tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38636162012-02-16T01:35:51.057-08:00Diary and erratic writings about anything I fancyFeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.comBlogger1301100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-47648956235765960672011-11-14T08:00:00.000-08:002011-11-14T08:00:00.987-08:00

Great music, uplifting and harmonious Flowers Bloom by High Highs

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-26516429625801435732011-11-04T08:03:00.000-07:002011-11-04T08:03:03.543-07:00

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo. Murmuration: an amazing and beautiful film of starlings wheeling around the sky. This is nature's visual representation of flow... how a group can move as one, a creative and exultant energy. I love it. The music is by the Nomad Soul Collective.

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-4776370291381647222011-10-30T05:06:00.000-07:002011-10-30T05:06:03.011-07:00

The clocks have gone back today, and I am watching the poor horse chestnut trees across the road shed their leaves. Some years it seems to happen over a weekend, they suddenly shift all their leaves quickly. Other years, this year, it's a long drawn out affair, a few leaves flutter down every few minutes. A bird alights on a branch and a leaf floats off. The wind... well you get the picture.

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-26558420958971113262011-10-09T02:18:00.000-07:002011-10-09T02:18:22.612-07:00

I've posted on numerous occasions about Domenic and the fact that he was snatched from his loving parents two long years ago. The fight just got very urgent because we understand the authorities are planning to apply for the right to remove parental responsibility from his parents altogether. They have done NOTHING to deserve this treatment. I hope you will read about the case here: http://

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-53725902117757889362011-09-16T00:50:00.000-07:002011-09-16T00:55:39.581-07:00

Review: How to be a Woman, by Caitlin Moran, Ebury Press, £11.99. Like much of Caitlin Moran's writing, “How to be a woman” had me laughing out loud almost as soon as I started it. Her ability to express herself and to share her experiences is unrivalled. Apart from her wit and writing, I've always had a soft spot for her because she was home educated, and I eventually chose to home educate my

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-79791255892455938342011-08-10T01:49:00.000-07:002011-08-10T01:49:32.684-07:00

Iteresting article in the Guardian, suggests one should think about what would endure for future archaeologists, of one's life. I felt inspired to write the following: My Personal Archaeology What would endure? Not my laptop, which would decay into a sticky pool of plastic Not my writing, which has burned in the heart of who I am Not my children, who became my life, my joy and my reason, Not

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-17716178152968366382011-07-26T02:49:00.001-07:002011-07-26T02:49:51.602-07:00

Hate never wins It burns itself out on a hundred victim pyres consuming the souls of the haters whereas love burns eternal with the spirit light A silver thread which knits us together They are many, but we are one. Love connects people In their compassion, the knowledge of how a mother feels When her child is taken Lives with me, although my children are but a phone call away I feel her pain,

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-44625010912673470672011-05-14T00:38:00.001-07:002011-08-10T02:18:29.333-07:00

I'm taking the unusual step of posting the same blog to all my blogs, no matter what their subject. Domenic Johanssen was a happy child of two loving parents. His parents were taking him to India from Sweden where they had been living, when officials boarded the plane and took Domenic away. People who are told the story cannot believe that Domenic was removed from his parents on such flimsy

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-36360701557814838742011-04-30T03:01:00.000-07:002011-04-30T03:01:41.291-07:00

For years I have been writing a book.  For years.  The only trouble is, that I have never actually worked out which book I am writing.  Thus, I never finish it, I just keep starting it over and over.  There's the children's story I have been writing since my own children were small.  I must have twenty or thirty versions of the beginnings of that.  I know how it starts, and I know how it ends,

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-29852389192301297582011-04-29T06:18:00.000-07:002011-04-29T06:18:44.908-07:00

I cannot touch the you I see I can't touch you You can't touch me And yet my heart leaps when I see Your avatar in front of  me I cannot feel your hand or kiss I can't feel you You can't feel me And yet I feel it when you kiss (Even if the avatars miss :-)) I cannot watch your hand or eye I can't watch you You can't watch me And yet I watch with inner eye And hear your quietest, slightest,

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-50237545280695116082011-04-28T03:18:00.000-07:002011-04-28T03:18:08.411-07:00

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-77087918268874293822011-04-26T16:07:00.001-07:002011-04-26T16:07:50.957-07:00

I had no warning you were going, I turned around and you were gone. I looked for you in every person that I met. Caught glimpses of you in strangers' faces, Chased your shadow around corners. I waited for you to come back. The love I had for you is still here. At first, it was a shard of ice in my heart, It woke a little after me, reminding me, Stabbing me with the loss I felt. It filled me

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-80865562960700561122011-04-26T16:04:00.001-07:002011-04-26T16:04:56.568-07:00

I could have had one hundred thousand pounds by now If I had stayed in the daily grind Found someone else and given them my babies to mind I could have bought them anything they wanted. I could have had exotic holidays each year If I had kept at the coal face Trekked up and down the tube at a snail's pace I could have gone anywhere I wanted. I could have had clothes and shoes and jewels If I

