I have watched with some interest, some amusement, and some disgust the commentary around the speech by Greta Thunberg at the United Nations (see below for YouTube Link and full transcript). What she had to say was horrific in the context of climate change, and…
I recently listened to the audiobook of the The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I had not read the book itself, but the audio book was fantastic. I was struck by a particular metaphor , which I have quoted below (in italics). Following on from my…
I first found this poem in the Other Mens Flowers anthology. I believe that Kipling wrote it as advice to his son on how he should live his life. I really like the way the poem is structured. The way it suggests a virtue, and…
I absolutely love Metallica, the Black Album in particular. One of the songs that has always resonated with me, and made me consider it’s meaning is My Friend Of Misery. I’ve included the lyrics complete at the bottom of this post, so if you want…
As someone who has spent most of my life morbidly obese, Christmas has always been a challenging time. I seem to have been trying to lose weight my whole life, and the festive season, with it’s multitude of social occasions, plentiful food and drink and…
I first became aware of the song The Sounds of Silence during a discussion with a friend about songs where there was a cover that was vastly superior to the original. I think I had heard the Simon and Garfunkel version but it never registered….
I was reading the book Why We Sleep by Matt Walker earlier this year, and I found it fascinating to see how severe the impact of poor sleep can be on creativity, problem solving, decision making, productivity, learning and memory. These factors all have an…