Loosing my ‘mind’!

Where do you keep your thoughts and notes?

I kept mind in a little notebook I got on sale for 50p. It was blue with a picture of a dandelion on the front and it was full of ideas, plans, lists and notes. And I left it on the train.

Realising I left it behind I ran back from the tube to the train, but it was too late. In that 10 minutes it was gone. That same day I broke my phone’s screen and I felt completely lost.

Actually my head was spinning from this and I stopped writing and blogging, I couldn’t think straight. I was very annoyed and angry.

So… Over a month later, how do I feel about this?

Well, it took me sometime to accept it was gone. I had some health problems this month too and refocused on seeing my friends and family. I feel like I am making less notes and paying more attention, I don’t trust my notebook as much. As I let go, I realise things are coming back to me, snippets of things I heard at talks I noted down, come to mind when the ideas are touched upon, but I also don’t miss many things, themselves. I think some things possibly weren’t important for me, but I worry there is stuff I have forgotten that I need to know!

My phone’s screen has finally been fixed, but the keys aren’t working properly, so I have to take it to the shop again. I really miss going on twitter on the go.

I don’t have a super-human memory, so I guess I need ideas of tools. Well a 50p notebook is easy to replace, but not the thoughts inside and I can back-up a phone, but buying a new one isn’t so practical for me right now… so what to do?

Learn new stuff in February.

This post is a little delayed due to a nice interlude of flu... but anyways if you want to learn stuff during the teeny tiny month of February then here's some ideas.

8 Feb 2011 19:00
Compassionate Campaigning
Freeskilling Claire Milne
Better Food Company, Sevier St FREE
This is a really interesting looking session looking at how to increase your power to create positive alternatives through compassionate and conscious campaigning.

10 Feb 2011 10:00-17:00
A World In Waiting
Colston Hall
FREE
I'm volunteering at this event and I have written about it on my blog. It's not strictly speaking a learning event so much as a discussion event, but I think it will be a great way of learning about how policies affect different peoples lives.
Call 0117 922 3686 to book a free ticket

10 Feb 2011 19-21:30
How People of Faith Help the World’s Poor
Dr Marcus Braybrooke, President of the World Congress of Faiths
Progressive Synagogue, 43-45 Bannerman Road, Easton, Bristol, BS5 0RR

I hope to get to this talk as well (why is 10th Feb such a busy day?) This is a really interesting question to me, I wrote for the Climate Squad blog about how faith groups are working environmentally and I noticed differences in approach between faiths as well as faiths working together. I am interested to see how faith groups approaches differ in approaching poverty in all forms.

15 Feb 2011 19:00
Emotional Help for Activists using EFT
Freeskilling Karen Bell
Better Food Company, Sevier St FREE

This is a tutorial evening in learning the basics of Emotional Freedom Technique EFT. Interestingly Karen is giving particular advice on using it to deal with political activism issues.

17 Feb 2011, 18.00-19.30 
Professor Tariq Modood Still not easy being British: Multiculturalism today 
Bristol Festival of Ideas and University of Bristol FREE
Watershed Media Centre, Bristol

Last year I went to a seminar by Tariq Madood at Bristol University, where he and Jan Dobbernack were presenting a paper about multiculture and multiculturalism. The presentation was interesting, but it seemed to assume that most people were either strongly part of a cultural group and identified with it or strongly rejected it. I feel that most people are both. Identifying as part of their cultural group when they go to places of worship, celebrate festivals or hang out with family but people also have friends from many different groups as well as friends from their own group.

You choose friends because of shared interests and if you like them, not on their ethnicity. Of course if your interest is Islam or a ethnically-related dance form more friends may be from that same group because it is an interest found more within that culture. But I was not convinced that there is a massive opposition between these two types of people because I think most people are in the middle, neither only staying in their cultural group or strongly rejecting it. 

I am interested to hear more about his work and his understanding of Multiculturalism. I am also interested ideas around conversation being different from a dialogue with an aim. Some groups want each other to speak to each other with an aim of making decisions, rather than listening. Having attended events like Bristol Celebrates and being involved in couchsurfing.org where I see I type of Xenia guest-friendship interaction I can see great benefits to these interactions in valuing others humanity and extending hospitality to them, but I am not sure what role such academic research plays…

22 Feb 2011 19:00
Meditation for People with No Time to Meditate
FreeSkilling Lynne Knight
Better Food Company, Sevier St FREE

Lynne is going to be looking a mini-meditations which if you are really busy attending all the other events on this list might come in handy!

23 Feb 2011, 18.00-19.00
Bristol Festival of Ideas
Izzeldin Abuelaish – I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor's Journey
Watershed Media Centre, Bristol £5.00 / £4.00

We often hear about the conflict in the Middle-East and how Palestinians and Israelis don’t talk to each other. Izzeldin Abuelaish works as a doctor serving both Palestinians and Israelis. In 2009 his three daughters were killed by Israeli shells and since then he has increased his calls for those in the region to start talking to each other. It is obvious that he is a very inspiring man and his story is worth hearing.

