Life in the Cloud

In the corner of the room, stacked neatly is a pile of colourful DVD’s. I can’t remember the last time I bought a DVD but it’s been a while. In the hall, stacked in neat piles over three shelves are my CD collection. I literally haven’t listened to any of them for years.  On weekends, I walk past and give them a casual dust and nothing else.

My bookshelves contain tomes from the classics to Kate Mosse (which is probably the last book I bought a couple of years ago). The rest are made up of travel guides art books, history, factual, biographies and theatre texts. I want to keep them all but I haven’t bought anything new for quite some time and don’t intend to add to the collection any further. Not unless it’s a present or something totally visually which I fall in love with and want to have on my coffee table. Their brightly coloured spines all lined up in height order (I’m anal like that) displaying countless different typefaces. Again, they get dusted on the weekend.

So now I’m practically living in a museum, surrounded by items which used to excite me. Although their content still does, their physical form, less so. It seems everything I need for entertainment now sits easily on my lap or in my hand in the form of a shiny laptop, tablet or mobile device. I’m living in the cloud.

My music is either on Spotify, iTunes, or Lastfm. For movies I use LoveFilm, Blinkbox or Netflix and for all things TV related, I have iPlayer or make use of all the other catch up services out there.

The Kindle now serves all my reading needs but I haven’t fallen out of love with the printed matter completely. Far from it as I like nothing more than spending my lunchtime in Waterstone’s or Foyles. There is no greater escape in life to be had from wondering around a book shop and breathing in that heavy scent of anticipation at what you might discover. I just don’t really purchase anything. A bookshop visiting Kindle lover. Surely an oxymoron?

To me this shift into digitisation is completely natural. Working in technology, checking out the latest gadget or the next big thing in social networking, I can see where the future is heading and as I see it, here are a few positives about digital living.

Less clutter and more space. As soon as I’ve digitised those CD’s, I’m selling them. I’ll have more space for shoes in the hall and shelf space for artwork. (I also have a lot of my artwork digitised… Just saying).

Entertainment on the go. Wherever you are, as long as you have a device you can watch those movies, read those books and listen to that music.

Sharing and communicating. It’s never been easier to share your passions, tastes and playlists with others.

But what about the negatives? The loss of the physical will always be a problem for some. The artwork on the dust jacket or CD case. Having a visible library around you gives away glimpses of your personality and tastes. The move towards ‘renting’ music and film online by paying monthly or yearly subscriptions, and that feeling of never really owning anything.  Oh and the biggest negative of all… Lack of internet connectivity can screw up your digital life.  Not everything is available offline.

People will probably always enjoy having a library full of books and shelves of DVD’s around them.  I’m just not sure if this will be the case for ever.

Sooner or later, we will all be walking around with our heads in the cloud.

 

I’m fickle with my Kindle

Last night I watched the most beautiful drama called The Thirteenth Tale on BBC One.  It’s a wonderful Gothic story about Vida Winter, an ageing successful novelist played by Vanessa Redgrave.  Winter has always been evasive about her past or at best, imaginative, leaving her early life shrouded in mystery.  So it comes as a huge surprise for biographer Margaret Lea, played by Olivia Coleman to receive a letter from Winter finally wanting to tell the truth about her early years.

Obviously, with every good drama I see on screen, I naturally want to know who wrote the screenplay or perhaps it was an adaptation?  Well in this case, yes it was an adaptation by an author called Diane Setterfield.  No sooner had the credits rolled I was on Kindle Books purchasing her next tome, Bellman and Black another Gothic spooky tale which I shall start reading tonight!

Which leads me onto what this post is really about.  Just how big is your Kindle library?  How many books have you actually bought and are just lined up waiting to be read?  How many have you bought in the 99p Kindle Daily Deal frenzy? How many of these will you probably never read?

