I was at carols. There was an orchestra. Before they started playing, the conductor introduced the evening and said, 'The timpanist got engaged today.'
That was it. My mind froze.
All I could think about for the next two hours was how many times that sentence could have been uttered over the past centuries -nay, millenia if you consider other languages and the history of the timpani- and I reckon it's a safe bet to say not many. In fact, I would argue that it is statistically possible that it is the first time that that sentence has ever been uttered.
And I was there.
A historic end to a personally historic year.
My resolution for 2011 is to shoehorn the sentence in to as many conversations as possible.
Thursday, 30 December 2010
Monday, 20 December 2010
I Buy Into The Fact That It's Too Commercialised
I think it was Christopher Hitchens who highlighted that there wasn’t a word for not believing in Father Christmas. Unlike calling oneself an atheist which is an unbeliever in a god and presupposes that there may be a god but that one just doesn’t believe in him/her -i.e. it makes no sense to say that one doesn’t believe in something that doesn’t exist- there isn't an equivalent word re Santa.
I think this is an important observation because obviously Father Christmas exists and anybody who says he doesn’t is going to burn in hell for all eternity, especially anyone who says so before next Saturday.
I think this is an important observation because obviously Father Christmas exists and anybody who says he doesn’t is going to burn in hell for all eternity, especially anyone who says so before next Saturday.
Wednesday, 15 December 2010
Storm And Stress
‘Did you know that there is a light out near the HP Sauce?’ he asked.
I looked at him. What sort of diabolical question was this?
Was it existential? Meta-physical? Rational? Post-modern? Empirical?
Surely the light was a fixed object and the HP Sauce was transferable, mutable, so the question should be posed the other way round? Unless by 'light', he meant hope, desire, perhaps life itself…
My mind churned. My guts knotted. I was mentally outgunned. I would have to admit defeat.
The sentence ‘I bow to your superior reasoning and renounce any further questioning evermore’ formed in my mouth.
‘You know,’ he added, ‘where the HP Sauce packaging is displayed. A spotlight has gone out.’
One of the other Museum volunteers stepped in. ‘OK, thanks. We’ll fix it.’
A simple answer, sometimes they are the best, but I still think that Wittgenstein would have wrestled with the proposition differently and shown the brash upstart the fallacy in his logic.
I looked at him. What sort of diabolical question was this?
Was it existential? Meta-physical? Rational? Post-modern? Empirical?
Surely the light was a fixed object and the HP Sauce was transferable, mutable, so the question should be posed the other way round? Unless by 'light', he meant hope, desire, perhaps life itself…
My mind churned. My guts knotted. I was mentally outgunned. I would have to admit defeat.
The sentence ‘I bow to your superior reasoning and renounce any further questioning evermore’ formed in my mouth.
‘You know,’ he added, ‘where the HP Sauce packaging is displayed. A spotlight has gone out.’
One of the other Museum volunteers stepped in. ‘OK, thanks. We’ll fix it.’
A simple answer, sometimes they are the best, but I still think that Wittgenstein would have wrestled with the proposition differently and shown the brash upstart the fallacy in his logic.
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
The Psychology Of Leisure
Why not work?
I read recently that those who do not work often become depressed, lose their sense of identity and purpose in life, and become mentally or physically ill.
Not me, I’m down the bookies putting my income support on Lenin’s Tomb in the 3:20 before heading to my local Wetherspoon to forget and throw-up later in the toilet.
But I think just as important as the psychology of work is the psychology of leisure and no one prepares us for this. There is career guidance but no leisure guidance, and another evening is pissed away watching Casino Royale on DVD as a result.
So what do we do when we are not working, sleeping, washing/dressing/commuting…? Well, I guess there’s the family stuff, the meeting friends stuff, the physical exercise stuff, the mental exercise stuff, the constructive pursuit stuff, and the doing sod all stuff… It’s a mix and match, but I imagine one would need more meaningful leisure if one is doing meaningless work.
Perhaps I should become a leisure counsellor. I think everyone could get a boost from more arts and crafts.
I read recently that those who do not work often become depressed, lose their sense of identity and purpose in life, and become mentally or physically ill.
Not me, I’m down the bookies putting my income support on Lenin’s Tomb in the 3:20 before heading to my local Wetherspoon to forget and throw-up later in the toilet.
But I think just as important as the psychology of work is the psychology of leisure and no one prepares us for this. There is career guidance but no leisure guidance, and another evening is pissed away watching Casino Royale on DVD as a result.
So what do we do when we are not working, sleeping, washing/dressing/commuting…? Well, I guess there’s the family stuff, the meeting friends stuff, the physical exercise stuff, the mental exercise stuff, the constructive pursuit stuff, and the doing sod all stuff… It’s a mix and match, but I imagine one would need more meaningful leisure if one is doing meaningless work.
Perhaps I should become a leisure counsellor. I think everyone could get a boost from more arts and crafts.
Wednesday, 1 December 2010
The Psychology Of Work
Why work?
Being unemployed and looking for work it's a question I ask myself. Some people seem to think more about their careers than about their lives, they seem to mix the two up, but the two are complementary not substitute.
But what am I looking for? Is it so that I can feed and shelter myself? Is it to get me out of the house and give me some meaning? Is it so that I can earn superfluous money and buy superfluous things to distract myself? Is it for the intrinsic nature of the work: the stimulation, the value, the achievement? Is it so that I can buy shiny toys and show other people what losers they are? Is it for the dental plan? Is it all the above?
It's a tough one. You could spend a whole life working it out, but I hear the pay isn't good.
So I ask you, you out there, why work?
Being unemployed and looking for work it's a question I ask myself. Some people seem to think more about their careers than about their lives, they seem to mix the two up, but the two are complementary not substitute.
But what am I looking for? Is it so that I can feed and shelter myself? Is it to get me out of the house and give me some meaning? Is it so that I can earn superfluous money and buy superfluous things to distract myself? Is it for the intrinsic nature of the work: the stimulation, the value, the achievement? Is it so that I can buy shiny toys and show other people what losers they are? Is it for the dental plan? Is it all the above?
It's a tough one. You could spend a whole life working it out, but I hear the pay isn't good.
So I ask you, you out there, why work?
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