On Saturday I was active for the Greens - leafleting in Redhill West. As I have missed loads of meetings recently I was very keen to get out and help. That was a lot of walking on Saturday but I did walk with Liz - whom I liked very much and I met a super guy called Derek who sorted out our leafleting routes. We had lunch in a pub together. Ended up all walked out, exhausted!
On Sunday I was active in the allotment shop, and then, went home with some compost and did my own garden, which involved moving some self-seeded forget-me-knots and some campanula, also self-seeded, to places where I hope they will look lovely.
On Monday it was pouring down and I didn't do much except suffer with my bad cold and buy food at Sainsbury's.
Today I went to the allotment and dug up the last of the potatoes - quite a lot of them - and a few were rotten because the frost must have caught them, but a lot of them were buried deeply so they were fine. I gave some to Bill. I moved one of the gooseberry bushes so we can put a fence around them and protect the fruit from the birds and the rats. Anne came up and told me that after storm Doris she and Bill had collected our black compost bin from where it had blown to and showed me the sheds that had blown down. Our shed was fine and its roofing felt was fine too, hallelujah. I put some rubbish out for the collection on Friday but I could do with putting out more. I put out a rusty old incinerator. Some of my stuff would be good to burn but we never get a good, calm, dry day!! So I think I will just put it out for rubbish collection.
Showing posts with label Greens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greens. Show all posts
Tuesday, 28 February 2017
Friday, 20 May 2016
Green Party Meeting
I went to my first Green party meeting last night as it happened to be in a place convenient to me on an evening I wasn't teaching. So. Sitting around in a circle in a small hall were seven men who you might describe as active elderly, of a type that Wells (H G Wells, or maybe Shaw) would have called "cranks". One had unusual woolly mutton-chops with a lovely shiny balding head. One I had met before when we went leafleting and I thought he was OK; he was like an aging punk rocker.
There were about 6 middle-aged women like myself. There were 2 young people. One was the candidate I had leafleted with, Olivia P. She was chairing the meeting and as it went on she was in despair that the time was rushing on and things were not going the way she planned - there was some dissent about focussing all our resources into the next council election at which Olivia will stand again - she feels she has got her face known now and she wants to capitalise on that. Other North West Surrey wards look more promising, percentage wise, but nobody is willing to stand. I might stand. The other young person was a tall pale young man, painfully earnest and other-worldly, and was rather a rival to Olivia. He is, apparently, on the policy committee.
I was very much reminded of the accounts of the Fabian society's early meetings that I came across in the writings of Wells when I was researching Nesbit. At first it was all very small and cliquey.
There are more plans - for a meeting in Staines debating the Europe question - I said I would help with the teas. I am, at least, experienced in teas, due to years of helping at regattas.
Walton regatta tomorrow and I am just about to go down to the Valley and clean some trophies - we have very fine, historical trophies, which we use for photographs, and then whisk them away.
There were about 6 middle-aged women like myself. There were 2 young people. One was the candidate I had leafleted with, Olivia P. She was chairing the meeting and as it went on she was in despair that the time was rushing on and things were not going the way she planned - there was some dissent about focussing all our resources into the next council election at which Olivia will stand again - she feels she has got her face known now and she wants to capitalise on that. Other North West Surrey wards look more promising, percentage wise, but nobody is willing to stand. I might stand. The other young person was a tall pale young man, painfully earnest and other-worldly, and was rather a rival to Olivia. He is, apparently, on the policy committee.
I was very much reminded of the accounts of the Fabian society's early meetings that I came across in the writings of Wells when I was researching Nesbit. At first it was all very small and cliquey.
There are more plans - for a meeting in Staines debating the Europe question - I said I would help with the teas. I am, at least, experienced in teas, due to years of helping at regattas.
Walton regatta tomorrow and I am just about to go down to the Valley and clean some trophies - we have very fine, historical trophies, which we use for photographs, and then whisk them away.
Tuesday, 10 May 2016
Voting reform
Lately – on Saturday: I went to my first demo in London. It was a very
small demo, which took place in Old Palace Yard - not a large patch of ground, so just as well.... It was to campaign for Proportional Representation. I am very keen
on this. As you know, possibly, Philip Hammond the Foreign Secretary is my MP,
and he is very involved in the Industrial Military complex; he represents
millionaires doing very well out of the industrial –military complex, and when
I write to him about education or the NHS he sends cut and paste replies that
don’t answer any of my questions and don’t make sense, because of course, he
doesn’t read them himself, he gets some Sophie fresh out of Uni to do it for
him and she has no clue. So I can’t vote for someone who will represent me –
no-one will overturn that particular majority – and I can’t get my MP to listen
to me, so of course I want PR. It is my only (slim) hope.
