The Scottish in me is very proud (and sitting in darkness)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-12870551

This was the lights out in Edinburgh, with the aim of all of the city switching every light off to increase awareness and consideration of our energy consumption

I will try and get the whole vid for you later

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGE-c7g56tI

argh my radio is dying!

which is not ideal when you already don't own a television and I can never seem to play radio via the internet either. Huh. This is all surely a sign I should quit with this animation piece I am working on and crawl back into bed. I just want one day off. Just one itsy bitsy tiny little day off please. 

Ahhh sitting in a Mayfair park in the warm sunshine

Listening to the roar of Jag-u-arrrs and feeling extremely content. Beautiful buildings here and there is nothing like escaping from the office for a while and being in a green space. Lovely. These pockets of green are so important. I would add more trees though

Imposter syndrome - now this is something I have talked about lots of times

especially with friends when they are self-doubting or aiming too low. Of course, I have fallen victim to this myself plenty of times too. I wanted to share it with you as I find it an extremely interesting theory and I feel that this is an increasing trend, as is overall self-doubt and questioning in the modern world. We are so focused on the belief that we are going to physically destroy ourselves, have we stopped to consider we may destroy ourselves through the power of the mind?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome

As for the Dunning-Kruger effect mentioned at the end of the first paragraph - this is hilarious and also something I seem to have come across plenty of times, especially in the world of finance!

leave yourself behind

full heart and mind
wonder

to be or not to be...

so. I was waiting for my train to go into work (on a Saturday - bleurgh) and the sun was streaming down onto me (lovely) and I was peering over the blue painted (peeling) rail by the platform, onto the area which I am going to study shortly, which is a nature reserve. I identified a few trees and shrubs (more than I thought) and then began to think that I really didn't deserve to be a Landscape Architect.
I accepted that I had just never given the subject my full attention and I had flung my brain over the subject occasionally over the years, whilst distracted by so many other things. So. No feeling sorry for myself, it's about time I started fighting for it and I intend to do so more and more over the coming months. 7 years ago I decided that I had fallen upon a perfect subject for me. I met a warm, modest and inspiring man called Kim Wilkie who happened to be my brother's landlord at the time. Turns out he is one of the best Landscape Architects in Europe. He showed me his work with enthusiasm and I knew this was something exciting. One which could mean I could move with my work around the world, as I had always imagined. One that challenges me enough to actually keep me interested. So. I am going to stop feeling frustrated it has taken me so long to get this far and marvel in the fact that after 7 years; she who bores very easily, is still pretty damn enthralled by it all. Lucky me.
Enjoy his work:
ttp://www.kimwilkie.com/

Favourite quote of the day from Dazed & Confused March 2011

"the last straw for young people already re-rolling scraps of hope from the butt-ends of what we'd imagined our futures would be"
thought it was funny

oh and spend TWO minutes watching this please

http://www.dirtthemovie.org/




despite my Collie thinking that dirt is for covering yourself in, then running up to me with a big smile on his face ready to give me a bear hug, it is totally vital. I mean, literally 

and to close: one of my favourite quotes

So we shall let the reader answer this question for himself: who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?
~ Hunter S. Thompson


I would add to this: live your life with passion and love. Think about what you will really regret on your death bed. Really think about that. I tell all the people I love, that I love them. No matter how hard that can be sometimes and even where you do not always get that love back or when they find it too hard to say it to you. Every moment that I think how someone contributes to my life, I tell them. Even if people laugh at this.This matters to me. What matters to you? 
Those that know me, know that I do not say this to patronise. I learnt the hard way through a long illness, that just waking up and leaping out of bed, is truly bloody wonderful. My Dad always said to us children: "be positive". We used to groan! But we now get it. He didn't mean just think positive, he meant be positive, with every action. So, keep taking one step forward. Even if you are fighting against a force 10 gale, take action and you will feel better for it. 

sugar overload

I am eating a trillion minstrels whilst studying. After looking at calcs all day at work and coming home cream- crackered, I then had to sit down and study. Again. So, in went the sugar/cake/tea. Repeat. This resulted in me no longer worrying about my seminar and coming to the conclusion that I really can talk about anything quite merrily and so I decided to wing it, slap a few pics in, then I danced round my flat to Chopin whilst popping some more minstrels. After hitting predictable sugar low, Radox promised me they could "revive" me. Nope. Well, it did long enough for me to decide my powerpoint is dire.
Ah, it will be fine! It is frustrating on my course that I know in the real world my clear communication skills (note to employers, haha) will serve me well and I have been told in appraisals time and again that I have excellent "persuading and negotiating skills", well I did work in arbitration for 5 years (turning out to be very useful, in fact)  and was essentially trained how to argue at Philosophy A Level! So I know I will be able to "sell" (hate hate that word) my schemes and explain ideas clearly, but on this course it seems to count for so little when it comes to your mark. I am just never going to be the best at autocad or drawing. Frustrating that this counts for so much. Yes, I am repeating myself. But it reminds me of last year when I was in the SWA office in Texas (oooh name dropping there-for non Landscape Architects, this is a very well respected company) they said to me: "everyone here can draw well, so it means nothing. Now someone who can present well to the client or can do a brilliant write up to explain a concept - they are valuable and sought out." Got to keep reminding myself of that.

sigh. another random blog.

someone said to me at the weekend: "you are perfect for blogging as you say exactly what comes to your mind without any editing." I pointed out that this may be true, however, this is not good for me in terms of self-inflicted embarrassment in a public arena.
I do this blog merely as I do love writing and miss it and also as a modern "get to know me" for future employers. So, I have a year to build my internet identity. You ain't nobody without one I am told.
Anywho.
So, I have been listening to Taio Cruz and re-visiting "The Prince" whilst commuting. I wonder what Machiavelli would make of Taio. Taio provides us with catchy, cheery pop music although when he says: "I'm sorry I misleaded you" I want to speak with his mother. Similarly, I would like a long chat with Machiavelli's mother for obvious reasons. Although he is widely misunderstood. To a degree. I'm not saying he was nice or anything of course.
I am drafting a seminar on how we need to work with climate in the city rather than ignoring it and am sorely tempted to play Billy Idol's "Hot in the city" alongside it, but I fear it would be wasted on my audience. Well, it would amuse me at least. I will post said seminar once it is done. I may even record my presentation of it for your delectation. 

hmm

does anyone use the reverse camera on their iphone to look into whilst drying their hair? No? Just me then. My hairdryer cord won't reach my mirror. Yes, there are easier ways. Why is it that we always choose the easiest path? Especially when most of us waste hours of our lives doing trivial things, yet we cut across the good grass.
And another thing, the lovely Dave and my neighbour's builders put my fridge freezer in my garden for 8 days to defrost my freezer which had been jammed open and building up it's own arctic. Now my fridge is back home it has decided to freeze everything. So, I can buy no chilled food and I keep my milk outside my back door. True story.

Black Sheep