Power down for the planet

The 1st of February 2007:

Participate in the biggest mobilization of Citizens Against Global Warming! The Alliance for the Planet [a group of environmental associations] is calling on all citizens to create 5 minutes of electrical rest for the planet.

People all over the world should turn off their lights and electrical appliances on the 1st of February 2007, between 1.55 pm and 2.00 pm in New York, 18.55 for London, and 19.55 for Paris, Brussels, and Italy. 1.55 pm in Ottawa, 10.55 am on the Pacific Coast of North America, 1.55 and 2.00 am in Vietnam.

This is not just about saving 5 minutes worth of electricity; this is about getting the attention of the media, politicians, and ourselves. Five minutes of electrical down time for the planet: this does not take long, costs nothing, and will show all political leaders that global warming is an issue that needs to come first and foremost in political debate.

Why February 1st? This is the day when the new UN report on global climate change will come out in Paris. This event affects us all, involves us all, and provides an occasion to show important an issue global warming is to us. If we all participate, this action can have real media and political weight.

Life stories: it's all in the telling

Lisbeth's back from her travels and has been talking a lot about one of the things she did on her sort of retreat. It involves how we tell the story of our life.

It seems that we may have a preferred style of narrating our life to others and to ourselves. The exercise she described involves experimenting with different ways of telling the various stories of our lives. This doesn't mean that the facts are altered. It is more a case of changing the lens through which they are viewed. So, for example, they practiced talking about a fairly ordinary time slot in their lives, then retelling it in one of the following genre styles: Heroic, Comedy, Detective, Social Realism.

Lisbeth says that this simple exercise had quite a profound effect on her and has given her much food for thought. She has become aware of her own tendency to narrate the significant events in her life as if she were the villain of the piece. This, I am convinced, can't be the case, so I will be encouraging her to re-tell some of her narratives in a more constructive way.

For those of you who are interested, the theory behind this is George Kelly's Personal Construct Theory.
http://www.pcp-net.org/encyclopaedia/pc-theory.html

A tale of sad blogging

Lisbeth is still away so I have reworked all my labels (think deckchairs) to use as section labels on my blog (Titanic?). Oh how time flies! Will it help? Who knows. Do I feel better? Yes, I do.

BUT it has taken forever as I have had to change the label for every post to date! Am I becoming a bit of a geek sheep? I think I am.

Bookcrossing

As there's still no word from Lisbeth, I've been browsing - as you do - and I've discovered 'bookcrossing'.

This is a really cool site for book lovers. It involves what they call the 3 Rs: Read, Register and Release. You register a book you own and have enjoyed on http://www.bookcrossing.com/ and then 'release it into the wild' by leaving it in a coffee bar, restaurant, hotel, on a park bench or on a train etc. The finder can then read it and, in their turn, pass it on again. A label inside the book explains the process and encourages each new owner to make a journal entry for that book on the site.

In this way it is possible to track the book's journey around the country or, in some cases, around the world. As I write, the most travelled book has 230 journal entries!

Thanks for the photo

I love the sheep family photo. Thank you

I have it in mind that you like birds, Sally. This is the Buddhist quote for today:

"In order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence." Robert Lynd

Sheep family photo

As there has been very little contact with Lisbeth - 'er bein' on retreat an' all - her friend has sent me this great photo to keep me company.

I enjoy receiving things when I'm on my own and Lisbeth isn't talking with me. See more at Sally's Animal Kingdom

On retreat

Lisbeth's away on some sort of retreat at the moment, hence nothing much to report. The retreat is called 'In-depth Enneagram'. She has been working with the Enneagram for many years and says that it has helped her turn her life around both emotionally and practically. She says she wouldn't be in France if it wasn't for the Enneagram, so I am all in favour of it!

