tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58127372011-12-07T17:35:37.980Zurbanmonklifeplease imagine some really well worded disclaimer that explains anything i've written in a really acceptable way,Tomnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3601100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-88582670876414382512011-12-07T17:35:00.002Z2011-12-07T17:35:37.986ZOn seeing..
A short exercise that I recommend trying.. (with an equivalent view of your own)
Out of my window I can see a street.. I am using this view to practise different ways of looking at, and seeing it..
How would I describe it on first glance?
Then I try looking at it in the following ways:
Like an architect.. when were the buildings built? by who? out of what? in what style?
Like Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-11297951607049706902011-07-27T17:52:00.002+01:002011-07-27T17:52:57.563+01:00Dear friends and possible readers.
I am working on a draft 'urbanmonk manifesto'. If you're interested, or would like to help, please give me a shout..Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-10275313355302747132011-07-17T20:45:00.000+01:002011-07-17T20:45:21.759+01:00"The serene have not opted out of life. They see more widely, love more dearly, rejoice in the things the frantic mind no longer sees or hears." -Pam BrownTomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-27731221487728683382011-06-05T16:59:00.000+01:002011-06-05T16:59:07.425+01:00"Demands to “make poverty history”, and the responses from those in power, revolve around money: less debt, freer and fairer trade, more aid. Rarely will you hear someone with access to a microphone mouth the word “land”.
That is because economists define wealth and justice in terms of access to the market. Politicians echo the economists because the more dependent that people become upon the Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-6172395160062439922011-05-05T16:52:00.001+01:002011-06-05T16:54:01.786+01:00Don't surrender your loneliness so quickly.
Let it cut more deep.
Let it ferment and season you as few human
Or even divine ingredients can.
Something missing in my heart tonight
Has made my eyes so soft,
My voice so tender,
My need of God
Absolutely clear. ~ HafizTomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-26809542953311293972010-11-20T00:27:00.001Z2010-11-20T00:30:46.293ZYes! to Danny MacAskill's new wee film.. I don't care if it messes up the layout of my blog!
Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-53977170806001314092010-10-25T20:52:00.001+01:002010-10-25T20:53:23.962+01:00On my cycle home I was crossing over an old stone bridge that spans a tranquil section of the River Almond, when I encountered a young man paddling a coracle. I stopped and shouted down to him. He said he was taking it for a test paddle. I said it was a very classic monk thing to be doing. He said 'Yes, it's very zen,'. He said he got it on ebay. £40. It was broken. He repaired it. He hadn't Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-60967619063359695712010-08-15T20:36:00.001+01:002010-08-15T20:38:29.857+01:00My current favorite blog is the new blog/business/bakery sensation that is The Apocalypse Bakery!
I sampled at least 5 cakes today at the cameo curio event which were all excellent. And there is some good wisdom in there too, gradually leaking out riddley through either of the bakery or apocalypse themes, or through a happy blend of the two.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-42623738491955749422010-07-01T21:38:00.000+01:002010-07-01T21:38:16.412+01:00...and been dancing in the hills.
..actually I've been quite busy recently. I have become a farmer.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-4549406819215290352010-05-02T21:54:00.000+01:002010-05-02T21:54:31.214+01:00Some of us have been living here for a wee bit. It has excellent views and an atmospheric post-apocalyptic feel.
I'm not completely sure about this new experiment in putting pictures of my life on this blog.. Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-73609807702780343422010-04-21T21:20:00.000+01:002010-04-26T21:20:33.233+01:00
They are sending potting compost and quality plants to landfill. This supply line must be intercepted.
We can do this with our vehicles.
Our yard is turning is slowly turning into a garden centre.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-72203578116712668282010-04-17T14:03:00.000+01:002010-04-26T21:06:27.014+01:00Due to volcanic erruptions I am spending most of the day sitting near a ferry port. I have found a cafe where a mug of tea costs 85p and includes free refills. There are complimentary newspapers, 3 copies of the Star and one of the Daily Mirror.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-31082477770468804112010-04-15T19:07:00.000+01:002010-04-26T21:10:52.950+01:00"Our major challengeis to focuson what we can createrather thanwhat problems we can solve.
Stop talking about what's wrongand how to fix it.
No future is createdbysimply solving problems.
You have to tap into people's longingimaginationand possibilityto organise around something larger."
