The mountains have always exerted a faintly magnetic presure on me. From childhood picnics on small hillocks in Hampshire to the proper big things with snow on - I like to get the to peak.
The attraction is multi-layered. I love the fresh air and getting out of town - I can almost feel my lungs renewing themselves. I love how the weather is tangibly different - looking down into the valley on the cloud. I love that I become more aware of the physicality of sunshine - looking for the south-facing slopes and the sunshine - and moving round the mountain as the day progresses. I love that the higher I go, the more insignificant humans are - we're like little ants sliding around on the snow.
The skiing bit is good fun too - the adrenalin of going fast downhill. Stick some headphones on and I'm in my own personal bubble. And what makes the personal bubble even better is know the guys you're skiing with are pretty much in their personal bubble too and not bothered by my seemingly antisocial behaviour - but come beer o'clock it's good to reconnect with humanity.
So, here I am again. Third trip this year... a personal best. Two weeks at Christmas with the Sidster, Phil & Yoko; three days with workmates; now another week with the Sidster and another group of folks of whom we only really know one member - but half the fun is looking forward to making new friends.
We've just arrived at Lyon, after a ghastly early start (and the obligatory Hilditch-hangover) - and am sitting in the sunshine, with an hour to kill, waiting for sato-bus to whisk us away to Bourg St Maurice, and the final pick up into Montchavin. Have laptop, will travel. It's glorious. I feel one last crazy wine, beer, and *cheese* (oh I'm looking forward to the special cheese) fest for the year coming on.
Cue Fun. Woo Hoo.
We have to live like this, rather than holidaying like this.
Recession, Restaurants and Community
We live in the 'burbs. Northfields W13 to be precise. And we rather like it there. It's only a diddy house - but it's plenty big enough for me, the Sidster and now Denis the dog. The thing we love best is the fact that we are within walking distance to a little miracle of retail, otherwise known as Northfields Avenue. We're two minutes away from a bakers, two butchers, green grocers, a hardware shop, book shop, cobbler's shop, chinese herbalist, gift shop, craft shop, pet shop.... and numerous cafes and restaurants.
These are not fancy-schmanzy restaurants - but good solid neighbourhood restaurants that get repeat business. Our favourite curry house, Monty's, is so popular you usually need to book for a Friday night. So, it was with a mix of trepidation and sadness that we made our way down there last Friday. We hadn't booked - it was a last minute decision - Sid met me from the tube and we thought we'd try our luck. Walking down the road, I was struck that if we managed to get a table, that probably indicated the restaurant was being hit by the credit-crunch as the good citizens of Northfields pull back on their spending. As it turned out, we were lucky - we got the last table - the place was packed. Not only was I delighted to tuck into my favourite tandoori mixed grill, I was delighted to see the place buzzing as usual. I hope these guys make it through these difficult times intact. I think they will - they've got the core proposition just right : great food, friendly service, good value, takeaway box for your leftovers, and always the offer of a liquer on the house when they bring the bill.
It also reminded me of a particularly succint tweet from a particularly succint thinker - in less than the available 140 characters.
So this is what I'm going to do. When I need to buy stuff, I'm going to buy it from businesses that I want to be here in the future. It's Darwinian. It matters on many different levels. I don't want to create custom for child labour sweat shops in developing countries, nor do I want apples air freighted from the USA, when perfectly good ones grow in Kent.
I love the community that exists in Northfields. I love that when I go into Monty's for dinner, I bump into my friends and neighbours. I love that the guys there remember that I always order the tandoori mixed grill and the tarka dahl. I love that the bakery assistants get the pain au chocolat in the bag when I walk in the door. It's a bit like *actually* being in the 'cheers bar - where everybody knows your name'. I have palpable enjoyment from meeting people I know on the streets where I live. I want this little neighbourhood to do more than just survive - I want it to thrive. So sorry Tesco, B&Q, Primark et al, I'm voting with my ££. If I can buy it on Northfields Avenue - that's what I'm going to do.
