a few thoughts (mainly because i am going on holiday and i really don't want the post at the top of my blog to be about a haircut the whole time i'm away...)
regarding the MA i am doing: i think i am going to ask for my money back. i am becomming more and more confused the further i go along. seriously, the opinions i had before the course may have been naive - but at least i had opinions.
regarding squash: i love love love love it! we have a squash court in the basement at work and now all those hours spent at lilongwe golf club playing squash in my youth are paying off. and i get to give the boys at work a run for their money! representing the girls - woohoo!
Tuesday, 2 October 2007
Saturday, 29 September 2007
Has Delilah been misunderstood?
Having just had a haircut, I wonder to myself whether there has been a little inaccuracy in the documentation of history. Delilah is supposed to have betrayed Samson and caused his downfall. She is supposed to have done this for the Philistines, in exchange for money, by cutting his hair (or at least ordering a servant to cut his hair).
But I suspect something different happened. Suppose Delilah herself had just had a haircut; and feeling the power and exhilaration that this experience had bestowed upon her, thought she should pass this feeling on to Samson.
Because it seriously does have this effect – the shorter the better. I feel like a new person. I feel like I could take over the world. I even wonder whether I have turned into a super-hero.
But I suspect something different happened. Suppose Delilah herself had just had a haircut; and feeling the power and exhilaration that this experience had bestowed upon her, thought she should pass this feeling on to Samson.
Because it seriously does have this effect – the shorter the better. I feel like a new person. I feel like I could take over the world. I even wonder whether I have turned into a super-hero.
Thursday, 27 September 2007
How to start the day
The best-laid plan
06:00 – wake up and embrace the day.
06:30 – spring out of bed, shower, get ready, wear pretty new top, feel fantastic.
07:30 – leave for work.
08:00 – get to work and have an extremely productive morning.
What actually happened (no mice and men involved)
06:00 – wake up with headache (realise it may have something to do with friend’s birthday dinner the previous night and the red wine that accompanied it).
06:30 – get up, shower etc etc.
07:00 – phone aforementioned friend to wish her a happy holiday. Listen to sad story that friend has lost bank card, is at heathrow and is about to go on 3 week holiday with no money. Recollect (in horror) that bank card was taken away from friend when friend tried to pay for birthday dinner. Look in back pocket of jeans worn last night to find bank card.
07:15 – leave the house, run to Brixton station.
07:20 – wait for train.
07:25 – keep waiting for train.
07:30 – get told that there is a signal failure at Victoria and there will be no trains running. Try to leave the station with 1 million others who have been waiting for the tube.
07:37 – run to minicab place down the road.
07:40 – get told that they have no cars. Wait while they check all the other minicab places in the area.
07:42 – start running to Stockwell tube. Sprint the last 200m to try and get in front of the bus carrying all the people who couldn’t get on at Brixton.
07:55 – get on tube. Feel the sweat pouring down my back and getting soaked up by pretty new top.
08:15 – finally get on Piccadilly line.
08:55 – get to heathrow - swap bank card for cup of tea and chocolate muffin. Laugh a lot with friend. Watch friend running off into the distance to catch flight by the skin of her teeth.
09:00 – get back onto Piccadilly line.
09:15 – finally start moving. Do make-up on train.
10:00 – change at Green Park.
10:15 – get to Westminster. Get stopped at ticket barrier and threatened to be fined as not enough money on oyster card. Get let off fine.
10:30 – arrive at work.
06:00 – wake up and embrace the day.
06:30 – spring out of bed, shower, get ready, wear pretty new top, feel fantastic.
07:30 – leave for work.
08:00 – get to work and have an extremely productive morning.
What actually happened (no mice and men involved)
06:00 – wake up with headache (realise it may have something to do with friend’s birthday dinner the previous night and the red wine that accompanied it).
06:30 – get up, shower etc etc.
07:00 – phone aforementioned friend to wish her a happy holiday. Listen to sad story that friend has lost bank card, is at heathrow and is about to go on 3 week holiday with no money. Recollect (in horror) that bank card was taken away from friend when friend tried to pay for birthday dinner. Look in back pocket of jeans worn last night to find bank card.
