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Daily writing prompt

What’s something you believe everyone should know.

“Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.” With the greatest respect to the author of these words, Douglas Adams*, this is the number one fact to learn and remember.

Everyone you know. Everyone you will ever know. Everyone who has ever been. Time is there. Now, I don’t want to get into the mathematics or physics. That’s not the point I want to make. What’s you should never forget is that the time we have is finite.

We can’t manufacture it. We can’t store it. We can’t buy it. That said, we do experience time in different ways, but the fact remains. Humans, like you and me, on this Earth, have a finite time to do something. Even doing nothing is to do something.

Why the illusion? That’s why I want to step away from the physics. What we experience of time is not linear. Moments drag. Days speed by. Where’s the sense in that? There is none.

My one point to register is that finite means finite. Whatever happens to time and you, use what you have to the best advantage. Even if that’s a long lunch.

Go see “Time and the Conways” if it plays in a theatre near you. Playwright J. B. Priestley loved experimenting with the effects of time and what we do with it.

*The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Budgets

You can’t live with them, and you can’t live without them. That’s budgets. Most of us budget even if we don’t write it down. I’ve got a certain amount in my bank account. If I spend more than is stamped at the end of my statement, then trouble may ensure. Not always given our modern dependency on credit. A problem arises only when spending gets out of control.

Mr Micawber cautioned about debt’s downside: “Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty-pound and six, result misery.” In his time, Charles Dickens was acutely aware of what unsustainable debt could do to people.

We’ve had weeks where the news media has created a landslide of content on a budget. The repetition of point scoring has got tedious. It’s way out of normal everyday human experience. I don’t know about you, but I can’t easily relate to a number like £1,226 billion[1]. Every year public expenditure totals numbers of that order. It happens. It’s real.

Today, our UK “billion” is a thousand million. That’s spelled out as a one followed by nine noughts. At one time in the past the UK “billion” meant a million million. That’s spelled out as a one followed by twelve noughts. That got dropped for the sake of international harmony.

I have used such numbers in lectures on aviation safety. To think, I often got people glazing over when I talked about ten to the minus nine per flight hour. That’s a billionth of something. A mighty small number. In these cases, a number denoting a probability of something happening.

So, here we are in October getting excited over a change of couple of hundredth of typical annual national expenditure. Not without reason. That figure sound like a small number, and it would be, if it wasn’t for the subject Dickens raises, namely debt.

Wisdom comes from learning from experience. Lessons learned are incredibly valuable. That’s not rocket science. Only we need to factor in how easily we forget bad experiences.

In terms of budgeting, recently two reckless politicians taught us a lot[2]. Truss and Kwarteng sound like a comedy double act or a dodgy back street lawyers office. Those two monster brains had the marvellous idea of borrowing more to give it away. In a short flash of genius what they did increased borrowing costs and spooked just about everyone.

Debt matters. Nation States are not like people, so the home economics analogies don’t stand up. However, borrow too much without being absolutely clear as to the answer for question like – who, what, where, when, why and how and the results are likely to be extremely unpleasant.

Let’s see if the day ends with a pint of beer being more expensive or not. Love them or hate them, budgets are not going away anytime soon.

[1] https://obr.uk/forecasts-in-depth/brief-guides-and-explainers/public-finances/

[2] https://www.niesr.ac.uk/blog/truss-kwarteng-mini-budget-one-year

Daily writing prompt

What does it mean to be a kid at heart?

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Two ways of going at this question. If you have ever seen the frolics of a kid then the answer is to have boundless energy jumping on and off of anything that gets in the way. Naturally, I am talking about a young goat. A bale of hay becomes a launching mechanism. A tower to observe the world. Two bales of hay become the peaks of two mountains that have to be traversed in great one leap. Playfully a kid hones its skills and masters gyroscopic balance.

Now, I know what you really meant with that question mark. In the world of Winnie-the-Pooh there’s one character that sums up being youthful, energetic, honest, haplessly and hopelessly optimistic. That fictional character is Tigger. To me he’s the most childlike of Pooh’s woodland friends. So, if you want to remain a child at heart think Tigger.

I suppose I could suggest a third approach. I could get all biblical and say: Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. That doesn’t answer the question. Instead it puts a lot of weight on being a “kid at heart”.

Daily writing prompt

You have three magic genie wishes, what are you asking for?

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A million more wishes and a million more to correct the mistakes made with the first million. And finally the abolition of all genies wherever they may be.

That’s what happens when you ask an open question without conditions attached. I accept, my request might be difficult to handle. The 4th wish would have to be – please give me the mental capacity to manage all these wishes. The 5th wish would be – please don’t let me do anything irrecoverably stupid.

