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January 22 WHATS UP!I haven't writen for a long time, lost of reasons, life is busy, thoughts have been all over the place, and because I have cave tendacies of sorting things out in m head not on screen. Also the last time I wrote a lovely long theraputic rant about how People create good things and bad things and all life does is hold a mirror up to us and reflect in the greed or glory ...and it di go on and on ..I saved it and then it was promtly lost in the virtual world of "it may never have been said". It served it's purpose though and I did feel better and a little bit more in touch with my own thoughts by the end of it.
2007 I think was a funny year, not a good not bad...some great stuff some hard stuff, and now I would like a year that is not like that - I would like to reflect a year that is fully of laughter, amazing experinces and learning and growth. I am trying to work out what I need to do to be a better person, to create goodwill and warmth so that I can help this relflect on others and on people I care about, I would like the UK to have a great year.
Unfortunatley it has't started off well, but I am unsure if this is because it is reflecting my behaviour (because that would trouble me seeing as I have been trying to be so good and kind to everyone) or if it is just bad luck...which I am not sure I believe in. I am confused about what else I need to do to make good things happen. At work we work hours like I have never seen before, at home we cram so much in so we are never wasting a second and at life my friends have all had bad news and troubling times with illness, deaths and fiscal worries.
If you truely believe that anyone can do anything if they really want to, then it make life very confusing - it mens there are too many options and chioces and not enough forces helping you narrow down how to make an important difference in the world. I used to think that the internet and teh power of the web was the way we could bring equality and fairness to dierse sets of people. I still do believe this, but I also see that people just use this opportunity to do bad things to - hence people are just creating the relfection that come back at them in whatever medium of life.
So if we can't help ourselves but creat good and bad things in whatever humans do then we are always going to have violence and badness in the world no matter waht people do. So the battle between good and evil never ends, there is never a happy ending to this it's just who makes small but impactful progress ensuring there is still balance.
Then again that isn't true of nature....spcieis go extinct - does that mean bad stuff has won?
June 07 Internal meetingsinternal is the first offence..... meetings is the second ..... how do I want to work in the new world, we don't have to meet anymore to get things done, I just need to know you are trustworthy.
....read the speed of trust ... another covey jr book but one worth considering.
I have found some soulmates in my new role, but it was hard and long, relationships take time, I was to expeidate work relationships, being a visiual person how do you do this.....
men talk and gesticulate to show they know .... women sit and listen and then try to harmonise .... or worse they try to join the alpha's ...ug ug...they need to shave right?
March 27 How can small things make big differencesI have started a new role.
We have started a new role.
How do successful companies turn from being a product company into a truely spectacular services company.
What do great customer services do?
When was your last great customer service?
What did it make you feel/think/say?
Can a small relatively modest person change a large organisation?
Where are all my soulmates now!
small things like mosquitos can cause big change ... but is it that big.
The world seems smaller now days.
As you get older does the world get smaller and the people in it get bigger or is that just perspective?
My nan got shorter but now she is 93 she did get wider.
touching the void, gaping the void ... using the void......
... poor void.
...enough said. January 26 Films-Work-FriendsFriends and people who you meet at work that over time become friends, but you don't know when the lines got blurry, become the best of friends. The UK population unlike so many of our main land european neighbours work so hard that the average UK citizen now reportedly work over 70 hours per week. If people continue to work that hard just to maintain a certain standard of living when are they going to stop and look around for a while. Ferris Buller had an excellent point.
More concerning is that reflecting on the wisdom of The Godfather, he never stopped working, work and life became so intertwined that niether he or any of his family could tell the difference, or switch off from thier work responsibiltlies. Why is that a romatic vision for so many poeple, is it because the average UK cit doesn't know what the right priorities are anymore. Why does it have to take a big scale health or family scare to get peoples perspective in place, why does it have to go that far. Micheal came back a war hero and then found himself protecting his father alone and then realised he enjoyed the adversity. Do we all have to be pushed into a corner under adverse circumstance before we find out what is important and what it is we enjoy?