07:15 – leave the house, run to Brixton station.
07:20 – wait for train.
07:25 – keep waiting for train.
07:30 – get told that there is a signal failure at Victoria and there will be no trains running. Try to leave the station with 1 million others who have been waiting for the tube.
07:37 – run to minicab place down the road.
07:40 – get told that they have no cars. Wait while they check all the other minicab places in the area.
07:42 – start running to Stockwell tube. Sprint the last 200m to try and get in front of the bus carrying all the people who couldn’t get on at Brixton.
07:55 – get on tube. Feel the sweat pouring down my back and getting soaked up by pretty new top.
08:15 – finally get on Piccadilly line.
08:55 – get to heathrow - swap bank card for cup of tea and chocolate muffin. Laugh a lot with friend. Watch friend running off into the distance to catch flight by the skin of her teeth.
09:00 – get back onto Piccadilly line.
09:15 – finally start moving. Do make-up on train.
10:00 – change at Green Park.
10:15 – get to Westminster. Get stopped at ticket barrier and threatened to be fined as not enough money on oyster card. Get let off fine.
10:30 – arrive at work.
Sunday, 23 September 2007
Sucked in
So term has started at uni.
And once again I find myself sitting in front of my computer on a Sunday, attempting to be a good student – this time trying to write a year long work plan for my dissertation.
Now of course, before I could REALLY get down to some good work, I needed to get some stationary (mainly because I found myself without paper). So a trip into Brixton’s Woolworths was in order.
And I just wanted to share with a couple of people how I embrace our consumer society.
As my budget at the moment denies me a silver convertible or a flat screen TV, today, I bought Woolworth’s special offer, half price (was £4.99, now £2.49) 20 colour gel pens, consisting of 3 classic gel pens, 6 neon gel pens, 5 scented glitter fruits gel pens, 4 pastel swirl gel pens and 2 metallic gel pens.
Of course these pens (along with the 40 fibre tip pens, the letter pack with smiling bees and the three pack of reporters notebooks) are essential to anyone writing a dissertation highlighting the social effects and power structures resulting from capitalism and the imposition of the free market on the rest of the world.
Hmmmmmmm……
And once again I find myself sitting in front of my computer on a Sunday, attempting to be a good student – this time trying to write a year long work plan for my dissertation.
Now of course, before I could REALLY get down to some good work, I needed to get some stationary (mainly because I found myself without paper). So a trip into Brixton’s Woolworths was in order.
And I just wanted to share with a couple of people how I embrace our consumer society.
As my budget at the moment denies me a silver convertible or a flat screen TV, today, I bought Woolworth’s special offer, half price (was £4.99, now £2.49) 20 colour gel pens, consisting of 3 classic gel pens, 6 neon gel pens, 5 scented glitter fruits gel pens, 4 pastel swirl gel pens and 2 metallic gel pens.
Of course these pens (along with the 40 fibre tip pens, the letter pack with smiling bees and the three pack of reporters notebooks) are essential to anyone writing a dissertation highlighting the social effects and power structures resulting from capitalism and the imposition of the free market on the rest of the world.
Hmmmmmmm……
Sunday, 26 August 2007
I blog, therefore I am
Cogito ergo sum – Descartes
Blogito ergo sum – malawihazel (and probably someone before me)
I would like to talk of two blogs, belonging to two old friends of mine – one from school and one from university. I started reading these blogs at around the same time, and they were the very inspiration that started me blogging. Although very different, the blogs had the common theme of being created when the authors moved (or were about to move) somewhere new. They are both brilliant, and I love reading them. However, over the last couple of months, their upkeep has withered. This entry is to try to encourage the authors to get back on blogging form (presuming they are still reading mine).
In an earlier post, I spoke of a blog being a reflection of identity. I would like to take this thought further and suggest that blogging is philosophy-forming. When our thoughts are documented, they reveal a lot about our state of mind at the time. There is an intersection of many factors - new experiences and relationships; our history, upbringing, education and beliefs; similarities and difference; emotions; and the context we are in. Our interpretation of the world around us is being represented in the (relatively) new form of a website with the possibility of those we choose (and sometimes those we don’t choose) to comment. We are representing ourselves.