These are not fancy-schmanzy restaurants - but good solid neighbourhood restaurants that get repeat business. Our favourite curry house, Monty's, is so popular you usually need to book for a Friday night. So, it was with a mix of trepidation and sadness that we made our way down there last Friday. We hadn't booked - it was a last minute decision - Sid met me from the tube and we thought we'd try our luck. Walking down the road, I was struck that if we managed to get a table, that probably indicated the restaurant was being hit by the credit-crunch as the good citizens of Northfields pull back on their spending. As it turned out, we were lucky - we got the last table - the place was packed. Not only was I delighted to tuck into my favourite tandoori mixed grill, I was delighted to see the place buzzing as usual. I hope these guys make it through these difficult times intact. I think they will - they've got the core proposition just right : great food, friendly service, good value, takeaway box for your leftovers, and always the offer of a liquer on the house when they bring the bill.
It also reminded me of a particularly succint tweet from a particularly succint thinker - in less than the available 140 characters.
So this is what I'm going to do. When I need to buy stuff, I'm going to buy it from businesses that I want to be here in the future. It's Darwinian. It matters on many different levels. I don't want to create custom for child labour sweat shops in developing countries, nor do I want apples air freighted from the USA, when perfectly good ones grow in Kent.
I love the community that exists in Northfields. I love that when I go into Monty's for dinner, I bump into my friends and neighbours. I love that the guys there remember that I always order the tandoori mixed grill and the tarka dahl. I love that the bakery assistants get the pain au chocolat in the bag when I walk in the door. It's a bit like *actually* being in the 'cheers bar - where everybody knows your name'. I have palpable enjoyment from meeting people I know on the streets where I live. I want this little neighbourhood to do more than just survive - I want it to thrive. So sorry Tesco, B&Q, Primark et al, I'm voting with my ££. If I can buy it on Northfields Avenue - that's what I'm going to do.
Cue 2009
I've got a cyclical nature. I tend to spend the last few days of December reflecting on the year just closing; and January setting out a few plans for the year ahead. This year is no different, but I thought I'd share....
Not exactly new year resolutions, more a few things I want to explore and try out.
Learning is a key theme. This one kind of snook up on me last year - and now it's here to stay. I'd forgotten how much I *love* learning new stuff. Technology of course, new ways of working, new ways of organising. Mostly though, it's about unlearning some not particularly helpful habits - and making fewer assumptions. Being curious and asking questions is AGT (a good thing), and I plan do be doing more of that this year.
Trying out some new experiences. A range of things big and small: A trip to the Silk Road cities of Samarkand, Bukhara & Kiva; going to some lecture series/spoken word events; varying my morning commute (so I don't arrive at JGP Towers bad-tempered); working differently - getting my thinking/planning done outside the distractions of the office.
Think more about how I spend my time. And stop doing the things that make me feel I've wasted it. In the last couple of months I've slipped back into "TV as backdrop"; and loosing most of Saturday to a hangover. Enough already.
Take a little more care of myself. I never thought I'd fret about turning 40, but now it's going to happen this year, I'm fretting. I just don't have the resilience I did even five years ago - late nights, booze, stress - it's all beginning to catch up. So, a little more activity, less beer and a bit more me-time...
Oh, and I've decided to say something friendly to a stranger everyday. It's kinda freaky (especially when I speak to people on the tube in the morning and they think I'm mad) - but actually easier than I thought. It's all about putting a bit of good karma out there. Which is a AGT.
What about you ?
Not exactly new year resolutions, more a few things I want to explore and try out.
Learning is a key theme. This one kind of snook up on me last year - and now it's here to stay. I'd forgotten how much I *love* learning new stuff. Technology of course, new ways of working, new ways of organising. Mostly though, it's about unlearning some not particularly helpful habits - and making fewer assumptions. Being curious and asking questions is AGT (a good thing), and I plan do be doing more of that this year.
