Fishing for compliments

I seem to be lapsing into a state where I don't even bother to write my own posts anymore. What can I say, I'm not a writer, there are people out there who write things much more eloquently than I can.

Kenya: a quick update

Email from my mother:

Things seem to be going from bad to worse at the moment here - Nakuru and Naivasha a blood bath over the weekend. Just cannot see an end to it all. It is now beyond political violence it is more like ethnic cleansing.

Considering this is my mother speaking (generally a positive, "things will be alright in the end, everything happens for a reason" kind of gal") it seems things in Kenya are a lot worse that is being reported over here.

I think I'll leave the analysis to the people on the ground.

More Kenya bits 'n' bobs

A short one today, and not even written by me.

Came across this article. I think it succinctly sums up the problems in Kenya at the moment with its last line "It is ripping the country apart."

A bluffer's guide to work

I can just tell it's going to be one of those days.

You know the ones I mean. The ones where you *know* you have a pile of work ten foot high to finish and yet somehow, you just can't be bothered to get round to doing it.

You surf the net doing "research", you make a cup of tea, you tidy your desk (tidy desk = tidy mind = more work. Honestly, Mr Manager), you "consult" your colleagues, you send a few vital emails. But still, at the end of the day. The work's still there, waiting to be finished.

However, there is a plus side to all this. As a result of my "research" I've stumbled upon some really well written, interesting, amusing blogs. I thought I'd share.

South of West - a quick google of Rob Crilly tells me that he writes for an wide range of publications and someone thinks he's a great teacher.

Reluctant Memsahib - Another journalist, Anthea just amuses me.

Advertising: the Kenya way

Shashank Bengali over at Somewhere in Africa and the ever informative Kenyan Pundit have drawn my attention to the most bizarre set of adverts I've ever seen - all paid for by the Kenyan Government (i.e the Kenyan people).

A (possible scary) blast from the past

Things are a tad manic at work at the moment so I've got very little time to write anything constructive/interesting (plus ca change some might say!)

However, the other day I went for a trial with the regional team and I randomly bumped into someone I used to share a house with at Uni. At Uni we actively avoided each other. I thought she was a little strange* and she probably thought I was a little mad. Hey-ho.

Imagine my shock when I saw her again, after 5 years, in charge of the team I wanted to join. Scary. Not just scary but it led me to think... does this mean I have to be nice to everyone, just in case, someday in the future, they might wield some power over me?

The morally sound part of me whispers "actually, you should probably be nice to everyone, and not just because you don't know what will happen in the future."

The realistic part of me shouts "oh, come on. There are going to be people out there you just don't like. If you're nice to them, that just makes you a two faced wotsit. Don't bother. Everything will work out in the end."

Does it make me a bad person if sometimes, just occassionally, I'm not nice to someone. I don't think so. I suppose we'll see if I get my comeuppance later in the week. She's supposed to call me and tell me whether I've made the squad or not.


*Yes, the same one I mentioned here

Now I'm not one to normally read the Guardian. In fact, I'm probably as far removed from a typical Guardian reader as you've ever likely to get.

However. Kenyan Pundit (a great source of information regarding the recent elections) has pointed me towards this very interesting article written a couple of weeks ago. Any thoughts?

My new find, Norm, has been asking his readers who their favourite English language authors are. For me, it depends who I'm talking to. With some people I could probably be completely honest, with others, I'd make something up, just to please them.

Anyway, it got me thinking about writing and writers and then about Jane Austen (I was actually thinking about Sense and Sensibility - oh Edward - although I got there from writers, I don't know) and anyway... then I wondered... is there anyone living today with the same way with words as she had? Don't worry, this isn't my cue to turn into one of those scary Americans who dress up in funny clothes and quote endlessly. Although...

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, talent. There are very few modern authors that I read who have the easy style with words like Austen (or Dickens or Trollope or ... cont pg 84). I'm not saying that modern books are bad or in any way worse than their predecessors but I just wonder whether the modern day has affected the quality of literature we're offered. It seems that anyone can now become a published author, just because they have some form of notoriety - and, I would imagine, more often than not, the writing is not a fiction with characters and plots and themes, but a literary regurgitation of self-indulgence.

With the writing standards of our children continuing to fall and more and more "celebrities" wanting to push their stories out to the impressionable youth, will England ever have any standard of writing to be proud about again?