If you have answered ‘loads’ to any or all of these questions, well you’re in good company.  I now (after Bellman & Black) have at least four chunky (metaphorically) books awaiting my attention.  Doesn’t sound like many?  That’s because I have a further 17 which I have moved into a category called ‘Dipped’.  Which pretty much sums up how many pages of these 17 books I have read.  I’ve dipped into a few or perhaps the odd chapter or two, but like a child in a sweetshop, my attention is caught by something tastier and shinier over in the corner.  I’ve become a Kindle Slut and just can’t seem to have a faithful relationship any more.  Because of this behaviour, I’m missing out on some gorgeous gems which I’m choosing to ignore because I’m fickle.  I don’t remember being this ‘Book Slutty’  before my Kindle, but I do know I have some semi-read tomes on my shelves.  Technology has just made ‘Book Slutty’ so much easier and more convenient.

Don’t get me wrong, I am an avid reader and of course I read many cover to cover, but what I have always struggled with is the absolute joy of buying a new book which kind of makes the last purchase seem slightly out of date.  It’s a crazy way to look at things but I have resolved to mend my ways!

We’ll leave those 17 in the dipped category for now and concentrate on the latest four.

I therefore make the following pledges:

I, Citywrite will endeavour to read the four books recently downloaded and will not purchase any others, until I’ve either finished or binned them because they are atrocious.

I, Citywrite will not keep looking at the Kindle Daily Deals

There, I’ve said it!

Happy reading.

Do you love your job?

 

A New Year is looming and with Big Ben’s last strike of 2013, I start to think about what it is I would like to do in 2014. Or more specifically, what it is I want to change in 2014. Well, that would be my job!  So I’m asking you this. Do you like your job? I mean, really enjoy what you do? Does it fulfil you? Is it creative enough? Does it give you freedom? Does it allow you to be the kind of person you always wanted to be?

These are just a few of the questions which  I have been asking myself on an almost daily basis. If I’m honest, I’ve been asking these questions for quite some time now and even though I can answer them quite easily, I have failed to act on them. Why? Well I’m daunted by taking those steps to change even though I’m really excited about what could be.

I know that I want to work for myself. I want to be creative, I want to write, I want use my years of technology experience to drive my new venture. I want the freedom to manage my own business and it’s future. Well that’s a good positive start anyway.

But I tell you one thing, (and here comes the negative) and this is probably what lies at the heart of everything above which I want to change. I want to get away from a corporate office environment, which seems to be populated with butt-kissers and sycophants. I want to put all that dull business speak in a cupboard and throw away the key. No disrespect to butt-kissing sycophants and business speak, but this world just isn’t for me. Don’t get me wrong, I fully respect the need for a business structure for success and I still enjoy the challenges of working in a digital environment but I want to lose those constraints put in place by rigid hierarchies and zealous management.

When you start waking up every morning feeling miserable at the day ahead, then it’s time to think about a shift. When you start to just see your job as a means to keeping a roof over your head, it’s time to shift. Well I’m ready to shift!

So, what now? Well I definitely need some help and guidance and after a great deal of blog reading and site trawling I think I may have just found that through The School of Life who say…

‘The School of Life is devoted to developing emotional intelligence through the help of culture. We address such issues as how to find fulfilling work, how to master the art of relationships, how to understand one’s past, how to achieve calm and how better to understand and, where necessary change, the world.’

Change the world? Steady, I just want to change my job. However, on closer inspection of their website I think I may have found some of that much needed help I was looking for and I’m pretty impressed with the array of courses and guest speakers. Right now, I’m halfway through How to Find Fulfilling Work on my Kindle and I have to say, it’s giving me food for thought.

So, as I see in the New Year tonight, I will be thinking of getting off my fat arse and finding that ‘fulfilling’ career in 2014.

Farewell corporate crap.  Hello freedom and creativity.

Happy New Year to you all.

NaNoWriMo Starts today!

Ever fancied trying to write a novel in a month?  Impossible! I hear you cry.  Well, it may not be completely beyond the realms of our capabilities and I’m on a mission to see if it is indeed possible.  If you’ve never heard of National Novel Writing Month, here’s what its all about.

You are challenged to write a novel, approximately 50,000 words in 30 days.  That’s about 1,666 words per day.  If you use Arial 12pt, that’s about 2.5 pages of A4, which isn’t actually a lot really, so perhaps it is doable?  Now before you start shouting ‘impossible’ again, the good thing is that you don’t do any editing during November at all.  December can be your month to edit, so even if tomorrow you write a couple of pages of complete crap.  Don’t worry, just keep going.  The aim is to just keep that story coming and get to the 50K mark.