This government has a majority, and got 39 percent of the vote. How is
that a majority? Yet Cameron will go on about his “mandate”. Urrgh. Of
course, the PR demo was not covered by the press because the country has
already had a campaign for AV PR and the country voted against it – by a
substantial majority. Idiot Nick Clegg, for not making the most of this
opportunity! He just didn’t organise a proper campaign.
Many people argued that the PR system was too complicated. But in the
recent elections for the English and Welsh assemblies there was a PR system
that seems to have worked very well. So these nations are clever enough to have
PR and we, the English, are not? Anyway the demo was good. We had speakers from
all the parties including the Tories (a very good speaker!), my leader, Natalie
Bennett, spoke, and a UKIP woman spoke. Owen Jones failed to show up which was
slightly disappointing but hey, one can see him on Youtube, and I'm sure whatever he was doing, it was a good use of his time.
 |
| Klina Jordan |
 |
| John E Strafford: a great speaker for a rally |
 |
We have Suffragette colours! We are the new Suffragists! Equality for women |
Sunday, 20 December 2015
Post Paris: The Greens are disappointed by the government's Energy Bill
Caroline Lucas, M.P. for the Greens, says:
"It’s difficult to think of a piece of legislation that is less fit-for-purpose, if the Government were serious about turning warm words in the Paris climate agreement into action.
Perhaps it’s little wonder that the Government decided to delay the Bill’s second reading in the Commons until after the Paris climate talks were over.
Yes, the UK’s coal fired power stations must be phased out – but they must be replaced with renewable energy - not gas. That means rethinking the raft of mind-bogglingly backward policy decisions we’ve seen since the election – reversing solar subsidy cuts and reinstating the zero carbon homes policy for starters.
That should be the focus of any Energy Bill in 2016. The Paris climate agreement provides an even stronger case for MPs to refuse to give the Bill a second reading, reject it in its entirety, and demand the Government goes back to the drawing board.
Looking ahead to 2016, we’ve got some big fights to come. The climate movement will have a key role to play in holding politicians to account.
The Paris climate talks failed in part because of the influence of fossil fuel corporations over government. Those same oil and gas companies have a death grip on the UK’s democratic decision making too. Nowhere is this more obvious than the trade deals being struck, which threaten to undermine efforts to cut carbon emissions as well as our democracy.
But the strength and breadth of the mobilisation across civil society we are seeing is more powerful than corporations and their friends in Government realise.
Unusually, a similar sentiment was to be found in the Economist, with their verdict on Paris concluding:
“Genuine concern about the climate, public opinion and international pressure produced the pledges that were made for Paris. The hope is that similar bottom-up processes, rather than unenforceable UN mandates, will drive up the level of action in decades to come.”
Saturday, 19 December 2015
Green World Edition 90: letter about staying in the European Union
Asking why the Greens support staying in Europe - a good point by Harold Immanuel
"The punishment of both Greece and Syriza demonstrates that solidarity - social, economic or political - is not what the EU is fundamentally about. Rather, it is about the three pillars of free movement of capital, goods and labour. Supporting free movement of capital is not a sustainable position for a radical party. Nor do arguments about keeping the peace, free movement of people, social policy, taxation, subsidiarity and solidarity stand up to serious scrutiny. Within the EU, it's difficult to see how many of our policies could be implemented."
I like the idea of being in a group with other Europeans because of our shared history and values and actually, practical intelligence! (I mean, common sense not spying). I feel that with so many groups and leaders, one or two of them must have some good ideas. I mean, put into practice, good for the people of Europe, and indeed, the rest of the world. But I am absolutely repelled by the idea of TTIP and how it is being discussed in secret. What is going on in the EU?? Some failure of basic democratic principles.
"The punishment of both Greece and Syriza demonstrates that solidarity - social, economic or political - is not what the EU is fundamentally about. Rather, it is about the three pillars of free movement of capital, goods and labour. Supporting free movement of capital is not a sustainable position for a radical party. Nor do arguments about keeping the peace, free movement of people, social policy, taxation, subsidiarity and solidarity stand up to serious scrutiny. Within the EU, it's difficult to see how many of our policies could be implemented."
I like the idea of being in a group with other Europeans because of our shared history and values and actually, practical intelligence! (I mean, common sense not spying). I feel that with so many groups and leaders, one or two of them must have some good ideas. I mean, put into practice, good for the people of Europe, and indeed, the rest of the world. But I am absolutely repelled by the idea of TTIP and how it is being discussed in secret. What is going on in the EU?? Some failure of basic democratic principles.
Tuesday, 15 December 2015
Green World, Edition 90: Letter about Thomas Piketty
From Chris Heywood:
"... review of Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century (GW89) was very useful, and I would like to add that Piketty is saying something much more radical than perhaps comes over in the review.
"The new-liberal consensus would have us believe that market systems must in the long term lead to equilibrium and that most of the economic problems that arise can be solved by perfecting the operation of market and reducing the power of the state to intervene in market mechanisms.