-Peter Block (Community: The Structure of Belonging 2008 -cited on Emma's wall)Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-83345717196889070472010-03-28T22:17:00.000+01:002010-03-28T22:17:05.241+01:00"Chris has spent the summer following guerrilla gardeners around the city - a German girl who "flowerbombs" vacant plots of land, and a man who plants politically motivated shrubs on the immaculate lawns of corporations."
-the guardianTomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-9066982730603034492010-03-09T17:49:00.000Z2010-03-09T17:49:01.296ZThis is where I went in February by the way.
It's at the top of here:Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-12192863811485705392010-03-08T17:44:00.000Z2010-03-09T17:47:10.696ZNOTICE TO READERS:
Apologies that this blog seems to have got stuck in time..
The comments have also gone weird due to technical issues.. (apparently they will be deleted unless I pay lots of money, I do have a copy but won't be able to synch them to here unless someone invents an easy way of doing this for free)
I'm reviewing whether to relaunch this blog here, or whether to go lower tech andTomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-5017927003747993242009-07-09T21:23:00.002+01:002009-07-09T21:24:45.623+01:00"Learned and leisurely hospitality is the only antitode to the stance of deadly cleverness that is acquired in the professional pursuit of objectively secured knowledge. I remain certain that quest for truth cannot thrive outside the nourishment of mutual trust, flowering into the commitment of friendship." -Ivan Illich (educationalist)Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-2950024655863312052009-06-29T17:53:00.002+01:002009-06-29T17:56:15.911+01:00"It is commonly thought that conservative-minded people are as a rule old, whereas innovators are young. This is not quite true. Conservative-minded people are most commonly young men -young men who want to live, but who neither think nor have time to think, and who therefore choose the old way of life as a model." -Leo TolstoyTomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-362566071045111542009-03-22T12:58:00.002Z2009-03-22T13:44:53.420ZOn leadership in our continent. (I live in Europe)There are various types of protest all over Europe about the 'current economic crisis'.The mood seems to be that people are feeling angry and increasingly more desperate, but are unsure where to channel either of these.(not sure much of the UK has quite woken up to it yet, we're still in bit of a stupor)I read an article by a journalist speaking Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-20207615899400688582009-03-06T21:39:00.004Z2009-03-06T21:56:18.313ZFebruary is a good month.Every February there are two warm sunny days, that arrive just when you are not sure if there has ever been warm sun apart from in distant childhood memories.It's been a long time since I wrote on here anything about what I've actually been up to.Well..I have been walking up snowy hills; getting more lifts from strangers and teaching them to play metaphysical Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-4988084482079631942009-02-06T22:17:00.004Z2009-02-06T22:40:32.725ZSome strong words about the love of money i am writing now to remind myself:"there was no escaping the feeling that all these titans of global capitalism were in the same boat, and that boat was going down.". -The BBC reporting on the World Economic Forum in DavosEverything gets shaken eventually.. It's just amazing the amount of trust and assumption of permanence that gets invested Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-62544827148632296222008-12-27T16:53:00.003Z2008-12-27T17:08:28.534Z"Every patio, flat roof and window sill, can be looked upon as an opportunity for food production."-'The Self Sufficient Gardener' by John SeymourTomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-52859884140223709472008-11-25T12:14:00.001Z2008-11-25T12:23:17.087Z"a home is not a home if there aren't any mattresses on the livingroom floor" -kristerI like their home.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-79790295352769861572008-11-19T13:39:00.002Z2008-11-19T13:42:11.832Z"Had to disconnect cooker as unsafe." -Southern heating and plumbing.left by workmen on a scrap of paper in our kitchen.och well..Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-82128724841722081562008-11-03T15:55:00.001Z2008-11-03T15:55:31.360Z"Western cultural views of how best to organize and lead (now the methods most used in the world) are contrary to what life teaches. Leaders use control and imposition rather than participative, self-organizing processes. They react to uncertainty and chaos by tightening already feeble controls, rather than engaging people's best capacities to learn and adapt. In doing so, they only create more Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-86087065603520310042008-10-22T16:45:00.004+01:002008-10-22T16:49:15.564+01:00So the government is asking banks to be less harsh on people whose houses they are trying to repossess.I'm sure there's a parable Jesus told, recorded about this?!The one where a king lets off a man who owes him a huge amount of money. And then the man goes to a really poor man and threatens him for the small amount of money he is owed by him.Don't think it has a happy ending..Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-22799848885090707702008-10-09T12:58:00.004+01:002008-10-09T13:04:07.960+01:00"Imagination is better than knowledge" -Albert Einstein.The world is all a mixture of imaginary and real. Perhaps the main way we make sense of the world is through imagination. But whose imagination?Very few things that we are told count are very solid..Academic qualifications are pieces of paper.Money is amazingly imaginary (or how did hundereds of billions of pounds just 'disappear' in a day?)Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-33942666788534081102008-10-01T12:32:00.002+01:002008-10-01T12:33:07.546+01:00There are no paths of no return; the dangers are in getting stuck in dead ends. I think if we are always prepared to learn and humble enough to be wrong, and always seeking, knocking, asking, loving, then we are more 'safe' than any bank vault or mountain fortress (both of which are more likely to be traps?).Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-88975006080831491442008-09-30T10:36:00.000+01:002008-10-01T12:39:40.539+01:00"He who sacrifices the mass good for his personal conscience has a peculiar conception of 'personal salvation'; he doesn't care enough for people to ‘be corrupted' for them." Saul AlinskyI find this a really intriguing quote.There is a good article about Alinsky here:http://www.infed.org/thinkers/alinsky.htmTomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-42619948474375521672008-08-26T12:26:00.001+01:002008-08-26T12:28:03.403+01:00"Only two kinds of people can afford the luxury of acting on principle, those with absolute power and those with none and no desire to get any...everyone else who wants to be effective in politics has to learn to be ‘unprincipled’ enough to compromise in order to see their principles succeed." (Rogers 1990: 12)?Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-51060966467879764022008-08-06T16:09:00.003+01:002008-08-06T16:12:54.650+01:00It was like some massive game of hide and seek where thousands of people slowly explored the huge crumbling palace, discovering art and small groups of interesting people creating things in every hidden corner.(photography by jennie)Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-16697303523159243332008-07-31T14:50:00.000+01:002008-07-31T14:51:14.149+01:00"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."-Pablo PicassoTomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-65960713495909087092008-07-30T23:50:00.005+01:002008-07-31T00:04:48.268+01:00So I got talked into jumping on a bus to a festival in Poland at short notice.then in a separate incident I got talked into hitching back.I am still on the way back.Found all this in middle of nowhere in German countriside in the middle of the night. The cathedral was full of people and really loud dramatic singing.Then walked around outside a bit and found electronic music playing out in the Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-41785783132409689322008-07-29T22:59:00.000+01:002008-07-31T00:04:03.432+01:00Living simply and thinking collectively.We need to learn from: The Chinese.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-80637434748108586402008-06-21T18:25:00.002+01:002008-06-21T18:30:33.547+01:00Happy Summer Solstice!Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-5076702588572939132008-05-15T12:35:00.002+01:002008-05-15T13:02:44.585+01:00I have been making important administrative phone calls to offices where they only speak French. This is hard. Got shouted at. But in the end I think I won them over.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-4242420712071093332008-05-14T12:31:00.000+01:002008-05-15T12:34:41.622+01:00Been living in a park with beer and tea in the sun and football and BBQs and hundereds of randoms and some really good old friends and new. In my element. Mini festival involving the world's biggest dress (!?), it's like a big top, 14m high and 19m in diameter.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-77752914574410617742008-05-13T12:29:00.000+01:002008-05-15T12:31:31.888+01:00So I lost football against Connor and Brad. They beat me 63 - 54, in a 60 minute match.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-18132393359270791202008-04-18T11:43:00.002+01:002008-04-18T11:52:12.386+01:00so i got stuck in some big hazy cloud of fever for a week and dreamt I had to play football matches in rivers, and got lost in huge mazes, and had my head pounded in. Yeah and lots of puking. I'm on the mend now though.Last night I saw a film about some friends trying to shut down their local weapons factory in England. Was really good.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-36625692769276982132008-04-03T14:57:00.004+01:002008-04-03T15:08:55.674+01:00I´m a feminist.last saturday was womens daythe news remembered:in europe Statistics show that for women between 16 and 44 years of age, domestic violence is thought to be the major cause of death and invalidity, ahead of cancer, road accidents and even war.hellloooooooooo? this basicly means: home (and a love relationship) is the most dangerous place where a women can be...isn´t that shocking. Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-49609537311443949832008-03-31T12:17:00.001+01:002008-03-31T12:18:45.715+01:00"I'll go and get the axe [so that we can try and smash a hole in the ice on this frozen lake to jump through]" -ETomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-32080182113679080142008-03-30T12:16:00.000+01:002008-03-31T12:17:33.547+01:00and then I found myself drying my washing on the megabus again.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-86531066410207146682008-03-13T13:35:00.000Z2008-03-13T13:36:30.217ZThe sally hall smells of paint.My friend E's treecamp in Ireland is gettingevicted as I type, they're all at the tops of treesand down tunnels locked to things. Lots of police andanger and violence. Hmmm.I wrote a contents page on the train back up North.Got to 44 chapters.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-31199898325116039112008-03-06T15:11:00.002Z2008-03-06T15:15:17.096ZGipsy people are good.Two guys just gave me a lift (hitch hiking again) and bought me lunch, and gave me free meal vouchers, and asked God to bless me.Lots of good people around. Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-5489650598711504372008-02-07T13:09:00.000Z2008-02-07T13:50:58.810Z2008Got threats for not writing on my blog. Who reads this anyway?!Well, lots of interesting stuff has been happening.. as it tends to.Been enjoying winter stuff like snow and gales and rain and big waves and fire.Have spent quite a bit of time on trains, sometimes I chat with people.I met a man on a train..He had lots of financial advice: don't trust in property -but over long time periods like 100Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-30307572976091145322007-12-27T00:00:00.000Z2007-12-27T00:03:17.635ZHappy Christmas!I have been picking mushrooms.And pushing wheelchairs.And eating.Hope all well.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-20227978211653111262007-12-18T12:31:00.000Z2007-12-18T12:34:45.764ZWas looking at a war memorial and thinking:If I decide to fight for our empire against their empire, I'll just meet and destroy myself coming in the opposite direction.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-87461121684137357132007-12-07T14:39:00.000Z2007-12-07T14:41:51.569Z"The general fact is simple. Poetry is sane because it floats easily in an infinite sea; reason seeks to cross the infinite sea, and so make it finite. The result is mental exhaustion.. ..The poet only asks to get his head into the heavens. It is the logician who seeks to get the heavens into his head. And it is his head that splits."-G.K.ChestertonTomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-60949755703631780812007-11-24T18:44:00.000Z2007-11-24T18:51:04.058ZThere's frozen puddles in the gutters here now.They (we) discovered a new species of tree. Apparently it only grows on the Isle of Arran.Lost 6-1 last night (I came on as a sub and slightly flukily scored our (only) goal with my first touch of the game).International football this week with similarly unsuccessful set of results.Been reading 'The Cloud of Unknowing' on the number 42 bus.Happy Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-5812911422812655762007-11-10T12:43:00.000Z2007-11-10T13:23:11.713ZPlayed a rare 11 a-side football match last night.We won 8-4 despite going 1-0 down in the first 30seconds. Came back from 2-1 down to go 8-2 up at one point. I played left midfield. David had a good game in goal.Broughton Cosmos ... 8 : 4 ... InverleithDingwall 6, 20, 67................. Jones 1, 93,Kirby 39, 52,......................... Calder 15,Smith 49, 63,........................... RiordanTomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-42859787008489714502007-11-08T10:40:00.000Z2007-11-10T13:10:53.488ZIllusions of grandeur?S: Do you think there's any chance you sometimes take yourself too seriously.T: [Smile] Of course, but maybe most people don't take themselves seriously enough.What if we do matter?"If everyone's special, no one is." -just shows a major lack of imagination."There is no way of telling people they are walking round shining like the sun."-Henri Nouwen"You grow up the day you Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-21129938723160663982007-10-29T09:11:00.000Z2007-11-10T13:01:36.924ZAUTUMNHave been on the roads tracks and waves a bit these past few weeks.. And lived in some stunning situations. Kinda stopped taking photographs/notes for a bit..It is my experience that the longer I live, the more disastrously unjust, cruel, desperate, insecure, and destructive, I find this collective experience of life on earth to be.It is my experience that the longer I live the more Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-25651089691752329442007-09-12T22:24:00.000+01:002007-09-12T22:56:30.695+01:00European Championship Qualifying : Group B Table12 September 2007 22:19..............................P......W.....D.......L.......F.......A.......GD....PTS1..Scotland.............9......7.......0.......2.......17.......7.......10......212..Italy....................9......6.......2.......1.......15.......7.......8........203..France................9......6.......1.......2.......15.......3.......12Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-39493109045344368412007-08-13T10:50:00.000+01:002007-08-13T11:07:54.452+01:00Whatever the future holds.Clue 4: Learning to live on the land.