Without always realising it, we are exploring what, for us, constitutes knowledge (a social construction?). We are revealing how and where our beliefs are being challenged, when we question what we previously thought was granted. Our imaginations are being exercised and a record (or log) is being produced. This is part of working out what we really believe in.
Expressions of autonomy.
Place-making.
How we fit into our environment.
That beautiful ‘thing’ - subjectivity.
Questions of what we want to write about and how to depict a situation.
The language we choose to use.
Meaning.
And on a more grounded note - I also find that since I started blogging, I have acquired a new appreciation for words. I use the dictionary or rather dictionary.com a lot more and am finding words can be really fun (said at the risk of sounding like a complete loser). The other day my finger pressed the d key instead of the s and I inserted the word ‘strawberried’ into my sentence. Isn’t it a wonderful word? Wouldn’t you love to be strawberried? Another time I was reading (and obviously not concentrating very well) and I came across the phrase “the danger bears”. Thoughts and images flew through my mind, I was fascinated by who these bears could be. After further investigation, I found the sentence (split over two lines) “the danger bears down on us”.
So please start blogging again, and share the evolution of your philosophy of life with those around you. Admittedly, now that I am working full time, my need for updates on these blogs is not as pressing as when I was only studying and had all the time in the world…. But still, they make me feel closer to friends who are far away. They are also important for times like now when I am taking a break from work to write an assignment (and therefore need some procrastination) – and yes, you guessed right – I am writing a methodology paper about the philosophical underpinnings of my dissertation.
P.S. I must add that I have just had a look at the one blog, and seeing as there have been three posts in the last two weeks, perhaps this entry doesn’t apply to it anymore. Welcome back!! Wanna meet up for a glass of red wine to discuss whether one should be or do? Do you remember that t-shirt that Marcus had – it went something along the lines of:
To do is to be - Descartes
To be is to do - Voltaire
Do be do be do - Frank Sinatra
Funny – our blogs seem to be in tune right now.
As for the other blogger – you are still rubbish.
Blogito ergo sum – malawihazel (and probably someone before me)
I would like to talk of two blogs, belonging to two old friends of mine – one from school and one from university. I started reading these blogs at around the same time, and they were the very inspiration that started me blogging. Although very different, the blogs had the common theme of being created when the authors moved (or were about to move) somewhere new. They are both brilliant, and I love reading them. However, over the last couple of months, their upkeep has withered. This entry is to try to encourage the authors to get back on blogging form (presuming they are still reading mine).
In an earlier post, I spoke of a blog being a reflection of identity. I would like to take this thought further and suggest that blogging is philosophy-forming. When our thoughts are documented, they reveal a lot about our state of mind at the time. There is an intersection of many factors - new experiences and relationships; our history, upbringing, education and beliefs; similarities and difference; emotions; and the context we are in. Our interpretation of the world around us is being represented in the (relatively) new form of a website with the possibility of those we choose (and sometimes those we don’t choose) to comment. We are representing ourselves.
Without always realising it, we are exploring what, for us, constitutes knowledge (a social construction?). We are revealing how and where our beliefs are being challenged, when we question what we previously thought was granted. Our imaginations are being exercised and a record (or log) is being produced. This is part of working out what we really believe in.
Expressions of autonomy.
Place-making.
How we fit into our environment.
That beautiful ‘thing’ - subjectivity.
Questions of what we want to write about and how to depict a situation.
The language we choose to use.
Meaning.
And on a more grounded note - I also find that since I started blogging, I have acquired a new appreciation for words. I use the dictionary or rather dictionary.com a lot more and am finding words can be really fun (said at the risk of sounding like a complete loser). The other day my finger pressed the d key instead of the s and I inserted the word ‘strawberried’ into my sentence. Isn’t it a wonderful word? Wouldn’t you love to be strawberried? Another time I was reading (and obviously not concentrating very well) and I came across the phrase “the danger bears”. Thoughts and images flew through my mind, I was fascinated by who these bears could be. After further investigation, I found the sentence (split over two lines) “the danger bears down on us”.