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-88124311636045580172011-04-26T16:03:00.001-07:002011-04-26T16:03:44.985-07:00

They left expecting ordinary days Instead found they were going on a different sort of journey They left their cups of coffee and unpaid bills Stepped out of their homes and away from their lives And can't return Instead their souls set free today, In darkness and confusion, In smoke and pain, Soared away from their broken bodies Into a life beyond Light a candle for their friends and their

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-56663967939143838662011-04-26T16:02:00.001-07:002011-04-26T16:02:12.050-07:00

I didn't know, I told my friends I only saw the odds and ends Littered over his garden. I didn't know, I couldn't see The person that he used to be Before his confusion. We used to call the council too They'd charge him for the work, it's true ...though he hated them. The blow fly problem abated for a little while. The rats had nowhere to hide until he provided more accommodation. I couldn't

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-31622911845311561102011-04-26T15:56:00.000-07:002011-04-26T15:56:02.532-07:00

Will they say I lived all my life On suburban roads Not of the city or of the country But a place in between Will they say I never took any risks, Never had to hack my arm off in extremis Never eating anybody's cousin in desperate straits? Like millions I struggled from one pay day to another, Trying to stop the haemmorhage of money through the bars and pubs of the town... Trying to keep up, to

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-62107131007481539002011-03-21T02:29:00.000-07:002011-03-21T02:31:29.310-07:00

I watched a short film from WanderingMind which turned up on my Youtube feed last week, questioning the current economic system. I agree with him; I have often wondered why it should be that the same world should go into free fall because an elite set of people suddenly decide to crash the stock market. In the comments for that video I found references to Zeitgeist the movie, and although I am

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-18036422362913108702011-03-05T01:52:00.000-08:002011-03-05T02:06:52.162-08:00

I have tears running down my face, having watched part one of Famous, Rich and in the Slums with Lenny Henry, Angela Rippon, Samantha Womack and Reggie Yates, part of Comic Relief.  For those outside the UK, Comic Relief is a charity which raises money for projects at home and abroad, and which is very highly regarded in the UK, as all the money raised goes to the charity work, none of it to

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-13796966304086164652011-01-04T02:21:00.000-08:002011-01-04T02:21:25.250-08:00

At least for me.  For those who don't listen to the everyday story of farming folk, it ws the 60th anniversary of the Archers on Sunday, and the producers decided to celebrate Eastenders-style, with the death of one of the best-loved characters. Had the actor, Graham Seed, been keen to pursue pastures new, I'd still have been annoyed by the clumsy and unbelievable way that they did it.  In the

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-25446146859141697612010-12-30T01:57:00.000-08:002011-08-10T02:24:41.490-07:00

It's that time of year again, when the papers and tv are full of round-ups of the best/worst/most noteable happenings of the year.  A review is almost compulsory, and back here in St Albans, looking after my Dad, time hangs heavy, hot and loud. I feel as though I have had very little time this year.  Reading "The Quest of the Overself" by Paul Brunton, I find that I should be ensuring I have at

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-71184382190009503952010-12-06T12:54:00.000-08:002010-12-06T12:54:42.998-08:00

Welcome to the tropical paradise which is my father's bungalow in St Albans.   He is ill at the moment, and so the family didn't think he should be alone.  My mother (his ex-wife) stayed last week, my sister came over the weekend, and I arrived yesterday. It's -5 in the shade outside, I awoke to a hoar frost which had edged the leaves with a sparkling white fringe.  So it came as a bit of a

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-1163796493829887402010-11-12T02:47:00.000-08:002010-11-12T02:58:41.402-08:00

The Guardian today reports the tragedy of twins dying because of a mistake over drug administration, at Stafford Hospital, already at the centre of an investigation into poor standards of care.  The investigation into allegedly hundreds of unnecessary deaths at the Staffordshire hospital, is looking into why so many NHS bodies didn't act sooner to halt the "terrible standard of service inflicted

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-59169228597381034372010-10-27T01:19:00.001-07:002010-10-27T01:19:38.576-07:00

That would be this.  Looks a whole lot more interesting and less doom and gloom than a traditional newspaper!

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-77397629138005269512010-10-22T16:06:00.000-07:002010-10-22T16:06:45.303-07:00

Watch this film about a person who made a robotic curtain for his workshop, which moves along with the passers-by and marvel at how humans love to play.  They play and learn things about how the curtain follows and reacts.  I am convinced that humans learn best when they are allowed to play, and that our schools should be more like those children's museums which are full of stuff to play and

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-58205502250446152952010-10-21T01:13:00.000-07:002010-10-21T01:18:18.820-07:00

Great article in the Guardian recounts an interview between Jon Ronson and Natascha Kampusch on her new book about her imprisonment, 3096 days. It seems inexplicable that someone should kidnap and imprison someone and yet appear so normal on the outside, but instead of finding this inexplicable, Natascha explains that it was that gap between the person he was inside and the person he was on the

