Wednesday 7 August 2013

Once you begin watching spiders...

There must be some irony is escaping the winters and catching a summer cold on your holiday, but here it is! My first pair of jeans in years is stuffed with tissues and my throat feels like sand paper. All holidays seem to have a theme, much like the lands in the faraway land and wishing chair books, and this one seems to be: 'familiar'! Long-ago people and new places (and even some new people) have yet to surprise me - and i would over-think but a cold is a good cure to that!

I read a good book, which is like the icing on the holiday-cake, called Banker to the Poor - it had some really interesting ideas and the one I am currently obsessing over is the idea of competition without greed. He says that currently capitalism is all about competition with personal greed, and he talks about competition without personal greed - I am wondering about competition - I think I am not a competitive person, but, am i? and anyway, how does it tie into (my own favourite idea) the main purpose of schools? the students of today will run the economy tomorrow. was it ever just to get a degree? does it teach us to think? to relate? what are schools for?

I am itching to start my blog of interviews - I really should get my act together and speak to people and ask them some half decent questions. I think there are answers around if someone has the wit to capture them. In the meantime, I have been reading my stock of blogs and letters and I'll leave you with one, by EB White, that resonated with me simply because I really think spiders are amazing and their webs are a joy* to look at!

As for Charlotte herself, I had never paid much attention to spiders until a few years ago. Once you begin watching spiders, you haven't time for much else---the world is really loaded with them. I do not find them repulsive or revolting, any more than I find anything in nature repulsive or revolting, and I think it is too bad that children are often corrupted by their elders in this hate campaign. Spiders are skilful, amusing and useful. and only in rare instances has anybody ever come to grief because of a spider.
*not to the fly, I am sure!  

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