Monthly Archives: May 2012

Sugar Solution

Posted on May 27, 2012 by

In a workshop this week I learnt a bit of the brain science behind ‘fast thinking’ and how it leads to ‘unconscious bias’. I suspect it’s just a different way of framing what I think of as my ‘Bayesian brain’: … Continue reading →

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Sun’s Out

Posted on May 26, 2012 by

Sun’s out Scooting about What better way To spend the day Than chatting and laughing With my adorable offspring It doesn’t take much to make a great day. Some sunshine and a leisurely chore or two in which to engage … Continue reading →

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Narcissi

Posted on May 26, 2012 by

The path to self-knowledge is long and hard. And who is to say whether apparent progress is more than illusion or self-delusion. But I do become increasingly irritated by narcissism. Forgivable, indeed to some extent inevitable in children, why does … Continue reading →

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In the Balance

Posted on May 20, 2012 by

Why is it we feel a little cheated by art made of everyday objects? Is it because we value the materials as well as the labour? Talking to a Sri Lankan clothing entrepreneur this week, I discovered that in modern … Continue reading →

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Mastermind

Posted on May 19, 2012 by

This afternoon, my five year old son announced two of the most important areas of human knowledge to be: 1) Cheese 2) Blasting things apart Along with his detailed expositions on Lava and the function of the nose in Lemon … Continue reading →

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Flights of Fancy

Posted on May 19, 2012 by

I found myself in a back room at the British Museum this week, looking at pen and ink drawings. I took a couple of photos of simple but stunning sketches by Picasso and Rembrandt. As a child, I remember being … Continue reading →

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Life and soul of the party

Posted on May 12, 2012 by

As something of an introvert, polite company comes best for me in modest doses. Not that I can’t be the life and soul of the party. Just that there’s a finite amount of it I can do. Once my reserves … Continue reading →

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Terse Verse

Posted on May 11, 2012 by

If music be the food of love Is poetry a bowlful of life? A question crossed my mind the other day – do I only spontaneously write poetry when I’m cross about something? I’m sure I’ve written happy poems, but … Continue reading →

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Of Sheds

Posted on May 7, 2012 by

Montaigne offers a top tip for he (or she) who would keep themselves sane: That man, in my opinion, is very miserable, who has not at home where to be by himself, where to entertain himself alone, or to conceal … Continue reading →

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ProductiviDad

Posted on May 5, 2012 by

Working in South America nearly 20 years ago, I made a breakthrough discovery: if you know an English word ending in ‘ity’, you know the Spanish word if you replace it with ‘dad’. This increased the variedad and utilidad of … Continue reading →

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