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-3396255754191968902007-08-12T10:48:00.000+01:002007-08-13T11:03:15.075+01:00From the trundling Radio2 lorry cab, to the banging trance tunes in the speeding party car of the geordie girls, tin of strongbow handed to me as the sun set.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-85028928456756567002007-08-11T10:46:00.000+01:002007-08-13T10:47:38.033+01:00On our hillside the pianist plays and flames leap from the burning desk and scorch the surrounding grass.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-31458863286758796232007-08-10T10:45:00.000+01:002007-08-13T10:48:47.816+01:006 miles barefoot along the stunning ridge of hills.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-14542584747710479012007-08-09T00:49:00.000+01:002007-08-13T10:48:27.636+01:00He's an artist. Our job is to be a safety buffer between him and the public.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-7046125399506544442007-08-08T10:40:00.000+01:002007-08-13T10:48:08.252+01:00I ran to the door of the bank to find 20 monkeys leaping and howling, filling the room. My tripping friend was spinning on his back on the floor trying to bring them down with an invisible gun. This won't help my attempts to calm him back to reality. The monkeys made off with all the money.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-14569942608541975902007-08-06T10:37:00.000+01:002007-08-13T10:40:26.807+01:00This is my living room. This is where I sleep. On this circle of sofas on the side of this hill by this big oak tree.Making tea for strangers under a starry sky.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-28481839218643017252007-08-03T10:31:00.000+01:002007-08-13T10:54:31.661+01:00Trusting the high speed steering of a 5 year old through the trees.Winning lots of prizes at the local horticultural show.On a pilgrimage to visit my own family.More hitch hike lessons: in botany and blues music.A convertable accross a muddy field,And clinging on, pillion on a powerful bike.Building yurts and fires.Recent memory.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-71711386437770882152007-08-01T10:26:00.000+01:002007-08-13T10:53:14.606+01:00There are leeches in the green diving pond.That's ok.I'm enjoying the physical overlap between myself and these ecosystems in which I am living: to be scratched by the grass, coated in dust, baked in the sun, immersed in the pond, crawled over by ants, and fed from the trees.'If you were to write a book, what would it be about?'-TabeaTomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-84652671955135144382007-07-24T13:34:00.000+01:002007-08-13T10:59:24.167+01:00Sat round fire cooking fish from the lake we were swimming in with the folk musicians who we met hitch hiking who are now playing incredible music under so many many stars with the chorus of frogs in the night.Eating a peach that I just picked off the tree that is growing outside this abandoned house that we just climbed into through the window hidden behind a vine because there is an electricityTomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-18756880989688159822007-07-17T11:47:00.000+01:002007-07-17T12:16:25.554+01:00Up in the rainclouds.Down under the loch.In a paperwork office.On the shopping centre floor.In the purple sunset sea,Under the red and black cliff castle silhouette.On the football pitch.Among the chilli plants.now pilgrimage season..Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-41794963566161488902007-07-06T18:06:00.000+01:002007-07-06T18:07:23.175+01:00Spent some days walking very slowly through steep sided valleys in torrential rain..Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-183864197668176542007-06-25T13:43:00.000+01:002007-06-25T13:48:35.103+01:00sometimes it is light all night.sailing past vast cliffs."When God made time, he made plenty of it."-an Orcadian man.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-38323356007281662612007-05-22T21:06:00.000+01:002007-05-22T21:38:03.758+01:00post 300.so the building just got stormed by 6 teenagers throwing pancakes, we chatted.i've been walking the streets,meeting old friends,and playing some violent game a bit like American football but with a giant exercise ball.duelled with burning sticks in the night, catapaulted rocks across the valley, learnt about bonsai trees, and slept in a barn.Skidded round junctions on mountain roads, Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-8890211295174090402007-05-03T18:58:00.000+01:002007-05-03T19:00:53.840+01:00"It's amazing what you can achieve when you are so remote you can't hear people's discouragement." -Dan the successful Northumbrian chilli farmerTomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-11406750946220351122007-04-28T21:31:00.000+01:002007-04-28T21:37:29.612+01:00"The writers of history have seldom noted the importance of land use. They seem not to have recognised that the destinies of most of man's empires and civilisations were determined largely by the way the land was used." -Dale and