So please start blogging again, and share the evolution of your philosophy of life with those around you. Admittedly, now that I am working full time, my need for updates on these blogs is not as pressing as when I was only studying and had all the time in the world…. But still, they make me feel closer to friends who are far away. They are also important for times like now when I am taking a break from work to write an assignment (and therefore need some procrastination) – and yes, you guessed right – I am writing a methodology paper about the philosophical underpinnings of my dissertation.
P.S. I must add that I have just had a look at the one blog, and seeing as there have been three posts in the last two weeks, perhaps this entry doesn’t apply to it anymore. Welcome back!! Wanna meet up for a glass of red wine to discuss whether one should be or do? Do you remember that t-shirt that Marcus had – it went something along the lines of:
To do is to be - Descartes
To be is to do - Voltaire
Do be do be do - Frank Sinatra
Funny – our blogs seem to be in tune right now.
As for the other blogger – you are still rubbish.
Monday, 30 July 2007
It can be very windy up there on the moral high ground
As my friend Diana would say.
And I have been reminded of this a couple of times in the last month. I have had to eat my hat (no, wrong expression), eat my shorts (still wrong – when is that simpson’s movie out by the way?), eat my WORDS!!!!
A few months ago I helped my friend Lucy pack up her house (actually I don’t think I helped much) and I remember the word “hoarder” emanating from me a few times (as I smugly mentioned how the room I was living in was VERY small and that I didn’t own very much – belongings, you know, are SO overrated).
So, I moved house this last weekend. I don’t want to talk about it too much (it is cited as the third most stressful thing you can do in your life – after losing a loved one and getting divorced). But while my darling friend Lucy (along with Rosahn and Stuart) helped me on Sunday – I felt rather humble as we made our umpteenth trip down the stairs, with the 4000th box. She is very kind and didn’t rub it in.
The other fact to which I feel rather sheepish is - I joined Facebook (this is where I need a little yellow emoticon face blushing). After months of slandering, insulting, criticising, judging……curiosity killed the cat. Those of you who are regular readers may remember my pompous, maligning facebook post.
“My name is Hazel xxxxxxxx (blog anonymity – identity theft etc etc) and I am a facebooker. I have been a facebooker for 34 days. And that is all I have to say about that.”
Anyway, a few thoughts from the last week:
Things I have done for the first time:
Hired a van.
Gone to collect my van and found that the previous hirers are $%*@ers and they haven’t returned my van and so have made do with a car after a one and a half hour wait.
Driven a car through central London (am quite proud of this one – the most spectacular moment was driving round and round and round Vauxhall junction trying to work out how to get into the drop off car hire place that I could see very clearly – anyone who knows Vauxhall junction will appreciate this).
Been quite relieved that I was driving a car and not a van through central London.
Things that I haven’t done that I want to:
Try some British wine (there’s a story but I am too tired to explain right now).
Things that I thought I thought that have now been confirmed and I know I think for sure:
A friend who helps you move house, is a TRUE friend!!! I love you Lucy, Rosahn and Stuart!!!
I hate packing.
I hate unpacking.
It’s very windy up there on the moral highground.
A post describing my new hood to follow.
Monday, 9 July 2007
Advertisers are people too
So, a couple of friends of mine visited Botswana a couple of months ago, and on the flight from Joburg to Maun, they found the following advert in the in-flight magazine. It is an advert for Musica – a music shop in South Africa, and it was encouraging tourists to buy some South African music. I thought it was worth sharing with my readers.
(Musica generally does good adverts – a few years ago, one of their tv ads featured my friend Natalie’s bare bum in the shower – filmed through the opaque glass)
So, a couple of friends of mine visited Botswana a couple of months ago, and on the flight from Joburg to Maun, they found the following advert in the in-flight magazine. It is an advert for Musica – a music shop in South Africa, and it was encouraging tourists to buy some South African music. I thought it was worth sharing with my readers.
(Musica generally does good adverts – a few years ago, one of their tv ads featured my friend Natalie’s bare bum in the shower – filmed through the opaque glass)
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