With Lisbeth away, I have taken the opportunity to have my own kind of retreat: simple standing. However, Lisbeth says that my standing will be more meaningful if I 'invoke a quality' at the same time. I'm not sure what she means by that, especially as this 'quality' is invoked in the form of a question. (I know, I've probably lost you already!) Anyway, if you're still with me, I admit to having given it a go. I try to get my energy to connect with the earth then say to myself "If I had more '..............', how would that be? (The quality can be things like 'presence' or 'openness' etc.)

Well, it's interesting. That's all I'm prepared to say. No doubt Lisbeth will be full of it when she returns (which won't be for a while), so I'll find out more, then.

Fortune favours the bold

There you go! What was I saying yesterday? Today's 'quote of the day' couldn't be more apt. I will add in: "Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it." David Starr Jordan

Stressing about having courage

I will be really pleased when Lisbeth comes back to France. She is getting quite stressed in England with her situation. So much so, that she ended up with pains in her chest, last night. She's never had pains like these before so looked up symptoms of heart attacks on NHS Direct. Come on, Lisbeth. Have courage and do what needs to be done. Feel the fear and do it anyway.

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face...You must do the thing you think you cannot do." --Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884-1962, Social Activist and Former First Lady.

Honora de Sousa has the following advice for you, Lisbeth:

1) Understand - in every fibre of your existence - that what you're about to do is terribly frightening. Understand with every cell in your body and every thought in your mind that you are, in fact, scared of doing this thing and don't want to do it at all.
2) Contemplate how facing this fear will help you or someone else you care deeply for. Consider for a moment, despite all of your feelings of fear toward this thing, what it would mean, what it would change in your life to be able to do it freely!
3) DO IT!

Honora de Sousa http://www.oddchild.co.za/sections/blog/5

Hurrah for Harold Pinter

It is good to see that the French have honoured British playwright Harold Pinter by awarding him the Legion d'Honneur, one of France's highest awards. What a man! http://www.haroldpinter.org/home/index.shtml

Blowing out the electricity

The weather has not been good for me in France nor for Lisbeth in England. In fact, Lisbeth has been without electricity for nearly 30 hours as a result of gales and high winds. She says that although cooking and hot water have been problematic, filling the house with candles does make for a nice atmosphere in the evening. I wonder how many households have been thrown by what to do without a TV? Maybe some families have rediscovered the art of conversation or the pleasure of playing games with the children.

The sound of paint drying?

I’ve been pondering this phrase from my last post. I know it's usual to talk about ‘watching paint dry’ to indicate that something is boring. E.G. Watching golf is like watching paint dry. And watching paint dry is boring because there isn’t actually anything to see. (Although I expect there is actually something to see if one uses technology to magnify and speed up the process.) However, for something to be ‘watchable’ there needs to be some activity that can be observed in real time. (Like the telly?)

In my last post I talked about Lisbeth's daily progress log in terms of "listening to paint dry". My contention, in this post, is that 'listening' to paint dry would be similar to 'watching' paint dry: no discernible sounds audible in real time.

Do you think paint, drying, makes a sound?

According to this site, you can see paint drying via the 'paint-drying-webcam' and hear a musical interpretation of what it sounds like………………

OR
You can visit this site: SOUND+VISIONx5 = “Watch Paint Dry”

From Lester’s Journal, June 14, 2005:

"What an amazing experience! In a mere 30 minutes, John Climenhage came up with a painting on a piece of plywood that matched the avant-garde nature of the evening. It is definitely there, on the top left hand corner of the painting, he's painted the screen on which the live image of the painting itself is projected."

OR
You could read the book: The Sound of Paint Drying by John Hegley, in which John writes about a trip he made to France to paint a scene once depicted by his father. He muses upon his trip, painting generally, romance and blancmange.

I rest my case……….if I had one

More garden progress

Oh dear..... It's like listening to paint dry!

The last load of chippings has arrived and sit in two identical bags ready for spreading later on. Some, bought for the front, have been spread around that back where there wasn't enough. The liner is pegged down, adjustments made to the path markers and a new front door is ready for fitting. Lisbeth's workman has measured the old gate and is ready to make a replacement as the current one is rotting and doesn't fit the gap properly.

