What a fantastic and subversive image! For our American friends replace the Tesco bag with a Wallmart bag and you'll get the general idea. I absolutely love Banksy's work, always interesting and thought provoking. Like all good artists he brings great challenge to the modern age... xc
This was a bizarre news story on the BBC website on Friday. "Jessica Alexander, from the The Sleep Council, which is funded by the bed industry, said: "Busy night time routines are driving couples' bedtimes and even their bedrooms apart." they report...
2007 was a year of new things: our first year of marriage, a year of building our home, of making new friends among some lovely neighbours and learning lessons about myself and God. As is my tradition I like to look back at each year and choose my stories, soundtrack and happenings that sum up the year that was 2007…
I am intrigued... Black Friday... will it be the Apple discount sale of the year? Or a clever way to repackage current items and make them oh so difficult to resist? I live in hope that tomorrows 'Special Shopping Event' will contain half-price iPods so I can finally replace my old bulging mini. Oh please, please, please! My absolute dream come true would be an iPhone but as they're £269 with an 18 month contract that's a luxury too far... :( xc
I've hit the ground running since getting back from my week off. I'm juggling 24-7 website content, loads of stuff for the prayer team and wrapping up the last few bits of the Feast 07 before launching into confirming venues for the Feast 08. If I think about it too long I start to get a bit nervous. There aren't enough hours in the day and I'm being super good at not working evenings which means some stuff just isn't getting done...
Is there a MacBook's Anonomous? I'm beginning to think I might need to join it. You know they say that an addict can't get better til they want to get better, well I've reached the brink, my moment of realisation has come and I think I'm ready to ask for a helping hand...
I'm feeling really unfit at the moment. I have little or no muscular tone and my cardiovascular fitness is probably the lowest it's ever been. For a few years after my Dance degree I could manage a ok level of fitness with not too much effort but as the years push me further from those active days I'm amazed at how weak I've become...
I dreamt of two old friends last night. Women who influenced my life in younger years but the winds of change have blown and blustered and we are no longer in touch. I dreamt I was sitting in a garden reminiscing as the sun went down and our candles were lit, laughing and hearing their thoughts on my current life. It made me miss them… xc
I love the rich demonstration of God's infinite imagination in the incredible diversity displayed in the people of this earth. I often find myself marvelling at the range of faces that pass me as I walk around my humble city. The brows, the noses, the lips parted in a smile or contracted in a grimace, different yet similar enough to proclaim a membership to club of Mankind. Our physically unique nature is enough to boggle, let alone our bredth and depth of personality we develop...
I met a guy in the pub last week and I have to say he made quite an impact on me. I was popping in for a quiet drink with Steve when Jim pipped up from the bar and said "hi". He was one of those guys that releshes meeting new people and telling them all about himself so within five minutes I probably new more about him than the neighbours I've lived next to for five months...
So I've ventured into the world of MySpace and I have to say I'm underwhelmed. Lots of lovely people but a clumsy infrastructure, it's taken me a while to get it to something I like. I much prefer typepad and blogging, a lot more flexibility and freedom. Never the less my presence is now felt and I will maintain it as it's the latest step in my cunning plan to find my old school friend, the hunt for Emma Green is turning into a decade long quest :) xc
It’s taken me half a month but I’ve finally found the time to do my traditional round up of 2006: it’s highs, lows, stories and adventures. Continue reading for my top films, books, memories and more…
It’s amazing how much my kinaesthetic sense has dulled in the four years since I finished my BA in Dance. As I moved around my room tonight I became aware of how rushed my movements were, how terrible my posture and alignment has become. I remember the deliberate nature techniques like Limone gave my body. I remember learning to correct the tilt in my pelvis and strengthen my centre. Now both my bad habits and weakness have returned from lack of attention...
There are far too many vacuous books in the world. I was standing in line, patiently waiting to pay the Gas bill at the post office yesterday and I was entranced by the pap on sale for £2.60. For the price of a sandwich let me bore you with my words. Let me fill your mind with my worthless, shallow, inarticulate dross. I feel slightly worried that in a hundred years the sheer volume of rubbish paper backs available will suggest some pretty negative things about today's society...
