rebelrebel: miscellany

Books

I'm not very clever when it comes to literature (but I know what I like etc.) so, once again, it's probably best to list just a few favourite authors (restricting myself to just one most recommended book for each of them) for now... you can look at my ever-expanding collection in its entirety on LibraryThing or see what I'm currently reading for the Essex Church book group too.

Spirituality

I suppose this refers to my "disorganised religion"... stuff beyond my Unitarian activities. Hurrah for the Brussats who have put together some great spirituality e-courses and this marvellous site which is a good source of inspirational quotes and other resources. I particularly like the philosophy they've adopted, of only reviewing things they actually like, so as to keep it positive.

I want to stand up for astrology here. So many people laugh it off but, at the very least, it's an interesting framework for delving into... archetypal stuff. I've got a lot out of astrology over the years, and as I populate my mental map of the zodiac with real people I've encountered, it becomes even more useful to me.

This might be a good moment to mention reiki too.

Music

Although I'm getting old, I do still enjoy a good pop tune, and I'm inclined to feel a deeper love for those pop stars whose outlook seems to overlap a little with my own. But there's nothing wrong with a good old-fashioned knees up. I'm not in the poppermost frame of mind at the moment so I'm just going to list those long-standing favourites that come to mind right now... Blur (and various offshoots), Teenage Fanclub, The Smiths, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Billy Bragg, Madness, Sigur Ros, The Rockingbirds, The Indigo Girls, Lush, David Bowie, Natacha Atlas, The Lilac Time, The Raincoats, Chas'n'Dave... and poptastic disco and dance music from just about any era.

TV and Radio

I probably watch a bit too much TV... but there's some comfort to be had from watching old re-runs of "Challenge Tommy Walsh", "Garden Highs", "How to be a Gardener", "Birding with Bill Oddie", and any number of other undemanding shows that I could probably recite in full given the number of times I've seen them. I do like to be home to see "Gardeners' World"... a much better way to spend a Friday evening than going to the pub or anything like that. Oh, and I do like watching CSI, espcially Gil Grissom. And I'm very fond of the Mighty Boosh.

Being old-fashioned, I do like a bit of Radio 4, as long as nothing too argumentative is going on. I've also been listening to the BBC World Service a lot lately (largely because it seems to give a better perspective on global issues than the standard UK media), and had got into the habit of listening to the reassuring tones of Frederick Dove on "Outlook" at midnight, but then they went and changed the schedules round so it doesn't suit me quite as much as it used to. I've thoroughly enjoyed listening to Oneword Radio over the last few years and was choked to find that it was closed down in January 2008. Occasionally I put the exceedingly undemanding "Chill" on for calming purposes. And on a Friday or Saturday night I often succumb to cheesiness and dance round my inner handbag to the Club Classics on Heart.

Family History

We've made a real effort to trace our family tree over the last few years and even forked out quite a few quid to access relevant census and index files online. It does seem to have paid off though... just one branch is proving tricky. So if anybody out there can tell me more about William Brackley (born 1886-ish) please do!

Day Job

At the moment I'm moving towards a portfolio career: a bit of web design and maintenance, a little bit of administrative work, some group facilitation perhaps, and hopefully something rather more artistic too... it may be too early to tell. I used to work as a research fellow at UCL and managed to get a few publications out... but I left in the autumn of 2007 in a leap of faith. Phew.