When did you last take a sicky - when did you last spontaniously take off and catch a flight to Millan to go shopping for no apparent reason other than the fact that in this day and age you CAN?
Change the wayyou thinik, change the way your friends think, do something you haven't done before, do something that you dream of but havent, show leadership in your own behaviour - you don't need to be irresponsible you just need to start the trend. The average UK cit works too hard, our stress related, heart related and liver related illnessed are higher than any other european country....what are you doing to change it?
Take your best freinds, those that will go with you everywhere regardless what job you do, take them one at a time if need be and show them how to stop and look around for a while, sing on a float, ice skate in central, Dive in scotland, walk in wales, shop in milan, sit in the movies one afternoon, blag your way into a restaurant, do a prank phone call... live a little, and in between times work hard but smart. January 25 1 month on from Santa's big tent dayI have had the most remarkably diverse and long month, I have met new people, I have detoxed fully..I couldn't BE any cleaner and I have got so many choices laid infront of me that I feel very lucky. I have sorted out my finances, rung my IFA, got my house sorted for sale, MOT'd the car...and I heard that yesterday was mean't to be the most depressing day of the year and I didn't even notice..so feeling pretty chipper. Not sure who said or even thought that thier maybe one particular day that is more depressing than others, but I feel for whoever was either asked to find out or devise such a proposterous thing!
I have set up all my new feeds for the year of people I want to learn and share stuff with, I have set myself some good and interesting objectives and I have started to work on what my contribution is going to be for my community and my country for this year.
I have decided to spend more time writing about my favourite city in the whole world which of course is London, I have booked my trips to the US, Europe, Diving and the end of year BIG adventure, the last one I need to sort is the trekking trip with work. So that is more than enough about me. Now what about life?
The weather has finally decided to reflect the time of year we are in, it is snowy, sunny and wonderful, I saw someone throw the first snow ball from a perfectly covered field yesterday, I saw childrew laughing and smiling and dogs bounding through far too deep snow, where it tickled thier noses and made them sneeze. The cars were all covered and looked clean and crisp, the roads looked twinkly and even and the trees looked laiden and heavy with soft cotton wool pulling at thier bows. London appeared out of a film, with the most beautiful pictures and moments which show that we are all still human and a small part of such a wonderful and random system. I drove with my roof down and the heater turned up, taking advantage of the largest hairdryer in the world. This has to be the most magical time of year - it's all about opportunity and change, everything can look different if you want to see it. I spoke to a guy who stands outside the National Portrait Gallery on tuesday, he is always there, and always gives me a great big smile, he sells Big Issue and on occasions i stop for a quick chat, he is from "up north" and is always polite and happy. He has an opinion about everything and is gentle. I watched a film over xmas that had colin Firth in it - it was a bunch of different life collisions, not sure what it was called but it tried to tackle the homeless agenda, it didn't help me understand how I should feel about it, or what to do. But it did make me stop and talk more. If anyone has any good ideas about what to do I would love some ideas - I'm not trying to solve the whole issue - just understand what we can do to make a positive difference.
I heard that Labour has created more capitalist gains and more single multi millionaires than the Tories could have ever hope to...this made me giggle, unfortunetly I am ot one of them, but having seen that a chap in the city got a bonus of £52M last year I am sure it is just a matter of time, that kind of money seems to be growing on trees. But it does make me wonder what the UK is going to become, the divide is getting bigger, the whole country is diversifying from immigrants who are coming in who are better educated and qualififed than the avg. brit all the way to the rich and famous, or those who appear on big brother...not sure they qualify as celebrities but I guess that was the point. All the same I am worried that our UK talent pool is getting so broad with no strong theme's hanging it together that the UK needs as a country will be lost and it will become a vanilla canvas that doesn't represent anything. What then, why and how could we continue to attract great people to help and make this place great, what contribution do you make.
