Tuesday 29 October 2013
Thursday 24 October 2013
Things I love Thursday
How’s your week going reader? Feeling like you just want to skip the daily grind and head for some lighthearted fun? Me too reader, moi aussi. Luckily for us it’s Thursday and that means it’s the perfect time for a love list. It’s always good to spread the love, right?
Top of my list is losing track of time over a lovely lunch with a friend and her gorgeous daughter. Seriously folks, I am so lucky to have her. We can put the world to rights over a big mug of tea, she puts up with my rants (and helps me put things in perspective), she makes me laugh and she’s coping brilliantly with being a new mum too.
Also high on my list is a new Poirot on my television ‘The Big Four’ features the return of old friends (Capt Hastings, Miss Lemon and newly promoted assistant commissioner Japp), is beautifully shot and is a clever adaptation by Mark Gattiss and Ian Hallard who of course had to deal with the constraints of adapting it for the small screen. Their version was a story that very much suited the Poirot canon. That said personally it does rankle me when screenwriters change a story so much from its original source.
Other:
applying ballet to daily tasks, Smiles and kindness, adorable paper adventures
Thanks for taking the time to read my list. What about you reader, what's are you loving this week?
Top of my list is losing track of time over a lovely lunch with a friend and her gorgeous daughter. Seriously folks, I am so lucky to have her. We can put the world to rights over a big mug of tea, she puts up with my rants (and helps me put things in perspective), she makes me laugh and she’s coping brilliantly with being a new mum too.
Also high on my list is a new Poirot on my television ‘The Big Four’ features the return of old friends (Capt Hastings, Miss Lemon and newly promoted assistant commissioner Japp), is beautifully shot and is a clever adaptation by Mark Gattiss and Ian Hallard who of course had to deal with the constraints of adapting it for the small screen. Their version was a story that very much suited the Poirot canon. That said personally it does rankle me when screenwriters change a story so much from its original source.
Other:
applying ballet to daily tasks, Smiles and kindness, adorable paper adventures
Thanks for taking the time to read my list. What about you reader, what's are you loving this week?
Tuesday 22 October 2013
Friday 18 October 2013
It’s the 142nd anniversary of the death of Charles Babbage.
The man is a renowned mathematician and philosopher but what I like best about him is like all great men he was a little bit eccentric. It would be fair to say that my favourite story about Babbage is when he trolled/contacted Alfred Tennyson. In response to Tennyson’s poem "The Vision of Sin" Babbage wrote:
"In your otherwise beautiful poem, one verse reads,
Every moment dies a man,
Every moment one is born.
... If this were true, the population of the world would be at a standstill. In truth, the rate of birth is slightly in excess of that of death. I would suggest [that the next version of your poem should read]:
Every moment dies a man,
Every moment 1 1/16 is born.
Strictly speaking, the actual figure is so long I cannot get it into a line, but I believe the figure 1 1/16 will be sufficiently accurate for poetry."
(Doran 2001: 77)
The man is a renowned mathematician and philosopher but what I like best about him is like all great men he was a little bit eccentric. It would be fair to say that my favourite story about Babbage is when he trolled/contacted Alfred Tennyson. In response to Tennyson’s poem "The Vision of Sin" Babbage wrote:
"In your otherwise beautiful poem, one verse reads,
Every moment dies a man,
Every moment one is born.
... If this were true, the population of the world would be at a standstill. In truth, the rate of birth is slightly in excess of that of death. I would suggest [that the next version of your poem should read]:
Every moment dies a man,
Every moment 1 1/16 is born.
Strictly speaking, the actual figure is so long I cannot get it into a line, but I believe the figure 1 1/16 will be sufficiently accurate for poetry."
(Doran 2001: 77)
Tuesday 15 October 2013
Friday 11 October 2013
A quick disclaimer before I begin: I’ve been fighting hard with myself over whether to write this post and then over whether to actually share it. The decision to share it was prompted by two things. The first is accountability. If I tell you reader and make a commitment to shaping up then I have to stick to it. Reason two is that while this blog is about possibilities, creativity and fun things I also wanted to be honest with you, lets be friends reader, to share a bit of myself. Just in case it appeared I project a perfect life here, that would be phoney, a big fat phoney. I’m aware this could come across as a self-pity party and if you want to skip it I’ll understand.
Lately, I’ve been going through the motions a bit. Knowing that I felt “down” (sorry reader that’s such a cop-out word but its all I can share at the moment without disappearing down a rabbit hole) and hoping that if I just keep coping one day/week/month more the cloud will lift. The old ‘fake it till you make it’ nonsense.