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-77708108525335663072010-10-20T18:09:00.000-07:002010-10-20T18:09:01.845-07:00

I was listening to some government suit on the radio yesterday, talking about the coming changes to the NHS, and he said something that you hear all the time:  competition drives up standards.  Does it?  Does it really?  I have been thinking about the other areas where there is no natural competition and the government has tried to provide some, to see if I think this has caused standards to rise

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-50863785308808015882010-10-19T00:06:00.000-07:002010-10-19T00:06:48.500-07:00

I woke up this morning, turned on my computer, and did all the things I no longer evn think about:  they are second nature to me.  Checked my email, checked the news, looked on Facebook to see what people have posted there.  Followed a couple of links, one of which took me to the RSAnimation of Sir Ken Robinson's talk on the new paradigm for education which is here: Then, I stumbled a couple of

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-63647189385373521202010-10-18T23:32:00.001-07:002010-10-18T23:32:28.089-07:00

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-26445009332083516162010-10-14T04:37:00.000-07:002010-10-14T04:37:24.926-07:00

There are some events good or bad, which transcend national barriers.  Walking on the moon, 9/11, the Asian Tsunami, some sporting events.  Yesterday the whole world held its breath as they watched one of those events, as 33 men were delivered back to the world after more than 65 days underground.  They travelled up through an unimaginably small constricted shaft crafted by human ingenuity and

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-29866587508993250602010-10-11T12:32:00.000-07:002010-10-11T12:45:16.091-07:00

I listened to the Classic serial on Radio 4 over the weekend, which was Christopher Isherwood's Goodbye to Berlin, which was the book that Caberet was based upon.  It was good, although quite different from Caberet in tone and atmosphere. It was in two parts, and they're both available for a few days more on the iplayer. I was particuarly taken with the piece of music at the end of the play, and

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-10128422052078264442010-10-08T03:56:00.000-07:002011-08-10T02:30:31.707-07:00

I received the sad news this morning that the judge in the case of Domenic Johansson had decided against returning him to his family. The reasons stated are that he had dental caries (must be a bad parent), failure to vaccinate (must be a careless parent) and homeschooling (sic).  That's it, that's enough in the nightmarish hell that is Sweden, to get your child taken away from you... and placed

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-45310981412009013802010-10-05T01:30:00.000-07:002010-10-05T01:30:47.923-07:00

I've been blogging for 12 years, having started when I got my first internet-enabled computer in 1998.  Then, I was one of only seven bloggers in the UK, and nearly all the blogs which were accessible online were from Americans. I've blogged in the form of a diary or online journal, I've blogged for money, I've blogged to provide information.  I realise that nowadays most of my blogging is done

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-69141136499934874302010-09-19T23:49:00.000-07:002010-09-20T03:33:08.609-07:00

Time slips by me, wearing a disguise I don't notice him stuffing my youth into a pocket as he passes. Time slips by me and covers my eyes with magical glasses So I don't notice the lines arriving on my face, only on the faces of others. Time slips by and takes with it my friends' children, suddenly tall Suddenly adult, suddenly married with children of their own. Time slips and the hours turn to

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-67487470886060016922010-09-19T22:12:00.000-07:002010-09-19T22:12:34.003-07:00

For the second morning running, I have ended my dreams with a nightmare of children hanging from trees.  It wakes me immediately, although I know that impressions of time are distorted in dreams.  It's unusual for me to have nightmares and doubly unusual for them to be recurring, the same images.  It makes an impression. Some years ago I had a series of prophetic dreams which seemed to foretell

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-7284951901021461812010-08-13T00:58:00.000-07:002010-08-13T01:00:53.987-07:00

For years I stayed up to watch the Perseids, Leonids, Geminids, the meteor showers which regularly fall on the earth, and nearly always we found that the clouds obscured our view. I was excited when it looked as though the forecast for last night's Perseids favoured the meteor-watcher: clear skies at 1am, perfect. At around 11pm I went outside to see what I could see.  Unfortunately, my

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-15951087316349920892010-08-12T14:12:00.000-07:002010-08-12T14:13:41.967-07:00

Maybe I am missing some essential part of my funny bone, but I watched the first episode of Roger and Val have just got in, and hated it.  I didn't find it funny, or entertaining or enjoyable.  It was like watching two intellectually-challenged children play house...badly. How is it that people who are paid to watch television and commission programmes, couldn't see that Sherlock was brilliant

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-55901767301352036342010-08-12T04:36:00.000-07:002010-08-12T04:36:48.625-07:00

I have been thinking deep thoughts recently, about life and death and the nature of karma and whether I can make sense of the way people say it is.  I have a dilemma, and it is a dilemma I have faced before, where the collective wisdom of the establishment is pitted against my spiritual beliefs.  Is it ok, and healthier, to demand your rights, do your thing, and ignore the effect upon others,

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-5129846310727289592010-08-11T01:56:00.000-07:002010-08-11T01:56:07.561-07:00