Here's an odd thought, especially in the light of the relational movement I'm part of, do we put too much value on friendship? Don't get me wrong, I'm a highly relational person, and I love working and dreaming with my friends, but there are people I've come to know, love and appreciate only through mutual task...
This morning I woke at 6.30am, my brain whirring at 50 mph. At least I knew where I was this morning, when I woke with a start yesterday I was baffled at the surrounding room that contained all my stuff but wasn’t my familiar attic retreat…
Feeling pretty depressed about the state of the world today. My thanks to the men and women who foiled this morning's plot, but with everything that's happening in the Israel-Gaza-Lebanon situation, the 6000 deaths in the last two months in Iraq and the growth of agression towards the Western World, when are we going to wake up and address the causes behind the grievances...
Ever get bloggers block? For me it coincides with some intense journalling and (recently) short story writing. It's like all my creative energy is sapped into my private thoughts and narrative impulses. I sat at my Typepad screen yesterday and though there were many things I could blog about, I just couldn't muster the mental energy...
Today has been packed with quotes from the Bible and Books that are feeding my brain at a satisfactory rate. Here are just a few... "Be careful that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block for the weak" 1 Cor 8:9...
Transition seems to be a permanent word on my lips at the moment, I wonder if there's ever a time when things aren't changing. It feels like nearly every area of life is in flux; 24-7 Prayer, my role, my name, my independance, my home, my friendships, my church and my purpose... Hmm interesting list...
There is absolutely no excuse for rudeness. I hate it, yet it seems to be spreading like a plague through society. People aren't being taught respect, dignity and good plain manners anymore, so I have come up with a cunning plan...
I've realised that I've recently succeeded in my mission to find time. Impacted by Eloise's challenge that we are all time poor, and sick of replying "tired" to friends enquiring "How are you?", I've been on a mission to have more space in my life...
I've just had lunch with a guy who's living the most incredible story. When I began to make polite small talk I had no idea who he was. As he started to share his story and a little of what his life is like I was gobsmacked. It's a familiar story but listening to a 17 year old tell you that this is his life brings a whole new level of understanding and apreciation...
The last few days my mind has been preoccupied by what the future might hold. I'm normally an imediate person who looks no more than a few years ahead but with the mixture of getting married and dreaming with Charlotte it's been a lot of fun to think what the future could look like! Country houses full of friends, recording studios and new communities... I may even return to teaching dance soon. If I can get the courage to try again. xc
This morning held a few of those rare moments you savour in the bluster of life. Samie gave me the morning off our Tranist training block to rest and clear my head, so bundled up in Charlotte's overgrown parker I meandered down to the river behind the Reading Boiler Room to stop and look at the world...
I wish I could understand my body a little better and then I could positively respond to the twists and turns it presents me. I've been feeling really weary and tired, low and quite sad for a few weeks now. I'm sure it's a combination of things (sleep, stress, cold, medication, etc.) that's doing it and each thing I'm addressing in turn but it doesn't really change the fact that I spend most of the day feeling fuggish, like my heads experiencing a higher atmospheric pressure to the rest of the room. :( xc
There's nothing more addictive or tantilising than playing with a new phone. Most of my lunchbreak was spent testing out the camera, setting up my options and sifting through my phonebook. My electronic little black book of friends, family and useful numbers that map out my life; spiderwebs of people spinning out in every direction...
The word love is grossly overused today and I am the worst of perpetrators. The word spills from my positive, enthusiastic mouth with the greatest of ease. I love my new mobile, iBook, mini me, boots, home, friends, fella, family, food, mayonnaise, I love mayonnaise...
The last few days have been full of life, love and moments of enchantment. From Charlotte's massive bunch of flowers from Matthew, to my lovely lunchtime interlude with Steve yesterday, life has been enjoyable, full and colourful. This morning Charlotte read me a passage in Ecclesiastes that best sums her up. I think I might make it my anthem for the month...
Self knowledge is a double edged sword. The positive is if you know yourself hopefully you can work your skills, strengths and weaknesses to their best, the negative is you're fully aware of when you're being a total loser...
