As I Xi It v2.3

Whenever I have a Latin query, I immediately think back to my WISK sheets (what I should know) from my school days, then I remember that I had ceremoniously ignited them ten years ago. Kinda wished I didn’t do that now. I’m actually finding it harder to look up the required info on the web than I would’ve had I still possessed my notes. I can remember which page and what it looks like but for the life of me, I can’t remember the details, where the devil lies.

Difficile est tenere quae acceperis nisi exerceas.

Have too many clothes/things – can’t decide what to wear/use. Not enough clothes/things – complain about lack of variety/practical implements. Finding the equilibrium must be one of life’s great mysteries.

My room must be like Narnia or Mary Poppin’s bag. Even after my mass clear out last week, I’m still finding things to junk. To be honest, if I were to emmigrate today, all I’d need is my computer, photography gear and clothes. Oh, and perhaps my knives, torches, moisturiser, iPod, iPhone, cafetiere…

In light of my recent post on de-cluttering, I’m in a bit of a quandary over my film photography equipment. While they have proved to be a worthwhile investment, they have been sitting in dust covered boxes for a while and I can’t think when was the last time I had used any of it. I think I’ve put perhaps two or three rolls of 120 through my TLR camera in the few years I’ve had it in my possession and I can’t see myself taking it out any time soon either.

I love my Oly analogue kit, it’s robust yet svelte compared to my digital gear. Film, while little used, has a certain je ne sais quoi about it, however, it’s just too time consuming. Perhaps that’s a good thing, you’re forced to slow down and think about every image you make rather than spray and pray which there is a tendency to do with digital.

So, the dilemma lies in whether to keep the old school kit or to flog it?

I can’t believe how much stuff I’ve managed to accumulate over the years. With all this down time I have at the moment, I’ve been doing a mass de-clutter of my room. So far, I have managed to fill up the full sized domestic blue top wheelie bin for recyclables with mostly paper items. There’s some other junk in the landfill wheelie too.

It was a bit depressing really. As I cast my eyes over the grades on my preps and past papers from school, I was reminded of how hard I had worked to get the grades I got and now wonder what it was all for. I came across flyers and things from when I was a fresher and was reminded of a time where I was filled with optimism and ambition. My, my, how things have changed.

I dug up all these trinkets and things from yesteryear which I had previously kept because of sentimental reasons but now, I just see them as extra bits of clutter, so into the bin they go. They’re not even worthy of a reprise on eBay or donation.

Came across this via Petapixel today which I thought was worth sharing particularly as I’d recently been to the Occupy London site at St. Paul’s. The media often misreports what’s really going on and this just goes to emphasise that you really can’t believe everything you read or see.

It is however nice to see that under these staged conditions, that the more health and safety conscious ones are wearing hard hats and hi-viz, but hold on a minute, where’s the protective eye-wear to keep out shrapnel from the colliding rubble? Shoddy risk assessment.

Photojournalism Behind the Scenes [ITA-ENG subs] from Ruben Salvadori on Vimeo.

Yesterday, while wandering through the rows upon rows of packets, tins and cartons at my local ghetto Sainsbury’s, my ears pricked up when I caught the words “meningococcal meningitis” from behind an aisle. I peered around and found two characters chatting away about which antibiotic was best to use, either one of the many cephalosporins or chloramphenicol. I almost wanted to jump in with a few smart arse comments but felt it best to continue browsing the extensive range of dental products on offer.

The initial thing that struck me was that this pair didn’t look like your stereotypical GPs. One looked in his early thirties, bearded, glasses, beanie hat (it wasn’t that cold), possibly of Indian or Pakistani descent. The other, a more elderly gentleman, perhaps in his seventies of smaller stature with a beard, wrinkles, a bit frail looking and dressed in traditional ethnic clothing, again maybe from somewhere in the Indian sub-continent. They both spoke with a bit of an accent, the younger one, with a bit of a rude boy twang while the elder one was much more heavily accented.

It just goes to show that even in a pool of ghettoness, there are still some intellectuals in amongst the mishmash. London’s quite interesting like that.

A couple of days ago, I read this article about the invasion of hummous in Britain which led me to ponder about people’s habits. Then just now, I saw a tweet about travel traditions which ingited a sudden desire to blog.

When I was younger, my usual travel routine would be to pick up a copy of New Scientist from Smiths at Heathrow. It was my reading material of choice for those long haul flights. Somehow, unnoticed by me, over the next couple of years and many air miles later, I’ve completely forgotten about it until today. These days, I don’t have much of a departure lounge ritual apart from checking Facebook and sending out a tweet or two. If I’m to catch up on the recent developments in science, I’d just check my iPhone. Back then, print was king, now, you can just read it off the iPhone or if you’re feeling a bit flush, subscribe and read it off the iPad app.

Whether you notice it or not, things are changing, albeit slowly at times.

That title was suppose to be Spanish for ….. Oh, I’ve forgotten. I can’t even remember what I was I going to write, not a dicky bird. Something about time obviously, but can’t remember the details.

Writer’s block strikes again. *sigh*

In light of my recent post on annoying positive phototactic insects, today, I found various bits of insect carcass on my car.

Arachnid with one less leg

Vespid abdomen