"But Piketty, on the contrary, deploys extensive evidence to demonstrate that over a long timescale the market will by its very nature produce great inequality, when r, the rate of return on capital, is greater than g, the annual percentage rate of growth of the economy - that is, when r>g.
"Piketty shows that in the last 200 years of capitalism, with the notable exception of the period between the wars and from 1945 to 1980, r has been greater than g. The rate of economic growth has been close to one percent, and the rate of return on capital has been close to five per cent. The result has been the greatest levels of inequality ever experienced.
"This by no means exhausts the full extent of Piketty's contribution to our understanding of global capitalism ...
I haven't read this book but I am already convinced by the argument. I can just sense it, not here in the suburbs, but in London ...
Wednesday, 9 December 2015
Lack of Democracy
Recently I have been very lazy, politically. I was going to go to London to campaign last weekend for Green issues, I had it in my diary for weeks, but then my husband got us invited to a friend's house for Sunday lunch, so we did a walk in the Surrey hills, Sunday lunch, film with our friends; and I never went to London.
I emailed my MP about the new deal for Junior Doctors and I got a lengthy and really irrelevant cut-and -paste reply. this is because my MP is Philip Hammond. Yes, the Foreign Secretary is my M.P. and before he went to the Foreign Office he was the Minister of Defence. You can imagine how excited he is every day now that we are bombing Syria and Iraq! what can make a man/woman feel more important than having people kill people because you say so! He is, in effect, the King!
(He felt pretty important for the years before his rise to power, as he always got around in a chauffeur-driven posh car even if he was just visiting the Girl Guides summer fete.)
So although I would like to tell my M.P. my strong feelings about the war and TTIP, there is really no point. He is not representing my views, no way. He is representing the diametrical opposite of my views. Caroline Lucas is representing my views, and I am always glad to hear her doing so. But democracy - don't make me laugh. Boo hoo.
I emailed my MP about the new deal for Junior Doctors and I got a lengthy and really irrelevant cut-and -paste reply. this is because my MP is Philip Hammond. Yes, the Foreign Secretary is my M.P. and before he went to the Foreign Office he was the Minister of Defence. You can imagine how excited he is every day now that we are bombing Syria and Iraq! what can make a man/woman feel more important than having people kill people because you say so! He is, in effect, the King!
(He felt pretty important for the years before his rise to power, as he always got around in a chauffeur-driven posh car even if he was just visiting the Girl Guides summer fete.)
So although I would like to tell my M.P. my strong feelings about the war and TTIP, there is really no point. He is not representing my views, no way. He is representing the diametrical opposite of my views. Caroline Lucas is representing my views, and I am always glad to hear her doing so. But democracy - don't make me laugh. Boo hoo.
Sunday, 8 November 2015
14 ways the UK has backtracked on climate Pledges this year: From the New Scientist.
It’s been an annus horribilis for the UK’s environmental efforts. A whole series of green policies have been cut or cancelled, shaking investor confidence in renewable schemes and taking the UK further off course for meeting its climate goals.
Below we summarise the main events of 2015 so far. For a full analysis, including why the UK could now face legal action, see British government could face lawsuit over climate failures.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28299-14-ways-the-uk-has-backtracked-on-climate-pledges-this-year/Click here
Saturday, 9 May 2015
Post election blues
So basically Scotland is for the SNP - fine. I see the attraction. However, in some constituencies they could have put up a scarecrow and people would have voted for it. I wonder, when the dust has settled and the M.P.s take a look at each other, what sort of show they will make?
Wales is for Labour - fine. Loyal to the cause of the working man.
And the UK, apart from some pockets in the North, is Conservative. I can't believe it! I am beginning to have a theory about people who vote Tory. They love their cars. They love their cars because they save them from having to connect with other people. The idea of sharing anything gives them the horrors.
I feel sad when I look at my Vote Green poster and think of all the effort we novice Greens put in to field candidates, and how many of them lost their deposits (though many didn't). In the best outcome scenario we would have 3 M.P.'s and we still have only one, although I'm happy to say she increased her majority.
I feel sad when I think of the poor Lib Dems and how, by consorting with the Tories they lost their reputation as an alternative to the Tories. They seemed to have moved to the right and that ruined their chances. I feel sad for Vince Cable who took it very hard, and Nick Clegg who fought a good fight and must surely blame himself. When you look at the map of South West London now, it's blue all the way to Westminster, instead of having that quirky hinterland of yellow. London is mainly Labour, and I am glad about that.
I feel sad for Ed Milliband who also fought a good fight. For me, though, he was always Tony Blair's man, and every time he said "Look!" I cringed with Blair-horror. I shall be glad to see the back of Ed Balls, and I don't mind if they find some new faces. (More women please?)
The BBC website put up a really informative map of the country on their news website, thanks very much chaps, you were great.
