pick pocket

I saw a pick pocket the other day, round the corner from my home! shocker. he was actually running alongside a woman as she cycled along with her little bag over her shoulder. he was leaning over and trying to un-zip the bag as he ran along beside her. By the time i worked out what he was doing they were so far down the street i couldn't do anything, which begs the question, what does one do it this case? shout "stop! thief! and embark on a chase hopefully gaining the assistance of another member of the public?

In this country I'm not sure what i would do really, were I quick enough off the mark. I think I would say something, but I saw others better placed to help (ie, native speakers, also on bikes) who also noticed this event and who did nothing, just sort of watched to 'see what would happen' perhaps. Or maybe they were also so stunned that the victim and persuant were gone before they had a change to act. Who knows.

I have never had my bag picked (except that time in Brussels train station when they sole my sisters camera from my bag) but am certainly much more aware of it now.

Flickr or Picasa?

there are so many online photo album sites, each with a different approach. I did a bit of photo-box, to which my mum and sister are devotees, but got bored with it. Then I did an album on Flickr, but abandoned it when I started my blog and decided to commit to Picasa, because it has the same login as blogger, which is quite a daft reason, although it is good. But now I'm having a new dilema, I have re-discovered Flickr and want to defect.

I did some work recently, which required using some images that I don't already have, and I found loads of fantastic images on Flickr, from peoples albums, that I could 'borrow' How cool is that? I know it is a big debate, the whole creative property thing, but with Flickr you can choose whether to allow others to use your images or not. Now, I am certain that my friend HCC would be AGAHST at my keenness to join this gigantic worldwide photo give-away, but I take heaps of mediocre pictures, because I love the colour or whatever, and then just squirrel them away on my hard drive to little effect.

I want to share them.

So I want to defect, but have got a lot of pictures in Picasa, which is a bit annoying, I suppose I shall have to leave them there like a time capsule. It's the unfinished book scenario again, I shall just have to live with this one too.

write more read more

Every time I think to myself 'i should write on my blog', the thought is immediately followed by the thoughts - in this order - 'it will sound boring' and 'I haven't written for so long it would be pointless' followed by the questions ' why have I even got a blog?' and 'who reads it anyway?'

Well, now it is the time to either do it or kill it, as 'the blog' is presently just another cluttery thing in my head. I have woken up this morning- absurdly early - as can be the norm - with the very clear thought that I should write more. Not just write this blog, but generally writing anything and everything. It's good practice. being a design person, I generally stick to drawing or cutting and pasting (both in the IT sense and the junior school sense.) A friend told me recently she is writing all her memories down, as maybe she will get around to writing a book one day. Frankly neither of these have ever occurred to me to do, and although I have never considered myself a genius or even vaguely talented writer, I can at least write, spell, recount a story with correct(ish) grammar and a modicum of humor. All these plus the fact that a very excellent journalist I know and respect, did in fact compliment me on my blog once, mean that I have virtually talked myself back into being a diligent writer of blogs and other things.

Of course, reading can help to improve ones writing, at least, I think so. I find that reading a good book can actually inspire me to write. Perhaps my lack of writing is due in part to my lax reading habit, and dull addiction to suduko puzzles. I occasionally buy a book that I think I should read, or that has an interesting title, in the hope that I will read it and become re-inspired, but when it comes to the crunch I find myself whiling away my precious spare time watching DVD's of random BBC drama's, browsing through facebook, or doing those darn suduko puzzles. such a waste!! My very good friend JB is a huge reader, as is MJVB, and I am hugely envious of their book lists. I think I am from now on making a resolution to read more as well.

brilliant, it's decided. Mr V. will laugh at me for being so strict with myself (as he reaches for the remote control.) I have 2 books to read, and I will start one today.

I do have an as yet unexplained fear that that the book I will read next (this applies to any book) will be rubbish, and I will not enjoy it and waste my time reading it. The solution seems simple - just put it down or give it away, in any case stop reading it. However, I feel some sense of polite obligation to read that persons book, after all they have gone to the effort of writing it. The books I have ditched in the past have a habit of staying with me, mentally. They aggravate the back of my mind, as an unfinished task. The hobbit, Terry Pratchett, and Two Caravans, all came recommended, but have been left mid way (I think I ditched The Hobbit on Page 1) and yet I remember them even now with a small sense of guilt. I think I need to let them go... maybe stop worrying about such insignificant things! If I ditch 1 in every 10 books I read, at least i have read 9 good books. And, thank goodness I'm not a book critic - then I would probably have to read loads of drivel.

I will keep you posted!