The photograph above was taken in 2006 by Flickr user Nick_Russill and I am using that rather than one of the spectacular pictures captured in the last 10 days, because it can be published under a creative commons attribution licence.  Well the pictures may be pretty, but the news isn't good.  A sheet of ice 100 square metres has broken off the Peterman glacier in Greenland, leading one of the

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-27881375049681731162010-08-10T05:27:00.000-07:002010-08-10T05:27:47.364-07:00

It seems odd that the only online review I can find for Sherlock episode three is the Guardian review... and that even then Sam Wollaston wasn't paying attention.  I fear that the revered Caitlin Moran may have written a stunning review of the series behind the chargeable wall of the Times this week.  I shan't be seeing that, then.  I loved the series... if a set of three counts as a series. It

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-4000513412711046682010-08-05T01:45:00.000-07:002010-08-05T01:57:01.035-07:00

Stumbled over this beautiful recording of a collaborative project. People all over the place recording their voices for a piece of music. It's gorgeous.

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-91207076582998721182010-08-03T02:16:00.000-07:002010-08-03T02:23:51.199-07:00

Try to work out where to go, what to do. I've reached the end of the road with John, and it's been that way for several years. While Ali was ill and the children were younger felt like the wrong time to try to do something about it, but it has become more and more urgent, as things have deteriorated. There's still the problem of what will happen: he seems to be drinking more and more, and is

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-81639386280079869932010-08-02T01:46:00.000-07:002011-08-10T02:41:24.236-07:00

I don't watch much television any more. Who do you think you are? can generally be guaranteed to have me watching, and the odd documentary, but mostly I stick to the radio and the internet. Thus I didn't watch the first episode of Sherlock on July 25... I left it to cause a furore because it beat Tom Cruise's Top Gear appearance into second place, and then eventually watched it on the BBC

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-32709303239279163802010-07-12T00:48:00.000-07:002010-07-12T00:50:10.732-07:00

Corexit warningsPassionate Sea Turtle action group member talks about the effects of using Corexit in the Gulf. Time for another email to BP.

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-33796014184531214002010-07-05T02:05:00.000-07:002010-07-05T02:20:39.280-07:00

Write letters/email about NigerInternational Oil companies have devastated regions of Africa in the course of extracting oil from the Niger Delta. Instead of enriching the people, it has impoverished them, with environmental impact of the scale now being seen in the Gulf of Mexico, quietly ravaging the environment for many years. Two companies stand out. Why not write to them and demand to

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-15587887653602389852010-07-05T01:24:00.000-07:002010-07-05T02:02:29.673-07:00

Facing AfricaWent in to wish my son goodnight, at a very late hour last night, and found him watching a documentary on Facing Africa, a charity which rebuilds the faces of children afflicted with a variety of diseases that ravage the face. Last nights (this morning's) programme focussed on children who have suffered from Noma.It seems that a combination of malnutrition and infection, eats away

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-38868984229851094002010-07-03T00:19:00.000-07:002010-07-03T00:25:29.711-07:00

It's shocking to realise that this technique is being used in the UK. I think we need to know where and why people are using hydraulic fracturing, which seems to be a method which causes environmental destruction and has the potential to cause health problems for people in areas where it is used - particularly in a small, population-rich area like the UK.

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-31292379927527803622010-07-02T02:50:00.000-07:002010-07-02T03:00:07.416-07:00

Disgruntled of UxbridgeI complained to the BBC the other day. In the past I have usually sent a comment or suggestion, rather than a formal complaint. But I was so enraged by the lack of coverage of the Gulf Oil Spill, that I decided to write and complain that the online website news team seem to have got their global priorities in a mix, reporting on Glastonbury and the World Cup in such

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-74763873522866608222010-06-29T02:30:00.000-07:002010-06-29T02:39:14.892-07:00

BP ignored safety concernsShocking article over at ProPublica, about BP's cavalier approach to safety and safety concerns. They should be ashamed of themselves.For some years I have watched people defend capitalism, on the grounds that it is the "best" system, as though market forces would do whatever was necessary in the way of controlling the companies. I think one only has to look at Dow

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-14655510115187553122010-06-29T01:25:00.000-07:002010-06-29T01:35:47.959-07:00

Gulf Emergency Summit speechesAfter hearing the speech made by Kindra Arnesen, I was moved to watch the other speeches at the summit. I don't care about governments, I don't care about big businesses, I don't care about the motives or the guilt for the accident. We have to live with what has happened and respond to it.I DO care, passionately about people - they matter to me, whether in the US

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-11153034141924086672010-06-29T01:02:00.000-07:002010-06-29T01:04:51.510-07:00

Real news from real peopleKindra Arnesen gives a speech about the things she has witnessed during her observation of the clean up in the gulf. It is amazing to me that this information seems not to be of interest to mainstream media.

