Archive for March, 2008
Best customs
Thursday, March 27th, 2008
There are certain customs that some families have. Eating dinner together every Sunday, come rain or shine. Sending postcards everytime you get on a plane and overnight somewhere. But these aren’t exactly imaginative.
My favourite that I’ve heard of recently is the Goldberg family from Argentina. They take a photo of all the different members of the family on a particular day of the year, every single year. And the pictoral timeline that comes from it is incredible. Something that I definitely want to instill in my family. I love the way that you can see the fashion influence - beards, long hair and glasses.
A permanent sweater
Tuesday, March 25th, 2008
Last weekend as I was on the tube, I spotted a man with his arms fully tattooed, most of his face covered in tattoos and presumably the rest of his body similarly decorated. Trying not to stare too much I thought to myself, this guy is just adorning himself in a certain manner and why should that be any different to me having my ears pierced or wearing a hat?…
A friend I met later that day did, however, wisely point out, “…you change your earrings every day and you take your hat off when you want…that guy you saw on the tube - it’s like he’s wearing a permanent sweater..”
Mmm, think I’ll stick to less permanent forms of self-decoration…anyone had a nose job lately?
getting nowhere - fast
Saturday, March 15th, 2008
There was a really interesting show on the radio this morning that was talking about the speed of life and how it has changed over the years.
It seems like one of those cliched things that grandparents say - I remember when I was your age that things were so much slower, we used to take our time…. etc etc. But it’s totally true. There were some fascinating examples of things that we do now - ranging from ads on tv, how quickly people walk down the street, how many drivers multi-task to how much editing goes on in films. And a few interesting statistics - did you know that we know make as many phonecalls in one day as we used to in the whole of 1980.
Yes, life is quick. We multi-task, all the time. Eating and working, driving and on the phone, trying to get everywhere quickly. Very quickly.
It sort of begs the question of how far can we take this. Do we have a limit to how fast we can go? I was re-reading about Dunbar’s number this morning - is there a parallel for something like this? A somewhat arbitrary “speed” that really is our maximum? There must be - presumably - a top speed for human social activity - just in the same way that there is for human physical activity (ie the 100m sprint).
How far can we take this? At what cost are we speeding so much? Did anyone say burnout? Or is this really the best way to progress, test our limits and make the most of all that we have?
Family, tech and being personal
Friday, March 14th, 2008
My grandparents on both sides really had quite a lot of kids - and I’m fortunate to have a whole heap of family. People pretty much all over the world. And it’s something else that we get to stay in touch so regularly. The young uns via facebook, all of us via email, and a few of us by phone (how old fashioned). But none of us by letter anymore, and that’s a big shame.
Every so often it really strikes me how much technology has changed our lives. Family members that would have really disappeared still stay close. And that’s something else. Is there anything more important than family? And keeping those blood ties alive, we need to stay in touch. It’s a shame that letter-writing has died away - wouldn’t it be great if we could revive it somehow? But let’s be honest, email is so easy - but it’s really not that personal…
No answers. Sorry. Just a stream of conscious being nostalgic about family and receiving something in the mail that’s not junk or bills….
Dreams
Wednesday, March 12th, 2008
“We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers. They see things in the soft haze of a spring day or in the red fire of a long winter’s evening. Some of us let our dreams die, but others nourish and protect them, nurse them through bad days till they bring them to sunshine and light.”
Woodrow Wilson
Inspiring?
Tuesday, March 11th, 2008
On my way to work this morning, I was thinking about what inspired me. In life, on a day-to-day basis, as well as in my long term planning for life.
And it sounds like a horrendous cliche, but I do think that teachers had a massive amout to do with it. The somewhat eccentric university teacher who taught me about the politics of the middle east - a Brazilian that had spent many years in Morocco, fluent in 5 languages, and one of the most fascinating men I have ever met. The so-well-spoken-it-hurts Sierra Leonian environmental teacher that talked to me about some of the most bloody episodes in West African history. The Maths teacher who actually showed me a little about the joys of logic. And the class teacher, when I was aged 8, that talked to us about children in other parts of the world, and what are the little actions that we can do to help those less fortunate than ourselves.
I’ve got a few family members and friends who are teachers - I’m very proud of y’all.
To all of you that are in positions where you work with kids, please remember that you’ve got a big responsibility on your shoulders. Please inspire - our future is in your hands.
