Articles written by Lawrence George

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About me - Lawrence George

I'm a teacher and a poet and staying-on-the-hard-drive novelist. My articles on Helium reflect me: instinctive rather than logical, ironic and light. Although I'm not as light as I'd like to be. My struggle to achieve writing stars I put down to this over-indulgence

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Relationships & Family > Love & Lust Why love hurts so much: 1 of 94
Love hurts because we need each other. We are often confused, or misled, by the fact that we live such independent lives. Most of us work, or look for it; many of us live alone; we are single parents. We think we can cope on our own. We think we don't have the time for a relationship, or that we'd rather just "date" or occasi... More..
Creative Writing > Humor Humor: Advantages of a recession: 2 of 104
Recessions are times of great opportunity. As a kid growing up in the UK in the 1980s, we had a recession pretty much all the time, or so it seemed, and with the background of the Cold War it just made it all so much more exciting. So I speak from experience (long years of handmade clothes, and so on). Now that there's preci... More..
Creative Writing > Short Stories Short stories: A science fiction mystery: 1 of 40
This is a story about flying saucers. I say "flying saucers" because it lends an air of the innocent and childlike, even the everyday, to something that became, in those heavy days of the mid 1990s, so absorbed in currents of recursive conspiracies, with gruesome accounts of surgically dismembered cows, pierced abdomens, ... More..
Relationships & Family > Parents Are parents responsible for how their children act as adults?: 2 of 33
One of the most unjust elements of twentieth century psychology was the notion that you could always blame your parents. Everyone recognises and understands that people are shaped by their experiences as children: no-one would doubt that. But the idea that you could look at your troubles and deal with them by attributing them... More..
Relationships & Family > Couple Communication Venting stress: Can too much complaining hurt a relationship?: 3 of 48
Complaining in a relationship is a classic double-edged sword. You can't do without it, because a relationship cannot be healthy if one partner is unhappy and is bottling everything up. That leads to sudden, devastating break-ups, or affairs, and the consequences are far worse than simply listening to a bit of whinging every... More..
Education > Homework & Testing How to help your child with math: 3 of 33
Helping a child with maths (as we call it in the UK) is not a complicated business. It's mainly about conquering fear: the adult's as well as the child's. The fact is that no-one would willingly admit to being unable to read, while no-one minds admitting, "Oh, I was always rubbish at maths. Could never get division or fracti... More..
Sciences > Sciences (Other) UFOs (unidentified flying objects): Fact or fiction?: 1 of 10
UFOs exist, in the sense that there are frequently objects seen in the sky that cannot be identified. But are there spacecraft from other worlds in the skies over New Mexico, or anywhere else? No. And it pains me to say that because I've always wanted there to be, ever since I was a small child. The first problem we have is t... More..
Creative Writing > Short Stories Short stories: Angel of death: 2 of 17
The night painted itself in the Admiral's mind in sleek black and white strokes, which grew and faded with the twinkling of the stars. He stared and took a larger than usual mouthful of port. He could not count himself a religious man. It had been something he had not thought about seriously for many years. Once, as a child... More..
Creative Writing > Poetry Poetry: Mother Nature: 11 of 82
Still cloud hands the thinning day all the elements of style. Grey acute angles, waving and declining, all crossing each other diffidently in the same, slow movement, like old hands. The sunset hides the world behind its glare, tying down sight to the silhouettes. Rich, casual soil lies in textures without effort, feels th... More..
Education > Primary School Issues How to build a good relationship with your child's teacher: 4 of 19
Your child's teacher is, for that year, the most important person in the education of your child beyond yourself. So building a good relationship is with them essential for your confidence as well as your child's. Like any relationship, there are few hard and fast rules. It is difficult to pin down how to do it: there are a f... More..