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-18795474200208290362010-06-28T23:30:00.000-07:002010-06-29T00:07:39.437-07:00

Understanding gravityI saw this story on the BBC website, read it and felt like someone had plunged my brain into fog. I can only assume that the journalist either doesn't understand the subject very clearly himself, or was in a hurry. It isn't often I feel that understanding has been sucked out of me and replaced with confusion.So, I went searching for a better explanation, and found it on the

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-8584382149119801392010-06-28T01:24:00.000-07:002010-06-28T01:54:06.919-07:00

Crops destroyedA report on US tv of crops in the Mississippi delta area being destroyed by a mystery disease is being propagated around the web. Various articles are linking this to the use of Corexit in the Gulf, to disperse the oil. Apparently, despite being banned from using Corexit in the North Sea and any of the seas around the UK, BP has seen fit to use it in the Gulf of Mexico. I am

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-57308313441463996792010-06-27T00:15:00.000-07:002010-06-27T00:29:15.228-07:00

BBC News prioritiesLooking at the BBC news front page this morning, you wouldn't think we had a care in the world. Sport stories dominate the front page, from news about the World Cup and trivial stories about the royals playing baseball. There are two reports about the hot weather, one about a planned trip of the prime minister, and a few home stories about the unemployed being moved to council

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-46988025809744453162010-06-24T11:59:00.000-07:002010-06-24T12:05:45.688-07:00

Sex and female sexuality in 19th century AmericaStumbled over an interesting article about Clelia Mosher, a professor at Stanford University who studied female sexuality between 1892 and 1920. She conducted surveys which reveal what family historian generally know more clearly than the general public: that Victorians were just as interested in sex as we are.How do family historians know?

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-59140205039429447442010-06-23T21:35:00.000-07:002010-06-23T21:37:33.287-07:00

"In true dialogue, both sides are willing to change." -Thich Nhat Hanh I realised some time ago that my father had taught me an important lesson: how to listen. That's because he rarely does, which forces everyone else to try. I didn't realise until today why I find the conversations we have so frustrating and pointless, but the above quote sums it up: generally he is fixed in his idea about

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-42994660134430510792010-06-22T23:42:00.000-07:002010-06-23T01:12:06.638-07:00

Now you see it...Debenhams have apparently launched a campaign to highlight the amount of photoshopping which goes into the images which we routinely see in magazines and on the walls of retailers. The example they use is of a model who looks perfectly wonderful in a bikini, but is then "improved" by photoshopping, to make her look even more unattainably thin.Photoshop disasters blog frequently

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-21713942731108869372010-06-11T23:38:00.000-07:002010-06-11T23:54:33.114-07:00

Hospital deaths peaks at weekendsDr Foster reports that you are more likely to die if admitted to hospital at the weekends than at any other time. This comes as no surprise to anyone who has spent lengthy time in hospital. It came as a surprise to me that hospitals are run as though people fall sick only during the week, during the day time. Before I spent a lot of time with my husband and

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-49494136430713237882010-05-30T05:07:00.000-07:002010-05-30T05:19:45.301-07:00

OFFCOLOURI can't work out why this blog doesn't have headings when the heading appears in the layout... but anyway... prepare for a rant.This page gives the appearance of being a page about a "new" philosophy of colours related to birthdays. The name is ugly and clumsy, Colorstrology, but it purports to be something that links people with their spiritual colour. If you look at it closely, it is

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-44559566013141701382010-05-29T00:08:00.000-07:002010-05-29T00:25:55.747-07:00

I was moved to write to the BBC over their news coverage yesterday. I listened to the six thirty news headlines on Radio 4, which included two novelty items: one story about the European cup having been played for by two teams of policemen a couple of decades ago, when it was lost and handed into the police at Sheffield; and one on the Indian police force having arrested a "spy pigeon" which

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-72905859156062215872009-11-10T08:36:00.001-08:002009-11-10T08:38:14.416-08:00

Wonderful round up of the current review of home education on Jem's blog here.The point is: they had already made their minds up... and are having a bloody time trying to prove that they have the evidence they say they have. But the way this government behaves, will that matter?

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-57131125167773301292009-11-04T07:24:00.001-08:002009-11-04T07:24:43.039-08:00

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-25643940135181181922009-10-29T06:42:00.000-07:002009-10-29T08:32:30.977-07:00

Looking forwards to the pastI must admit that before I studied the stone age with my children, I had a very Hollywood or cartoon vision of the people. I studied the stone, bronze and iron age at school, but had the impression that the people were brutish and barbarian, and not at all the intelligent people that we like to think we are.I knew that the monuments and circles like Stonehenge were

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-40453341828914765082009-10-28T11:34:00.001-07:002009-10-28T11:34:40.342-07:00

My version of a Unicorn chaser...