You are not on your own!  The great thing about NaNoWriMo is the support you get from the website.  Once you’ve signed up, you can log into your dashboard and check out some of the resources to help you on your journey.  You can also hook up with Writing Buddies from across the globe, which is really helpful as you can have a good whinge at each other!  There are loads of forums to dip in and out of for some extra advice or just a chat with fellow NaNo writers.  You can also upload your word count so you know where you are and what you should be aiming for.

I’m going to give it a really good go.  I do love a challenge and so far I’ve written 2445 words which has started me off nicely.

So if any of you out there are doing the challenge, good luck and I hope you have several packets of biscuits and fresh coffee at the ready.

I’ll stick my word count gadget at the bottom of my blog.

This Blog contains approximately 313 words.  Get the picture?

Can you learn it? Yes you can!

My passion for music came very early to me.  Apparently I was about 2 years old when I took off my coat in Woolworths and started dancing around to a Tom Jones tune.  It entertained the shoppers for a few minutes but no, It didn’t turn me into a Tom Jones fan but it make me want to dance to everything I heard.  I also took an interest in my parents passion for classical and opera, not so much for dancing, it was more the emotion I felt when I heard strings and the power of a soprano.

Dad played the Tenor Horn and my brother played the drums (now moved on to the bass guitar), so naturally I wanted to play an instrument too.  However, unlike my family, I had absolutely no patience whatsoever.  Saxaphone, guitar, violin, you name it.  I tried it.  I wanted to pick up a guitar and play like Eric Clapton by the end of the week.   I just couldn’t stick it out.  I even went along to join my Dad at his brass band rehearsal.  I had this very cute little cornet and to be honest, I really starting to enjoy it until my brother said that if I continued playing, I’d get fat lips like Mick Jagger.  The cornet was swiftly returned to the brass band.  My vanity (at age 11) was clearly more important than music and having lip fillers wasn’t that popular back then.

I’ve always had so much admiration for musicians, for people who have taken the time to learn their instruments, who have practised and practised till they get callouses on their finger tips and can ‘make’ music.  Every time I would listen to Vaughan Williams or hear a beautiful soundtrack on a movie, I’d think, I wish I could play strings like that.

No more thinking.  Decision made!  So, back in May, after a good chat with my friend Andrew (who reads music and plays piano – result), I decided I was going to learn the violin.  But this time, I was going to do it properly and get lessons.  I didn’t care that I was an adult, I love learning and here was an opportunity to do something I’d always wanted to.

Did I find a violin teacher?  No.  I found something so much better and I thank Google from the bottom of my heart.  I found ELLSO – East London Late Starters Orchestra.  They have been going for 30 years and their aim is to teach adults from complete beginners, to those more experienced how to read music and become part of an orchestra.  I was ecstatic with joy!   On the 21st September, I rocked up to my first lesson not being able to read a note or pluck a string.  There must have been about 100 people in that room, with ages ranging from about 18 to 80.  Every Saturday for four hours we are split into groups to learn about our instrument, how to read music, taught musicianship and play as an ensemble with the whole orchestra.

That first day, I was overwhelmed with the vibe of the place.  Everyone was so friendly and supportive but more importantly, it was fun.  It’s so much more than just one to one tuition.  You actually feel like you are part of something so much bigger and you can learn from your peers and the most amazing (patient) tutors.  I’ve only been there two weeks but can more or less read a music score (a very uncomplicated one).  I’ve made more progress playing an instrument in two weeks then I did throughout my childhood and it only goes to show, patience is a virtue.

It’s never too late to learn an instrument.  I may never have the talent of the amazing Nigel Kennedy, but I have the joy of being part of ELLSO and one day being able to play those classics I love so much.

Find out more about ELLSO here

If you live in Yorkshire, check out YLSS

If you are based in New York, they have a sister organisation here  NYLSO

Alice through the Google Glass

It’s fair to say I’m beyond excitement at the thought of wearing a pair of these beauties. However, I’m painfully aware I’ll have to wait until 2014 and possibly have a word with my bank account in the meantime.