Lisbeth says that, if I don't like writing about what's happening in England, I should talk about something else. I'll give it some thought.

Moving forward in the garden

Lisbeth is nearly half way through her trip to the UK and the front garden progresses. The design is pegged out. The earth raked and odd bits and bobs of wood and nails have been removed from the walls. Another full load went to the tip in Postman Pat and measurements have been taken of the gate, the space either side of the front door and the area for chippings. Lisbeth has also done some work on line and caught up on her e-mails.

Ending the weekend

Monday tomorrow (although technically it's Monday now) and Lisbeth will be glad to get on with things. It hasn't been a great weekend and she is not in particularly good spirits. Sorting out her life in England is difficult for her as it involves relationship stuff. That being said, compared to life for those in Guantánamo, it's been a breeze.

Guantánamo protesters without ID

90 Guantanamo protesters arrested in Washington

"Ninety protesters demonstrating against the US "war on terror" prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, were arrested after illegally entering a federal court building, a demonstration organizer said.

"Most of those arrested did not bring their own identification, and instead took the name of people in Guantanamo, in an attempt to actually read them into a federal court record," said Matthew Daloisio, a member of the organization Witness Against Torture."

Guantánamo: doing something

Lisbeth has been thinking more and more about the fiasco that is Guantánamo. Every day when she goes to bed, eats a nice meal, shares time with friends or just chooses what to do next, she remembers the people held in Guantánamo. Today she decided to take some small action to express her concerns and has printed out letters to send to the American Embassy in London.

There is a permanent link to 'Ten things you can do' in the Things I care about list.

Work by day with The History Boys at night

Lisbeth has had another good day working outside. The first job was a trip to the tip. After that they worked on stripping off the grass from the other half of the front garden, digging out shrubs and tree stumps and putting all the rubbish in bags for another trip to the tip.

In the evening, Lisbeth went to the film theatre with three friends to see The History Boys by Alan Bennett. She says it was great. It was very funny with some stunning performances as well as being quite touching.

Sheep Dreams

I'm having a bit if a splurge in the surfing department tonight as sleeping is out of my reach for some reason. How about this great picture from:

http://fusionanomaly.net/doandroidsdreamofelectricsheep.html

If only I could dream of electric sheep

Now I can. I can make my own with the Electric Sheep screensaver which I read about on this site: http://ozymandias.com/default.aspx

I quote:

"Electric Sheep is a free, open source screen saver run by thousands of people all over the world. It can be installed on any ordinary PC or Mac. When these computers "sleep", the screen saver comes on and the computers communicate with each other by the internet to share the work of creating morphing abstract animations known as "sheep". The result is a collective "android dream", an homage to Philip K. ***'s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep."

A successful day

Lisbeth has worked all day on the garden. The seven conifers have been cut down, cut up and taken away by a very nice man (a tree surgeon) who lives at the end of the road. Another small tree on the opposite side was dug out and more grass was removed. Later in the morning, two tons of gravel arrived. It was taken down the side of the house by wheelbarrow (approx 40) and spread in the back garden, although more will be needed to finish off. Towards the end of the day, Lisbeth and her workman loaded Postman Pat with loads of rubbish, weeds, stones, rubble, plastic, old paint tins etc., ready for taking to the tip tomorrow. And the loofah seeds have arrived.

Thursday morning update

The back gate now opens and just under half of the front garden is cleared of grass. The chippings for the back arrive today and the trees down the side of the front garden may be taken down. It will depends. Emergency work after last night's storms will take precedence. Lisbeth has a headache (not like her) and feels a bit rough. She is looking forward to the weekend.

Wolves

Lisbeth likes wolves

Progress

The hardcore is down. The chippings are ordered. The fencing and posts have been ordered. The permits to take stuff to the tip have arrived. The hooks for the chain are in place. A problem in France has been sorted. An item has been returned to someone from Lisbeth's past. A gift has been sent. Two letters have been written and posted.

