Laurie Stras

She should get a tiara.

A middle-age woman wearing round glasses looks at the camera. She’s wearing a black shirt and black dungarees, her hair is tied back. She looks very tired. Behind her, you can see a removal company box leaning up against a window.

I’m back to packing. If there are two lessons my mother (who did six transcontinental moves before I was ten) taught me, they are that the capacity of a duffel bag is unlimited; and that if you’re doing a tedious job, you can remind yourself of your worth with a tiara. She kept one by the sink.

Four women standing in front of microphones in a radio studio lit with purple and salmon lights. The floor is a polished wood parquet. There are music stands and a couple of cities in the background. There is a monitor screen just above their heads.

A tiny knitted amigurumi nun sits on a curved wooden desk with microphones. Just visible in the background is the screen that reads Woman’s Hour.

Six women stand when I decide of a screen that is lit and reads Woman’s Hour. The studio is lit in purple and salmon. The floor is a wooden parquet flooring.

Six women in a selfie. They are smiling and staring up at the camera.

It’s been a really full day that started at 4:30. We really enjoyed our time at #Radio4. It was also very nice to meet Hope Reese. Buy her book! And buy our album!

Thank you for listening in!

It’s a great ray. Mr Ray!!!

And y’know, creatives who *have no choice* but to use social media to self-promote because social media algorithms killed even the internet-only review sites, local news etc have to commit our stuff to free use for “re-mixing” if we want to post at all. And then we have to pay to beat the algorithm.

I agree with every word Zelda Williams says. And this at the end from OpenAI makes me want to go full Ned Ludd. Creators can’t have a blanket opt-out on copyright infringement of their work and have to fill out a form appealing to OpenAI’s mercy every time? Fuck off into the sun

THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS.

Basic income support scheme for artists to be made permanent and opened to new entrants in budget Negotiations down to the wire, with five big-spending departments yet to agree their budget allocations

www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...

A pair of legs in black jeans, and red flowery boots. A leopard print rucksack with a sunflower lanyard is to the right. On the knees is a tiny knitted amiguri nun.

Up to London (last early am SWR?) to do Woman’s Hour. I have Deborah the Nano-Nun to give me courage. Who knew I could find new depths of performance anxiety at my age 🤣🤣🤣
(We named her Deborah because she looks like she’s flipping the bird, and it made us all laugh and remember our dear friend)

I’m so very sorry

BBC Sounds - Essential Classics - Available Episodes Listen to the latest episodes of Essential Classics on BBC Sounds.

Don’t forget to listen into Essential Classics right now and every morning this week to hear a different track from Ricordanze every day! Album of the Week!
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand...

Thank you Leonie!

Back home to South London. >50% reduction in sqm for exactly the same house price but it’s where family and old friends are. Will miss some things about Soton, and def some people, but need to be closer to the next generations.

A dining room with a black-and-white checked floor full of packing boxes, bits of newspaper and bubble wrap a ladder and various types of tape. It’s a mess. So am I.

SitRep 😱😱😱😱😱. From waiting weeks to exchange to moving in 10 days. OF COURSE the universe dictated this should coincide with the album launch. But I have @quietriotpod.bsky.social today, and we’re Album of the Week on R3 from tomorrow so at least my listening is sorted.

A page from a book of French poetry. It shows “Poème à la mystérieuse” by Robert Desnos. It is annotated in French and very small writing in pencil.

A small leather bound book. The cover is torn and the bottom left-hand corner is missing. The words James Campbell are embossed in gold at the bottom. An S is just visible before the tear has removed the rest of the surname.

An inscription inside a small book the page is yellowed with age. It reads “to my godson Jim Christmas 1946. With my love always Rose”.

Things I found while packing, pt 3564397: my AP French poetry textbook (I had tiny writing when I was 14) and my dad’s Book of Common Prayer, given to him in 1946, so I guess for his confirmation.

There's a state sixth-form in Winchester where the students' car park is full of cars that are WAY more expensive and new than the one in the lecturers' car park.

YouTube video by Musica Secreta - Topic Salve sancte pater

Nuts the link didn’t work here it is on YouTube youtu.be/rgnf33EznDM

Thinking, on here, of @fsoyer.bsky.social , @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social , @francesryan.bsky.social

Ricordanze: a record of love, by Musica Secreta 31 track album

Wishing the Francises and Franceses i admire a sunny and peaceful Feast of St Francis, ideally with no stigmata musicasecreta.bandcamp.com/album/ricord...

Good morning!!

Ricordanze: a record of love, by Musica Secreta 31 track album

Hey hey it's #BandcampFriday everyone and our new album is just right here, right now, celebrating women and music, and you just KNOW you want to order it today!!

musicasecreta.bandcamp.com/album/ricord...

It’s been … wild. It’s going to get wilder!!

It’s great!! I bought it, too x

This may be my favourite postscript of all time. The author and his son-in-law were being investigated for plotting against Oliver Cromwell in 1656.

'I desire my daughter to send me a Cheese, for this my restraint hath forced me to eate them she sent before sooner then was intended'.

#stresscheese

although I am Professor Stras, and he is Mr Thomas.

A sunflower with a deep orange and yellow tips to the petals

And we’ve exchanged contracts. What. A. Week.

When we're together in, my husband is often addressed as Professor Stras even though his name is Pete Thomas.

well, that's alright then 😂😱 bless them.

Sigh. ....Guess I'll just have to keep fighting sexism by listening to #nuntastic @musicasecreta.bsky.social on the loud setting...