Tags
'Flow' Achilles Aquinas Aristotle Art Bayesian Brain Cancer Children Confidence Cosmopolitanism Csikszentmihalyi Death Emergent phenomena Ethics Eudaimonia Fear Friends Friendship Happiness Herbert McCabe Hobbies Jenny Holzer Joy Kids Kierkegaard Leadership Life Montaigne Nietzsche Olympics Parenting Poem Poetics Poetry Rain Relevant Complexity Seneca Servan-Schreiber Stoic Stress Truisms Utilitarianism Virtue Wellbeing WorkTop Posts
-
Recent Posts
Blogroll
- Aquinas' Summa Theologica
- Aristotle's Ethics
- Aristotle's Poetics
- Aristotle's Politics
- Csikszentmihalyi's 'Flow' Psychology
- De Botton's 'Consolations of Philosophy'
- Edmonds & Warburton's 'Philosophy Bites'
- Epictetus's Stoicism
- Homer's Iliad
- John Kay's Obliquity
- Kierkegaard's Existentialism
- Montaigne's Essays
- New Scientist
- Servan-Schrieber's Anticancer
- Sextus Empiricus's Pyrrhonian Scepticism
Categories
Archives
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
Category Archives: Achilles
Winter
A bit like being winded by a whack in the solar plexus, this poem takes the wind out of your sails – and leaves you gasping. Clive James’s wit and humour of have always been rapier sharp. But here, his … Continue reading
Posted in Achilles, Death, Life, Odysseus, Poetry, Writing
Tagged Clive James, Holding Court, Interminable Winter, Morbid Streak, Poem, Thank goodness for the sun
Leave a comment
Dead Mum or Dinosaurs
I was debating with a friend yesterday whether he should feel any more concerned by the beliefs and values of his dead mum as the behaviours of dinosaurs. Both belong to the past; we live in the present. And soon … Continue reading
Posted in Achilles, Children, Death, Life, Odysseus, Psychology
Tagged Live for the day, Middle Years, Old Age, Pensions, Retirement
2 Comments
Life as Art
I always used to be big on objectivity – getting to what’s factually and actually right. But I’m much less obsessed with the ‘objective’ these days. The (at times painful) discovery of my working and family life is that, with … Continue reading
Posted in Achilles, Art, Life, Philosophy
Tagged Jan Steen, Norman Mailer, Objectivity, Sartre, Sistine Chapel
Leave a comment
Writing
Is there a better thing than writing? While I’m not with the 20th century British philosophers who said language is all there is, I am with Aquinas. He’d say that, along with body and soul, language is a defining part … Continue reading
Posted in Achilles, Art, Language, Life, Odysseus, Writing
Tagged Blogging, iPhone, Relevant Complexity, Social Media, Thumb Tapping, Twitter, Wax Tablet, Writing
1 Comment
The 3 Big Questions in Life
There are only three questions that really matter in life… So said Britain’s oldest man on his 109th birthday. They are: 1) Where did I come from? 2) Who am I? 3) Where am I going? He died yesterday at … Continue reading
Posted in Achilles, Death, Life, Sport
Tagged 111, Britain's Oldest Man, Cricket, Death, Good Innings, Nelson, The 3 Big Questions, The Undiscovered Continent
Leave a comment
Dearth of Verse
A dearth of verse Makes me wonder Whether my inner life Is playing second fiddle To putting myself on the stage I’m living in interesting times And putting my shoulder to the wheel Leaving precious little time For introspection Or … Continue reading
Posted in Achilles, Life, Odysseus, Poetry, Work, Writing
Tagged Bottling things up, Inner Life, Performing, Poem, Poetry, Poets die younger, Terse Verse
Leave a comment
spEak You’re bRanes
I retweeted someone’s prescription for modern times a few months ago: ‘Dance like the photo isn’t being tagged, love like you’ve never been unfriended and tweet like nobody is following.’ My basic social media motto is write what’s right for … Continue reading
Ground Control to Major Tom
This week’s song is Bowie’s Space Oddity. Having had to take to the airwaves – and take on the national news media – at times I’ve felt a bit like Major Tom. Small stuff really – Monocle 24 a boutique … Continue reading
Posted in Achilles, Life, Work
Tagged Fear, Floating in a most peculiar way, Fun, Major Tom, Radio, Space Oddity
Leave a comment
Lights Down
Months back – having discovered ‘relevant complexity’ in Saint Saëns Organ Symphony no 3 – I booked two tickets for the Royal Albert Hall. After a long old week, neither me or the missus fancied it much. I tried to … Continue reading
Posted in Achilles, Children, Life, Music, Odysseus
Tagged A performance to remember, Nodding off, Organ Symphony No 3, Relevant Complexity, Royal Albert Hall, Saint-Saens
1 Comment
Crystal Ball
What if the purpose of memory is not to remember things? We generally judge our memory on accuracy and completeness – and we are generally disappointed. Memory is jumbled, retouched and unreliable as a definitive record of the past. But … Continue reading
Posted in Achilles, Life, Psychology, Science
Tagged Autobiographical Narratives, Bayesian Brain, Forgetfulness, Inaccuracy, Memory, Predictive Power
Leave a comment