Santa is dressed in red because of Coke, there are no red letter boxes or telephone boxes anymore, black cabs are being cut up by rickshaws (which I do love) being ridden by university students from Prague, our advertising is winning awards all over the world, TV is declining and braodband is helping our social media blossom, our culture is becoming so rich, and our government is not using this to it's full potential .... and the avg. joe is watching Big Brother and so lacking any important agenda's to talk about they have created a pivotal issue around a person who is just trying to make a living but certainly not important enough to be on front page.
If this is how the year starts I can't wait for the rest :) ... Come on Britain .... what have you got for this year?
January 02 2007 a year dedicated to changeThe world is changing, the information and communication we have available to us is changing, therefore we need to change too. so this is going to be a blog that for this year is dedicated to change.....to kick off check out the coolest gadget to hit the shops
Here is to a year of positive change :)
November 17 On a journeyI have been on a journey, ever since I can remember I have always thought that life is an adventure and that you always have choice. My parents clearly did a good job on my values as I am proud of who I am, and how I approach life, I have the most amazing set of family and friends that anyone could hope to have. I am pretty selective on who I let into my pink sparkley world because it's worth protecting.
I also am a passionate person which manifests itself in me being very open and trusting with everyone I meet, this I have noticed has it's drawbacks...like when I miss judge a situation or a person. But getting feedback is no bad thing, and I have been lucky to have had some amazing experiences and broad understanding of human nature which makes it easier to enjoy all sorts of events and people.
One thing has been a theme throughout my life though and I only just realised it today, everything I have ever done has been about connecting people and making thier life enriched with opportunity. I work in a company that I am beaming with pride for, with people that perminantly amaze and inspire me and with the technology I love, the internet has revolutionised the worlds global community, even in areas that have no infrastructure the power of the web has spread everywhere, it has created wealth, happiness, newness, opportunity, ideas, community, vision. Yet you can't see the internet, you can't encapsulate it, you can't pick it up... you can however feel it.
Which means all those feelings that are evoked everday could be causing a collective conciousness of great feelings. so could that mean that we are creating a high level collective warmth around the world? in turn could that mean that at one point if the good out weighs the bad that we could be creating global euphroia?
That may be my journey. November 01 Superb Nursery RhymesMary had a little pig, She kept it fat and plastered; And when the price of pork went up, She shot the little bastard. MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB Her father shot it dead. Now it goes to school with her, Between two hunks of bread JACK AND JILL Went up the hill To have a little fun. Stupid Jill forgot the pill And now they have a son. HUMPTY DUMPTY sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the kings' horses, And all the kings' men. Had scrambled eggs, For breakfast again. HEY DIDDLE, DIDDLE the cat took a piddle, All over the bedside clock. The little dog laughed to see such fun. Then died of electric shock. GEORGIE PORGY Pudding and Pie, Kissed the girls and made them cry. And when the boys came out to play, He kissed them too 'cause he was gay. There was a little girl who had a little curl Right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good, she was very, very good. But when she was bad........ She got a fur coat, jewels, a waterfront condo, and a sports car. October 30 Autum Term: Sharpened pencils and SniffelsSo kids are back to school, the leaves are dropping off the trees which makes for hours and hours of back breaking clearing in the garden and drive way, the weather is slowly catching me out and stockings and heals turn to woolen tights and fluffy boots. But some things remaint he same, the faces ont he commuters have solidified for the winter, perminant red glowing noses, miserable growling down turned mouths and big bulky coats which mean that a traditional 3 seater turns into a musical chairs game at each stop closer to London.