I love a new beginning, a new start, a new adventure. I'm a firm believer that everyone has the ability to improve and nothing is hopeless. Hence I am an ardent lover of New Year resolutions and have put a little thought into this year's...
Driving in the dark is a great conduit for conversation. Late and long road trips always lead to honest and sub-shallow conversation. Last night as Steve and I wound our way around the M25 heading back from Togger’s infamous New Years party we began to talk about juggling…
To start my year I thought I'd look back at the last one and see whether I've actually made any progress or just ruminate with a little more style than before. As I browsed through January 2005 in my blog archive, I stumbled on some very funny entries. My how life has changed in a year...
As Christmas and New Year aproaches those inevitable conversations about the year in review are beginning over glasses of wine everywhere. If you're anything like me you'll panic at the sentence, "what was your best [fill in the blank] of the year?" partially because it's impossible to be so definite about your first chioce (you've inevitably forgotten something) and partially because you can't plant your flag and declare your allegiance after three seconds thought. Even if you are an extrovert...
It's a funny thing being engaged. No matter how mentally prepared you think you are, the knowledge of what it means hits you with some gravity when you're actually living it out. For the first few days I was walking around with what felt like a dazzling beacon on my ring finger that both attracted and amazed me at the same time...
Here's my dilemma; I've been checking a blog for the last few months and I find it utterly facinating. PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail-in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard. Always creative, sometimes uplifting, often disturbing the postcards uploaded every Sunday are a glimpse into people's deepest secrets; their fears, their guilty admissions and their secret joys...
Last weekend my family and friends surprised Mum and Dad with a party to celebrate their 25th year of marriage. As we all gathered in the Sharpe’s living room to embarrass them with old photos and stories I had a sudden moment of realisation. What my parents have achieved is truly amazing
It's 10.43pm and I'm two thirds of the way through editing 24-7's Round Table report. Bleary eyed is an understatement, as I plow on I keep glancing at the clock and grimacing at the knowledge that I'm leaving for Switzerland in less than five hours...
I've been thinking a lot about friendship in the last month. It seems it's been a theme running through every element of my life. How do you measure friendship? How much do you give? How can we be realistic in our expectations?
I would definitely say that my thought theme for the last week has been time. I arrived back from the RT & ILG utterly exhausted and have spent the last week in a near hermit state of existance. Well, as near to Hermit as I get...
Today was a good day. I'm sure God would agree. Today an incredible man called Julian Spriggs came to introduce us the his book we're usung to study the whole Bible in a year. Heavy, you may think, but nay, every word that came out of this plain, forty something man was inspirational and full of life, passion and wisdom...
I took a walk through a thunderstorm two nights ago. I'd had a long day and suddenly I felt like I couldn't cope with the challenges in front of me. I needed a time out, the house needed milk, so I took a walk...
I've felt pretty shell shocked watching BBC news the past few days. Is it just me or does anyone else feel like the world is falling apart around their ears?
I was sitting in the City of London Boiler Room on Monday when I over heard a most disturbing thing... Phil Togwell was speaking to Andrea (lovely new UK prayer support lady) when he said... "If you wade through all the film, book and TV reviews on Carla's blog, sometimes you actually get to find out about her..." I was most perplexed. I don't think he gets it at all...
Last weekend and the following week have been my best week of 2005 so far. I can't really explain why, in many ways it's not been an easy week, lots has been happening, much of it emotional and hard, but underneath it all I have this secret smile...
Friday morning was my beautiful sister's Graduation. Mum, Dad, Adam, Lisa and I made our way through a very quiet London to celebrate with the class of 2005 in Wembley Conference centre. It was strange to be back in London so soon after the bombings, there was a subdued mood and a sober atmosphere in the streets. No fear, no panic, a little anger and a lot of silent, respectful morning...
10 concerts, 100 artists, a million spectators, 2 billion viewers, and 1 message... To get 8 men, in 1 room, to stop 30,000 children dying every single day of extreme poverty. Live 8 truly was an historic event...
Blogging is esentially a very extraverted thing to do. Here I am writing about my life and loves for the world to read and comment on. Sometimes (after checking my blog for coments for the third time in one day) I have an epiphany... the act of blogging is awfully self centred!
