The Meerkat Muse: 4th October 2023

Autumn is truly upon us. Welcome to the Meerkat Muse. October is normally when things start to take a colder turn, but then, UK weather is increasingly unpredictable, so who knows? Lonely Times Work has delivered more lone-trading occasions, and will bring more in the coming weeks. This isn’t a huge, insurmountable problem for me […]

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Writing Prompts: Feminism

Here comes a topic to which I have devoted a great many words, both here on Meerkat Musings, and on the Coalition of the Brave site. The links are to two of several posts that discuss feminism, and there are plenty of posts that feature feminism as an overlapping subject. However, thus far, there is […]

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Football Manager: The Premier League Report: Matchday Three (26th and 27th of September)

Let it be said that football continues to throw up surprises. Not always (Man City’s 3-1 defeat of Leicester at the Etihad featured yet another display of passing mastery from Guardiola’s men, especially from Kevin De Bruyne), but there is always an astonishing, unexpected result or two. Consistency is a buzzword in football, and thus […]

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Writing Prompts: Skookum

Dictionary.com threw up a fascinating word the other day: Skookum. I’d never heard of this word before, and I am now wracking my brain, trying to figure out when best to use it. Skookum means ‘large, powerful, impressive’. In other words, it does not describe me. In any sense! Well, I guess I might be […]

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Football Manager: The Premier League Report: Matchday Two (19th and 20th of September)

With the fairly unusual, post-covid scenario of matchday two in the middle of September, who might begin to show early signs of promise? Who would establish some early-season momentum? Liverpool hosted West Ham United in Saturday’s early kick-off, and the defending champions made short work of an abject Hammers side, with Roberto Firmino scoring after […]

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Writing Prompts: Archaeology

This prompt has the unique quality of having been chosen by my wife! Before I can dig up (heh) my thoughts on archaeology, we need to define it. Archaeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. It can involve examining human remains, ancient architecture, historical weapons, old writings, […]

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Football Manager: The Premier League Report, Matchday One (12th and 13th of September)

So, after all the questioning, consternation, excitement and dread, the new Premier League has finally arrived! The season opened with what was, on paper, a cracking fixture between Manchester City and Manchester United, but who would come out on top? Who would kickstart their season the best possible way? Bernardo Silva got Manchester City off […]

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Football Manager: The Pundit

One thing I’ve never tried on a Football Manager game, of any variety, is to be, for lack of a better word, a commentator or reporter. Granted, these are not natural features of the games, but there is a way to make it happen. You can be a manager who never manages a team, and […]

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Writing Prompts: Green Flags

In the previous prompt, I took a look at the traits I consider to be red flags. To kick off October in the right way, I thought I’d look at the traits I consider to be green flags. What might draw me to be friends with someone? What sort of person could make me want […]

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Writing Prompts: Red Flags

What personality trait in people raises a red flag with you? Where do I start?! This might take a while… I don’t like arrogance. There are plenty of people who are full of it. Take former UK PM Boris Johnson, or former US president Donald Trump. They are full of a belief they are better […]

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