The Life of Mahatma Gandhi – Louis Fisher. The story of Mahatma Gandhi, told against the backdrop of developing India seperation from the British empire. I picked this book up randomly one night when I couldn’t sleep and started tidying out one of Stephen’s cupboards. Gandhi is an amazing character by all accounts and this book describes his core beliefs extremely well. This belief system centres around the need to act on what you believe in, otherwise you obviously don’t really believe in it. Pretty simple and it paid off well for Gandhi who throughout his life continued to question everything around him and never get stuck into safe, familiar patterns. The book starts of well and the first half is pretty easy going as Gandhi moves from being a well paid lawyer to fighter for civil rights. The second half becomes a lot harder going, with a lot more detail as to what Gandhi did and a lot of subtlety in who he interacted with. Overall an excellent read and fascinating to see strong self belief in action.
The Celestine Prophecy – James Redfield. A story of a spiritual quest to awaken skills within the human mind that aren’t normally considered. The book goes through nine insights, each of which build on the last one, that indicate how people should try and live to be more in sync with themselves and the rest of the world. It’s traditionally seen as one of those books that you are recommended to by other people, ignore for a bit, then pick up and read at some point in the future when you’re ready to hear what it says. Although the ‘story’ itself is very basic and not exactly high prose it is good for illustrating the author’s insights, which vary from the importance of meditation and feeling love for yourself, through seeing auras and directing energy to others and finally arriving at a proposal for how everyone in the world should live. I found all of the insights to be interesting and matching a lot of what I had recently read and seen, the last insight however seems to go a bit too far at one time. Maybe it’s right though. Definately worth a read.
Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway – Susan Jeffers. A series of exercises designed to help you break through your own fear, whatever it prevents you doing. A lot of the advice is very straightforward and obvious but it’s good to read it anyway. I was feeling pretty distracted and unfocussed when I started reading this and it really helped bring my thoughts and direction more together. If you feel like you need a bit of a push have a go with this.
Weight
Had a grand old day today helping my friend Kirsteen with her running job at the BBC. She’s helping the Home Front team by doing all their random tasks such as making tea and buying 5 amp plug tops for 13 amp lamps. Having met her at 9.30am on Tottenham Court road we them drove pretty much all the way round London picking up pieces of furniture and other items that shops were willing to lend for the show and hence have some TV coverage. Got to see some places that I’d never seen before, and some that I happen to live round the corner from. Excellent fun.
I’m seriously contemplating cutting down the amount of ways I use electronic media to present myself at the moment. Although I quite enjoy writing to this diary it’s been hard to keep up with what I want to say when I don’t have a fast Internet connection. I’m also starting to wonder how important it is to my own self to keep this stuff in a more private journal. I know a few people would miss reading it apart from me (hi mum).
This reduction in use of electronic channels was also brought home to me the other day when I was looking through old love letters that some of my ancestors sent each other. These are wonderful Victorian cards, with beautiful words in flowing script. The thought of how similar shared words between myself and people I love would never be found in such a permanent manner brought me up short for a moment. Can you see your great grandchildren huddled over an old antique hard drive they found in the attic feeling such a connection to words held as ones and zeros? There seems to be to be so much less weight and importance attached to e-mails, when the reality is that these quickly written and sent words can often have a huge impact that changes lives one way or another. I was going to say ‘for better or worse’ there but change is just change, there is no ‘better or worse’ unless you treat it that way.
Watch out for my new diary written on stone tablets – coming soon to a prehistoric delivery channel near you.
Weekend (+ 1/2)
Another bank holiday weekend draws to a close.. Not that I notice such things in my current general state of unemployedness. It was only when Stephen reminded me on Friday that it was a bank holiday that I twigged. It’s been a good one.
Been out doing much clubbing since Thursday night when we went down to the ‘quality’ Crazy Larrys down in Chelsea. When the ‘DJ’ finally worked out how to use the decks they did play a few fun tunes but generally a night of lo-fi cheese. Saturday started with the free cannabis coalition festival in Brixton – a mini Glastonbury with lots of dance tents and the usual array of food stalls to keep everyone amused. This has only been going on the last three years so this was my first one, having missed the last ones during my time in New York (which I’m still missing stupidly and keep getting very mopey whenever I see that skyline on TV, which is about once every ten minutes).
After the festival we hung out in the Living Room in Brixton for a while before I wandered on my own up to Islington. I’d seen a flyer for Sir Real playing at the Garage, and having fond memories of his sets at Third Eye back in ’92, decided to go and see him again. The venue, actually Upstairs at the Garage, was like a Scout hall painted black, an image that was emphasized by the clientele all being about 16 (except me and the DJ). After a few beers, well – Smirnoff Ices, I got up the courage to dance like a nutter on my own in the middle of the dance floor. Ah, bless.
Sunday caught up with Helen in the afternoon, teaching her the important life skill of how to make water bombs. The pootled back down to Brixton for a bit more clubbing at Dog Star. Randomly bumped into Zen, a friend of Chris in the queue so ended up not being on my own. Good laugh, but the place is a total meet market to the max. Today I was slightly less clubby – cycling for about two hours round Richmond Park and now feeling decidedly achey for my troubles. Nice.
So a good weekend all in all – but I’m still in London and still not really sure what I’m doing with life. I’m contemplating buying a Hasselblad camera (500 C/M body secondhand with basic lens/back) having seen some second hand kit in a camera shop and getting very excited. I have a ticket sorted out for Glastonbury now and that’s also very exciting. No big ‘flash’ of revelation as to what to do in general though – travel? Get a job? What kind of job? Where do I want to live? Had a very cool vision of living in a big loft with huge windows looking out over trees the other night. Felt very comfortable there – just not sure where ‘there’ is. Maybe I’ll find it one day, along with other turtles that I’m not expecting to find.