Carter: 'Topsoil and Civilisation' (1955)Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-305690890001928782007-04-09T12:38:00.000+01:002007-04-09T13:03:33.747+01:00If you time it just right, you can topple a crouching rat with the gentlest push.Snow patches around the mountain summits but bare feet above them on springy sun warmed grass, glorious. Good to visit higher levels of sky.Falling though the heavy high volume industrial electronic crystalline music sinking down towards asleep.Hitched a lift with a guy who has rescued among other people, David Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-59675169850326711612007-03-30T17:44:00.000+01:002007-03-30T17:53:56.070+01:00In the 6ish hours between high tide and low tide (or vice versa) the water doesn't flow evenly, It turns gradually, then flows heavier and then eases up again before turning back. And we're currently at that point in the year between the 6ish monthly low and high tides of light, where strange strong currents of the light come streaming powerfully past you and can dislodge your footing or spin Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-26343600698709095802007-03-28T12:35:00.000+01:002007-03-28T12:45:22.592+01:00This week there are lots of animals around, and I've met some great people, walked in a sunny park, made tea on a fire, and slept in a tree.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-32179625260492639242007-03-23T18:40:00.000Z2007-03-23T18:41:35.807ZApparently the mouse came home in the old lady's shopping.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-61269400909792753852007-03-19T13:26:00.000Z2007-03-28T12:45:48.183+01:00bowls of porridge and vermicelli on the 8 bus.urbanmonklife recommends: exhibition: by David Martin, at Royal Scottish Academy (building with big pillars on Princes Street, Edinburgh (at the bottom of the mound)).Very very very good. (and FREE)see link: davem (on right side of page) for more of the story.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-67234384381011227112007-03-09T17:56:00.000Z2007-03-21T13:16:52.161ZOut of nowhere local mosque curries gone blazingly spicy.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-1172588342006378552007-02-27T14:53:00.000Z2007-02-27T14:59:02.020Z"If you are coming to help me, you are wasting yourtime. But if you are coming because your liberation isbound with mine, then let us work together." -An Aborigine Woman.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-1171982683433858512007-02-20T14:36:00.000Z2007-02-20T14:44:43.446Zso i don't seem to have so much to say in 2007 so far..I heard that the weight of humans on the planet is about the same as the weight of ants.I've just been running the word-taps every once in a while to help stop the pipes freezing.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-1171126595617411642007-02-10T16:52:00.000Z2007-02-10T16:56:35.630Zmore sleetmore drizzlehappy with bothTomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-1170780593042055872007-02-06T16:48:00.000Z2007-02-06T16:49:53.053Z"In times of profound change, the Learners inherit the earth. While the Learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists."-Al RogersTomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-1170331439845303422007-02-01T12:03:00.000Z2007-02-01T12:03:59.856ZSeveral killer whales in the Firth of Forth at the moment.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-1167687512426243772007-01-01T21:37:00.000Z2007-01-01T21:38:32.436ZFurthermoreTomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-1167263983672615662006-12-27T23:54:00.000Z2006-12-28T00:03:53.456ZHaven't seen the sun for several days, but today there was at least some variation in the grey ceiling. Went for a walk under the motorway today, lots of mud, mud and cloud and cold water. Lots that actually is good."There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio. Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." -HamletTomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-1166722464291513052006-12-21T16:51:00.000Z2006-12-21T17:39:50.630ZI stood with my back to the cliffs of the boundary of conciousness; the wind farm turning behind me built in the stream of the updrafts coming from beyond and below them.Listening to the muffled roar of the sea swell hitting this solid continent hundereds of feet beneath the salty cliff edge soil and it's clumps of seathrift. Fulmars throwing themselves up through the gusts and sliding out to seaTomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-1165257362761875422006-12-04T18:32:00.000Z2006-12-04T18:36:02.780Z"Our systems always have errors, but this is good 'since it is always the errors of our systems that have released us from the tyranny of our systems.'"-W.BerryTomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-1165161721810531412006-12-03T15:24:00.000Z2006-12-03T16:02:01.856ZThe sky is watery murk. It swipes you, and squeezes its coldness into the stones. met a guy who has written a book on magic mushrooms, based on 17 years of practical experience. and lots of other interesting people that night under the railway arches.and walking the windy postcoded roads of Aberdeen.