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-88820053782818942632009-10-28T09:21:00.000-07:002009-10-28T09:34:31.109-07:00

WHYohWHYohWHYohWHYOk, it takes me quite a long time to get up a head of steam on anything... I am a relaxed live-and-let live sort of person usually. But this has to be the giddy limit as my grandmother would have said: Watford Council are banning parents from supervising their children in playgrounds.I think there is a danger to our children from people - mostly men - who prey upon them

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-19328120156538801082009-09-11T23:11:00.000-07:002009-09-12T00:08:39.233-07:00

I wonder if there will ever be a time when the date of September 11 goes back to being an ordinary day? I don't think so, not in my lifetime. It was the day which seemed to be the end of the world, when everywhere seemed vulnerable. Thousands of miles away from New York, it seemed to me that if New York and the Pentagon weren't safe, there weren't many places that were....I asked my daughter

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-83885584041525115242009-09-11T05:38:00.000-07:002009-09-11T05:40:40.074-07:00

This is an experiment to see if embedding works on Blogger. Yay! it does. The video is of my son, Ali, covering the world spins madly on. I think he has a great voice... but I suppose I might be biassed.

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-68418345545814899692009-09-06T11:51:00.000-07:002009-09-06T12:12:00.497-07:00

Stumbled over one thing which led me to another which led me to another and I landed on this page. It's wonderful, and well worth the time to watch the videos. The picture came from another blog called Tiny House Design, which has lots of interesting stuff in it, including an article about Phoenix Commotion, which built the house above.Dan Phillips takes materials which no one wants and turns

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-63988692367021327392009-08-29T12:52:00.000-07:002009-08-29T13:01:44.092-07:00

Following another story in the revelations about Jaycee Lee Dugard, kidnapped 18 years ago, the BBC links to a nasty, cowardly article on double X by someone called Torie Bosch. It seems to insinuate that Jaycee Lee Dugard will be criticised for not having escaped from the clutches of her kidnapper.Despite putting a reference to Stockholm syndrome in her title, this autor doesn't seem to

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-49779680584350686572009-08-27T08:09:00.000-07:002009-08-27T08:24:19.673-07:00

This terrible picture is a visual aid showing the bruises and injuries on a child who died after terrible abuse by her mother and stepfather, as reported in the Daily Mail today.I have three children I love very much. I cannot imagine how damaged you have to be in your relationship to the world to feel that you have to take out your frustration and hate on a defenceless child in this way. I

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-71225023031848783802009-06-19T00:00:00.000-07:002009-06-19T00:08:14.277-07:00

My father is due to go into hospital this morning - in fact if my sister and aunt have done their jobs properly, he should be there already.It was my aunt's birthday yesterday and so we went out for lunch together to celebrate, and for father's day. We went to the Royal Oak in Bovingdon Green, which was lovely. We had a wonderful meal.My sister told us about her friend, who went to Portugal

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-58614153781251540812009-06-15T07:00:00.000-07:002009-06-15T07:01:30.514-07:00

Cross posting to all my blogs. I am trying to organise an alternative report to the Badman review. I am co-ordinating that effort through the new ning account for UK free unschoolers.

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-56695020789188669832009-06-12T01:23:00.000-07:002009-06-12T01:44:53.026-07:00

Report on Home EducationI can't comment yet, still feel too angry, but there are things filtering through in response to the Badman report.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/5508165/Parents-should-educate-children-as-they-wish.htmlhttp://threedegreesoffreedom.blogspot.com/2009/06/you-werent-there.htmlI will post later... still can't formulate my thoughts into a coherent reply.

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-75256410001408389162009-05-29T01:07:00.000-07:002009-05-29T01:24:30.345-07:00

Working on an art deco build, I search for free Deco fonts and find this web page, which includes a biography for the creator. Think... why can't I gather everything together on one page? What would I put... and who would be interested? I was born in Watford, Hertfordshire 50 years ago (can't see why anyone lies about their age... it is what it is, and fudging it doesn't make it a year more or

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-64141812787580300072009-05-26T02:57:00.001-07:002009-05-26T03:19:36.190-07:00

“Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: / Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”In these words from Matthew 7:1 are encapsulated the message

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-12366977572920349912009-04-25T06:17:00.000-07:002009-04-25T06:19:34.059-07:00

How is it people can't tell the difference between rubbish remakes and good ones?I've seen quite a lot of criticism of the new Reggie Perrin remake with Martin Clunes. With the notable exception of a horrible laughter track, I think it's pretty good. I like the ways they have updated the series, and particularly the scenes in the train... I used to think Reggie was overreacting to his railway

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-38190993616430726412009-03-05T12:31:00.000-08:002009-03-05T13:10:25.225-08:00

Worst best sex toys list in the worldI was seduced onto the Independent's website by their much better description of Heston Blumenthal's Victorian Feast, which aired on Channel Four last night, and which I missed. As I find that 4OD drains the life out of my laptop, I avoid watching stuff on it, and so will have to wait until the thing is repeated, complete with vibrators served with absinthe

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-34593060223099935502009-03-05T06:28:00.000-08:002009-03-05T06:54:03.769-08:00

