The New Economics Foundation has a page which highlights the five ways to well-being. I really like this. There is more information at the site, but in summary the five key factors are: Connect Be active Take notice Keep learning Give The more I mull over these factors, the more I realise that they are … Read more
This is the first of a series of posts in which I will describe some of the podcasts I listen to. I spend a lot of time travelling, often by car, so have a lot of potentially dead time in the average week. A few years ago I realised that a good use of this … Read more
I recently discovered (yes, probably the last person on the net) that there is an app for the blackberry which makes it possible to manage a WordPress blog from the device. It’s really good. You can send new posts to the blog (like this one) and manage comments too. I’m impressed. On the subject of … Read more
I mentioned in an earlier post that I stumbled across the work of Harriet Martineau again recently. Another book which I remember being fascinated by when I was a student was ‘For want of the golden city’ by Sacheverell Sitwell. I had developed an interest in the Bloomsbury set along with friends of mine at the … Read more
I am in the middle of writing an extended poem (100+ lines) at the moment, which will be the final piece in my latest book of poems. It is about my experiences of Liverpool in the late 70s and early 80s. As I write it, many memories are being evoked. The motivation behind the writing … Read more
I’m at St Deiniols Library writing this. For years I have dreamed of a secluded place to hide away and write. A few years ago I spent a weekend at the Manjushri Buddhist Centre in Cumbria – but that is a significant distance from where I live. St Deiniols is the only Residential Library I know … Read more
I’m reading Michael Gelb‘s ‘How to think like Leonardo da Vinci’ which is an excellent book. I’m working through many of the exercises and finding them deeply inspiring. Over the weekend I did the 100 Questions exercise. It’s simple – in one sitting write down 100 questions in your journal that are signficant to you. … Read more
The site layout changed again today. I have found a way to turn a photo into a cartoon. It’s a free service which can be found at BeFunky. It’s really easy to use – just upload a photo from your computer and then click to change it to a cartoon. Then you can save the … Read more
“Friendship is born at the moment when one person says to another,‘What, you too? I thought I was the only one.’ “ – C S Lewis
