Fear Itself

I haven’t done this before. Last week I quoted from Roosevelt and as part of checking the accuracy of my quotation reviewed his inaugural address, delivered on the fourth of March 1933. That’s coming up on 77 years ago. I was struck by the relevance of his comments, of the stark religous flavour of an address given by a man so often buoyant and amiable; with broad strokes Roosevelt illustrated how he intended to work as president and identified clearly and with great perception the nature of the challenges faced then, and, of course with the benefit of present sight, now.

Trepidation

I started a new job this morning. After about two and a half years in the old one it’s time to move on. In case you’re not aware, I have been working as a Senior Monitoring Officer for the London Borough of Newham since 2007. Newham is an East London borough situated just North of Thames as it winds its way past the Millenium Dome, the Surrey Docks, now Canary Wharf, and out to sea. SMO is a little bit of a misnomer; in many ways I served to provide performance information and related data so those of you in the public sector will know all about that.

But what am I doing now?

Shrove

Today was pancake day.

I’m not going to say a great deal about it really. Only that initially I forgot all about it. When I remembered I quickly learned a very important lesson.

Portraits

You may remember that earlier in the year I mentioned CreativePhotogenic. What I said before was all true; now I have more to say.

Fun with helium balloons

In the nineties, there were all sorts of warnings associated with breathing Helium gas. It’s pretty common stuff so despite the risk of blue lips or passing out everyone has had a go at the squeaky voice gas. Everyone that is apart from Joe Pasquale, who from birth never needed any.  In short anyone who is anyone at all has given in and had a go at some point. For most of us it’s before we even make it to being teenagers. For some, well, it lasts a lot longer.

Photography in London

At a friends daughter’s birthday party I was introduced to Andrei Razumov. For a while I thought he was just another parent but when the usual preliminaries were out of the way he produced one of those nondescript black bags which always contains a gem of a camera or some other technological marvel. I hadn’t realised before, but the practised ease with which a professional handles their camera and equipment is readily apparent. I didn’t need to be told that Andrei was good at his craft. As soon as he started looking for angles and backgrounds I realised that this man clearly had the photographers eye for colour and composition too.

Erewhon

Time Off

I took the day off today. I’m changing jobs soon and so have four days of leave above those which I can carry over to my new role. Having to take the day off was rough. I sat at home, practically the whole day weeping because I wasn’t able to be at work.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Just a short entry today. I thought I would take a moment to praise the many and varied virtues of the humble peanut butter cookie. These wonderful treats, best served warm with a cool glass of milk (Semi-skimmed if you are concerned about fat of course) are easy to bake miracles of comfort.

Dark Fire – by CJ Sansom

The second of fifty-two books I will read this year is Dark Fire. A cajoling crime novel set in Henry VIII’s sixteenth century London. Falling from the pen of Christopher Sansom, himself qualified to practice law in England and Wales, the plot follows humble, honest, and yet streetwise barrister Matthew Shardlake as he investigates a murder and the disappearance of the eponymous Dark Fire. You take a curious character, hump and all, and drop him in the thick of the historic plots against Thomas Cromwell.