There are days where I’m filled with rage. Today was one of them. Of course, I know the reason is that it’s all hormonal at this time of my life. Another part of me is so bloody tired having to justify everything all the time. I can’t take the bullshit anymore. I mentioned to a […]
First Carbon, Now Silicon
I majored in Organic Chemistry (with Honours) and I’ve only just realised that the element just below Carbon is Silicon….and that’s how the world is going. One shift down in the Periodic Table of Elements, yet one big massive move for mankind. I stumbled upon this mesmerising video today inspired by Yuval Noah Harari. What […]
Flaubert: Quotes for Today’s World
I’m reading this book by Viv Groskop called Au Revoir Tristesse and it amuses me. The author, a Francophile who has spent years learning the language, living in France and reading their classics in French (an inspiring goal for me if I ever get to that point), summarises the lessons learned that each of these […]
Enjoying Puzzles
Recently when I was at the supermarket doing the shopping with my husband (a rare occurrence as I hate supermarkets and it’s the only time we get angry with each other because he’s anal about how food is stacked correctly in the trolley), I decided to buy a new puzzle book. Now we have heaps […]
How to Use Stories in Viva Engage for Business
Recently Microsoft announced the rebranding of Yammer (Microsoft’s Enterprise Social Network) to Viva Engage and I wrote my thoughts about this in my blog post Yammer & Viva Engage: Same? Same? The Stand Out New Features are Storyline and Stories Although early days yet, two of the stand out features in this platform are Storyline […]
Top Tools for Learning 2022
It’s that time of the year again to submit for Jane Hart’s Top Tools for Learning. I’ve been doing this every year since 2012 she created this annual program which has now become a record of how the tools for my personal learning have changed over the years. This year has been a complete flip […]
Going Out on a Limb
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that in my 25+ years of working, I’ve finally reached the conclusion that building a learning culture in organisations where there’s a free flow of knowledge, experiences and opportunities for relationship building and co-creation is impossible. Organisational systems, traditional thinking and most of all, egos […]
We Live In Hope
Yes please. Please Facebook, please be like TikTok. This great post by Cal Newport, link above hopefully spells out the demise of Facebook where TikTok becomes the poison pill that “cripples” Facebook. We live in hope. “This all points to a possible future in which social-media giants like Facebook may soon be past their long […]
Writing in the Dark
What do you do when you have an idea and it comes to you in the middle of the night? Too easy. Switch on the light and write it down on a piece of paper on your bed stand or tap it out onto your phone. Well back in Lewis Carroll’s time, you can imagine […]
Back Yard, Be Gone!
Some time ago I wrote about a back yard project that we would like to do. It’s been ages in the making due to COVID and lockdowns but after a whole year of waiting, our land doing of our back garden has begun! If you want to read the story, check it out below 👇 […]
Notification Literacy
In the post, “Some Thoughts on ‘Home’ Pages for Individuals Within Communities and Social Networks” by Doug Belshaw, explains he’s “thinking out loud” in his post on a solution that allows him not to feel overwhelmed when returning to community or social network sites and having to face an onslaught of notifications that cause him […]
Digital Art That Goes On & On
This is a fascinating video that had me mesmerised. Andrew showed it to me on his phone as I think it came up on his Facebook feed. So I searched for the clip to delightedly find that it has a French narration. C’est mignon et magnifique en même temps. J’espère que vous l’apprécierez.
Book Review on The Bookseller’s Tale
A new book review is now on on my YouTube channel if you’re interested. This one was fabulous because it was written by a bookseller who collated and curated all sorts of different stories and facts about books, book collectors and book stores. A great read.
Writing My CV
One of the things I’ve slowly been doing is updating my resume (or CV) as I hadn’t touched it since 2016. Really, there’s no rhyme or reason for it as I am thinking of my future at the moment and considering when would be the best time to ‘retire’. Part of me thinks I have […]
Yammer & Viva Engage: Same? Same?
Yes. Okay you can stop reading now. Seriously, it didn’t take long for the new announcement by Microsoft for people to start pinging me at work and on the phone (thankfully, I’m off social media or else my notifications would have been out of control). “Helen, you’re a Yammer fan, what do you make of […]
LinkedIn Gone to Sleep
Yesterday I was chatting with a friend through texts (I’m doing a lot of that now) and it was mentioned about ‘hibernating LinkedIn’. I hadn’t investigated this feature so this morning, I did that too. It’s not exactly permanently deleting but it just hides your profile until such a time that you need to use […]
Knitting Glenan
I love some of the websites of knitting designers. One in particular, is Kate Davies Designs based in Scotland. I’ve written about this pattern, Glenan in another post here in my blog but thought I’d share my progress to date. As you can see it’s ticking along. This is my second project (I’m also knitting […]
Idealist, Be Gone!
If there was a spray I could douse myself in, it would be “Idealist, Be Gone!” I’m at an age where I’m doing a lot of soul searching and made the conclusion that my idealism has failed me. You can’t get to this age and escape it unfortunately as you deal with big problems in […]
It’s So Cold Here!
My Brother Jack Awards 2022
The MBJ award is a literary prize that our local Council awards to locals of all age groups who live or work in the area. Every year, they award prizes for short story and poetry categories and every year, I make some excuse not to submit an entry. This morning, over a cup of coffee […]