Pitcairn has a fascinating (and troubled) history. It has now passed a law (which I’m in favor of, by the way) for its 48 residents that applies to none of them.
“Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy.” ― W.B. Yeats
Oh hi, kittens. Where have I been, you ask? Well, first Dublin, then turning 29, then working on a project I can’t talk about, and then working 14+ hour days this week on another project I can’t even talk about. You see my difficulty in communications, yes?
No? I am in disgrace? Very well, I shall try to begin making it up to you immediately. My first offering is an extra long Friday Links post for your delectation. Tell me what you’re getting up to this weekend, or offer your harshest abuse at my neglect, in the comments!
I have so many thoughts about this story, it may have to form its own blog post, but I’m curious as to how US-based minions are thinking about it. Weigh in in the comments for me, please.
Moral of the story: “Wear comfortable shoes, square your shoulders, and walk like you’ve been sent to murder Captain America.”
And speaking of Avengers, Mark Ruffalo takes on the “I’m not a feminist” crowd, with some help from Libby Ann Bruce. One of my particular pet peeves is any phrase that begins, “I’m not a feminist, but…” and then goes on to make some point about parity of opportunity, education, and rights. Hate to break it to you…
Only Robinson Crusoe had everything done by Friday. ~Author Unknown
Let’s face it, this regular feature might move permanently to Saturday if recent trends are anything to go. Anyway, excuse the delay. Another long week at work has resulted in a tiny bit of brain fry and a weekend is required to clear out some of the cobwebs. Here are your links, add your own internet finds for the week in the comments, and let me know what you’re getting up to!
I knew multiple people who ran the London Marathon this year, alas none that dressed up.
Arguments began for the Supreme Court regarding the legality of same sex marriage this week and I’m going to be following the story closely. Living in a country where gay marriage is very much legal (with nary a hint of the apocalypse, I note), it’s interesting to watch this debate playing out from somewhat afar, as strongly as I feel on the subject.
The general election is next week here in Britain (America, let’s get on this, k? Two year campaigns are ridiculous) and we are preparing with the proper seriousness of thought.
Terribly amused by this site, currently taking over my Facebook feed. I might not always cooperate in photos, but it’s only a year off!
“There is no time for cut-and-dried monotony. There is time for work. And time for love. That leaves no other time.”
― Coco Chanel
Kittens, this was the week my new manager came onboard. And she’s lovely! She’s also wonderfully experienced and highly knowledgeable, and I know I’m going to like working with and for her tremendously. There’s a lot of structure she can put in place to support the projects we work on and I’m really looking forward to helping and learning.
Enough gushing! It was also a massively busy week since two of our directors were out of the country and one worked a partial week, so a lot of the onboarding orientation fell to me. There were also the usual schedule changes (construction is a fickle business, and luxury construction doubly so) and a lot of late hours. All for a good cause, though. There are a lot of new projects coming up that are partially daunting since I’m having to do work that I’ve never done before, but pretty exhilarating for the same reason.
Here are your links, tell me what you’re getting up to this weekend in the comments!
“This is the real secret of life — to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.” ― Alan W. Watts
Another busy week and I literally worked myself sick (again) and lost my voice as of this morning. But on the whole I’m pleased with how my projects are moving along, freelance is becoming much more manageable, and the weather is gorgeous. There’s nothing to complain about! Here are your links, tell me what you’re up to this weekend.
“Hashbrown, no filter.” And if you’re not watching Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, get educated!
Food for thought. Since I stopped following most of the parts of the internet related to mormonism (affectionately referred to as the Bloggernacle), it’s been interesting to see how things that pop up in my Facebook feed, for instance, have changed. Our world is built on algorithms and information is no different. When I was immersed in one community and its conflicts, it’s news and conversations and events was practically all I saw. When I stepped away, it was eye opening to see how comparatively small that amount of information had been. And it was even more interesting to see how the algorithms of information created echo chambers. In spite of the torrential flow of data out there, unprecedented in human history, I think media has allowed us to isolate ourselves pretty easily with those with whom we already tend to agree.
“If you’ve done 6 impossible things this morning, why not round it off with breakfast at Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe?” ― Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
A day late but hopefully not a dollar/pound short. My week consisted of a series of increasingly difficult tasks that at one point veered far out of realm of probability before I managed to drag them back. And I was not alone, the whole of the office team was well and truly snowed under and tempers were high, eyes suspiciously bright, and everyone was ready to burst. In short, a weekend was needed. Desperately. Here are your links and tell me what you’re getting up to!
At least London has decided it’s spring!
On my never ending quest to build a work wardrobe that is functional, easy to wear, well edited, and doesn’t break the bank…I’ve thought about this question more than once.
I’m a fan of the declutter and “less is more” movement, but this piece had me rolling with laughter. Let’s face it, we all know someone who takes it stuff like this too far. Heck, Gwenyth Paltrow has built a brand on it!