So far the heating is still intact and the cars are all working and have not frozen over, one of my least favourite jobs - scrapping ice off the car, this is perhaps one of the only times I will use gender to its fullest advantage and do that pathetic little girly thing, "but loook my fingers are blue I can't feel anything, it would be dangerous for me to do it...pweaseeee?". Then get a big lump of icy snow and pop it down his boxers when he's not looking :) It is also time for all may favourite things: Pumpkins lit up, hot mulled wine, fireworks and bonfires (I defy anyone who suggests they are not a secret pyromaniac) warm open fires, huge mugs of soup, top down on the car on sunny days with heater on full blast, big soft jumpers and lots of lovely parties. How can not like this time of year!
A colleague I have the pleasure of working with often always asks me "How am I choosing to feel today" ...I have at times been very cheeky and said things like....I am choosing to feel my husbands bollocks, or ...I am choosing to feel numb.....but for this season I will be mostly choosing to feel magical and michevous...because this is my time of year and I love it. Today I am choosing to have conjunctivitus ....I used to get this a lot when I was little as I have sensitive eyes...today I am choosing to get it because I loved getting up this morning and coming face to face with one of the characters out of Shaun of the Dead. My GP said to me today - don't worry in 5 days you will see a much better looking woman starting back at you, I think he has very high hopes for the power of just some simple antibiotic eye drops....perhaps they really do believe they are god!
So I am working from home: and what a funny thing that is, I missed my daily commute with all my grumpy favourties in place I stay at home and the cleaners come round, whilst on a conf call they Hoover maddly and noisily, they proceed to bump and shove all the things in the house to different places so it looks like they have done something and then pop their head around the office door to appologies and slope of early "so not to disturb" ... but they have cleaned my house for which I am ever greatful....so much so I want to hug them .... cleaners are perhaps more like god thatn GP's for me.
My husband and I continue to discuss living arrangements, Oast houses, barns, flats, Kent, London, New york managed to slip in yesterday Hong Kong has been in it and France too, we seem to be going in circles, perhaps too much choice is a bad thing, or maybe thats why people have children - because it make the choices some people have so limited it seems simpler in a way. Well I say bring on choice ... because if you are choosing every day then you are a lucky person, I would rather feel I had chioces everyday than feel like I had not.
I am choosing to have conjunctivitus .... and resmeble a gooey eyed bloody shot zombie .... and as long as this lasts until tomorow I willl not need to invest in a Trick or Treat constume to scare my neighbours (under the pretence that I am my step daughter).....she has her uses! September 21 In Seattle in SeptemberI consider myself very lucky.
I get to travel all around the world some places for personal interest some for business. And one of my favourtie places has to be Seattle. It is a truely wonderful city, it has amazing buildings, right by the sea, so delicious freshly caught seefood, near mountains that stretch for miles where you can ski, board, walk or climb and has a very active water sports community right in the centre of downtown.
There is a 8 hour flight between you and Seattle and that is exactly the right ammout of time to do some work, take some films in read a book and do some thinking. Exactly the right time to go through all those things in your head you put off and if you are lucky just the right ammount of time to be sitting next to a nice person who you can talk idolly to and learn something from, because whoever you speak with I find you at least learn one new thing.
The airport is friendly and welcoming, the staff are polite and efficient - mostly, and the taxi ride to my favourite hotel is long enough to see the city loom up on the horizon and evoke a feeling of excitement and home at the same time.
The People here are the exception, they are delightful, funny and perhaps I have been lucky but incredably friendly and helpful. They are fun loving and, for once, they don't assume I am from Austrailia - which is nice.
Everyone should come to Seattle...at least once, and I would like to show you the lakes, mountains, waterfalls and yummy food places that if you know you would come back again and again.....
You will never be Sleepless in Seattle unless through choice! September 15 Death in the FamilyMy routeen was changed this morning. But it was one of those changes that is not within your control to do anything about. Parking outside the station my Mum called, early enough for it to be of concer to me. The closest person we have had in our family, who has participated daily in our lives as a grandad figure, for as long as I can remember died this morning. He died with people around him who loved him, it wasn't a comfortable death it was rather messy, but he had people with him all the time, he wasn't alone.