So what is so good about Glass? Well behind that cool and smart design, Google have pulled together several elements of their extensive range of technologies such as Google search, navigation, music and video into an Android based smartphone for your face. The sexiest part (personally anyway), is you control the device with your voice. Hands-free is a joy to me!

Yes, I probably will video myself hoovering the sitting room with a puppy sat on the Dyson, believe me, I intend to have a lot of fun with them. Whether you like the idea or not, this is a glimpse ‘through the looking Glass’ at the future of smart technology and if they don’t go crazy with the pricing, this will be well within the reach of many of our pockets.

What I really love about this product  is the immediacy of use with no more of that fiddling around with your phone just to find out if the Central Line is running.  This does mean I will be walking around talking to myself a fair bit though.

There are some interesting possibilities for Glass in terms of users with disabilities and how this technology could be of benefit. Not everyone can sit over a laptop to interact with the world for hours at a time so perhaps there are options here for further development.  The possibilities with smart technologies are endless.

I’m sure there will be aspects which don’t work so well and which will become an annoyance and I fear Google Ads are involved.  We’ll have to wait and see.

Now, how about Google Glass contact lenses? Wouldn’t that be something eh?

Take a look at Google Glass: http://www.google.com/glass/start/

The city that never speaks

Citywrite

 

 

What Remains (BBC One, Sunday) is a new four-part drama which tells the story of the discovery of a young woman’s body in her flat.  What makes this drama seem unbelievable is the fact the body lay undiscovered for over two years and nobody reported her disappearance.  Yes, this is a just a drama but does it seem far fetched?  Actually no.   Below is one of my blog posts from 2011.

 

I love this city with its stunning skyline, its vibrancy and it’s dark corners.  As a child, I couldn’t  wait to grow up and ‘run away’ to London.  My mother had been brought up here and the stories she used to tell me about her childhood and life in the city, made me want to live here all the more.   Growing up in a rural communities,  I longed to escape that ‘small town mentality.’  I…

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Get coding Ladies!

Once upon a time, many years ago (and I mean many), I got my first job as a programmer, working in a department full of men, I was the only woman, and it would be several years before I worked with another female who did the same role. This is before the internet came into our lives.  (can you imagine?).

As a kid I’d always been fascinated by computers and technology and I have Space Odyssey 2001 to thank for that. My first true love was HAL 9000 (sad, I know) but I was young and fascinated by ‘him’. I was never the conventional girl who played with dolls, I much preferred my chemistry sets and my brothers Meccano. So it was natural for me to seek out a job in ‘computing’. (That’s what we used to call it back then).

Technology has moved on at an incredible pace since the 80’s and besides the move from mainframe to personal computers, the growth of giants like Apple and Microsoft, undoubtedly the biggest revolution in technology has to be the internet. Having worked in the industry all these years, I’ve seen how the internet has changed the world. There are approximately 2.4 billion internet users worldwide. If you are reading this, you’re one of them.

The internet and technology are an integral part of 21^st century life. We converse using email, we organise our social lives via social networking sites, we buy clothes, books and holidays online, we check our bank balance using our iPhone or Android device and for everything else, well, we have Google!

I think it’s safe to say, for a lot of us, our lives are dominated by technology. It’s how we function (whether you like it or not). This is our world now.  I regularly have conversations about women in technology and business skills but what I’m asking here is where are all the female coders?

Digital technology is full of opportunities right now. Look at the Apps market? How many times have you said to yourself (whilst staring at your iPhone), I wish there was an App which could give me this information or work that out for me. Or perhaps you want to add something really cool to your website but don’t have the money to pay a developer.

Maybe you fancy a career change and you’re interested in technology but you don’t have any skills? Want to find out more about Html, CSS, Javascript, PHP, Ruby, Python?

No problem! There are plenty of resources out there to help you and if you are strapped for cash (like so many of us), there are plenty of good online resources where you can learn to code for free. All you need is your laptop, some time and heaps of enthusiasm and away you go. Believe me, these new skills could be the start of a whole new career.

There should be more women in technology. It can be a fascinating and rewarding place and it’s never too late to learn to code, so go for it!

Check out these resources for coding:

Codeacademy – Free online resource to learn code

Decoded – Run a one day course in coding

To get inspired, find events and other support women in technology check these out:

Girls In Tech – Site to empower women in technology

Eventbrite – A brilliant resource to find workshops, talks and events in your area.  

