Middlefocus

I came across this little fold-up advice leaflet and thought that its 5 key points were worth sharing.  Produced by the Public Health Agency, the five steps to wellbeing that it recommends are: 1. Give 2. Be active 3. Take notice 4. Keep learning and 5. Connect. Each of the steps has an associated symbol and explanatory comment. And they make sense. Take 5 minutes and check out an online version of the leaflet and other mental health related material at the links below.  I'm glad I did as there is plenty of stuff to think about both for ones own health and for others. The next step is to build the 5 steps into daily habits so that they become second nature. This is where the discreet portability of the fold-up is useful. Slipped into a purse, wallet or pocket it can prompt us to action each time we notice it. Follow up Read online version of the 5 Steps leaflet here and see other health related advice at www.mindingyourhead.info

It only took a second to go back twenty years. There I was settling down with March 2016's Observer Food Monthly  and a little blurb on the cover of the magazine caught my eye.  It read, The Food Lover's Ultimate Book Shop (it also serves lunch) .   Could it be?  In that instant I knew what my ultimate food lover's bookshop would be but could it be the same one?  A quick scan to page 52 confirmed that it was indeed Books for Cooks a place that to my shame I had last visited in the mid-nineties when my professional life took me occasionally from Belfast to London and more exactly, Notting Hill Gate.  It was at a meeting that a colleague hearing of my interest in culinary matters suggested I visit this unique bookshop at Blenheim Crescent.  I had time; I did; and immediately fell in love with the place. That was twenty years ago! In my memory its shelves were (of course) packed with cookery books but what I remember was how special the place...

Loved it ! Having seen them several times on holidays, I knew a little about Segways but still wondered how they kept upright. The apparent defying of gravity has got to do with an onboard gyroscope and while to an onlooker it is obvious that it works, it takes only a few minutes on the machine for that to be confirmed and to feel at ease.  We had booked the "experience" with  Segway NI  and presented ourselves at the Titanic Quarter for a 90 minute tour. Before starting off we had a short but obligatory safety briefing from our instructor and guide, Kyle. After some practice at moving, turning and stopping, Kyle led us along a cycle lane to the first stop on our tour at the  SS Nomadic  brought to Belfast from Paris where it had served as a floating restaurant close to the Eiffel Tower.  Then it was over to Titanic Belfast  where he pointed out the arrangement of seats around the building that spelt out the ship's final distress signal in Mo...

Travelling on the London Underground recently I picked up this leaflet. Glad I did.... it is a collection of 30 poems from among the 500 which the Foreword says have featured on the Tube since 1986. Poems in the Underground started 30 years ago when a group of friends, writers and poets, with the support of the London Underground had the idea of sharing favourite pieces of poetry with colleague commuters.  The programme has since been adopted over the years by many cities around the world. Some of my old school favourites are among these thirty: Shelley's Ozymandias, Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 and Keats's Endymion and of course some new to me. Poems on the Underground has been published by Penguin Books in different versions, a hardcover and an e-book in 2012 and a paperback in 2015.  Check out this link  to Penguin for more information. I wonder if some of your favourites are in there and what for you is the poetry pearl in your oyster.

At a training session today, I was surprised and very pleased to get a chair with a writing frame for left-handed people of which I am one.  It was just as surprising to find that of the five people selected at random for my group, three of us were left-handed and there were plenty of lefty chairs to go round. Thanks to the organisers for their kind consideration - nothing was left to chance.

The National Gallery of Art in Dublin is a place I like to visit regularly. Even when it is undergoing refurbishment its curators find ways to engage visitors. I'll be adding some thoughts on this below shortly. Meantime this quote, alongside the statue of George Bernard Shaw, caught my attention and has remained in mind.  Thought I'd share.  Link to the gallery here .

This month's audiobook: So you have been publicly shamed Jon Ronson Picador, 2015 ISBN: 9780330492287 Audiobook version by: Audible Inc. This is an audiobook that I will listen to again or get a hard copy version. That's because I found it so interesting and intend to make notes next time. Written and voiced by journalist Jon Ronson I found it "unpausible" - which I am assuming to be the auditory equivalent of an "unputdownable" book.   It is a relatively short listen as audiobooks go, around 7 hours, and I very much liked its delivery style. The message of 'shamed' is definitely one for the times we live in.  I had no sooner finished listening than I noticed that the airwaves were full of calls for the resignation of the chief executive of a major national company, coupled with shouts for boycotting the company's products.  Name and shame seems to be the "stock" phrase these days.... and the prevalence of social medi...

It was a treat last weekend to meet up with some friends to dine in a really classy restaurant in Belfast. It's the kind of place you go to for that special occasion because you just know that the food will be superb and you are going to be treated very well. It's the epitome of great service and attention to detail: table tops, crockery and silverware all gleaming. The restaurant popped into mind today while reading a newspaper article setting out five tips for would-be writers.  Here's why.... The article's #1 tip was that "If you want to shine, you have to polish". As a blogger, I'm one of those  'would-be writers' so it's advice that I'll be taking to heart and acting on in future. Then it struck me that there was plenty of polishing going on in that restaurant and its shine shows. That sparkled my thinking about things that we might do in our personal and professional lives to polish up our act and shine more brightly. Tim...