It's made me feel numb, my brother is very upset, my mother is going to take it worst as she thought of him as a substitue for a father she never knew, my Dad will deal with it internally and supress anything too emotional and that is what I will do to because I have inherited my fathers ways of dealing with things that are too hard to talk about.
I came into work today because it seemed easier to follow a routeen than to work out what I should be doing by myself. Ironically its this routeen that has driven me mad beyond compare for the last few years, but now I understand why we as humans need routeen. My Nan used to say everything has it's place and a place for everything, she doesn't say that any more not because she is dead because I am glad to say she is not. She doesn't say it anymore because she can't remember what she had for breakfast today let alone some profound statement of wisdom that a genius once said and has been for ever more quoted. My Nan's words have lead me through most of my life, I have a quote for almost every eventuallity, my most favourite Nanism is "if you have nothing good to say, say nothing at all" that has stood me well. I think I would like to sit down with my nan and try to write all these things down, we could spend day's giggling and laughing at her sarcastic and dry comments and then make a fortune by printing them on the front of cheap Tshirts and selling them on ebay, but my nan can't remember her arse from her elbow so instead I'll just cuddle her as much as I can.
I am sad today. Death is unfair, my nephew will try to understand what has happened and ask questions for months and months about why he can't see and talk with my notgrandad and I am sure we will find some humour in some of these moments. But children can teach us a lot, they don't get too sad because they still believe and hope that they may just see them again. As we grow older we get more cynical and start to build up rediculous emotional barriers to help us deal with things that make us feel out of control. I think it's ok to beat the pillow and shout IT'S UNFAIR! I think we should still be like kids and hold on to hope. Hope make us less fearful, it makes us coragous and makes us live life through a childs eyes. And I haven't met one person who doesn't look back and say that when they were younger the world was a simpler and more fun place.
I'm childish and I'm staying here, I may see my notgrandad again soon, I don't know where but he will be in circumstances and in places I least expect and I will smile at him and laugh because I know he will still stink of Cigars and he will still remind me of Harry Enfields scetch about the swave old bloke in the gentalmans club with a silk smoking jacket on, slurping G&T's and telling inapproriate stories of is infadelity with charming ladies or about the war and about his escape from the Germans, about is freindship with very rich and famous politicans or just him being basically rude and brutal....because he had got to the age where you can and people fogive you still..... and of course getting ver ver drunk.
Bye Bye notgrandad ....for now.
September 13 begining of my opinionsHaving reciently caught up with a good and dear friend I have decided to start to air my views on thw world, to rant in my own way about great things that I see and learn and to remark on events that I think are worthy of thought.
So I will start on my journey into work today. Everyday...well most days I get up at 6am, I find myself getting up everyday with a little less spring in my step as I know that the onslaught of a morning routeen which has taken me 30 odd years to perfect is now boring the pants off me. I am confident one day I will actually travel to work without any. I try to introduce new habits into this routeen like singing, dancing or stubbing my toes, poking myself in the eye with masscara is a favourite because it does actually provoke a reaction. My husband has also tried to make it more interesting by adding a miriad of noises, smells and snappy vicous comments into the 45mins of competative bathroom dodging, he is also very well versed in toe stubbing. You would have thought we lived in a small house but we don't, we have three bathrooms and yet still choose this routeen because ..... because if we didn't it wouldn't be one.