It's not the same in the UK

I really don't find writing about Lisbeth's trip in England very interesting. Should I? Why does it feel different writing about life in England to writing about life in France?

Lisbeth says that she cooks differently in England and watches too much TV. (There's no TV here in the house in France.) She goes to bed later than she does when in France and finds it harder to structure her days. She does less physical work and sleeps less well; reads less and surfs the web more.

Sheep don't have these issues to deal with. We stand, eat, walk about and watch things wherever we are. The grass is as green in France as in the UK. Sheep rock!

Sourcing materials for the garden

Lisbeth's been out looking at chippings for the back garden and a chain for the pergola. She says that, despite having made notes, it isn't easy to be clear about the difference between a sample handful of chippings in one pocket and a sample handful in the other. Also, large quantities look very different when spread out. The chains were less of a problem and one has been selected. She can discuss the chippings with her workman tomorrow.

I'll be glad when she returns to France. All this distance reporting is getting boring for me. I also suspect that Lisbeth isn't enjoying it much either as the house in England is more part of her past than her future.

More like a jellyfish

Actually, the Kombucha looks more like a jellyfish than a mushroom, so perhaps it's best to give your friends a glass and let them appreciate the flavour before you let them see your Kombucha.

Kombucha

Lisbeth has been making her Kombucha tea today. What is Kombucha? It's a slightly sparkling golden-coloured drink made from a live culture. It is believed to have amazing health-giving properties and you can make at home.

By live culture, I mean a live mushroomy sort of thing that sits - or floats - for 6-10 days in approximately two and a half litres of a sugar/tea mixture. This liquid is strained off and bottled for drinking and the live culture transferred into a new sugar/tea mixture to sit and do its stuff for another 6-10 days.

Here are some sites for more info:
http://www.kombuchatea.co.uk/index.asp
http://www.kombuchapilz.de/english/kombuchasupply.htm
http://69.50.214.234/69.50.214.234/kombucha-america.com/gwfrankarticle.htm

Grow your own bath loofah

Lisbeth has just ordered some loofah seeds from a place called Jungle Seeds (www.jungleseeds.co.uk) to give as presents.

A packet of 10 seeds for only £1.55. Once growing, the plants will need some trellis to climb up. After the yellow summer flowers will come the cucumber or courgette-like vegetables which are the loofahs. Being part of the gourd family, they are harvested in the autumn and then dried. Techniques for drying vary: they can be left on the vine or peeled and 'milked'. (See also green groovy blog and article by Bibi van der Zee in The Guardian, 4/1/07)

Getting help

This morning, Lisbeth has found someone to help finish the work needed on the house and garden in England. Like the clutter clearing, these jobs have been hanging around for months or, in some case, years. This is good news. Lisbeth won't like doing some of the work but she will be happy to see it all finished.

Addicted to blogging: Moi?

It would seem so. I've changed the template and then changed it back because the grass wasn't greener in the hall of alternative templates. It all came down to a column width thing. So I'm back where I started with just a few minor tinkerings.

I'm sure it can't be healthy spending as much time writing about life as just getting on with it. It's different for me, of course, because I do spend a lot of time just standing around looking amazingly sheepy. Or as the spell-check suggests - 'sheeny'.

Kites with anonymous poem

I often sit and wish that I

Could be a kite up in the sky

And ride upon the wind and go

Whichever way I chanced to blow

Changing templates and psychology?

Now why would I be thinking of changing my blog template? I don't know. Maybe I like change? Or, it's because while Lisbeth's in England and I'm here in France reporting on her clutter-clearing, I need something to do. So if you visit this blog and find it's using a different template, don't be surprised. On the other hand, if it's different for a while, don't be surprised if it changes back again. Why? Because people like what they know. That's why it's hard to change important things. That's why it's hard to change behaviour.

