the best place to live is …?

ok, so the results of the latest survey have just been released and the winner is …..

are you sitting comfortably?
are you ready for this? 
anticipation mounting?

<drum roll>

the winner is … Norway

Hmm, an interesting choice but one that I really can appreciate – or is that just from my skewed English perspective?  I see Norway as being a very clean country, with intelligent, good-looking people, a high standard of living and beautiful countryside.  And I’ve never even been there – but I really would like to go one day.  I want to see those fjords for myself, to look at those expanses of oh so white snow, to meet the people, to appreciate all that daylight in summertime – although I dont think I’d like the wintery months of darkness I must admit. 

But all in all, Norway’s not a bad choice in my opinion.   What do you think?

(To read what the BBC has to say about this, click here )

What you buy when you buy a lottery ticket

I love this post by Seth Godin, it just seems so right so there’s nothing I can add!

Self pep talk

I’ve made a decision!

People that know me will realise this is a big thing for me. I’m not the most decisive person around & I like to weigh up all the options before I do something. I guess it’s my cautionary nature, that self preservation thing that means I want to protect myself & make sure that I’m doing the right thing.

Anyway, back to the original point, my decision. The past 16 months or so have been a difficult time for me and if you’ve read my old posts you’ll have had a glimpse of some of those difficulties. Basically they centre around friendship and relationships. In some ways I’ve been living in a bit of an idealistic world, assuming that everything would work out in the end. Perhaps that’s something that we all do?  In reality I’ve now realised that’s just not going to happen. Sure, things will work out in the end, but I now know that some of the things I’ve been worrying about just arent going to work out the way I’d hoped & dare I say, dreamed they would. I’ve come to the realisation that things will be different and I think I accept that now. It’s taken a while but I believe it’s for the best and that’s something I really wouldnt have said even a few weeks ago.

So what helped me reach this decision?
To be honest, I’m not quite sure. But I do think that if people mess you around enough, then eventually you snap and realise that you’re better than that and you dont deserve to be treated that way.

At the end of the day, life is tough and sometimes it’s just not worth punishing yourself daily by dwelling on the what ifs. I’m sure we all have enough good people around us to far out-weigh the bad. We need to have more belief in ourselves, that we’re worth surrounding ourselves with people who DO care about us.

I’m grateful to those people who’ve really extended that arm of friendship in difficult times and I hope that I will always be prepared to do likewise.

So here endeth today’s pep talk. And I consider myself told by that too. 

40 winks to a brainwave

Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night & had to rush to grab a piece of paper to write down that fantastic idea that came to you in a dream in the middle of the night?  Or perhaps you’ve woken up in the morning just knowing the right solution to a particular problem that you’ve been worrying about?

Well you’re not on your own.  A report suggests that problems are more likely to be solved after a period of sleep, so the old phrase “I’ll sleep on it” does actually hold some truth after all!  Perhaps Orinoco really did know what he was talking about when he had those 40 winks

It’s an interesting issue though.  I wonder just what it is that makes our subconscious selves somewhat more productive than our wake ones.  How can we get that answer when we’re asleep that we cant get when we’re concentrating on it in our woken hours?  Perhaps it’s because everything else is filtered out whilst we’re sleeping?  I dont know, but it’s certainly an interesting thought.

The unpredictability of people

Ok, so it’s been a while since I last blogged.
Correction it’s been FAR too long & I must admit I’ve kinda missed blogging but at the same time got out of the habit. Time to change that I think, altho circumstances mean I wont actually be able to post for a couple of weeks so I’d better get some posts written now instead, hadnt I?

Anyway, today my thoughts have turned to people and how unpredicatable they can be. You can take your time getting to know someone & then, just when you think you understand then, hey presto, something happens & you wonder whether or not you really did get them after all. It’s like someone has waved that magic wand or given them a personality transplant. Very strange and at the same time somewhat upsetting, or perhaps that’s just me being a sensitive soul, or rather, far too sensitive for my own good.

I guess I just like to see the best in people & invariably that means that somewhere along the line they’re gonna let you down, arent they? Very sad

Anyway, onwards & upwards, or so they say. Behind every closed door a window opens & all that.

But does it?
I suppose I’m about to find out ….

Time, or the lack of it

It’s amazing how we have so much time, I mean 24 hours in a day isnt bad, is it? and yet despite all this time, somehow we never seem to have enough of it!  Not enough time to keep in touch with friends and loved ones; not enough time to write that letter, to make that phone call; not enough time to sit & read a book or perhaps a newspaper; not enough time to go to the gym – or perhaps that’s a lack of motivation?  Hmm

Anyway, I’ve found myself rather lacking in time over the past few weeks.  I seem to have got rather caught up in life and living and this has meant I’ve neglected my blog and havent actually posted for a while.  I’ve found I’ve missed that.  Funny how you can miss something so seemingly unimportant, is it?