Trying out some new experiences. A range of things big and small: A trip to the Silk Road cities of Samarkand, Bukhara & Kiva; going to some lecture series/spoken word events; varying my morning commute (so I don't arrive at JGP Towers bad-tempered); working differently - getting my thinking/planning done outside the distractions of the office.
Think more about how I spend my time. And stop doing the things that make me feel I've wasted it. In the last couple of months I've slipped back into "TV as backdrop"; and loosing most of Saturday to a hangover. Enough already.
Take a little more care of myself. I never thought I'd fret about turning 40, but now it's going to happen this year, I'm fretting. I just don't have the resilience I did even five years ago - late nights, booze, stress - it's all beginning to catch up. So, a little more activity, less beer and a bit more me-time...
Oh, and I've decided to say something friendly to a stranger everyday. It's kinda freaky (especially when I speak to people on the tube in the morning and they think I'm mad) - but actually easier than I thought. It's all about putting a bit of good karma out there. Which is a AGT.
What about you ?
OK, here's the photographic evidence...
On Sunday, I did the Cancer Research "race for life" with some friends. Given that I'm not exactly a natural athlete, I enjoyed it more than I imagined I would ! I might even do it again, although maybe not this week. So, for all you lovely folks who sponsored me by making a donation to Cancer Research - thank you *very* much. And here's the public humiliation I promised. The photographic evidence of me running.
Ok, this is the "mass warm up". Not really my cup of tea - low-impact aerobics with a couple of thousand women, but hey, never let it be said that I'm not game for a laugh.
Then here I am, mid course, waving to the camera . Not tooo red and sweaty at that point. Very glad it's not a close up though.
I'm particularly fond of this one - heading towards the finishing line - being beaten by two small people !
And afterwards with Gaynor and Eileen - note the medals !
How much do I love....
... bank holiday weekends, London, my bicycle? Well today, loads and loads.
I'm very fond of a bank holiday weekend. It means that if I get a bit too trashed on Friday night, I've still got a full two day break, even if Saturday is dominated by a hangover. That said, I'm more a cheap date than party animal these days, so I rarely loose a Saturday in that way - but some feelings are pretty well ingrained.
This Friday was a bit of a mixed bag though. I had a great night out with some of fab colleagues at Notting Hill - it was the "thank-you christmas party" for the crew that organise and work all through the big staff Christmas party. We had a great meal, and I worked my way through all the "green" cocktails on the menu. Seemed as a good a reason as any other. My vote goes to the midori sour, with the mojito coming in a close second. For once, we were being relatively well behaved, and called it a night before it got to hangover inducing stage.... which meant I got home in time for the confirmation of the london mayoral election result.
No prizes for guessing I wasn't exactly chuffed with getting BoJo for the next four years. But, we live in a democracy (thank goodness) and the people have spoken. Let's just hope he appoints some good advisors and doesn't screw up this great city.
I'm so back in love with London. I don't quite know how this happened. For the last year or so, I've been grumping about this city - and trying to work out where to move next. But the malaise has gone. The mayoral election really brought home to me how much I *care* about this city. I got really worked up (still am, but trying to move on) about having someone run it who clearly loves it as much as Ken does.
I particularly loved London today. Lovely sunny day, so a great opportunity to go for a bicycle ride. I wanted to work out how long it would take me to cycle to my new job at JGP in East London. When I realised that JGP were in East London, I groaned. Not that I have anything against East London. Aside from its (lack of) proximity to West London. However, today I realised this could be A Good Thing. The cycle ride there is about 15 miles, and more straightfoward that I thought....
I'm very fond of a bank holiday weekend. It means that if I get a bit too trashed on Friday night, I've still got a full two day break, even if Saturday is dominated by a hangover. That said, I'm more a cheap date than party animal these days, so I rarely loose a Saturday in that way - but some feelings are pretty well ingrained.
