5 and 3/4 Questions

I subscribe to an e-mail newsletter from Michael Bungay Stanier called Box of Crayons www.boxofcrayons.biz . I enjoy his mix of quotes and resources, and his determined exuberance. He’s just posted a small ‘movie’ called 5 and ¾ Questions You’ve Been Avoiding www.fivebigquestions.com/ . The cartoon is neat and the questions relevant, although I didn’t take up on the free course so can’t comment on that.

I looked at these questions straight after getting the final British results of the Sailing Team competing in Qingdao, China at the Olympic Test Event. With the outdoors as our arena, sailing always has test events prior to the Olympics to check that the organisation, logistics and equipment will work on the day. With just one year to go before the Olympics themselves, this event is one of the indicators to which sailors and nations are on current top form.

Having won 5 golds and 1 silver out a possible 11 classes, the Brits are totally dominating the podium. Fantastic. Well done to both sailors and management. For the results and stories visit www.sailing.org

My mind has wandered into making connections between the 5 and ¾ Questions, and the high/low life of being an Olympic competitor. With Qingdao being one of the selection milestones for the final British Team, hopes will have been justified or dashed by the results. I wonder what the sailors would answer if they asked these questions of themselves now……………

Singing

I’ve just re-energised by the NLP-by-the-Sea Conference in Bournemouth. My goals of meeting like minded people and exploring what was on offer were well and truly met. Great ideas and good talking.

For the last session I chose to have an expert singing tutorial from Ali Sharpe www.alisharpe.co.uk . This was a real stretch for me. I used to sing in choirs as a school kid, but am well out of practice and at the last wedding I went to I could hear myself singing out of tune and got very self-conscious about it. Ali did a great job for all eight of us (I couldn’t hide!) and we were soon all singing in the round. Strong African rhythms and lots of others really got us all going. Loads of fun!

Radio, jazz and family memories

I’ve just spent a lot of the last two days in the car going to a family celebration. I listened to BBC Radio 4 most of the travelling time, and was well entertained. We are so lucky to have good chat and music stations in this country. I was once asked what I would miss most if I ever emigrated, and my answer was our changeable seasons and our radio.

The Jazz radio station has just started up on digital http://www.thejazz.com . The sister station to Classic FM, it hasn’t got a lot of advertising yet and so has been an exceptional pleasure to listen to. I’m not keen on the type of jazz that coming from jamming sessions, but I now appreciate what a far-ranging sound it is.

An inevitable part of family occasions is catching up with news. This time, one of the older members bought a couple of old photo albums and wills with him, and it bought forth an amazing amount of memories. One of my great-great-great- uncles had two wives who had twelve children each! All the women at the party commented how old the women looked in photos taken when they were about 40 – tough lives, with little joy. Makes me glad for the life I have.