You’re kidding me?

I’m very happy about my reproductive choices, but it would appear, some are not. Apparently I’m selfish, sad, deluded and making a huge mistake according to the current media outpourings.

Is that so? Well let me tell you something, I’m none of those; all I am is a woman who has made a choice. Remember that word ‘choice’ because it’s what every feminist and campaigner has worked hard to achieve for women everywhere and to hear those negative words uttered from the ‘Sisterhood’, quite frankly stuns me.

Now here’s the part that those women probably won’t understand; I love children. I think they are the most delightful human beings, and to spend time with my friends kids is full of wonderment and love. I knew from a very early age that I didn’t want to have children of my own. I couldn’t even imagine myself as a mother. You see, I had different plans for myself. My childhood was spent dreaming with my head stuck in books and magazines looking at far flung exotic locations and imagining myself hopping on a plane and travelling the world. I certainly did not draw pictures of little houses with neat fences, with a husband and a couple of kids scrawled onto a piece of paper. No, that wasn’t how I wanted my world to be.

I wanted freedom and independence and spontaneity, and that’s exactly what I have because that’s what I wanted. Just like all those women who wanted Children, they got what they wanted too, but at no time have I ever insulted the choices of other women.

My life is full of good things (naturally, I have my far share of crap too). I write and paint, I have a good job, wonderful (non-judgemental) friends, I’ve travelled all over the world (my childhood dream), I have the freedom to hop on a train at a moments notice, meet friends for a late dinner, sit about in a onesie and stuff my face, all without having to consider anybody else. This is not selfish, this is how I want to be.

There are many more things out there in life which are fulfilling besides having a family you know?

I am most certainly not anti-family and I do care about ‘our’ children and how they are treated in this world. I especially care about women in this country and the government’s failings on childcare provision. The failings of employees to provide better flexible working hours for mothers who are just as important and integral to the workplace as any man.

At no point do I feel ‘left-out’ of a conversation between friends discussing their children. I love to hear about their kids and what its like being a mum. They are my friends, and we are part of each others lives but more importantly, their children are a big part of theirs just as my career and artistic interests are a big part of mine.

Acceptance is the key here. You can make your choice and we’ll make ours, without all the unnecessary judgement jibes.

You want to have children? Then brilliant, do it!
You’re not sure if you do? Then brilliant, have a think about it.
You definitely want to be child-free? Then brilliant. Go for it!

As for all those people out there full of vitriol and who have unfairly labelled us as selfish, sad, deluded or lonely, well perhaps this says more about yourselves than us?

Do not tell me I’ve been brainwashed

How many ‘Friends’ timelines have you hidden in Facebook due to their increasingly slightly unhinged political rantings?   One? Two perhaps?  Well I’ve definitely hidden a couple and from what I’ve seen over the past couple of days,  I’m seriously thinking about burying another one… and I’ll tell you for why!

Like millions of others on this planet, I’m well read, well travelled,  politically aware and very open to what others have to say.  I’m happy to promote causes which I believe in and which I feel happy to support and share with others.  However, when I’m urged to share a post on Facebook and told that if I don’t,  it’s down to the fact I’m a ‘brainwashed moron’ who only cares for or understands the fluffy things in life – well I’m going to get angry.  And that’s why I no longer want to read your posts.

Just because people don’t want to share another one of your rantings doesn’t mean they don’t care or understand the situation or its seriousness.  Yes we understand what’s going on in the world, and yes, sometimes we do fully support and agree with the situation, but come on – don’t tell me I’m stupid because I’m not jumping up and down with a mask covering my face and raging about the injustice of it all.  Apparently I don’t give a damn because I’m not playing your game.  Sometimes we don’t actually care about what you are saying, we are not interested but we do still have a brain you know!

If a post on Twitter instructed me to RT or else be branded as a brainwashed moron – you would be blocked.  I can assure you. Yes, Twitter is full of opinions and plenty of contentious posts, but I’ve yet to come across anyone on there who actively berates me for not agreeing with them.

That’s an extremely arrogant attitude to take.  It makes me wonder who is actually brainwashed here.  It’s certainly not the masses now is it?