School of Curiosity
Explore. Dream. Discover.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ugIbmTKrcHc
Ravi Shankar has gone to another place
December 13, 2012
Time off for good behaviour
December 12, 2012
Writer Kevin Barry has admitted to checking his emails 150 times a day, picking up his iPhone on waking in the morning and to having something of a confidence crisis if there are no emails in his inbox.
It’s affecting him to the point that he now thinks and writes in small chunks, flitting from one idea to another – the way we absorb stuff on the internet – so much so that he now finds it difficult to read a conventional book.
I imagine that we all feel a but like this at times. There is a solution – switch it off. Have a few hours a day in the normal world, I’ll bet you that the world won’t stop turning because of it.
Try to find time to read these posts though.
Have a curious day.
Secret stories of secondhand books
December 11, 2012
Now that we are all trying to re-use things rather than always buying new (which we are aren’t we?) there’s a new frisson of excitement to be had next time you trawl through a second hand book store.
Wayne Gooderham has been making a point of trying to find pre-loved books with something personal in them. He’s found bookmarks galore obviously but other things too including a blurred photograph of an inquisitive chocolate-brown dog, a child’s handmade card, an ad for Spokes & Son’s Motor Cycle Service, and an itemised bill for rooms 10-11, of the Caledonian Hotel, Callander, circa 1953.
He’s compiled an exhibition of his finds The Secret History of Second Hand Books which is a celebration of all things forgotten.
What do your old books contain?
Have a curious day.
If you’re having a bad day….
December 10, 2012
If you’re having a bad day, this little fella’s face should cheer you up.
Forget the bad day.
Have a curious day.
Expect the unexpected
December 7, 2012
When I was gathering together all my belongings to go to live in France. I found a draw that I had forgotten to empty, the last one. As I pulled out the contents, a book tumbled onto the floor. It was my French school book from when I was twelve years old. I didn’t even know I had it, and I didn’t realise all the French words that were in my head at twelve – they are probably still there somewhere.
I hope that you have an unexpected surprise this morning. You might if you break your normal routine.
Have a curious day.
I think therefore I am
December 6, 2012
You know that phrase “I haven’t got time to think?”
You have really. Make time for thinking.
Have a curious day.
Much Madness is Divinest Sense
December 5, 2012
Some years ago they put poems in the little advertising slots on London’s tube trains. Poem’s on the Underground, provided a nice way to reflect on things other than cheap calls to Australia and pay day loans, on the way to work. For those that don’t take the tube, here’s a poem we liked….
`Much Madness is divinest Sense`
Much Madness is divinest Sense -
To a discerning Eye -
Much Sense – the starkest Madness -
`Tis the Majority
In this, as All, prevail -
Assent – and you are sane -
Demur – you`re straightaway dangerous -
And handled with a Chain -
Emily Dickinson (1830 – 86)
Have a curious day.
Skype me a cold one
December 4, 2012
In 2010 a man called Mark Hadfield, bought 20 beers from around the world via Beers of Europe.
Instead of drinking these beers in isolation in his North London flat, he decided that a nice way would be to chat with someone from its country of origin while he drank the beer. You see, beer is a lovely social drink that can break down many boundaries.
So, through friends and acquaintances, he began to track down someone from each country. They arranged a time, each had the same bottle of beer, and they….well they just chatted, the way that you do in a bar.
It’s a great way to use technology, meet new people and be social. You can do it with wine or coffee or tea, whatever you want. It doesn’t even matter if you already know the person, it’s just a little ‘boissons sans frontieres’.
Why not skype someone a cold one (or a hot one) soon?
Have a curious day.
Are you a square or a blob?
December 3, 2012
Why, Government wondered, every time they tried to solve a problem, did the problem seem to get worse? The Parable of the Blobs and Squares shows that there is more to people than their problems, that the solution to problems lies in the problem itself, not in an imposed solution, and that co-production matters!
Edgar Cahn, the man who invented Timebanking says that the future for all of us, Government and business is co-production.
There’s a great animation ‘No more throw-away people’ that explains through the parable of The Squares & The Blobs.
What do you think? Are you a square or a blob?
Have a curious day.
The butcher, the baker the candlestick maker
November 30, 2012
It’s entirely up to each of us where we shop.
It’s worth taking note though of a huge body of research that’s been published over the past ten years. It’s complicated, but to distil it down for every £100 spent in a local independent shop, £45 gets recycled in amongst the local economy – spent and re-spent, keeping the money, jobs and the vibrancy of the high street in the local area.
This compares to only £14 recycled by the ‘big box’ chains. When you find places like The Yard which sells only local produce and encourages arts and community spirit – that must be worth even more than £45 for every £100.
It’s your money. Do what you want with it, but have a think about what kind of neighbourhood you want to live in.
Have a curious day.