Life with my autistic sons: ‘How do you explain all the worries, the sleepless nights?’ When James Hunt began posting about his boys online, it was a way to describe the emotions and experiences of their extraordinary lives. In sharing his family’s joy and struggles, he realised they weren’t alone

Life with my autistic sons: ‘How do you explain all the worries, the sleepless nights?’

I have a wonderful Scottish tattie farmer friend who I've gone to Paris with on many occasion. He will inevitably ask at some point during any trip "shall we away to the Twa'Maggotts"

You make me hoot with laughter most days. Well done

We happened to be in Inverness last year during their film festival and managed to get tickets. It was all unexpectedly wonderful. And Tilda Swinton was there too

Thanks for all the pleasure you have given me over the last ten years. I have learnt a huge amount and read a lot of books I would not have otherwise heard of. Sail on safely

Monk

And here's a thread of clips to celebrate Roddy Frame's birthday, starting with Aztec Camera performing We Could Send Letters on Switch in 1983. Watch the full song plus Walk Out to Winter at youtu.be/S6yJ3gn2a5s

Macduff might not challenge Macbeth but Burnham would.

The Lowdown

"And we now have María on the line who would like to swap a Nobel Peace Prize for the presidency of Venezuela..."

Something Happened by Joseph Heller

The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante

Memo from David O. Selznick, edited by Rudy Behlmer

What It Takes by Richard Ben Cramer

He's been! Here's everything I read this year (and a few things I wrote): Henry James! Joseph Heller! Penelope Fitzgerald! A biography of the unsuccessful 1928 Democratic presidential candidate, Al Smith!
advicetothelovelorn.blogspot.com/2025/12/Book...

This is why we insist that arts and humanities matter. And it turns out they can cure cancer, too.

He looks like he has taken things that no bear should take

that much else. I needed to work with that light. Maybe it was some form of insanity, except that lets me off too easy. Then there was Wade, my 01' canasta partner and picket-line buddy, fighting shoulder to shoulder all those years, one day he went over, and we stayed friends, and finally you saw what'd it matter who'd be taking those dues off the paycheck, Al Speede's people, th' IATSE, whatever. It'd been over for a long time anyway, though we'd had to pretend otherwise, and what was it for, all those sets we lit, those exotic nightclub sets, the hotel rooms with the neon outside, the passenger coaches with the rain against the windows, all of it just shadows, even if it's on safety stock in some air-conditioned vault that's still all it is, I let the world slip away, made my shameful peace, joined the IA, retired soon's I could, sold off my only real fortune --— my precious anger — for a lot of got-damn shadows."

Words, hopefully, not to have lived by

(fr Thomas Pynchon's 1990 novel, Vineland)

A photo of a copy of the 2017 Bluemoose Books edition of The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers. The cover design is by Artonix.

"Autumn arrived like a burning ghost ship on the landscape's tide to set the land alight. The fire of the trees' turning spread far across the flanks and the ravens took flight to the highest climes as leaves fell like flung bodies."

Fantastic book. I have that edition as well

I’m literally stuck inside of mobile with the Memphis blues again

Thanks for sharing that

Such a brilliant book. I saw her at a Foyles event recently and she was enthralling

I adore this song

RIP Joe Don Baker
His ridiculously charismatic performance as CIA agent Darius Jedburgh in the brilliant mini-series Edge of Darkness is an all-timer & his rapport with Bob peck is off the charts.
Loved him in everything but see this if you haven’t.

I genuinely get this, but as always there is an exception. My autistic non-verbal son self regulates in public by playing you-tube videos on his ipad. He can't cope with earphones. We have to rely on the tolerance of others in public spaces so he can enjoy a social life

Fully understand your article. The irony is my autistic non-verbal son regulates in public places by playing videos on you-tube too loudly. And refuses to wear ear-phones. We rely on the tolerance of others.....

My favourite elbow album

My favourite Monk LP

These narcissists need to take a long, hard look at themselves.

A devastatingly brilliant meditation on love and loss.

“I miss her so much that I need an extra body, one body for me, one body for all the longing.”

#booksky

Great take on a great film

"we live so many lives within our lives..." The Details is brilliant. And more powerful because of its brevity. Read it in a day and it has stayed with me.