My perceptive abilities have failed me this time...

I was more than a little surprised to find that I am more perceptive than I realised...

Last night... ?

Childrens' books are brilliant aren't they?

Dear all; I have a ... project

I have a wee project, and I could do with (as they say) a little help from my friends.

I am attempting to collate, curate and create a fascinating collection of the things that people (and by people I mean you lovely, lovely helpful future contributors) find interesting.

Whether you are intrigued by the internal politics of your office, enthralled by the relative merits of futons vs. tatami mats or just plain curious about the fact that hammerhead sharks get sunburn, I would like, nay, love to have your input.

I need quotations in any kind of digital audio format, clearly spoken, although mistakes are perfectly admissible, and an image to attach said quotation to. The image doesn't have to be you, but that would be nice, and I'm not going to attach any names to the images or quotes, promise.
The quote should be you talking about the thing that currently interests you most, scripted is fine, non-scripted is fine, kiswahili, icelandic and french are all fine (although please provide some form of translation) in fact anything at all is fine just so long as I can understand it.

Please, pretty please, may I suggest that should you be nice enough to comply with my weird request, quotes/images are emailed to winesandspirits@tesco.net or xander@qi.com, regular updates to this rather bizarre project will be forthcoming, but first I need some help with the raw materials.

Questions will be answered by me in the traditional manner, with a haka... and a follow up apologeticexplanatory email.


Disclaimer: I am not, repeat, not going to make a penny out of this... thank you... It's a project. Like show and tell as a kid, only with people, and interesting quotes... and the interweb.

Show and tell 2.0 perhaps?

...and now, the weather...

As a birthday present goes, BST is bloody brilliant. I love the evening light; as if the day is gently fading-to-black, gin in hand, legs sprawled among the furniture, it's panama hat at a rakish tilt over its brow, languorously allowing the light to drain away in unnoticed sips...


Anyone for sundowners?


B: Sideways , Rex Pickett; Nightwatch, T Pratchett

dither-y suspicious...

Bloomin' suspicious letter from a bank-that-I-no-longer-hold-an-account-with this morning, makes me wonder if I'm now on some kind of bank-revenge-hit-list somewhere in the bowels of the world of personal finance.

I've been grappling with CP Snow's Two Cultures recently; what he's saying is great, despite the outdated examples, although the language is just a bit too stuffy and rambling. I'm sure that in person it would have been far more bearable.

Since finishing with school/university, its been rare for my opinions about education to put me in the throes of a good rant, but with this little book urging me to question why I think what I think, (and if what I thunk needs changing... given some thought on the matter?) and to be proud of my decision to do the IB, to have subjected myself to a multitude of disciplines and, most importantly, to have challenged myself with the new and the frightening.

What I did at Uni, nay, from 16 up, really could do with some looking at... why I'm here and now is a definite, concrete result of the there and then. Desperate not to let a narrow curriculum limit my possible directions, I may have led myself down a garden-path which is, in truth, merely abetting my natural inclination to dithering.

If so, is the very fact that I have tendency to allow life to happen to me, a result, cause, effect, symptom of (or perhaps merely a correlation with) the above?

Any suggestions for a ball-grabbing, sock-pulling, bootstrap-lifting inspiration thingamabob that'll help get my goose going?



In other news:

When you have a really good, 'wracked with sobs' kind of prolonged blubbering outburst, its impact is extremely exhausting. Two days ago and I still ache. In future I need to book time off real lifebefore I decide to have a minor breakdown.



B:Two Cultures C.P.Snow

It's all in the...

...Timing?

2 buses down, one more to complete the metaphor.

Assuming regular spacing of current events , it's late.



...Mix?

Liking the random and revealing nature of the past week's contretemps

Hating that I have to wait 'til Monday for the swanky new computer

Mulling the facts...

Remaining on a minor caffeine comedown



...Score?

Big-bastard-bank-company-of-nefarious-intent: 0
Bookwrangler: 1

Damn, as they say, the man.



...Execution?

Perhaps, just perhaps;

victoryinbattlesagainstcoporategreed+illcommunicated
impendingnegativejobtonojobratio+earlyeveninglight
thisearly x e (for enhanced electronic abilities)

= a better outlook




B:Neither Here Nor There B. Bryson

Still...

Still:

- Livid, though it seems to be settling into a low level world-weary derision

- Amazed by the awkward and honest way that youngsters use their bodies, it in turns embarrasses , confounds, and astounds me

- Trying to become more human again after 33 days straight at work and then the apocolypsis of lightly imparted (work-gripe related) death knells

- Calming; like aloe on a raw wound, my last two days have cooled me, but only time will really begin to make it less sore

- Really happy that my brothers seem to be negotiating themselves through their difficult days with far more aplomb, better dress sense and greater grace than ever I did

- Nostalgic for the ease of August, and the pleasant sensations of sloth and evenings full of possibility that an early dusk brings

- Looking.


B: Freakonomics, Dubner and Levitt; Dirk Gently... Douglas Adams; If Minds Had Toes Lucy Eyre