23 Feb 2011 18:45
Creativity in English:  Literature, linguistics and communication
Professor Ronald Carter
The Eighth Annual Fullbrook Lecture
Lecture Theatre H124, St Matthias campus UWE, Oldbury Court Road, Bristol. BS16 2JP
FREE

Creativity in language isn’t limited to creative writing or to one individuals creativity, Professor Ronald Carter finds creativity in spoken languages within groups and he will look at the implications of recognising this type of creativity in his field and related fields.
This lecture is FREE but it is necessary to register your attendance, please Register on-line

28 Feb 2011, 18.00-19.00
Tom Segev
Simon Wiesenthal
Watershed Media Centre, Bristol
£5.00 / £4.00

Having learned quite a lot about the Holocaust recently I learned we can sometimes expect people to react in a certain way. Holocaust survivors are not a group of people with a single mindset anymore than any other group. Simon Wiesenthal was a survivor who fought for punishment and justice of Nazi criminals to an extreme that made him a hero to some and terrifying to others. Tom Segev who has written a biography about him will share more about his life.

28 Feb 2011, 19.30-21.00
Farewell to Public Welfare? II
Public Service in a Privatised World 
Watershed Media Centre, Bristol
£5/£4
This will be useful if you need help to understand the affects privatising public services will have on how services work. Having attended the first Farewell to Public Welfare lecture entitled The Price of the Cuts I can warn you it will probably be quite depressing, but it is helpful to see the predictions in order to prepare for these changes. This series is selling out quickly so book a ticket asap if you want to go!

Monday 28 Feb 20:00
Science Fiction, or 2011 reality?
Science Cafe Julian Lea-Jones
Tobacco Factory
FREE

Is the future now? Well I’m all excited by the idea of invisibility cloaks, but not sure I understand all the rest!

Learn new stuff in Bristol - Jan 2011

There are lots of talks, lectures, seminars etc coming up in Bristol this January.
Some of these I am planning to go to others just look interesting to share… Will post February soon too!
14 January 2011, 19.30-20.30
Bristol Festival of Ideas
Lynn Zastoupil talks about Rammohun Roy – Rajah, reformer, MP?
£7.00 / £5.00
At Arnos Vale Cemetery Bristol
Rammohun Roy is actually buried at Arnos Vale Cemetery, he visited Britain in 1830s as the Indian Ambassador and got involved in British politics, even considering becoming an MP. I have seen more information about him around Bristol and he is featured on the Stapleton road train station mural, but I never learned much about him so I’m a looking forward to learning more.
18 January 2011, 18.00-19.10
Bristol Festival of Ideas
Evgeny Morozov: Net Delusion: How Not to Liberate the World
£7.20 / £5.60
Watershed Media Centre, Bristol
I am looking forward to attending this. Whilst I haven’t read Evgeny Morozovs book, I did read an article by Bryan Appleyard in New Statestman. I know that whilst Wikipedia and Google offer knowledge for everyone, this only works if people care, solely providing information is obviously not that helpful, information can be censored and many people just don’t want to know. I also listened to a debate ‘Social Network or Sanction’ from Center for Strategic and International Studies on ItunesU. It covered how dissenting groups in countries which have sanctions placed on them, can become victims of these sanctions in their own internet use and how dictatorships and repressive regimes themselves are using the internet. It also looked at other pitfalls of internet use in the Human Rights field, but I was still amazed at the positive ways the internet is used in societies where there isn’t a free press. I recently attended NetRootsUk which looked at different ways of using the internet in activism and for charities and organisations etc. I don’t think we can discount the effect that the internet does have in engaging and empowering people. I hope that Morozovs can give a useful insight into where Internet activism is failing and a realistic understanding of the internet.
18 January 2011 19:00 – 21:00
Bristol Freeskilling
Joanna Webber: Ayurveda & the Doshas FREE
Better Food Company, Sevier Street, St Werburghs, Bristol, BS2 9QS
“Learn how the ancient science of Ayurveda looks at different mind and body types called Doshas - with tailored diet and lifestyle recommendations. Come and explore who you are! Please bring a pen or pencil.”
18 January 2011, 19.30-20.30
Bristol Festival of Ideas
Academics from the University of Bristol will also speak 18.15-19.15 on the latest research on farm animal welfare as part of this event.