This Friday was a bit of a mixed bag though. I had a great night out with some of fab colleagues at Notting Hill - it was the "thank-you christmas party" for the crew that organise and work all through the big staff Christmas party. We had a great meal, and I worked my way through all the "green" cocktails on the menu. Seemed as a good a reason as any other. My vote goes to the midori sour, with the mojito coming in a close second. For once, we were being relatively well behaved, and called it a night before it got to hangover inducing stage.... which meant I got home in time for the confirmation of the london mayoral election result.
No prizes for guessing I wasn't exactly chuffed with getting BoJo for the next four years. But, we live in a democracy (thank goodness) and the people have spoken. Let's just hope he appoints some good advisors and doesn't screw up this great city.
I'm so back in love with London. I don't quite know how this happened. For the last year or so, I've been grumping about this city - and trying to work out where to move next. But the malaise has gone. The mayoral election really brought home to me how much I *care* about this city. I got really worked up (still am, but trying to move on) about having someone run it who clearly loves it as much as Ken does.
I particularly loved London today. Lovely sunny day, so a great opportunity to go for a bicycle ride. I wanted to work out how long it would take me to cycle to my new job at JGP in East London. When I realised that JGP were in East London, I groaned. Not that I have anything against East London. Aside from its (lack of) proximity to West London. However, today I realised this could be A Good Thing. The cycle ride there is about 15 miles, and more straightfoward that I thought....
- Ealing to Hammersmith (mostly along cycle lanes)
- Hammersmith to Kensington Gardens (again, mostly cycle lanes)
- Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Green Park, St James' Park (the best bit)
- slightly hairy bit round Trafalgar Sq, Charing Cross, the Strand and Aldwych
- then through the City and into Whitechapel
Today it took me (and the Sidster) an hour and half, including stops for map-reading and faffing. And that was at a gentle pace, as apparently the bike saddle doesn't accommodate the gentlemans undercarriage very comfortably (!) Should be able to get that down to about an hour and ten when I've got the route nailed and I'm back in the regular cycling habit. I've not been a regular cycling commuter over the winter, so need to get back in shape. I reckon 30 miles a day should turn me into a lean-mean-COO-machine (well, should at least liberate my inner thin person)! Am hoping JGP have a shower, as I'll be a red sweaty beast by the time I arrive.
Cycling through London today just re-invigorated my love-affair with the city. How could I ever have doubted it. Great parks, great architecture, vibrant river, loads of people out doing stuff : going to galleries, cycling, skating, skateboarding, running, playing softball. It's just so alive. Alive with possibilities.
Mood Music, Spring, and New Awakenings...
The link between these three things is probably a bit tenuous, but hey-ho. Sometimes random is as good as patterns...
I blogged about mood/music last week - but today, I had a bit of a music-related epiphany.
Music whilst running. I don't know why I hadn't thought about this before (well, I suppose strictly speaking I have always listened to music in the gym, but I've never thought about running outside whilst ipod'd up. duhhh) - but hell, it made a cracking difference. Continuing my week long "Scissor Sisters" fixation, I'm pleased to report that the first album makes for a great pace-setter. I find it really hard to pace myself when running outside. So far, I've always found the treadmill easier because it sorts that bit out for me - but it's profoundly less fulfilling running on the spot - bugger all sense of achievement. But "take your mama" et al kept me on track and pumped up. I made 4K without a breaking into a walk. Which might not seem a lot, but this lady ain't exactly a natural athlete.
As well as being a personal best in terms of distance covered, running today was oddly magical. The weather wasn't that great (we got rained on) but all the signs of spring and new beginnings were there - the Gingko Biloba tree outside our house has got fresh green leaves; the street trees of Ealing are in blossom; the woods on the way down to the canal tow-path are peppered with the blue haze of bluebells. Simply glorious.
