Wanderlust and Words

I’ve just finished reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery . What a lovely book. It’s about kindred spirits, and finding meaning in our human existence, and beauty. There is a philosophical treatise in every chapter, but there are also characters who jump off the page and not only become friends but remind you of your friends. When I enjoy a cup of jasmine tea, I’ll remember these words: “When tea becomes ritual, it takes its place at the heart of our ability to see greatness in small things. Where is beauty to be found? In great things that, like everything else, are doomed to die, or in small things that aspire to nothing, yet know how to set a jewel of infinity in a single moment?” But when I’m out for a walk and see two dogs sniffing each other, while their owners turn their heads in embarrassment, this is the quote that will come to mind: “What a muddle when this happens! They’re [the humans] as clumsy as if they had webbed fingers and feet because they’re incapabl...

I read an article which referred to the Druid notion of ternary thinking. So often we classify ideas or choices in binary terms – yes or no, black or white. Ternary thinking invites us to look for a third option that isn’t simply a compromise between the two. It is no longer a choice between capitalism and socialism or bungalows and apartments. It’s about opening our eyes to a whole range of possibilities. Bamboo Bicycles Craig Calfee says that bamboo is the ideal material for a bicycle. It’s tougher and lighter than most metals and even more effective at absorbing road vibration. The bamboo frame is held together with lugs made of a hemp/epoxy com posite. Calfee is now experimenting with growing bamboo in pre-formed shapes in the field. You can even make your own bamboo bicycle – here are the instructions . Bicycle Ambulances And, while we’re on the topic of bicycles, Nepal and a number of African nations turn bicycles into ambulances with the addition of a very basic cart. Bicycl...

I admire but am amazed that some people decided when they are children on their future career. Or start a job immediately after finishing university and remain in that position until they retire. That is far too linear for me. I like to pursue side roads, to explore new ideas. I’ve lived in France and four different provinces. I’ve been a researcher and a writer and a bookkeeper. I’ve worked for non-profit organizations, municipalities, a university and a small business. What I’ve discovered is that knowledge is never wasted, that I apply my knowledge of bookkeeping when I write software documentation, my knowledge of French when I work for the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation. My life has been enriched by being able to explore so many different ways of life and ways of work. In an essay entitled Introduction to Patriarchal Existentialism , Jeffner Allen attempts to define the essence of women’s lives, focusing on their resilience and perseverance as they weave together multiple roles...

I read two mystery novels this past week which opened a window onto the people and the politics of Gaza and Shanghai. I’ll let the writers speak for themselves. A Grave in Gaza Matt Beynon Rees says in his blog that he cried as he wrote A Grave in Gaza: “I used to think that meant I was a damned good writer. Now I know it was my trauma, collected over a decade of monthly visits to Gaza, seeping onto the page. I hope that makes it a better novel. I know it saved me from the creeping depression and sudden fear that sometimes gripped me when my mind would return to memories of burned bodies, scattered body parts, angry people who wanted to hurt me, the sound of bullets nearby from an unseen gun. It helped me understand what kind of man I really was.” Rees has retired from journalism to write mystery novels, but he has remained in Jerusalem. He explains why: “News blots out real life. It makes Israelis and Palestinians seem like incomprehensible, bloodthirsty lunatics, ripping each other ...

When I’m travelling, I am always drawn to stone carvings and sculptures. But I tend to ignore them in my home town. It was warm and sunny yesterday, so I went out and took photos of some of the carvings on two of Saskatoon’s oldest buildings. College Building, University of Saskatchewan The College Building was designed by Montreal architects Brown and Valance and constructed between 1910 and 1913. It cost $297,000 and originally housed labs, classrooms and offices as well as the library and the President’s Office. Particularly in its early years, the university ha d close ties with agriculture so the base ment housed rooms for making butter and cheese. Designed in the Coll e ge Gothic style, the gargoyles protecting the building were supposed to represent Prairie animals. Unfortunately, the carvers in Eastern Canada weren’t familiar with Prairie animals. Instead, there is a mix of farmyard animals and more exotic creatures. The Bessborough The Bessboro ugh Ho tel was constructed bet...

All of us, every day of our lives, attempt to share information. Far too often, what we say goes unheard or misunderstood. Made to Stick: why some ideas survive and others die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath provides six key ingredients for making sure that our ideas are useful and lasting and stick in our audience’s heads. SIMPLE – What is the essential core of our message? Can we distil our key idea so that it is simple and yet profound? Proverbs are extremely simple so they’re easy to remember; and yet the message is often profound and applicable to many different situations. UNEXPECTED – At first glance, there appears to be a piece of duct tape stuck to the front cover of Made to Stick . It catches your eye, and it reinforces the theme of the book. Our message needs to surprise listeners enough that they sit up and start paying attention. CONCRETE – The Heaths emphasize that although language is often abstract, life isn’t: “Even the most abstract business strategy must eventually ...

President Obama’s election campaign proved how effectively you can distribute information and organize people online. I follow a couple of techie blogs, and there appears to be a move to take that one step further and to use technology to do two things: to involve people in administrative decision-making and to use technology to provide people with more information. Interesting possibilities, and I’m impressed by the people who are out there trying to make it happen in really positive ways. Involving People in Decision-Making In January 2009, the mayor of Los Angeles posted an online survey. The survey included a detailed list of the services provided by the municipality and asked residents which ones they would recommend cutting in order to balance the municipal budget and avoid a deficit. John Geraci, co-founder of DIYcity , a site that invites people to personally reinvent the spaces around them using common web applications, applauds the City for its step towards greater openness ...

I have been working full time as a freelance communications specialist for a year, and I am still building up a clientele. As a writer and editor, I don’t have to live in the same city as my client, so I’m using the internet as one medium for letting people know about my services. I enjoy reading Seth Godin’s books (particularly Purple Cow ) as he has a fresh approach to marketing. So I decided I’d try out Squidoo , which was founded by Godin. Squidoo is a collection of pages about a virtually unlimited number of topics. If you are passionate about gardening or knitting or your business and want to share your ideas with other people, then you can do it on Squidoo. It’s free and relatively easy to set up. I decided to set up two pages – one about Writing a Killer Resume and another about Corporate Oral History . This was an opportunity to refine my thoughts about both types of writing assignments and to create a permanent site to showcase the type of work I do. I have linked them to my ...

I have just finished reading The Cross and the Crescent: Christianity and Islam from Muhammad to the Reformation by Richard Fletcher. It’s a concise history of conquest and empire building in the Mediterranean region. The growing strength of the Arab nations and of Islam in the 20th century has taken some of us by surprise. I wasn’t aware of what a powerful force they were in the Middle Ages nor of the important role they played in shaping modern-day Western culture. The Moors first conquered Spain in 711. Al Andalus became an independent caliphate in 929. Cordoba, its capital, was the greatest city in Europe, a centre for art, science and literature. Granada remained under Islamic rule until 1492. Fletcher comments that Europe’s advances in economics, institutions and sciences were achieved in large part by acquiring what the Islamic world had to offer. Fletcher notes in the closing chapter of his book that the Arab world was largely ignorant of the growth and increasing sophisticati...