Middlefocus

Title: Men-in-the-Middle Conversations to Gain Momentum with Gender Equity's Silent Majority Author: Kori REED Publisher: Pure Ink Press, 2023 Ebook ISBN: 979-8-9875866-5-5 My rating: 5* The media soundscape reverberates with discussions on gender issues often emphasising equity issues in the workplace. For some reason male voices seem to be silent on the conversations that need to be had.   This was one of the key observations put forward in this challenging yet engaging book by Kori Reed. The book's structure is built around conversations with men discussing various workplace practices and situations, which being familiar to me as a male rang true.   The premise was inviting and moments into the introduction I was hooked.   I think I realised right from the outset that this should not be a quick read - the ideas and challenges shared would need time for reflection and action.   So I took a chapter at a sitting.   You can read each of the eleven chapters i...

Wine art.  Portuguese Reserva 2020 with Fado label. Putumayo CD and Music from the Winelands. Drawing an evening to a close.

Routes: One of the things that has left a lasting impression from our recent trip to Seville was learning how for centuries Jews, Muslims and Christians lived together in peace.  The Jewish legacy can be discovered in the Caminos de Sefarad / Paths of the Sefarad - the term used by the Jewish community to refer to Spain.  Roots: We spent an afternoon in Seville walking the old quarter of the city tracing its multi-cultural past and there in a courtyard saw the physical expression of that living together - an orange tree and a palm tree growing from the same plot of ground.  Routes and roots.     

  I had long been wanting to visit this reclining statue in front of Centenary House, at premises of the Salvation Army in Belfast's Victoria street. Designed by Canadian sculptor, Timothy Schmaltz it portrays Jesus as a homeless person.  Even though most of the statue is covered by a blanket, we know exactly who the person is by the piercings on the feet. Wounds of the crucifixion. The sculptor intended to challenge onlookers and it certainly had that effect. Someone has left a rolled-up bundle of clothes alongside adding to the poignancy of the scene. There are dozens of copies of the statue around the world although, as this Wikipedia article   points out, reaction has been varied.  I think its challenge on behalf of rough sleepers certainly hits home.

  This is a much-loved book. My dad's. The pen was his too.  C.Tracey  etched in cursive script. Same details as mine. Heirloom.