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-1164031414626310912006-11-20T13:59:00.000Z2006-11-20T15:07:01.453Zin places wading through the dazzling soft snow up near the top of the mountain surrounded by the winter blue sky.sometimes it's obvious that the goodness is everywhere -it's just about letting it soak into us.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-1163593334823464462006-11-15T12:12:00.000Z2006-11-15T12:22:15.616Z"So teenagers.. you are the most screwed up and worst in Europe. You are unhealthy, promiscuous, binge drinking, violent, yobs. We are suspicious and afraid of you. Basically you're crap."-The UK Media(my paraphrase of a wave of media articles following the release of new statistics from the Institute of Public Policy Research)Some things I've been learning are that:What we look for is what we Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-1163160512101504642006-11-10T12:07:00.000Z2006-11-10T12:17:52.640ZToday there is scaffolding blowing in the wind.Last night old Telford College South campus, was proper blazing. In at least 3 places. The moon has been making good silhouettes too.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-1162305538932380812006-10-31T14:36:00.000Z2006-10-31T14:38:58.946Z"If you can specify exactly where you're going, you are not learning." -Mike HigtonTomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-1162148207570960522006-10-30T00:10:00.000Z2006-10-29T19:00:54.013ZI like the way there is music on the buses now, from the mobile phones at the back of the top deck.The other day the hip-hop was so perfect with the dusk rain of Leith when a rock got thrown against the side as we passed.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-1162142224256714962006-10-29T17:11:00.000Z2006-10-29T17:22:46.166ZThere was an explosion in the road and the firework spiralled whining towards the front of the car that had slammed on its brakes a few feet away, at the last minute it veered away and exploded with a loud bang and a big cloud of smoke. The people ran away.Another one bounced off the front of our building flew back over the fence exploding in the middle of a group of our friends who had thrown Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-1161610181822438042006-10-23T14:18:00.000+01:002006-10-23T14:30:32.420+01:00With two friends from Sweden, gate-crashed a lecture on 'The History of Science':'In the late 16th century there was a major crisis of thought in Europe. Every university on the continent had been basing its teaching on the philosophy of Aristotle; but with the rediscovery of the writings of other Greek philophers, and the realisation that Aristotle himself wasn't even that highly regarded in theTomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-1161011657341043492006-10-16T16:05:00.000+01:002006-10-16T16:14:17.360+01:00We really could be a whole lot more creative with housing all our friends in the shelters available. Thanks to those who are living this. Now we just need to find some way of creating stable flexible employment.. (any ideas?)Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-1160732924890599692006-10-13T10:39:00.000+01:002006-10-23T14:18:21.230+01:00There is lots of copper piping to be had at our local demolition site, just bring a wheelie bin. And wear black in the night.Lots of mushrooms in the hills.And the starlings are returning.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-1158144552999069942006-09-13T11:48:00.000+01:002006-09-13T11:49:13.000+01:00Sometimes re-enchantment bubbles out of the ground.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-1157726132675814002006-09-12T21:35:00.000+01:002006-09-13T11:48:36.926+01:00This frail 'order' is an imposter, but our desperate insecurities herd us to pay it homage.So many precious persons selling ourselves to a stage set reality –built of our understanding, our ingenuity, our aspirations, a craved construction to which we devote our trust.Oh its so fucking safe to be the people who are right, the ‘special ones’ ‘in the know’ surrounded by the sea of ignorant masses..Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-1157725933397887752006-09-08T15:29:00.000+01:002006-09-08T16:12:56.356+01:00The words were harsh but I could not ignore them:Your influence can brainwash you.Wealth can rob your life.Insured security can leave you scared sleepless at night.Caution can paralyse.Knowledge can make you a proud fool.And success can leave you in ruins.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-1157545657119790562006-09-06T13:24:00.000+01:002006-09-06T13:30:30.040+01:00Picking our way through the slippery weed and discarded plastic, in the drizzly grey dusk, for a total immersion in the Granton manky-ness where God is.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-1157458371853585242006-09-05T13:11:00.000+01:002006-09-05T13:12:51.870+01:00The greatest palaces of luxury will crumble into painful splinters and shards.Fortifications be turned to beseige.And towers crush their defenders.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5812737.post-1157379624484930912006-09-04T15:18:00.000+01:002006-09-04T15:20:24.496+01:00"Our culture is competent to implement almost anything, and to imagine almost nothing."-Walter BruggemannTomnoreply@blogger.com