Has there ever been a work of fiction that didn’t – in some way – draw on reality? This is, of course, sort of the reverse of my previous thoughts on whether our memory of reality is accurate or intermingled with its own fictions. In some cases the “fictional” world is created within a reasonably accurate representation of a specific environment. In others a “new world” is imagined in which the characters interact – often in a very similar way to what we are used to.
George McConnell
Why A Madeleine!
Having written A Different Sort Of Madeleine I realised that my readers (always assuming I have any….) will have been completely thrown by the fact that it was written on the assumption that I had earlier posted a piece about madeleines. It turns out that I must have dreamt it!!
What Works For Me
In just under one week’s time I will reach the milestone of 39 years working for the ‘same’ company – we have had many names, numerous owners and a handful of different sites, but, in the same way that the apocryphal broom that has had its handle replaced four times and the head replaced seven times but is still the ‘same’ broom, I am still with the company that I started working for back in 1977.
A Different Sort Of Madeleine
This is not the first attempt to put this into words. Usually, my blog posts are triggered by a thought that develops easily into a stream of ideas that are (hopefully) connected and lucid and coherent. Most times the writing is easy – perhaps too easy – as that doesn’t always lend itself to reviewing to ensure that it is expressed in the correct way. This one is a bit different….
More Talking About Mental Health
The recent news about the chronic underfunding of treatment for those suffering from mental health issues may well have completely passed me by had I read it a decade ago. This sort of shows that it is very true that what catches our attention is predominantly the things that are ‘close’ – I have written elsewhere about how we are affected by the way in which the news is reported and “what catches our eye”.
A Long Drive
Having been faced with a much longer journey to work over the last couple of years I have, as a result, obviously found myself driving more. I don’t think I would ever have been described as ‘aggressive’ in any way – and I like to think my driving matched that – but the extra time ‘on the road’ has, if anything made me even more sanguine and accepting of the plentiful supply of ‘bad situations’ and ‘bad driving’ that I meet each day.
Time To Talk
Today is “Time to Talk” Day (as well as World Cancer Day) and I think that writing something on the topic is near to essential for me. It is shocking to think that the figures show that 1 in 4 people will be afflicted with Mental Health issues in their lifetime. Once upon a time that sort of thing was taboo to talk about – not now, when it seems to affect everyone – one way or another.
Remembrance of Things Past Volume One: Swann’s Way
I started to read this book several years ago – and ever since Monty Python’s “Summarising Proust” sketch I guess the novels have been on my “ought to read” list.
The Ignorance Trough
Where do I go to feed my ignorance? The answers are limitless really and, simplistically, I go where life takes me. However, there are some sources that have proven to be of more interest than others to me and that is the point of this post. I have been lax in adding sources to this page – resurrecting it like this may help me be more pro-active.
Inadvertent Algorithmic Cruelty
I hadn’t come across this phrase until today, however it was coined (as I understand it) late last year when Facebook chose to ‘push’ their “Year in Review” feature to users by choosing a picture to illustrate the year and surrounding it with (generally) happy and joyous borders and the words “its been a great year”. Now – it doesn’t take much intelligence to realise that while – yes – most years are great in some respect – for some people the year will only hold bad memories whilst, for most, there will have been some low spots in an otherwise good year.