We went for a fantastic walk up and around St Catherine's Hill in Winchester at the weekend with friends Chris and Kitty (and our wee bairns). Although I well remember the angst surrounding the Twyford Down bypass in the early 90s (if it happened now there would probably be a TwyfordTwavesty hash tag on Twitter) I've never seen this stone, inscribed with 'THIS LAND WAS RAVAGED BY...' and a list of names including one M Thatcher. It was odd in that it seemed like something from such a distant time. My ties with Winchester have all but gone, but it holds so many amazing memories. I strolled down the hill with Galliano's 'Twyford Down' in my head and Daisy (now 3 months) giggling wildly for no apparent reason. Perhaps she knew I was happy.
Tweets are often too short. And life's too short for Deck.ly. So when I just want to reflect on something interesting but can't articulate it in a tweet, here it will be.
There's a fire juggler who does his thing here, close to the main entrance of Waterloo station. This morning, I watched him as I waited at the lights, balancing against a pole while sitting on my bike. It was pretty standard stuff. The same stuff everyone sees him do every day. (Except noone really *sees* him).
But today, because I was waiting at the lights, I was watching pretty intently. Suddenly, out of the blue, he chucked one of his burning clubs four times higher that the others and then caught it behind his back! He looked up, smiling, as if expecting a reaction from the passers by. But he was to be disappointed. Not one of them saw his moment of brilliance. It was sad watching the look of pride that he'd pulled it off turn to one of sadness when he realised that literally not one single person had seen it. Or so he thought. He didn't know I saw from across the road.
For a split second I thought I'd go up and tell him what a blinding little trick he'd pulled off and chuck in a quid while I was at it. But the lights changed and the thought flittered away as quickly as it had arrived. On I peddled.
Fast forward a few hours. Having a drink with @decibelthinks and another colleague at lunchtime, the conversation turned to the idealogical (and political) quagmire that is 'the big society' and, more specifically, situations where our society feels made up of such staggeringly different individuals, each trying to go about their lives with their heads down, that finding some commonality and compassion is virtually impossible. We reflected on situations where, from healthcare professionals to car dealers, we had been 'failed' - often as a result of dreadful communication or an unwillingness to empathise.
The common thread in all the examples of the shortcomings we each described was that in each case, none of us had done anything to help our 'tormentors' adapt their behaviour and take some of our observations on board. We didn't 'have a word'.
It got me wondering what society would be like if we did that a bit more. Y'know, gave feedback. It's not very British, but maybe if we got a bit better at giving our unique insight, we might all develop that little bit better collectively.
And of course that doesn't just mean expressing ourselves when we're not happy with the behaviour of fellow human beings. It's also about acknowledging stuff that makes us feel good, that impresses us. Like the surprisingly slick catch of a burning club at 9am on a Friday morning, probably after sleeping rough on a cold city street.
I've been messing around with iPhone photo apps when I get a spare minute - usually on the loo (!) They are by far and away the apps that give me that tingly 'wonder' that we talk about in relation to technology. I imagine that when I get an iPad I'll feel the same about tools like Flipboard. Words Free, the iPhone version of Scrabble, is the other one that has kept me amused this Christmas - especially during those night feeds!
I just looked up 'sage' on Google images - that wee chap looks a bit lost
Here's my new Brompton. I bought it on eBay for £595 - but ONLY because the guy selling it had the receipt (otherwise I'd avoid eBay for bikes). He bought it with an insurance voucher a couple of weeks ago. First impressions are that it's really straightforward - a sort of Martin Bell of bikes.