I’m Wicked and I’m Laaaaaazy
I really can’t stop singing that tune from the kids at X-Press 2 with that nice Mr David Byrne. Really feel like it’s an anthem in the making, if lacking a heavy enough dance beat. Although I have to say that as I sit in this easyInternet cafe on High Street Kensington I find it hard to remember any music with the pop-tastic crap they’re pumping through the speakers. Still, at £1 for 93 minutes you can’t really complain can you.
On the subject of internet cafes – this is now my third console. The first one seemed sensible but was right by the toilets (so everyone walks past you and sees what you’re writing, the second had no headphones and this, the third, is right underneath one of the aforementioned pop spouting speakers. Sense that a fourth console would be in order if it wasn’t for the fact that logging in and out now would move my charge rate down to only 82 minutes a pound!
The lack of constant access to a broadband Internet link has definately affected by diary entries. Apologies to the few people who actually read my random witterings (a big shout out to my mum and Quodnunc HR there). I also don’t feel like I have anything really interesting to say, but since when has that actually stopped me? I also feel a bit embaressed that having left New York to go travelling I’m still in London with no ticket bought and no real impetus to do so.
The question becomes – why did I want to go travelling? The answer, after much pondering, is ‘turtles’. When I went to Puerto Rico last year Tim and I ended up on a small island off the north-east coast called Culebra. This island, consisting mostly of gorgeous sandy beaches and few people, was where I spent one of the best nights of my life watching leatherback turtles laying their eggs. I hadn’t come to see that and I certainly hadn’t expected it. It was wonderful though, so now I want more ‘turtles’ in my life. Trouble is, cool unexpected things are hard to plan and my tendancy towards control freakism gets in the way of randomness like that.
So, I’m still here and Glastonbury tickets have sold out. Arse.
Excellent
For those of you with more time on your hands than me – check out the “Which Simpsons Character Am I?” site. I’m Mr Burns which tallies nicely with my lack of coiffure at the mo (although Homer would have tallied better with my general physique I guess).
It’s raining in London again, after 25+ days of warm, spring sunshine. Apparently in New York it’s running 95+ F which is not nice and of course most people have yet to put in their a/c after winter. Ah, the foibles of weather. There used to be a running theory that London weather was New York weather three days later (and about 10 degrees cooler), so let’s see if that holds shall we.
On a more scary, personal note – I find I currently have a minimal level of desire to go travelling. This is starting to get to me as it’s the reason why I left New York and came back here, as the kick-off point to a grand world tour. If anyone has any advice on how to regain wanderlust then please let me know. Or if you find mine down the back of your sofa then a small reward is offered for its safe return to the usual address.
Bridging
Finally got around to a long delayed walk across the Millenium Bridge with my old chum Bob Kelsey today. I’m working down near his office at Metrocube so we had a brief lunch at the Tate Modern. He’s quite happy apart from contemplating a nervous breakdown from overwork and the fact that his book (in which I was character assassinated for the cause of writing) had recently been written up in the Times as he’d done a pastiche of Enron in it. Book sales are up, but it hasn’t done his Bank PR business start-up much good.
Things have been quite strange for me over the past few days. I was out for lunch on Tuesday with my dad when I got a phone call asking if I wanted to do a photo shoot… all very bizarre and I have to make a decision on whether I do that by tomorrow. Then, about ten minutes later, I got a call from someone else offering me five days of consultancy work as an Information Architect doing UI review! Not quite sure what to make of this, I’ve been big into “things happen for a reason” of late so I’m just going with the flow.
Sometimes, of course, the flow doesn’t want to go with you even when it seems to be heading the same direction… Go figure.
We Hold These Things to be Self-Evident
Quote of the day – which world leader said the following – “As we seek to preserve human life, we must also preserve human dignity” (BBC News).
Give up? Yes, it was the master of quotes himself, George W. Bush. Unfortunately he wasn’t talking about stopping conflicts he’s started around the world, but instead about banning cloning of human cells. The best thing about that is that if he is successful then there will only be one of him. Until the next Bush of course. Gotta hope he works out something about the whole dignity thing though.
On a more random note – Icelandic sounds like Russian with a Welsh accent. Luverley.
Cycles
Got my Marin mountain bike working in a bit better shape so decided to go for a quick ride round the woods rather than sit through hours of dead queen mum. I’d forgotten how much nicer my bike here was over the cheapy one I bought in New York to get me up and down the long avenues.
Cycled round the woods off Matthews Road, an old bike stomping ground that I used to go with my friends years ago. They’d all be smoking and I’d be big anti-smoking boy. Fond memories. The old concrete water tower that I used to sit and draw has now been painted a luverley beige colour and holds about 50 antennae of various descriptions. The other thing that struck me is how many more paths have developed since I was last up there, everything used to be very straightforward as to which way you cycled. I guess everyone wants to make their own way sometimes rather than just follow other people.
Also just finished reading the Celestine Prophecy. This is a ‘new age’ look at how we live our lives and what the next plateau of human existance should be. Based around the concepts of auras, energy vibrations and synchronicity it describes nine insights that, in the story, are revealed by an ancient manuscript from Mayan times. The first eight insights are relatively straightforward when you strip away the new age stuff – things like meditate to build up your energy, go with the flow, pay attention to other people when they speak, avoid negative behaviours. At the ninth insight it describes how everyone will evolve to a whole new plane of existance, at which point it gets a bit silly. Worth a read just to see how your mind reacts to it. I found it matched a lot of things I’d read of late about synchronicity and actually gave me some clarity on current life thoughts – guess I was meant to read it at that time… {;)
Mmm… Sundried tomatoes. It’s all I can do not to eat the entire jar. Bless ’em.