I am presuming that the magic genie in question has limitations. So, requests like – please make me a time machine will be processed according to the physics that rules such things. A super potent genie could easily get themselves, and me in huge trouble if a simple error eliminates existence.

Art and Emotion

Daily writing prompt

Who are your favorite artists?

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Nice question. I can’t put one artist above all others. It’s a ridiculous question to ask. Not only that but as the days go by my likes and dislikes shift like sand on a beach. It’s not as if I am wholly inconsistent. It’s that moods and emotions move. Intangible criteria are not fixed in time and space. Top that with constantly learning about works that are either new or previously mysteries to me. The questions are never ending.

For a start, my thoughts instantly go to the visual arts. What image has had such an impact on me that I want to keep going back to it? In going down that road I’ve not considered dance, music or literature. Is one medium more important than all the rest? Of course not.

Although, I cannot forget seeing German artist Katharina Fritsch big blue chicken (cock) in London, it’s her Mouse and Man[1] in Dusseldorf that sticks in my mind. Now that’s potent.

I think David Hockney[2] is oversold but I wish I could paint like him. His brush dances. Forget his portrayal of people it’s the forest, the trees, the country lanes that hit me the most.

Edward Hopper[3] is a master of scenes placing people in situation that are mundane but are far from dull. Transforming the ordinary into the exceptional.

I’d be mad if I didn’t mention Vincent van Gogh[4]. So many great images to choose from. In this case I’ll go to his Irises. I do enough gardening to spend time looking at flowers. Capturing the vibrance of nature so that the life force of the flower cascades off the painting, now that’s magic.

Caspar David Friedrich is on my list. I saw “Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog” on display at Hamburg’s Kunsthalle. It’s an often-used image. Put aside the corruptions, the original has a message that says to me – there’s always something beyond what you can see.

And that’s just a 10 minute list.

[1] https://www.iainmasterton.com/image/I00006p4TTPTNQtE

[2] https://www.hockney.com/index.php/works/digital/arrival-of-spring-woldgate

[3] https://www.gettyimages.fr/photos/edward-hopper-paintings

[4] https://www.vangoghgallery.com/painting/irisesindex.html

Reinventing Breakfast

Public service broadcasting is fine with me. It ought to be funded. We are all better for it being funded. In the UK, the BBC does a tremendous number of good works in a wide spectrum of spaces. I’m a supporter of public funded TV but now and then it drops the ball.

Switching the TV on in the morning is not something I do at home. There’s something bedsit kitchenette about having a TV blazing while the toaster is popping up. It’s what’s better placed in a gritty drama of the mid-1970’s. Gawdy wallpaper and service hatches.

I get to view breakfast morning TV when I’m in a hotel room. It’s so much easier to switch on a wall mounted TV than mess with an iPad App or flick around the long list of channels trying to find a radio station. Press the button number 1 on the remote and up comes BBC1.

So, what’s with the morning News? Is it a magazine show with snippets of life outside the studio or is it hard hitting political journalism? To me, it’s a mishmash that’s trying to be everything to everyone. A male presenter who looks half asleep and would be totally lost without an autocue. A female presenter who’s doom laden petulant style reminds me of Chicken Licken[1].

An artificial backdrop, that has become commonplace on such shows, doesn’t help. Look the morning sun is shining. One look outside the window and it’s not. I’d been tempted to suggest going back to a few of those shelving units that once adorned the set of Blue Peter.

The BBC props department must have ordered a job lot of curvy sofas about ten years ago. They turn-up on the BBC’s One Show too. Now that evening programme is a mystery to me. Although, that said, it isn’t trying to be anything other than a magazine.

Thank the heavens that I don’t have to watch breakfast TV every day. I would be ready for the men in white coats if I did. Banality mixed with artificial seriousness would do my brain in. Surely, there’s a format that can be engaging and inform in a way that wasn’t so mighty odd.

If the BBC needs a transition to something new. A format that works for the second decade in the 21^st C, then I suggest they bring back a certain popular rat. Roland[2] was a professional. Now, I’m sure he could both talk about endangered water voles or interview tricky politicians with great style and panache.

[1] https://usborne.com/media/usborne/files/quicklinks-library/englishlearnerseditions/chicken-licken-teachers-notes.pdf

[2] https://fb.watch/uHOGZqLQ_J/

Magic Mornings

Daily writing prompt

What’s your favorite time of day?

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Meat Loaf sang: “And wherever you are and wherever you go. There’s always gonna be some light.” That moment of light, when the sun returns from its overnight meanderings. It’s not so much the first moments of sunrise but the first moment that its catches my eyes.

I might be hiding behind the pillows trying to pretend it’s still dark. As the clock ticks there’s a moment when the pretence must end. Yes, I like a bright summer sunrise morning. Not a cloud covered sky but those sharp rays of sunshine. Laser like shining through the bedroom curtains.