Oo..er..........we start with changing templates (not too difficult) and suddenly we're into the psychology of changing behaviour!

Well, as we are on the subject, psychology tells us that we are comfortable with what we know - even if it isn't good for us. I can say this because Lisbeth knows all this psychology stuff.

I know..................all that education and she's having difficulty sorting through a few boxes of actual stuff!

Form follows Function

A great explanation of the provenance, (I like this word), of this phrase can be found on a page from plasticnetwork.com

The provenance of some of the stuff

Lisbeth is struggling on with her sorting and clearing. She has had a look through some boxes of stuff that she has already been through - last year, I think, and confirmed that it is all to go. (Why go through it again?)

What she has done this time, however, is to check on the provenance (a great word for talking practice) on the web, of some hunting prints that she owns. She's found out quite a lot about the people depicted in these - probably Victorian - pen and ink drawings and has e-mailed (a bit of a clunky word, don't you think!) a specialist auction house for advice. Would she be better selling them on e-bay, I ask myself? Maybe she would. However, the important thing is that she is making progress and the form of that progress is less important than the function - don't you think!

Resorting to verse

It’s hard to clear clutter
I know this is true
But it’s just some old stuff
That belonged to you

So don’t get bogged down
It’s not worth the pain
It’s all in the mind
Weighing down like a chain

You don’t need to worry
You won’t miss a thing
So keep keeping on
For the joy it will bring

Making progress with bite-sized tasks

Lisbeth thinks all this updating on her attempts to sort her stuff must be really boring. I disagree. I suspect that there are hundreds of people out there who are trying to do exactly the same thing: Clear the clutter. It is for this reason that I will continue to report her progress. Also, it will act as a reminder to her that she is making progress.

Today, after the three drawers, she started on a huge pile of things that have resided under a blanket in the spare room for years. Yes Years! As usual she began putting stuff piles: to sell; to keep; to send to others etc. This time, knowing the dangers of just going through yet again and ending up with the same pile of stuff just rearranged, she decided to actually deal with items as they came up. As a result, she has written two letters and prepared two parcels for post. Each contains things from her past which needed to be returned or handed on. I think ' the girl done great' as they say.

More drawers

Lisbeth's done another three drawers, today, which I think is great but she only sees what's not done. It's three drawers more than yesterday, I tell her, so keep on keeping on.

Formal Talking Practice: Understanding amazing

For my first formal session of the year, I am going to take a word from the previous post: Amazing.

Lisbeth has a French friend in the village who is a very talented person. He makes lovely things from metal. These range from large weather-vanes to pretty fondue forks; lamps and candle holders to collapsible hall stands; huge gates to intricate bolts. Many of his creations are made from recycled objects and the craftsmanship is always excellent. However, he is a private person keeping himself to himself so not everyone knows what treasures lie behind the doors of the workshop.

If Lisbeth thinks any of her visitors will appreciate his work, she arranges a visit. So, back in September, she took her son and his girlfriend to see him. They are both very creative and both have, themselves, worked with metal. She is never completely sure who these visits are for: her friend, or her guests. She just hopes everyone gets something out of it. On this particular visit, the word used most often in relation to his work was 'amazing'.

Some days later, Lisbeth's friend asked what the word 'mazing' meant. He said he had tried to look it up in his English/French dictionary but hadn't been able to find it. Lisbeth explained that it isn't two words 'a mazing' but one word 'amazing' and that he should look that word up.

Next time she saw him he beamed at her, saying "amazing, amazing".

2007 begins

So it's New Year's Day. Lisbeth is in surprisingly good spirits despite having had far too much to drink bringing in 2007. She went to bed with a spinning head, somewhat the worse for wear, and stayed there until dinner time. Not a great start to the next stage of her life, you might think, yet she says she' s feeling OK and optimistic. She said the fireworks at the London Eye were brilliant and that she found the comments of one of the presenters very inspiring: "Do something amazing in 2007".