Added to this I’ve been getting so frustrated so easily lately. I wish I felt more in control. I’m tired of feeling like life is happening to me and I have no say in the matter. Most of the time I just feel like a giant fraud because I’m okay and I’m still able to live my life, do the things that need to be done each day.
Praying God would awaken some of the passion I used to have, the desires and dreams to live for something greater. I've been getting so frustrated with myself without really acknowledging how drained I feel or how ludicrous it is. I’m not really one for cars but it almost feels like trying to race across the country with an empty tank then kicking the tyres when it doesn’t work.
At the base of everything though I still have an unstinting belief that things will work out, though maybe not in the way I expect, the long road has a purpose. I hold on to this reader. I want the whisper to become a battle cry once more but maybe I need to accept that at least a whisper is a voice. That’s it I think for the moment chin up, head down and be kind to myself. Things can change, this too shall pass. The light at the end of the tunnel is there, I know it, I just can't see it yet. That’s life sometimes though isn’t it reader? You just have to keep plugging away until you reach the light and hope it isn’t a train.
Lately, I’ve been going through the motions a bit. Knowing that I felt “down” (sorry reader that’s such a cop-out word but its all I can share at the moment without disappearing down a rabbit hole) and hoping that if I just keep coping one day/week/month more the cloud will lift. The old ‘fake it till you make it’ nonsense.
Added to this I’ve been getting so frustrated so easily lately. I wish I felt more in control. I’m tired of feeling like life is happening to me and I have no say in the matter. Most of the time I just feel like a giant fraud because I’m okay and I’m still able to live my life, do the things that need to be done each day.
Praying God would awaken some of the passion I used to have, the desires and dreams to live for something greater. I've been getting so frustrated with myself without really acknowledging how drained I feel or how ludicrous it is. I’m not really one for cars but it almost feels like trying to race across the country with an empty tank then kicking the tyres when it doesn’t work.
At the base of everything though I still have an unstinting belief that things will work out, though maybe not in the way I expect, the long road has a purpose. I hold on to this reader. I want the whisper to become a battle cry once more but maybe I need to accept that at least a whisper is a voice. That’s it I think for the moment chin up, head down and be kind to myself. Things can change, this too shall pass. The light at the end of the tunnel is there, I know it, I just can't see it yet. That’s life sometimes though isn’t it reader? You just have to keep plugging away until you reach the light and hope it isn’t a train.
Friday Find
This weeks Friday Find is this acapella arrangement of ‘I need thee O I need thee’ mainly because I have been playing it over and over again this week. His rendition of ‘How Great Thou Art’ gives me goosebumps too:
Tuesday 8 October 2013
Thursday 3 October 2013
‘Water, water, everywhere’
Today is National Poetry Day in the UK. A campaign to celebrate poetry in all of its diverse forms, to encourage people to take an interest in and hopefully enjoy poetry, held every year on the first Thursday in October. The theme for National Poetry Day 2013 is 'water'.
To mark the occasion I thought I’d share a couple of water poems. If you have the time to spare then, on this chilly Thursday, pour yourself a nice mug of tea or a glass of something lovely, no judgements here reader, sit back and join me in soaking up every syllable and if you do have plenty of time I would certainly recommend Coleridge’s ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ too:
Mermaid’s Lament Rachel Rooney
Water Ralph Waldo Emerson
In addition reader, if you have a smart phone or tablet, there’s a new app being launched for the occasion. It’s called “The Love Book” and features readings of love poems from Ovid to Carol Ann Duffy, read by some of our brightest current stars such as Helena Bonham Carter, Damian Lewis and Tom Hiddleston.
To mark the occasion I thought I’d share a couple of water poems. If you have the time to spare then, on this chilly Thursday, pour yourself a nice mug of tea or a glass of something lovely, no judgements here reader, sit back and join me in soaking up every syllable and if you do have plenty of time I would certainly recommend Coleridge’s ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ too:
Mermaid’s Lament Rachel Rooney
Water Ralph Waldo Emerson
In addition reader, if you have a smart phone or tablet, there’s a new app being launched for the occasion. It’s called “The Love Book” and features readings of love poems from Ovid to Carol Ann Duffy, read by some of our brightest current stars such as Helena Bonham Carter, Damian Lewis and Tom Hiddleston.
Tuesday 1 October 2013
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