Sometimes I don’t think we comprehend how incomprehensible it was, not that long ago, that practically everyone in the developed world (and a surprising number of the undeveloped world) would have personal phones. That we carry around with us. In our pockets.
“Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future. Jobs, family, employers, and friends can exist one day without any one of us, and if our egos permit us to confess, they could exist eternally in our absence. Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us.” ― Maya Angelou, Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now
It’s Friday, and a long bank holiday weekend so I’m on vacation. Adios, kids!
Because I am still fascinated by the whole arc of this story.
It’s been a while since we’ve had vintage photos with colour on the blog, let’s amend that!
I have very little patience for people who bang on about how much more horrible things are these days than [insert time period here]. Sure, we’ve definitely got some issues as a species, but as a collective, we’re doing demonstrably better than we ever have.
“A good half of the art of living is resilience.” ― Alain de Botton
Woof, this week. The training wheels are off, kittens. Development, project management, and construction planning is such an interesting industry because there are so many moving parts going on at any given moment. Our project managers conduct architects, artists, constructions workers, heritage societies, politicians, contractors, suppliers, and truly heroic amounts of paperwork. Though slightly less harrowing, working on marketing means that I don’t get to focus on just one project. I’m on all of them, all the time. It’s a lot of fun and the good kind of hard work, but there inevitably comes a moment each week where I feel like I’ve put together a really solid timeline or project and got all the moving pieces into a beautiful line…only to have one tiny thing that no one can control because it’s a provider or external system fall out of the row and take my meticulously laid plans down with it. I knew I’d “arrived” last week when a major timeline was pretty significantly impacted by months and my reaction was not to panic but to sigh, make a cup of tea, and just crack on with some solution options. Britishisation is almost complete.
Pictured: world domination plans for the week falling slightly through. Dealing with it.
Here are your links, tell me what you’re up to this weekend in the comments!
Perhaps telling you that Katarina and i have legitimately speculated on turning a good portion of 15th century British history into a totally fictitious web series, set loosely in a modern day high school or some place correctly hormone charged and overly-dramatic…will explain why I found this hilarious. No?
And while we’re on Buzzfeed, apparently I’m “West London Posh.” Ha. I’m a quarter WASP, a quarter Slovak, and half who knows, thank you very much!
Downton Abbey has little redeeming value anymore besides being a well-costumed soap opera. So here’s an interview with the costumer! I make no apologies for my continued plan on turning into the Dowager Countess in my old age.
There’s historical treasure everywhere. One of my favorite memories of the PD was being told to bin a ton of paperwork only to discover it was an unintentional archive of information about my alma mater from the perspective of its resident law enforcement office going straight back to the 50s.
A bit of a downer, but there’s this from the world of Mormon news. Whether you agree or disagree with the actions, this has been an interesting year for excommunications in the community and it’s worth having a conversation about why. You know, if you’re into that sort of conversation. If not, just ignore it.
“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language And next year’s words await another voice.” ― T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets
Well, hey there, well-beloved-but-desperately-neglected minions! We’re back from the States, back at work, and back at the grindstone. Let’s catch up. Jeff has dived straight into studying for his next round of exams (we’re down to less than a year of this slog), and I’m back freelancing and in the world of London luxury development. The first couple of week of a new year are always a bit hectic, but we might be setting a new record for post-holiday self-destruction. Luckily, there a few things keeping us sane.
We finally coughed up the money for a shiny new laptop that is causing me to coo, “the precious…” every time I open its sleek lid. It’s long overdue. I’ve been using a refurbished laptop we bought for about $400 at least three years ago that’s been getting increasingly clunky and hard to manage over the last year. When I couldn’t have two windows open at the same time without the whole thing freezing, I knew it was time to let Marvin go to his rest. Let’s just hope all my image and music files transfer over alright.
The intrepid Caitlin Kelly is in town and crashing at our place this week as she journeys around the city, conducts research and interview for assignments, and generally puts us all to shame with her pace. Last weekend, completely backward due to jetlag, we all went out on the town and had some much needed adventuring. We ate good food, had great conversations, and did some truly impressive vintage shopping. Caitlin’s got the touch for spotting a deal, let me tell you!
Less immediately important, but still pretty vital, I finally got my local library card and might actually have made headway in getting a British bank account. Long story, will rant later. In the meantime, I’m putting together budget proposals of numbers so high as to give me a nosebleed, working with a grade-A creative team and a world class illustrator, and checking off new items from my list with satisfying ticks. Here are your links, catch me up on your holidays and tell me what you’re up to this weekend in the comments!
Enjoy a shot from me on assignment in Notting Hill. Much as I whine, life’s pretty decent, kittens.
I barely use my iPod for music anymore, it’s all podcasts through and through, so this list from Medium about interesting podcasts from 2014 (minus Serial, because obviously) hooked me.
/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3811990/same-sex%20marriage.gif)
Small Dog Syndrome 