The plants aren't the only new things springing up though. Now the paper work is done, I'm really excited to announce that I'm off to a new job. I've had three and half great years at Notting Hill, it's been a ball, we've achieved loads, but time for a new challenge.
I'm off to be Chief Operating Officer at JGP. JGP is probably best known for http://www.jobsgopublic.com/ - the UK's biggest public-sector specialist jobsboard. But there's lots more besides (oh yes, I'll be blogging about it all very soon). I've been using JGP products for the last few years - and I think they're great (if I didn't, I wouldn't be taking the job!). So it feels like a bit of a Victor Kiam moment. All that lovely technology to get to grips with, and new people to meet.... it's fair put a spring in my step.
J
I blogged about mood/music last week - but today, I had a bit of a music-related epiphany.
Music whilst running. I don't know why I hadn't thought about this before (well, I suppose strictly speaking I have always listened to music in the gym, but I've never thought about running outside whilst ipod'd up. duhhh) - but hell, it made a cracking difference. Continuing my week long "Scissor Sisters" fixation, I'm pleased to report that the first album makes for a great pace-setter. I find it really hard to pace myself when running outside. So far, I've always found the treadmill easier because it sorts that bit out for me - but it's profoundly less fulfilling running on the spot - bugger all sense of achievement. But "take your mama" et al kept me on track and pumped up. I made 4K without a breaking into a walk. Which might not seem a lot, but this lady ain't exactly a natural athlete.
As well as being a personal best in terms of distance covered, running today was oddly magical. The weather wasn't that great (we got rained on) but all the signs of spring and new beginnings were there - the Gingko Biloba tree outside our house has got fresh green leaves; the street trees of Ealing are in blossom; the woods on the way down to the canal tow-path are peppered with the blue haze of bluebells. Simply glorious.
The plants aren't the only new things springing up though. Now the paper work is done, I'm really excited to announce that I'm off to a new job. I've had three and half great years at Notting Hill, it's been a ball, we've achieved loads, but time for a new challenge.
I'm off to be Chief Operating Officer at JGP. JGP is probably best known for http://www.jobsgopublic.com/ - the UK's biggest public-sector specialist jobsboard. But there's lots more besides (oh yes, I'll be blogging about it all very soon). I've been using JGP products for the last few years - and I think they're great (if I didn't, I wouldn't be taking the job!). So it feels like a bit of a Victor Kiam moment. All that lovely technology to get to grips with, and new people to meet.... it's fair put a spring in my step.
J
Twitter, Music and Mood
Over the last nine months or so, I've pretty embraced the Facebook thang. It was great getting in touch with folks I've not seen for ages, looking at pictures, and generally exchanging the inanities of daily life in a gentle way. I never did get the zombie thing, nor the stripper-name thing, but I quite liked the books, photos; and best of all the status updates. As a medium, it really got me interested in how the tinterweb is changing how we interact with each other. However, I'm getting a bit bored with it now - and am off exploring new stuff....
Twitter. Essentially, it's the functionality bit of FB that I embraced the most - in FB lexicon : the status update. In twitter lingo : a tweet. The answer to the question "what are you doing". In 140 characters. Think text message. Think short and sweet. There's a great little animation that answers the "why twitter" question here
So, I've been tweeting. There's a feed on the left hand side of the blog page (if you're reading this in FB notes, just click on "original post" at the top to get to the original). I'm interested in the discipline that the 140 characters impose. There's both the regular stuff of daily life, and some remarkably erudite discussion threads about technology and the new economy. What's tickling me most though, is "LOTD"
LOTD is "lyric of the day". It's a twitter bot - you send it a message quoting your song lyric of the day and the artist, and it re-tweets it under the LOTD username... hence during the day you can follow an eclectic mix of twitterers song lyrics : so far it's inspired me to unearth a few forgotten gems on my ipod. In case you're interested in how the bot works - here's the lowdown from whitneymcn, the brains behind it. Cute.