The possibility of a new day is an unwritten book. It’s a time of day that shifts like sand. It could be half five, it could be six. It might be seven. Time flexes as the days go by.

Each day, as if a light bulb switches on, I’m awake. Senses alive. Greeting the new day. Emerging as if all time past existed only as a dream (fine – that is an exaggeration).

Morning persons, like me, are the nemesis of the late-night hawks. They prefer the dying embers of the day as if to wish the day never to pass. Me, I’m happy to meet the dark. Prospect of tomorrow is the best promise.

Origins and Meanings

Daily writing prompt

Where did your name come from?

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Doesn’t take a lot of research to answer that question when it comes to my first name. Two key people in the New Testament share my name. John the Baptist and John the Apostle. Because of those biblical references the name John has a version in a wide range of languages. In its origins, it has something to do with being gracious. Although, I can’t say that’s a particular characteristic on mine (as a gracious remark).

Having done a little family history it’s a name that reoccurs down the generations. John was a hugely popular English first name for a long time. Today, it’s well down the rank and order of popular names. Which I think is slightly strange. John is easy to spell. It’s simple to pronounce and has some agreeable variations like: Ivan, Yan, Hans, Sean, Ian, Evan and Jack.

What makes my toes curl is being called Jon or Johnathan or Johnny. Apologies to those known as such but these watering downs of my first name just make me cringe.

What I’ve never properly figured out is the reversal of my name. It’s happened to me more than a few times when checking into hotels. It certainly seems to happen in France. It’s probably because my surname is most often a first name in specific cultures. So, I will arrive at a hotel front desk. Give my name. Then the hotel receptionist will look at me in a quizzical manner. Hum. So, you are not Mr Johns. No, I’m Mr Vincent. Johns can be a version of Jones or Johnson. It’s not my surname. It’s a whole different kettle of fish.

If only my parents had known this and named me Vincent Vincent. That would have squashed any chance of naming in the wrong order. There must be folk who run around with the same first name as surname. Bet they live in a hazy mist of confusion when trying to explain.

Back to Christianity. Yes, Vincent is a Saints name[1]. The far south westerly corner of Portugal is called: Cabo de São Vicente or Cape St. Vincent in English. Martyrdom does get a priest a place name. In his case, it was an especially gruesome martyrdom at the hands of the Romans.

My Vincents extends back to the corners of the English country of Dorset. Where precisely it’s hard to say but there were some of those with that name residing around the Isle of Purbeck[2]. Which is not an isle, by the way. It’s a peninsula. Corfe Castle, and the village that adjoins it goes back to the time of William the Conqueror. That’s about 1000 years of history. Maybe that explains me being short and blue eyed. Who knows?

[1] https://catholicsaints.info/butlers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-vincent-martyr/

[2] https://www.visit-dorset.com/explore/areas-to-visit/purbeck/

Keep it simple

Daily writing prompt

Create an emergency preparedness plan.

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Plans are great. Professionally, I spent years and years making plans of all different shapes and sizes. Some collected dust on shelves, some turned out to be wholly inadequate and others did the trick, at least in saving time, money and potential harm. The often quoted saying “no plan survives contact with the enemy” has a ring of truth to it but it’s a million times worse not to have a plan when faced situations that are likely to be harmful.

It seems obvious to say it. Making plans for other people and making plans for oneself are not the same. Training staff and having a detailed plan of what do in a flight emergency is essential. As a humble passenger, sitting in an assigned seat, I expect an aircraft to safely go where it’s supposed to go. So, am I properly prepared for the one in a million event?

If I can, I always book an aisle seat. Having people climb over you to get to the loo isn’t such a big deal. It’s the elbows of the 20-stone man in the middle seat that’s more annoying.

Listen to the safety briefing. Read the safety card. Count the rows of seat to the nearest exit. Yes, I do. I try not to be that– oh, I’ve heard or seen that a hundred times before type of bore.

Fortunately, I’ve never had to work through my private emergency plan. Closest I’ve come was a flight landing on one engine at Düsseldorf Airport. The heart raced a little when looking out of the aircraft window. I could see airport firefighting vehicles chasing us down the runway.

What?

What’s wrong with what? And you can’t say how I feel about “what”. In fact, what is one of my favorite words. It belongs to a family of six. All six are words I’d be happy to hear more people using. There’re words that people with inquiring minds use a lot and with good reason.

Forgive Mr Kipling for saying this only of men. He was a man of his times. Written as it is, his six serving men have served me well. What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.

I Keep Six Honest Serving Men – The Kipling Society

Daily writing prompt

What is a word you feel that too many people use?