Worth doing badlyYears ago, a Friend at my meeting ministered on the subject of a job worth doing. Unlike my grandmother who repeated "if a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well" just about a thousand times in the course of my childhood, the ending was different. Trevor said: "if a job's worth doing it is worth doing badly".Thinking about it was very liberating for me. I am by no means a

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-74780804600208555872009-02-22T21:48:00.000-08:002009-02-22T22:15:31.782-08:00

Yeurgh. Ali was crashing around the house at 4.30, and so despite the fact that I had only got to bed at 1am, I was wide awake at 4.30. I was thinking about the meeting yesterday, tried to get back to sleep but couldn't, and so I have been awake for over an hour and have no prospect of getting back to sleep. And so to blog....I was busy, busy, busy before meeting yesterday. Outreach committee

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-13671025092774651692009-02-19T22:36:00.001-08:002009-02-19T22:39:14.772-08:00

Argh. The TES has an article about the review on home education. It repeats the allegations made that home education may be a cover for abuse, and invokes the Spry case as evidence of that. There's a weird disconnect in the way that the system is responding to the scandals within the social services field. The Climbie enquiry and others following have behaved as though the children who were

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-89539722584606957862009-02-11T21:47:00.000-08:002009-02-11T22:23:46.659-08:00

In life, so much of what we do is a question of balance. If you eat too much and exercise too little you are likely to get fat and fat is baaaad in the current climate, very bad. But if you eat too little or exercise too much you are likely to get thin, very thin and that, too is bad. The ideal is a balance where you exercise enough, and eat the right amount for your level of exercise to

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-7663567787354033692009-02-09T03:07:00.000-08:002009-02-09T03:12:32.659-08:00

I don't usually read a real paper copy of the Daily Telegraph, but the children were seduced by a promise of free chocolates, and so we bought one.On the letters page was a suggestion by a reader that the possibility of water shortages in warmer summers, combined with the possibility of colder and snowier winters and a shortage of road grit salt, suggested to him that the installation of

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-90725785889517627222009-02-09T02:54:00.000-08:002009-02-09T03:01:59.067-08:00

Be alarmed. Be *very* alarmed. Be especially alarmed if you have downsized, decided that seeing the children is more important than earning lots of money, and have therefore an income which is less than £29K a year.The government thinks you are neglecting your children. I am indebted to fellow home educators for the link, which was on this blog post: Prudence is a criminal and will be suitably

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-71299147403701306822009-02-08T23:39:00.000-08:002009-02-08T23:47:50.546-08:00

Still can't manage to get headlines on the posts on this blog. I have no clue why.Tom sent me a link to colour changing tiles. These are so wonderful, I want them! Not sure what for, just because they exist and change colour.Eelco started this morning complaining about the level of sensationalism in the UK press... just as I was thinking that it wasn't too bad because it compares well with

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-73875903792050739142009-02-06T21:43:00.000-08:002009-02-06T22:26:05.708-08:00

It's been an odd week in the UK. The snow came on Monday, and we awoke to a thick covering of snow, the thickest for 18 years. Of course, all the public services fell over: while the press was full of annoying comments from the mayors of Scandinavian towns expressing surprise that the whole country grinds to a halt for a sprinkling of snow, it was obvious that our councils can't horde snow

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-31515279320860508032009-02-03T07:54:00.000-08:002009-02-03T08:09:43.120-08:00

When was a sixteen year old, I was size 16, and there seemed to be virtually nothing to fit me in the stores then. Everything and everybody else seemed to be size 10-14. I slimmed down to a size 12 and then spent my twenties yoyoing between a fat, slim and medium wardrobe. Evans at this time was an old lady shop, with nasty manmade fibre clothing in old fashioned styles. Then it picked up for

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-45829000932895964552009-02-02T22:30:00.000-08:002009-02-02T22:39:38.114-08:00

It's still snowy, and has been very cold overnight. I'm waiting to see what the Metropolitan line is looking like once the rush hour gets going: I don't have to be in work until 11 am, so I think I will avoid making decisions until it is clear how things are.Spent some time muttering at the BBC weather page. Currently their weather forecast for five days ahead shows the maximum for today at

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-72469286468279951232009-02-02T00:25:00.000-08:002009-02-02T14:31:57.147-08:00

The report on child happiness that I wrote about yesterday has been published, and although I didn't know this, talks about the fact that selfishness on the part of adults is leading to unhappiness in children.Here, about 10-15 centimetres of snow has fallen overnight and it is still snowing heavily. My children were in and out of the back door from about 4.30, playing in the snow. They were

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-9190120645820558292009-02-01T03:43:00.001-08:002009-02-01T03:46:55.713-08:00

Weirdly, while I was posting my previous blog post, Eelco was watching a lecture by Elizabeth Warren. They dovetail in rather a neat way. Some of what she says is not applicable to the UK - thankfully we don't have to worry about spiralling costs for healthcare at present - but a lot of it is very surprising and very interesting.I did that thing where you watch another and another and another..