I've also been following a rather interesting blog (and twitter) of a chap called Fred Wilson, a VC in NYC, mostly about technology, new economy etc. But yesterday Fred made an interesting post about needing to "lift the funk". There followed an interesting thread of comments on various different approaches... but music featured in a quite a few
So these two things led me to thinking....
...There is a clear correlation between my mood and my tunes. Or lack of tunes. Not sure which way the cause and effect goes. But when I'm listening to upbeat tunes, I'm generally in upbeat mood. When I'm listening to chillout, I'm well, chillin' out. When I'm listening to Pink Floyd, I'm wallowing in self pity. The real danger comes when I'm not listening to music - that's when I'm really falling off the edge of the world (very rare I hasten to add).
Soooo, is there an app out there anywhere that enables the "friending / following" (whatever the terminology is) of our ipod playlists - would it possible to "take the mood pulse" of a group of friends, (or with my professional hat on - an organisation or work team) by music choices ? I wonder if there's any research out there that tells what the likely mood impact of music might be. Personally the higher the bpm, the more chirpy I am (no shit sherlock) - is that universal ? Perhaps there's something more neural that could be done? Is there a magic playlist for starting the day off in a good way ??
FWIW, at the moment, in the mornings, I'm really hammering the Scissor Sisters - "Mama" - it just makes me smile so much, I'm singing along on the tube (great stuff - people leave breathing space around me because they think I'm nuts)... and right now, it's chillout with Zero 7.
J
Twitter. Essentially, it's the functionality bit of FB that I embraced the most - in FB lexicon : the status update. In twitter lingo : a tweet. The answer to the question "what are you doing". In 140 characters. Think text message. Think short and sweet. There's a great little animation that answers the "why twitter" question here
So, I've been tweeting. There's a feed on the left hand side of the blog page (if you're reading this in FB notes, just click on "original post" at the top to get to the original). I'm interested in the discipline that the 140 characters impose. There's both the regular stuff of daily life, and some remarkably erudite discussion threads about technology and the new economy. What's tickling me most though, is "LOTD"
LOTD is "lyric of the day". It's a twitter bot - you send it a message quoting your song lyric of the day and the artist, and it re-tweets it under the LOTD username... hence during the day you can follow an eclectic mix of twitterers song lyrics : so far it's inspired me to unearth a few forgotten gems on my ipod. In case you're interested in how the bot works - here's the lowdown from whitneymcn, the brains behind it. Cute.
I've also been following a rather interesting blog (and twitter) of a chap called Fred Wilson, a VC in NYC, mostly about technology, new economy etc. But yesterday Fred made an interesting post about needing to "lift the funk". There followed an interesting thread of comments on various different approaches... but music featured in a quite a few
So these two things led me to thinking....
...There is a clear correlation between my mood and my tunes. Or lack of tunes. Not sure which way the cause and effect goes. But when I'm listening to upbeat tunes, I'm generally in upbeat mood. When I'm listening to chillout, I'm well, chillin' out. When I'm listening to Pink Floyd, I'm wallowing in self pity. The real danger comes when I'm not listening to music - that's when I'm really falling off the edge of the world (very rare I hasten to add).
Soooo, is there an app out there anywhere that enables the "friending / following" (whatever the terminology is) of our ipod playlists - would it possible to "take the mood pulse" of a group of friends, (or with my professional hat on - an organisation or work team) by music choices ? I wonder if there's any research out there that tells what the likely mood impact of music might be. Personally the higher the bpm, the more chirpy I am (no shit sherlock) - is that universal ? Perhaps there's something more neural that could be done? Is there a magic playlist for starting the day off in a good way ??
FWIW, at the moment, in the mornings, I'm really hammering the Scissor Sisters - "Mama" - it just makes me smile so much, I'm singing along on the tube (great stuff - people leave breathing space around me because they think I'm nuts)... and right now, it's chillout with Zero 7.
J
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