Sunday, 3 May 2015
With the Green Party in Brighton
I can't exactly remember why I joined the Green Party. Maybe the change was caused by weeks of listening to "Costing the Earth" on Radio 4 when I drove home from yoga. Maybe it was a terror at the threatening loss of bees. Maybe it was because I miss the sparrows that were 2 a penny when I was a kid. And now if you see one it's something special. Maybe it's because I often watch Russell Brand and his True News (Trews) on Youtube and I felt that I too, wanted to be engaged with politics. I can't remember a specific moment when I felt pushed to do it, but I became part of the Green Surge earlier this year, (when the membership of the Greens suddenly rose) and I'm glad I did.
This weekend is a 3-day weekend so I thought I would spend one day campaigning for Caroline Lucas, our one and only Green M.P., who is standing for re-election down on the South coast.
The Greens email you with notifications about meetings and involvement and as soon as you say you will go they send you instructions. It was quite a cold morning when I arrived at Brighton station rather later than the specified 10 a.m. and I found the "Eco-centre" (a run-down-looking shop with an intercom door) opposite the station after looking for it all round the block, because it doesn't look like anything much. But the girl inside was really friendly, took my details, said I would need some training and then she would put me in a team and send me to a ward.
I was lucky because I was given a lift with 3 other people to Sue Shanks' house out in the Preston Park area of Brighton (this is actually 1 station back from the town centre on the train line). Mike was a very handsome young man from Dulwich, his friend Minnie from Queen's Park, and John, a Maths teacher, was a very experienced canvasser from Brighton. I asked to team up with John as he know what he was doing and was keen to get on with it, and we were given a canvasser's pack and off we went to find the streets. So I didn't get any training, but I had John. John knew the way.
At this stage in the campaign all the streets have already been canvassed. Our role was to knock on houses whose residents had been out last time canvassers called, and try to find out which way they would vote. The role of a canvasser is to gain information and only partly to engage people in conversation about why they will/won't be supporting your candidate. So where we encountered people who said they would support Caroline we took their email address and checked their phone number, in case they don't vote on the day and we can persuade them at the last minute to go to the polling station and cast their Green Vote.
We had a code for how keen/not keen each voter was on voting Green. We also had a code for people who were rude, etc. Where people were out we put a card through the door with the voter's name on. where our information about the household was wrong we updated it. It was clearly a busy Saturday in Brighton and many people were out doing things with their children and riding bikes and all the usual things people do on a Saturday, but we had enough conversations for me to get to know some of the issues in Brighton.
With some people the Green Party is very unpopular because of its stance on cars. Parking spaces are at a premium and therefore parking is expensive. Some people even have to pay £100 a year to park on the street outside their houses. In some places traffic speed has been limited to 20 miles an hour - this is actually where the residents voted for the change, (according to the leaflet) - but some voters have really hated these changes and are also angry because of spending on cycle lanes.
Another cause of rage and frustration is industrial action by the bin men. The Green Party had to implement a law on equality of pay for men and women and have done this in such a way as to enrage those who drive the refuse lorries. They haven't been on strike for a while but they sometimes work to rule in such a way as to leave certain streets out of the collection.
Any problem that people have is amplified by the local press, which is virulently anti-Green. So complaints make headlines: "Greens are ruining our City" type of thing.
All local councils have had to implement cuts because of funding slashes from central government which is on an austerity mission, and in Brighton these cuts are blamed on the Greens even though Tory-run councils are just the same. In fact, the Greens have done well to protect children's services such as Sure Start centres, which in some areas of the country (probably the most needy) have been closed down.
The Green supporter is usually better-off and able to see the bigger picture, and likes its stance on Trident (scrap it), the railways (re-nationalise), fracking (leave it in the ground), social care (improve it) and the NHS (no privatization whatsoever).
In the afternoon John, whose company I had enjoyed and with whom I had much in common, had to go and do something else, so we said goodbye back at Sue's house and I stayed there to eat. Sue (a Councillor in Brighton and fantastically energetic and brisk, also has a lovely house) and her assistant Carly(?) had provided loaves of bread, butter, cheese, salad, and biscuits. So we sat around the big dining table in the front room and ate, and the young people (they were all in their 20s) all discussed actions they had been on. They were very friendly and intelligent, I enjoyed meeting them all.
Then I had a coffee (I was pretty tired) and then walked with a young man to the Park for a rally. I had never been to a rally. There was a green bus, from which Caroline Lucas made a speech, and another speaker Mark Thomas, made another speech, and I squeezed into a group photo. Afterwards we milled around and chatted. I took a leaflet for another action for Keep it in the Ground and had a good chat with that young man. Caroline Lucas was there and I asked her for a photo. (She is very nice and obliging).