I’ve lots of ideas in my head, lots of posts in process, but I just wanted to throw my thoughts about time onto here whilst I’m contemplating some of them further.  Time, never enough of it and yet sometimes far too much.  Weird huh?

Can you live without music?

Well today I’ve read yet more news about how music can positively impact on your well-being has been revealed.

I’m a strong believer in the importance of music in our lives, both spiritually & mentally.  I’ve read a number of reports in recent months which discuss the benefits music can have on our health:  helping dementia patients; giving sight back to stroke sufferers; improving the social fabric of society.

Today I read about the holistic benefits of music, how listening to some types of music can slow down your heart and lower your blood pressure .  Yet more evidence I believe that you just cant live without music.

and the millionth winner is …

Today, the millionth English word has been unveiled. Suspense has been gathering all week – well ok for me it’s only been over the last couple of hours since I heard about this imminent announcement, but still

To be honest, I’m a little disheartened to learn that it’s actually an American group who are going to make this decision.  Yes, American, those of the land of the free who regularly subject great injury & infliction upon our great English language.

Nonetheless, I did wonder what those powers that be would extol on us?  What would they deem to be a word worthy of being added to our potential vocabulary.  I say potential because apparently the average person actually only uses a vocab of about 3000 words!  Quite a waste considering the wealth of options which is seems are available.   Why say colourful when you can say iridescent? (I do like that word)  Why not use irascible instead of angry?  After all Shakespeare had a vocab of some 27,000 words and Victor Hugo, well he stretched his to some 45,000!

A few months ago I wrote about how it was now not pc to use Latin words in everyday life, that we are excluding people by doing so.  Are we not then pandering to those of a lower common denominator, not endeavouring to educate and inform and encourage them to extend their knowledge?  Hmm, if we carried on like that, we’d still be cavemen, using sticks & stones & dressed in rags.  No, I think it’s our duty to educate our children, to help them to become better than us, to increase their options & provide them with even better opportunities than we had.  Granted language might not be the only way to do this, but it’s a good place to start.

Anyway, back to the topic in hand.  That millionth word.  Are you wondering what it is yet?

Well I’m pleased to announce that the newest word in the English language is …  wait for it  …

Web 2.0

Are you as underwhelmed as I am?

I must admit I was hoping for something a bit more original, something interesting, something which told a story.  But I guess this is very much a word of our times, isnt it?  In this techy age in which we live, we are constantly bombarded by new terminology and expressions, constantly seeing words introduced which illustrate the technology around us which we are learning to accept as everyday life.  After all, how many of us google? or surf? or even blog?  So I supposed – reluctantly- that Web 2.0 is another illustration of that world in which we live, of life today.

I’m passionate about words and language and all those things.  After all, they are the essence of communication, the very heart of our conversations.  I believe we should try to increase our personal vocabulary and learn more.  I would even go so far as to say we shouldnt just concentrate on English, but that we should learn other languages as well.  After all communication breaks down boundaries and what better way to communicate but to talk – but that’s a whole different post.

So go forth and talk and learn!

A new kind of cloud?

I love clouds

I love just sitting outside & looking up at the sky and marvelling in them, in the wonder of their creation. It’s somewhat peaceful and relaxing I find, and it can take you away from the worries of the world.

And to be in a plane above those clouds?  Nothing short of “wow” can express how utterly amazing and beautiful and yet bewildering that can be.

Rain or shine, it doesn’t matter.  Clouds are awe inspiring.  There’s even a cloud appreciation society

So, when I saw the headline above this morning, I just had to click on the link to find out what it was all about.  And what did I find?  Some breathtaking images.  Check them out for yourself and see whether or not you’ve now found a love in those fluffy white things. 

men are the weaker sex

Ok, so we’ve all known it for sometime now, that women are better able to cope with illness and carry on with their daily lives, without making everyone else around them suffer.  Fact!  No arguments!

Hang on a minute, you might say, that’s just not true.

But I’m afraid it is true.  According to the latest research, women are better able to fight off disease better than men.  Yes, the female of the species is better.  Fact!

Apparently it’s all to do with hormones.  Yes, those self same hormones which make us feel awful for so many days every month (have you ever worked out just how long that is in a lifetime?!!).  Anyway, in medical terms, oestrogen acts as an enzyme to block the inflammation process hence enabling women to fight back as it were & to actually overcome the illness.

So next time you hear a man complaining that he’s ill, have a little pity.  After all he’s just not built to cope with it, what with males being the weaker, inferior of our sexes!