or the other. Notice your saliva.” I’m noticing, I’m noticing. I’m so boredContinue reading “Let’s Talk About…. Mindfulness”