Then I walked back to the house, got another partner and another couple of roads to canvas and off we went again, but this time we were in a Tory area! You can tell Tory areas by their tidy gardens (mostly paved) which give pride of place to the driveway and car - always a newish, shiny, look-at-my-status sort of car, sometimes a 4 x 4. There is almost no point in talking to the owners of Gas Guzzlers about voting Green. They are almost hilariously short-sighted about all issues, ending and beginning with their own standard of living. They vote by post as they don't like to mix with other people down at the polling station. They are essentially private people, very reluctant to tell you which way they'll vote. We also talked to some very old ladies who told us they would vote Tory because their fathers had. Apparently there is no likelihood of a Tory M.P. down there in Brighton, but Labour may well swing things around. So I wore myself out on this ghastly Toryland but I enjoyed getting to know my new partner Hywel. And then we got lifts back to town, (Hywel was staying in a Green member's spare room in Brighton) and I eventually got home but I HAD NEVER BEEN SO TIRED!
Meanwhile, I was pleased to hear of the founding of the Women's Equality Party until I realised that it will, one day, split the Green Vote, and but they have no policies, apart from thinking that women must have a louder voice in politics. What exactly do they want to do? all very vague.
This weekend is a 3-day weekend so I thought I would spend one day campaigning for Caroline Lucas, our one and only Green M.P., who is standing for re-election down on the South coast.
The Greens email you with notifications about meetings and involvement and as soon as you say you will go they send you instructions. It was quite a cold morning when I arrived at Brighton station rather later than the specified 10 a.m. and I found the "Eco-centre" (a run-down-looking shop with an intercom door) opposite the station after looking for it all round the block, because it doesn't look like anything much. But the girl inside was really friendly, took my details, said I would need some training and then she would put me in a team and send me to a ward.
I was lucky because I was given a lift with 3 other people to Sue Shanks' house out in the Preston Park area of Brighton (this is actually 1 station back from the town centre on the train line). Mike was a very handsome young man from Dulwich, his friend Minnie from Queen's Park, and John, a Maths teacher, was a very experienced canvasser from Brighton. I asked to team up with John as he know what he was doing and was keen to get on with it, and we were given a canvasser's pack and off we went to find the streets. So I didn't get any training, but I had John. John knew the way.
At this stage in the campaign all the streets have already been canvassed. Our role was to knock on houses whose residents had been out last time canvassers called, and try to find out which way they would vote. The role of a canvasser is to gain information and only partly to engage people in conversation about why they will/won't be supporting your candidate. So where we encountered people who said they would support Caroline we took their email address and checked their phone number, in case they don't vote on the day and we can persuade them at the last minute to go to the polling station and cast their Green Vote.
We had a code for how keen/not keen each voter was on voting Green. We also had a code for people who were rude, etc. Where people were out we put a card through the door with the voter's name on. where our information about the household was wrong we updated it. It was clearly a busy Saturday in Brighton and many people were out doing things with their children and riding bikes and all the usual things people do on a Saturday, but we had enough conversations for me to get to know some of the issues in Brighton.
With some people the Green Party is very unpopular because of its stance on cars. Parking spaces are at a premium and therefore parking is expensive. Some people even have to pay £100 a year to park on the street outside their houses. In some places traffic speed has been limited to 20 miles an hour - this is actually where the residents voted for the change, (according to the leaflet) - but some voters have really hated these changes and are also angry because of spending on cycle lanes.
Another cause of rage and frustration is industrial action by the bin men. The Green Party had to implement a law on equality of pay for men and women and have done this in such a way as to enrage those who drive the refuse lorries. They haven't been on strike for a while but they sometimes work to rule in such a way as to leave certain streets out of the collection.
Any problem that people have is amplified by the local press, which is virulently anti-Green. So complaints make headlines: "Greens are ruining our City" type of thing.
All local councils have had to implement cuts because of funding slashes from central government which is on an austerity mission, and in Brighton these cuts are blamed on the Greens even though Tory-run councils are just the same. In fact, the Greens have done well to protect children's services such as Sure Start centres, which in some areas of the country (probably the most needy) have been closed down.
The Green supporter is usually better-off and able to see the bigger picture, and likes its stance on Trident (scrap it), the railways (re-nationalise), fracking (leave it in the ground), social care (improve it) and the NHS (no privatization whatsoever).
In the afternoon John, whose company I had enjoyed and with whom I had much in common, had to go and do something else, so we said goodbye back at Sue's house and I stayed there to eat. Sue (a Councillor in Brighton and fantastically energetic and brisk, also has a lovely house) and her assistant Carly(?) had provided loaves of bread, butter, cheese, salad, and biscuits. So we sat around the big dining table in the front room and ate, and the young people (they were all in their 20s) all discussed actions they had been on. They were very friendly and intelligent, I enjoyed meeting them all.
