Blog Archives

Keeping faith

There’s always much activity in the first couple of days after a course. As well as the usual admin, there’s the electronic bustle of people sharing photos, expressing appreciation, acknowledging achievements and cementing new friendships. This year has been no … Continue reading

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Temple of Learning

Today I’m en route for Aracena, an hour north of Seville, and our tenth successive year running the Dark Angels advanced course. We’ve grown to love the sprawling red-roofed finca in the mountains, the early sun burning off the mist … Continue reading

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Feeling it?

This week my Seattle writer friend and newly fledged Dark Angels associate, Richard Pelletier, has picked up the quill with an inspirational post about where writers themselves find inspiration. Are you feeling it? he writes. Inspiration is the soul of your … Continue reading

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Mexican mercy

Two days ago I sat in a tent in Edinburgh’s Charlotte Square with 100 other people, listening to a conversation between three Mexicans. One, the moderator, was an artist, Gabriel Orozco, who is Mexico’s leading cultural figure and has helped … Continue reading

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Family affair

Yesterday I went to visit Scotland’s oldest family-owned business. In their industrial unit in Auchtermuchty, Fife, they have a pair of iron beam scales (a simple weighing device) stamped with the date 1715. These are presumed to have been made … Continue reading

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Be prepared

It’s nearly book festival time again – by which I mean the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Every August, Charlotte Square Gardens sprout canvas and are transformed into a kind of intellectual carnival of some 800 events that seem between them … Continue reading

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Bamboo business

Earlier this week I went to hear a talk by a young neighbour who returned two weeks ago from a year-long, 15,000-mile cycle trip with a friend. Both recently qualified doctors, they had ridden from London to Singapore in aid … Continue reading

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Nudge, nudge

Until yesterday I had never heard of the government’s Behavioural Insights Team, otherwise known as the Nudge Unit. Last night I watched a news item about how they have been changing the way officials communicate with taxpayers and consumers to … Continue reading

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Finish your stuff

Thanks to everyone who responded so thoughtfully to last week’s post and my dilemma. The outcome was roughly two to one in favour of not singing the song at all, and most of those who thought it was still feasible … Continue reading

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Six-letter word

I have a dilemma. It involves a song and a six-letter word. It’s a song I’ve always loved, not just because of its melody and rolling New Orleans piano style, but because of its bitingly brilliant irony. The dilemma arises … Continue reading

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