“On the occasions in my life when I didn’t know what to do I just made a choice. Often the most risky option and went with it. The paralysis of decision making never hit me but the cost of making the wrong decision did. I left with either experience or reward but never regrets.”
—
January 2011
14 posts
“We make our own fortunes and we call them fate.”
—Benjamin Disraeli
“If I could pick..I’d want to be like a charity organiser (getting paid for charity work!)”
—This is a friends comment on job situation. I intrinsically dislike the idea of paid jobs at charities but I know I’m missing something. The majority need to be volunteers but there needs to be skilled, thoughtful planning at senior levels. It’s an internal debate that’s been running for a while. Whatever the implications of that the sentiment in this quote isn’t quite right.
Play
“A hallucination is a fact, not an error; what is erroneous is a judgment based upon it.”
—Bertrand Russell. My philosophy lecturer used to call him Bertie.
I still have a soul →
youtube.com
This isn’t a video about boxing. It’s a two and a half minute epic story about what drives one man even though everything else material is stripped away. There are no excuses, no final defeat — just action, intention, and faith that is disciplined, relentless, passionate.
Kenneth Tong interviewed by Johann Hari →
johannhari.com
Article about a moronic socalite who became an overnight sensation on twitter (although I only heard about the whole thing yesterday). Written by a great author.
“I’d like to have an anonymous life that I could drift into some times. Being a stranger is one of the things that I like about London.”
—
Play
Disco Ball
When I was at school my head of year, who had been at the school for more than 15 years, thought it appropriate to spend the time that we were a captive audience to her telling us about something that she had never before noticed. The main hall had a disco ball. Second to feeling this was a waste of precious football playing time I was astonished that she had gone so long without noticing something in a place where she spent so much time. This isn’t the one I miss. In fact, that one isn’t there any more. The building was demolished a year or so ago.
I’d like to think I am more perceptive to my surroundings than she was and know the areas where I spend a lot of time fairly well. There are occasions where I realise I might not be as aware as I’d like to think I am, places are pointed out to me that I feel I should have noticed earlier. I walk the same route to the train station almost every working day. There are many routes I could take but, having tried them all, I prefer this one. It takes me by an area of greenery. I might not be able to see it most days because it’s too dark when I leave but it’s nice knowing such places exist in the middle of a city like London. Last year I noticed a building being lit up by tiny spot lights. I spent a few days watching this light show, it spread across the street, covered an entire building on London Wall and even went on to the other side of the street. On the third day my curiosity got the better of me and I stopped to try an work out what was lighting up my walk home. I watched the lights dancing down the building, across the road, around my feet and up the wall next to me. Circular motions meant it was coming from behind me. There’s a very old building behind me with a bell tower. Instead of the bell there’s a disco ball. I’m not sure why but the dancing lights have stopped in the last few days. I’m inclined to blame the government. It would be nice to have the lights back.
My point is this. Instead of holing ourselves up in our own world, clutching our phones and blocking out the world with an ipod (I’m as guilty of this as anyone), we should be appreciating the world around us. It’s full of disco balls.
“You can do some damage if you really know what you’re doing but mass destruction is possible if you think you know what you’re doing.”
—