Then I had a coffee (I was pretty tired) and then walked with a young man to the Park for a rally. I had never been to a rally. There was a green bus, from which Caroline Lucas made a speech, and another speaker Mark Thomas, made another speech, and I squeezed into a group photo. Afterwards we milled around and chatted. I took a leaflet for another action for Keep it in the Ground and had a good chat with that young man. Caroline Lucas was there and I asked her for a photo. (She is very nice and obliging).
Then I walked back to the house, got another partner and another couple of roads to canvas and off we went again, but this time we were in a Tory area! You can tell Tory areas by their tidy gardens (mostly paved) which give pride of place to the driveway and car - always a newish, shiny, look-at-my-status sort of car, sometimes a 4 x 4. There is almost no point in talking to the owners of Gas Guzzlers about voting Green. They are almost hilariously short-sighted about all issues, ending and beginning with their own standard of living. They vote by post as they don't like to mix with other people down at the polling station. They are essentially private people, very reluctant to tell you which way they'll vote. We also talked to some very old ladies who told us they would vote Tory because their fathers had. Apparently there is no likelihood of a Tory M.P. down there in Brighton, but Labour may well swing things around. So I wore myself out on this ghastly Toryland but I enjoyed getting to know my new partner Hywel. And then we got lifts back to town, (Hywel was staying in a Green member's spare room in Brighton) and I eventually got home but I HAD NEVER BEEN SO TIRED!
Meanwhile, I was pleased to hear of the founding of the Women's Equality Party until I realised that it will, one day, split the Green Vote, and but they have no policies, apart from thinking that women must have a louder voice in politics. What exactly do they want to do? all very vague.
Sunday, 25 January 2015
My ridiculous New Year Resolutions
Recently I made some of the above. Well, it was New Year. I had forgotten my previous coming-to-terms-with-resolutions wisdom and I made the WRONG kind of resolution.
I decided that I must concentrate more on my work and less on the things that I love. The result would be that I would not feel anxious about being behind with my work, which is how I feel pretty much all the time. When I had got into a position of being ahead with my work I could do other things like: read books and newspapers. One of my resolutions was not to get into reading any kind of narrative, because that sort of thing takes over one's tiny mind. OK, my tiny mind. Everyone else's mind holds more equipment and can do many more things. So I thought I would read art books instead e.g. The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman by Grayson Perry, and The History of the German People by Mr MacGregor of the British Museum. I could pick them up, muse awhile, and put them down, muse finished.
The significance of this image is explained here: review of Unknown Craftsman
And I decided I would stop "buying" the Guardian when I popped into Waitrose just because it is free if you spend £5 and I always spend £5 because things in Waitrose are somehow slightly nicer than the average foodstuffs and more expensive (what a strange coincidence) without being ridiculously gussied up for the wannabees as they are in Marks. Because I get into the Guardian and find its columnists worth reading as long as you take a bit of time over them. Therefore, the Guardian is wasting my time and my brain when I should be working. (To start with, I found the Guardian impenetrable. But you get used to it, and the effort it takes to read. You get to like it. Just like the crossword, which is REALLY hard.)
Anyway, I have failed to stick to these resolutions (apart from reading narratives, I have not read a novel or story since the Christmas hols) and I am rather glad, because life shouldn't be all horrid. There should be some changes and developments, and although my idea of narrowing was only temporary (the next 6 months), I can't bear it because my work is OK but not my passion.
My original resolution was: eat mainly soup. This is not a bad idea either because I am very overweight and I never have been overweight before. I have lost the knack of losing weight. Also, I really like soup, so it's do -able. The trouble is, I also have a husband and son for whom I cater and they are not satisfied with soup.
So far this year I have cooked dishes I haven't cooked before (duck with cherry sauce, last night, and something with meatballs (very good idea, meatballs, quick and tasty)) and that's a much better resolution: cook some new dishes!
And although I really wanted to get involved with the Green Party this turns out to be not do-able either, as my local branch meets on Wednesday evenings, when I teach until 9 pm. I could do without teaching until 9 p.m. Basically, I want to do something worth doing with other people whom I might like, but this longing is being stymied at every turn.
Sad: I never saw the Germany exhibition at the BM (all over now) and I never saw the Rembrandts. Just never took the time out of my busy but meaningless schedule of working and hoovering, etc.
I decided that I must concentrate more on my work and less on the things that I love. The result would be that I would not feel anxious about being behind with my work, which is how I feel pretty much all the time. When I had got into a position of being ahead with my work I could do other things like: read books and newspapers. One of my resolutions was not to get into reading any kind of narrative, because that sort of thing takes over one's tiny mind. OK, my tiny mind. Everyone else's mind holds more equipment and can do many more things. So I thought I would read art books instead e.g. The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman by Grayson Perry, and The History of the German People by Mr MacGregor of the British Museum. I could pick them up, muse awhile, and put them down, muse finished.
 |
| Mobile Shrine to Alan Measles |
And I decided I would stop "buying" the Guardian when I popped into Waitrose just because it is free if you spend £5 and I always spend £5 because things in Waitrose are somehow slightly nicer than the average foodstuffs and more expensive (what a strange coincidence) without being ridiculously gussied up for the wannabees as they are in Marks. Because I get into the Guardian and find its columnists worth reading as long as you take a bit of time over them. Therefore, the Guardian is wasting my time and my brain when I should be working. (To start with, I found the Guardian impenetrable. But you get used to it, and the effort it takes to read. You get to like it. Just like the crossword, which is REALLY hard.)