So lets get to the real hilight of the day, I commute, I choose everyday to get on a train and travel up to london from truely beautiful countryside. I choose to get into a train with possibly the most bizzar mix of retards and characterless tits I have ever met. They hate it when you ask them to take all thier baggage off the only seat left on the train that we pay at least £4K for per year. they tut when you sit next to them and god forbid your phone goes off to show that you actually do have friends and they don't...there is a reason it's called mobile!. They snort at you for laughing at Ricky Gervais podcasts (which I highly recomend) and hate it when you could just possibly be having a good day already. "Why do I do this" is a question that hits me everyday up until I reach leicester Square and then I know why, beacuse London with all its dirt, drug addicts, winos, archetechture, culture, hookers, people, smells, sights, boats, events, parties, tourists, busses, taxis, shops, parks and of course the royal family is truely the greatest city in the world. And so I arrive everyday with a grin on my face transfixed by the beauty of big ben and the houses of parliment and keep whispering to myself.....you're a big girl now you work in London....
....the spring comes back to my feet, my smile gets wider - the lack of chineese homeless people starts to perplex me and why the homelss have cute dogs which look deciededly cleaner than them, and things go through my head that wouldn't happen if I sat in a field in Kent. My sences awake and my new adventure of the day begins....I tell myself I am like captain Nemo of the City ... I know routes other don't dare to tread I know sights and see events that others walk past locked in thier own small worlds, I smile and people wonder why and I stride into work with new sights and smells and feelings that I will sometimes choose to share with people and sometimes selfishly keep to myself. August 22 Windows Live makes test debut in VistaBut integration of services still unclearwriten by: Elizabeth Montalbano Microsoft has begun showing how it will integrate its Windows Live online services into Windows Vista in recent test builds of the OS (operating system), according to sources familiar with the company's plans.
Harrison Hoffman, one of the writers of the LiveSide blog, said in an email yesterday that Windows Live has appeared in the "newer builds" of Vista. He said the links to Windows Live services appear in the Welcome Center screen of recent Windows Vista builds, which is the 'Welcome to Your Computer' page in the OS.
Currently, the extent of the integration is the addition of icons that link users to Windows Live applications, such as Windows Live Messenger, Hoffman said. In fact, a posting on the Microsoft-watching blog of Steven Bink shows a screenshot of the integration to which Hoffman is referring. According to that screenshot, users can click on an icon to learn more about Windows Live and download online services such as the Windows Live Toolbar, Windows Live Mail and Windows Live Messenger. Microsoft has been releasing intermittent test builds of Vista to beta testers; the OS is currently in a public Beta 2.0 release. Testers are expecting the first Release Candidate of Vista to be out soon, and Microsoft has said recently that it is on target to release Vista to enterprise customers in November and consumers in January 2007. Brandon LeBlanc, one of the writers of Longhorn Blogs, also confirmed via email the integration of Windows Live in Vista's Welcome Center. He said it's still unknown how much Windows Live services will be included in the OS once it is released to manufacturing. Microsoft has said it would integrate its Windows Live online services with Vista, but has been unclear as to how it would execute on this strategy. The company has been pushing its online services hard as a way to drive online advertising revenue to compete with Google and Yahoo. Microsoft's public relations firm did not return immediate requests for comment yesterday. September 09 Values> A well-known speaker started off his seminar by > holding up a $20.00 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, > "Who would like this $20 bill?" > Hands started going up. > He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you > but first, let me do this. > He proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill. > He then asked, "Who still wants it?" > Still the hands were up in the air. > Well, he replied, "What if I do this?" > And he dropped it on the ground > and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. > He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. > "Now, who still wants it?" > Still the hands went into the air. > My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson. > No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it > because it did not decrease in value. > It was still worth $20. > Many times in our lives, > we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt > by the decisions we make and > the circumstances that come our way. > We feel as though we are worthless. > But no matter what has happened or > what will happen, you will never lose your value. > Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, > you are still priceless to those who DO LOVE you. > The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, > but by WHO WE ARE. > You are special- Don't EVER forget it." December 06 The best exam answer ever!The following is supposedly an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry paper. (The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well): Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)? Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following: First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different Religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added. This gives two possibilities: 1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose. 2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over. So which is it? If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, "it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you", and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number 2 must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore extinct...leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting "Oh my God." THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY "A" |
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