Something I've had to learn in the last year is how to argue. I'm not a walk over and I have strong opinions on things, but I've always struggled to argue in situations I'm emotionally invested in. It's strange, I could probably tare strips off Jo Bloggs in the street but the idea of getting angry with someone I care about scares me...
OK, so to be upfront, I am not profound, I am a blog blagger. This question was on Jonah's blog a couple of days ago and I love it...
"What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?"
It's an interesting one to ponder. My imediate thought was 'Play the Piano! Write songs!' and then 'Explain why I love Jesus in a way people could understand', which proves I'm more ambitious than spiritually focus ;). What's your answer? xc
Inspired by the end of my second journal I flicked back through the few diaries I kept in my younger years. When I moved house recently found three diaries I had completely forgot I'd written. It turns out that I have no original thoughts, just have a really bad memory and therefore feel like I'm having new ideas all the time...
I got an email from Steven Fry this morning, yes, the Steven Fry. I love opening my hotmail to celebrities pestering my and I'd love to say that it was a personal email and Steven and I are friends but it's really because I signed up to the Make Poverty History campaign and get updates from celerities on how to get involved. Today's email was pretty amazing...
May 5th is the big day for the UK General Election and party leaders are out in force laying down policies, criticising their opponents and kissing babies (I seriously saw Michael Howard do that – and it wasn’t meant to be ironic!) Yesterday I downloaded the Tory, Labour and LibDem Manifestos determined to make an informed decision but to be very honest I’m really uncertain and the sheer volume of information is overwhelming…
I've talked about this a fair bit with fellow elder siblings and most of us agree. As the eldest you often have more responsibility, are expected to set a standard of behavior and live under the myth that you are the intellegent one. I thought I wasn't bad academicaly until my little sister and brother came along and wooped my ass in all their exams. No fair! Lisa meant to be the beautiful sporty one and Adam, well lets face it, he's the baby boy. What role can I have if my sister and brother continue growing into gorgeous braniacs with witt and style!
...drain you like leaches. Yesterday morning I was on top of the world organising an on mass road trip to the premiere of Star Wars on the 16th and then in a matter of seconds I was nearly in tears at the realisation that I can't go because I'm speaking at a retreat in Dublin on the same day. You may not get it but gutted is an understatement. I was really dissapointed and it took me the rest of the day to get some perspective on the whole thing...
Jonah Bailey is Saddam Hussein... at least that's what his personality test says! Very amusing si? I thought I'd have a go... Can you guess what classic film and famous personality I came out as?
This weekend was relaxing and thought provoking. It was my first evening with my new mentor Maggie Ellis and Oswald Chambers excelled himself! If you've got a few minutes I just want to share what he wrote yesterday in "My Utmost for His Highest" (MUHH), it hit me squarely between the eyes as I read and wrote at my dressing table...
So what are your greatest fears? I like to know what mine are so that I can conquer them. The stubborn part of me hates being held back and locked up by them. I've had irrational fear of horses and escalators that I am very proud to have beaten in the last few years, and I have deeper fears that only emerge when provoked and are easier to hide...
A normal walk through Chi is usually accompanied by a soundtrack to fit my mood and weather, but with my current lack of audio assistance I am beginning to realise how musically stimulated my imagination is. On any given day, with tunes in my ears, I would transform the streets of Chi into vast and fantastical landscapes full of adventure and intrigue...
I just recieved a beautiful thank you card in the post from Jonah. On the front was the intrigueing painting on the left (click to enlarge). It's from a show at the Bilboa Guggenheim called "TOTAL RISK, FREEDOM, DISCIPLINE". The words jumped up at me from the card and span around in my brain. Risk, Freedom, Discipline... three words that have sumarised the last year and hopefully the coming years of my life.
I absolutely loved IAM5 on Saturday… I was so scared about it all week but the minute everyone arrived I looked around the room and thought, “What am I worrying about? It’s just a party for my friends!”…
Today I have felt very loved... It's been an odd day full of unexpected surprises and I've felt a little vulnerable. I am incredibly lucky though to have friends who always treat me kindly...
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