Anyway, I have failed to stick to these resolutions (apart from reading narratives, I have not read a novel or story since the Christmas hols) and I am rather glad, because life shouldn't be all horrid. There should be some changes and developments, and although my idea of narrowing was only temporary (the next 6 months), I can't bear it because my work is OK but not my passion.
My original resolution was: eat mainly soup. This is not a bad idea either because I am very overweight and I never have been overweight before. I have lost the knack of losing weight. Also, I really like soup, so it's do -able. The trouble is, I also have a husband and son for whom I cater and they are not satisfied with soup.
So far this year I have cooked dishes I haven't cooked before (duck with cherry sauce, last night, and something with meatballs (very good idea, meatballs, quick and tasty)) and that's a much better resolution: cook some new dishes!
And although I really wanted to get involved with the Green Party this turns out to be not do-able either, as my local branch meets on Wednesday evenings, when I teach until 9 pm. I could do without teaching until 9 p.m. Basically, I want to do something worth doing with other people whom I might like, but this longing is being stymied at every turn.
Sad: I never saw the Germany exhibition at the BM (all over now) and I never saw the Rembrandts. Just never took the time out of my busy but meaningless schedule of working and hoovering, etc.
Tuesday, 14 October 2014
Friday, 5 September 2014
Vivienne Westwood and Andreas Kronthaler
If it wasn't for this interview in the Times magazine of early June (I wonder where I picked it up?) I would never have known how much I admire Vivienne Westwood.
1. 25 years ago, she married a man 25 years younger than herself and it doesn't seem like a big deal to either of them. She is 73, he is 49. She says Andreas is much more sociable than she is, but she doesn't mind. "With me being older and everything, and not expecting to have a husband in later life, I'm very tolerant. He doesn't have to do anything as if it is somehow expected of him. Only if he wants."
2. she is active in saving the honey bee.
3. She lived in a 2-bedroom council flat for 30 years - even after she became successful.
4. She is completely unmaterialistic : "She doesn't care what other people have. She is only curious about what other people know. Their wisdom."
5. She doesn't watch the TV.
6. They went to the Sex and the City film but couldn't sit through it. "It was a terrible film."
7. She reads.
8. She campaigns on the subject of climate change. climaterevolution.co.uk
9. At home, she is very frugal with lights and water.
10. She never lies.
11. She cycles around London. Is that why she has such great legs?
1. 25 years ago, she married a man 25 years younger than herself and it doesn't seem like a big deal to either of them. She is 73, he is 49. She says Andreas is much more sociable than she is, but she doesn't mind. "With me being older and everything, and not expecting to have a husband in later life, I'm very tolerant. He doesn't have to do anything as if it is somehow expected of him. Only if he wants."
 |
| They work on the designs together. |
 |
| She often wears clothes that make her look quite ridiculous, but they are at least original |
 |
| But her designs (like this one) are very beautiful and flattering for the older woman |
 |
| However, on the day she wore this one she forgot that she was wearing no knickers |
2. she is active in saving the honey bee.
3. She lived in a 2-bedroom council flat for 30 years - even after she became successful.
4. She is completely unmaterialistic : "She doesn't care what other people have. She is only curious about what other people know. Their wisdom."
5. She doesn't watch the TV.
6. They went to the Sex and the City film but couldn't sit through it. "It was a terrible film."
7. She reads.
8. She campaigns on the subject of climate change. climaterevolution.co.uk
9. At home, she is very frugal with lights and water.
10. She never lies.
11. She cycles around London. Is that why she has such great legs?
Saturday, 24 May 2014
Terry Eagleton - How to Read Literature, Young People, and Voting
If I find a book that's clever and witty and tells me something new I am so happy. Or even a book that's shown me something I know from another point of view. I want to share it with someone I love. (If you've received a book from me, and you didn't like it - I am philosophical. I still think it's better to try to share than give up hope.) I loved sharing books with the children when I had children, and we still go back to the old ways when we stumble upon a Dr Seuss, (as we did in the Youth Hostel) or a Mairi Hedderwick.
Anyhow, here is Terry Eagleton explaining how to appreciate literature, and I'm finding it really helpful. I always suspected, when I did my degree, that I didn't quite understand how the writers had mixed form and content to create meaning, and this book is very helpful with understanding that, giving plenty of examples from classic literature to consider.