Cover of Eating Animals

Jonathan Safran Foer: Eating Animals £5.00 / £4.00
Arnolfini, Bristol
I currently describe myself as a part-time carnivore, after giving up meat last Lent and now eating meat only occasionally. My main motivation was sustainability, although animal welfare, in the shape of free-range meat does come into it, but not in the sense of not eating animals at all. This talk and debate will explore the ethical issues around eating or not eating meat, both to animals, the environment and people working in or affected by the meat industry around the world. Of course if you are squeamish it might not be for you!
20 January 2011, 18.30 –19:30pm
Bristol Politics Society
Lembit Öpik Tickets on door £4 for members, £6 for non-members. First thirty tickets will be FREE.
Winston Theatre, Bristol University Student Union
I was actually pretty shocked and surprised when Lembit Öpik Liberal Democrat MP for Montgomeryshire since 1997 lost his seat in the 2010 General Election. He lost with good grace and I remember he was pretty feisty afterward to Jeremy Paxman who was asking some rather stupid and pointless questions, which is cool cos I’m not a massive fan of Paxman! He was on Have I Got News For You a few days after and his sense of humour certainly didn’t seem to be lost. He is one of those funny political oddities that’s for sure. Check this out if you want to hear more about what he is up to now.
Pre-Registration is necessary for capacity reasons: Please email speaker.series@bristolpoliticssociety.co.uk
20 January 2011 19:30
Bristol Univeristy Botantical Gardens
Contact Botanic Garden on +44 (0)117 - 331 4906 or botanic-gardens@bristol.ac.uk
Nick Wray: Botanical travels in Cuba £3 for non-members
Room B75, School of Biological Sciences, Woodland Road.
Cuba has 7,000 species of plants and is regarded as being the most important territory for biodiversity conservation in the West Indies. Nick Wray the curator of the Botanical gardens will be able tell you around some of them he saw in his travels in Cuba, in case you’re not heading their anytime soon!
22 January - 23 January 2011 (1½ days)
PSE 2011 and Bristol University
Second Peter Townsend Memorial Conference - Measuring poverty: the state of the art (Various speakers) FREE
Merchant Venturers Building, Parkstreet, Bristol.
If you are interested in the methodology for measuring poverty this looks awesome. Leading researchers from around the world will explain the latest advances in poverty measurement methodology. E-mail townsend-memorial@bristol.ac.uk to book a ticket.
25 January 2011
Bristol Freeskilling
Rachel Miller: Burns Night Special FREE
Better Food Company, Sevier Street, St Werburghs, Bristol, BS2 9QS
A classic way to mark Burns Night is a Ceilidh dance. If you want to learn Ceilidh dancing skills or if you want to pass on your skills then this will be great way to do that!
31 January 2011, 18.00-19.00
Bristol Festival of Ideas
Nicholas Shaxson: Treasure Islands: Tax Havens and the Men who Stole the World £5.00/ £4.00
Watershed Media Centre

At Greenbelt Festival this summer I went in the Christian Aid Tax maze. We had to choose whether we wanted to pay tax or not. I choose to pay tax and my friend choose not too. It showed us that those who paid tax all benefited from basic provision even though their spending money was reduced. Whereas those who didn’t pay tax had to spend on basic water, health, education etc and many couldn’t afford to cover all their basics. Recently tax avoidance has been in the news and people have been protesting in shops which keep assets abroad. But there is an argument that is is just part of business. Money is a commodity like any other and in a globalised world businesses can search for the best deal. Nicholas Shaxson is the author of Treasure Islands: Tax Havens and the Men who Stole the World which explores the negative effects this has on society.
31 January 2011 16:00 – 17:30
Centre for East Asian Studies, Bristol University
3rd Annual Bristol Lecture in East Asian Studies
Aidan Foster Carter: North Korea: China's Coming Takeover FREE
Room 2D1, University of Bristol, Social Sciences Complex, Priory Road, Bristol
North Korea: China's Coming Takeover. What’s the future for North Korea and what role will China play in it? Contact Emma Holland on +44 (0)117 - 331 8007 or emma.holland@bristol.ac.uk to book a ticket.
31 January 2011, 19.30-21.00
Bristol Festival of Ideas
Farewell to Public Welfare? I The Price of Cuts £5.00 / £4.00
Watershed Media Centre, Bristol
This is the first in a series of talks called Farewell to Public Welfare. Whilst cuts will cut the economic deficit, I am worried about the social deficit that will be caused. A problem that could be much harder to deal with in the future. Those of us who miss out of education, jobs, training, and support for ourselves and others due to disability and ill-health may never be able to get that back. Ruining our chances now could leave us dependent on whatever the state or charities will give us for the rest of our lives. It may mean we need more support from other services as well and we will be unable to provide for our families and not be encouraged to contribute positively to society through volunteering, despite the ‘big society’ as these provisions are being cut too. Whilst we often focus on the costs for future generations in not making these cuts I am interested what the costs are in making these cuts. I am also interested whether Bristol Ideas Festival sees it as their responsibility to provide a chance for those affected to participate in these series of discussions.
lectures, talks, seminars, free talks, Bristol