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-58239706650452701622009-02-01T00:00:00.000-08:002009-02-01T01:21:13.562-08:00

My blood pressure is at a unhealthily high level, due to an article on the BBC website, which talks about a report in advance of its publication tomorrow. First of all, what is that about? If the report is due for release tomorrow, why release the details in advance, and have everyone speculate about its contents? Why not... oh I don't know... wait until the day for publication, and publish it

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-4783905707148195782009-01-31T01:52:00.000-08:002009-01-31T02:34:33.409-08:00

When I read that Richard Hammond was going to be presenting a programme about science, designed for children, I had high hopes that it might be of the experiential nature of Top Gear. I looked forward to watching him explore scientific knowledge with the anarchic and naturalistic style of the Top Gear programme which, despite not being able to drive and not being interested in cars, I find very

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-21905057507907325802009-01-30T02:44:00.000-08:002009-01-30T03:35:50.531-08:00

As a fat woman, I often feel angry that people assume that I spend my days eating cakes and biscuits and in short overeating. In terms of "normal" eating I do not overeat, I don't binge on rubbish food, I do eat an amount I think most people would consider normal. I don't hide cakes and sweets and gorge on them on my own.In terms of my level of physical activity, I do not do enough exercise.

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-39497943766871303162009-01-29T23:04:00.000-08:002009-01-29T23:12:43.151-08:00

A typical morning for me at the moment. I wake up at 5.30am with a letter to the Times in my head, spend an hour or so trying to form my arguments against compulsory inspection, and then find it degenerating into so many pieces of information and so many directions at once, that it becomes incoherent.Find that someone has answered a family history query on one of the boards, and bemoan once

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-9925163800675517222009-01-24T10:13:00.001-08:002009-01-24T10:19:26.478-08:00

The BBC have refused to broadcast an appeal for Gaza, on the basis that it would call into question their journalistic independence.I am rather puzzled by this stance, which seems to be a new idea for the BBC. They have previously broadcast appeals for humanitarian aid (in Darfur for example), without worrying about whether this would affect their judgement or impartiality in news reporting.In

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-79491746365283944592009-01-19T02:37:00.001-08:002009-01-19T03:05:36.647-08:00

Caught a bit of start the week on radio 4 while I was rushing around trying to make the house respectable for the district nurses who are coming to dress Ali's wound. The guy from the Grauniad who does the bad science column was there. He's obviously written a book, or brought out a compilation of his columns or something.I felt like dashing off a really long flaming email to him, but

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-3128592139512328172008-12-28T22:54:00.001-08:002008-12-28T22:58:25.580-08:00

Feeling anxious and odd this morning. Ali has to go into hospital tomorrow for his reversal operation. His experience in 2005 was so awful, I find it hard to relax and let the professionals do their jobs, because that experience showed me that they don't notice as quickly as I do when he is becoming ill, and they don't do the logical and sensible thing either.Can't write, can't settle to

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-4245723385334083542008-09-26T04:24:00.000-07:002008-09-26T04:30:54.580-07:00

I've been doing family history research and research for my local Quaker meeting locally. Something that really alarms and upsets me about the state of education in the mainstream, is the number of libraries and intitutions which put gatekeepers on their online information.Here I am not talking about new information written by their lecturers or students, but information from books long out of

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-76534004745447884572008-09-20T17:38:00.000-07:002008-09-21T06:29:22.101-07:00

Whe I saw the interactive website linked to the new Merlin series I was quite excited. It seemed like it might be a well-rounded experience.Having watched the first episode tonight, I'm disappointed. This was drivel of the first order! I am amazed at what low standards the BBC seems to have nowadays. The writing was poor, the direction was poor, the acting was poor despite the inclusion of some

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-27307075700067343012008-09-09T23:01:00.000-07:002008-09-09T23:22:00.685-07:00

Today is my fiftieth birthday. I've always been quite sanguine about the passage of time, feeling that a birthday was only a marker, another day in a stream of days... but fifty does seem so very old.The trouble is, I think everyone is born a particular age. I have met eight-year-olds who seem to be forty and forty-year-olds who seem to be eight. I think my perfect age was around 25:

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-39221778021304964522008-08-09T04:37:00.000-07:002008-08-09T04:49:43.539-07:00

The BBC website carries a number of stories about girl violence, and the increase that has happened in the last couple of years.I know I am probably a one track singer, but schools can take the blame for a lot of the changes in our culture. One of the researchers who is quoted by the BBC says that the peer group has a lot to do with it. It's only since we have had schools that there ha been

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3863616.post-40578911681180870802008-08-01T11:24:00.000-07:002008-08-01T11:35:45.101-07:00

I've found another blog I want to read. I followed a link to a profile on BoingBoing and thence to a blog. I love this writer... he seems to manage to contrive a similarly cluttered squalour such as the one I habitually work in. I too have a desk... ok, not a desk really, a coffee table, which is supposed to be the centre of writing operations and instead becomes a heap of things that were

Feehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05878413819251951017noreply@blogger.com0