But this is Terry Eagleton and rejoice with me, for Terry Eagleton is witty. He is so un-pompous.
On stereotypes:
Actually, I think you can still divide people into ancients, who naturally fulfill themselves in the public sphere, (e.g. my husband) and the moderns, who are interested in their own consciousness and the way their own perceptions of the world add up to what they know. I guess we are readers. There are fewer of us now, as Will Self wrote in the Guardian not long ago, young people don't read novels.
But you can't say they don't like a good story! Look at "Game of Thrones". I am not able to comment on this work because I haven't read it. I know S gave up on it but F's friends discuss it excitedly and she says she is going to read the whole multi-volume saga as a post-exam chillout.
But they don't want to have to work at anything. I saw on the news yesterday clips of young people explaining why they hadn't voted, and they said: we don't know enough about it. Well, I felt the same so I went and searched for info on the web, the way that's so easy and natural these days. then I was able to brief my daughter while walking to the polling station (her first time voting, we insisted that she vote for something, - anything!) But if the young people feel that they can't make important decisions for themselves, it's as though they are saying; "We are children, please decide for us, because you know best." They are passengers, and modernists, with their headphones on blocking out everything but their own consciousness, and they need a more Aristotelian point of view.
In the end I voted Green in the hope that there would be enough Green people acting in concert in Europe to protect the fish. Yup, I voted to save the fish.
My two German girls don't want to continue English lessons with me. I think that's because I kept wanting them to discuss things they have no ideas or opinions about. It is amazing that these intelligent young women (20+) have no ideas or opinions, and I'm not sure I will really miss them. But I said I would. Of course, they gave other reasons for not continuing, :- their plans had changed and they were returning to Germany earlier and they had decided not to take the Advanced exam after all.
 |
| I really like the cover art too. |
But this is Terry Eagleton and rejoice with me, for Terry Eagleton is witty. He is so un-pompous.
On stereotypes:
A type is not necessarily a stereotype. .... Stereotypes reduce men and women to general categories, whereas types preserve their individuality but lend it some broader context. A cynic might take this to mean that Irishmen are forever engaged in drunken brawling, but that each does so in his own unique way.
We can identify objects only by language, and language is general by nature. If it were not, we would need a different word for every rubber duck and stick of rhubarb in the world. ... there is no special word for my particular pair of eyebrows or fits of sulkiness. .... In fact, there is nothing that does not resemble something else in some respect. The Great Wall of China resembles the concept of heartache in that neither can peel a banana.Character:
It is not that Aristotle thought Character unimportant in general. On the contrary, he regarded it as supremely important, as another of his books the Nicomachean Ethics, makes clear. this work is all about moral values, qualities of character, the difference between virtuous and vicious individuals, and so on. Aristotle's view of character in the real-life sense, however, differs from some modern versions of it. Here too, he sees action as primary. It is what men and women do, the way they realise or fail to realise their creative powers in the public arena, that matters most from a moral viewpoint. You could not be virtuous simply on your own... Ancient thinkers were less likely than modern modern ones to view individuals as existing in splendid isolation. They would no doubt have had some trouble in understanding Hamlet, not to speak of being utterly bemused by the work of Marcel Proust or Henry James....
Actually, I think you can still divide people into ancients, who naturally fulfill themselves in the public sphere, (e.g. my husband) and the moderns, who are interested in their own consciousness and the way their own perceptions of the world add up to what they know. I guess we are readers. There are fewer of us now, as Will Self wrote in the Guardian not long ago, young people don't read novels.
But you can't say they don't like a good story! Look at "Game of Thrones". I am not able to comment on this work because I haven't read it. I know S gave up on it but F's friends discuss it excitedly and she says she is going to read the whole multi-volume saga as a post-exam chillout.
But they don't want to have to work at anything. I saw on the news yesterday clips of young people explaining why they hadn't voted, and they said: we don't know enough about it. Well, I felt the same so I went and searched for info on the web, the way that's so easy and natural these days. then I was able to brief my daughter while walking to the polling station (her first time voting, we insisted that she vote for something, - anything!) But if the young people feel that they can't make important decisions for themselves, it's as though they are saying; "We are children, please decide for us, because you know best." They are passengers, and modernists, with their headphones on blocking out everything but their own consciousness, and they need a more Aristotelian point of view.
In the end I voted Green in the hope that there would be enough Green people acting in concert in Europe to protect the fish. Yup, I voted to save the fish.
My two German girls don't want to continue English lessons with me. I think that's because I kept wanting them to discuss things they have no ideas or opinions about. It is amazing that these intelligent young women (20+) have no ideas or opinions, and I'm not sure I will really miss them. But I said I would. Of course, they gave other reasons for not continuing, :- their plans had changed and they were returning to Germany earlier and they had decided not to take the Advanced exam after all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)