Margaret Atwood - Birds

It's been _ages_ since anyone posted here, but I read this article in the guardian last week and thought it was really good, and worth sharing.

It's by Margaret Atwood, who is one of my favourite authors of all time. She writes in a very detailed, descriptive manner, with all types of topics. Some of her books would be called science fiction, but that would be a narrow category to put her in in my opinion. We are currently reading a book by her about debt (appropriate in the current financial climate!), called Payback. It's great to read something that is quite a serious issue, but in a manner that is highly entertaining and easy to read - with loads of examples from all through history of our relationship to debt. The same is done in this article about the plight of birds. At the heart of it, it's a pro-bird-protection article, which I am fully in support of, but it's also an interesting read.

Brilliant speech

I read an awesome speech in the newspaper a couple of weekends ago, and I've attached a link to it here. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did. Any thoughts?

great photos!!

Hi Angus and Selina,
Loved reading your updated blog and viewing your fantastic photos. You have indeed been very busy over the past few months! The photos were stunning and beautiful, made me really feel like I was there with you! You are a talented photographer Selina and continuing to improve to the stage where I believe you could certainly sell many of your photos, in particular the panoramic shots. I look forward to seeing more! I am inspired to start making more of an effort with my photos, as well as to go out to more places that are photo-worthy!

Keep having fun (and sipping that whiskey on top of mountains like true Scottish folk)!

Sarah
xo

work/life balance

No one has written on here for a little while. I wondered if it is because we are all quite busy with work. I find it interesting how much time we put into work. Sure, money is a great lure and it helps if you like your job. Just, with getting up before the sun rises and getting home after it has set I wonder sometimes if this is what I want for myself.

I received an email from a friend recently to update on where things are at with her. She sounds like she is very successful, travelling around Europe for her managerial/advisory job 4 days per week, staying in an apartment in Paris 1 day per week to work, and then returning to her home to Brussels for the weekend. I was quite envious, as it sounds so glamourous, and the money she must be earning is probably far more than I could ever get as a Psychologist. However, I thought more about it and she has a dog and a boyfriend, and I wonder how that goes. I'm still jealous though.

I personally feel a lot of pressure to "get" stuff. Like a house, a better car, a better couch. Whatever. It's that "oh, that would be nice" feeling. I see some of my friends buying investment properties while I'm still renting and it's not a good feeling. Yet I don't really want to work 12 hours a day like those friends do, as I probably would never get to see my lovely house and couch and would mostly only drive my spiffy new car to and from work.

It's a hard thing though, balancing it out. What do others think?

"Cool" sucks

I'm gonna make one of Angus' grand, sweeping generalisations here. Cool, and being cool, is a load of bollocks (yes, I know I sound like an old man). The sooner we-as-a-society move away from it, the better off we'll be.

I reckon one of the first cool people was James Dean. Back then, the idea of being cool was to be a rebel, and not to care what other people thought. Unfortunately, it now means following the latest fads, and often being cruel and manipulative and (ironically) constantly thinking about what other people think about you.

I think cool has been corrupted by advertisers to make us greedy, avaricious and selfish - basically they want to sell us crap. I've decided that I'd much rather be free than cool. What're your thoughts?

By the way, I've written a song about this - you can listen to it here (it's the 4th song), or go to my jamendo page (for lyrics, etc):

Congrats on your new job Angus!

Angus, that is great news about your new job! Sounds exciting! You'll have to keep us updated on your blog how it goes :) Congrats also on finishing your thesis!

Book Review: "Shantaram"

Has anyone else read this book? I really enjoyed it. It is a novel based on the life of its author, a guy called Gregory David Roberts, who escaped from a Melbourne jail, went to NZ, and then flew to India and made a life for himself in Bombay. He is a pretty smart guy and I think pretty charismatic, and he has had an amazing life filled with regrets and his attempts at redemption. In India, he firstly lived in a slum working as a "slum doctor" using his basic first aid training to (try) to treat rat bites, cholera, etc. He then goes through a lot of other crap which I wont go into as it would give the plot away. The main character, Lin, is based on the author. It is a really interesting as well as engaging read I found.

Other than the interesting story itself, the other thing that pulled me in with this book is some of the great characters, especially Prabaker the awesome tour guide who meets Lin when he first gets to Bombay. I laughed and cried my head off with this book and I've even joined an online forum (www.shantaram-forum.com) to chat about it more as it moved me quite a bit.

Some people may not like this novel as it is a thick, long book with a few rambling bits and a few (only a few) cheesy bits during a love scene and in relation to Lin's love interest. But overall I would recommend this book. It is going to be made into a movie I think, which may be a good or bad thing, with Johnny Depp playing Lin as far as I know.