Experience: Worth it?

When was the last time that you thought 'I paid over the odds, but I don't care'?

And conversely, when was the last time that you thought 'That was an incredible deal' ?

For me, it's over the odds every time I drop in to Caffe Nero for a Chai Latte, whereas the last 'what a deal' feeling came from a £1 suet ball (in a coconut) bird-feeder that is giving the birds in our garden much pleasure - though much for the cat to feel frustrated about.

Picture Response #12

What's going on here?

Tell: Casting

They're casting for the film of your life. Tell us who should play you - whether at a young age, through the middle years or in your dotage. You can be cast and played for real, or ideal.

Whose agent(s) are we talking to?

NB/ If you're struggling for names, then just let us know three key qualities that we'll be casting for and we'll do the rest.

Debate: Should Children Rule The World?

Sometimes it seems to me that children are more sensible than adults; fairer; more clear-thinking. I was musing on this the other day, and it occurred to me that maybe children should govern, make laws, sit as judges etc. What do you think? Would it lead to world peace and harmony? Or would it be Lord Of The Flies on a grand scale? And, if the latter, would it really be very different to what we have now?

Right Now: Lunch-date

Let's say that you could share your next lunch with anyone at all - could be someone who you know, could be someone who you admire from afar, could be a cartoon character. You get the picture.

Who would you be sharing lunch with?

Experience: Lessons

What is the most useful lesson you've learned in your life? And who, or what, taught it to you?

Picture Response #11

Look at the picture and describe a place - anywhere that you have been - that springs to mind.

Tell: Holiday File

I was on an aeroplane recently heading for a well-known European holiday destination (just call me Ordinary Joe) when I overheard two passengers behind me, thus:

Passenger 1 (a bit panicky) 'Did you pack the file?'

Passenger 2 (reassuring) 'Yes, it's in the green holdall.'

I wanted to know more, but apparently they had nothing else to say on the subject. So assuage my curiosity, please, commenters. Why was it so important for them to take a file on holiday? What kind of file was it? What were they going to do with it when they got there? Do tell!

Debate: Leisure Travel

If Ordinary Joe can afford to travel extensively (planes, trains, automobiles) and he enjoys doing so, then he should. He should enjoy his travels, with no holding back. You only live once.

Do you agree or disagree?

Right Now: Habits

I have a magic spell to use for you. It has the power to change one habit: you can lose one, or gain one, of your choice. What will it be?

Experience: Greatness

Share with us three things that you've learned that you're really good at.

I'll claim greatness when it comes to making apple and raspberry crumble, the ego-boosting of youngsters and occasional oldsters, and doing quick mental arithmetic.

Share your greatness.

Picture Response #10

Moon over what? Over where?

Tell: Bottle

It's Monday and I'm determined that we start out on a positive note this week.

Imagine that you're walking on your nearest beach, later today. You find a bottle, with a note in it. A message! Tell us what it says.

Debate: Can We Shrink Christmas?

This post is inspired by an experience from last Wednesday morning, as I was driving into Dudley, past the Quality Hotel. I have never been to this particular Quality Hotel, so cannot vouch for its quality, but I have driven past it many times, and they frequently have banners outside advertising deals for the next 'special occasion' - Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Easter, you get the idea. Last Wednesday they were advertising Father's Day. Fair enough. But along the bottom of the banner, in largish letters, were the words 'Now Taking Bookings For Christmas.'

A couple of years ago, I was outraged when going out for a pub lunch on 1st September and finding a flyer for Christmas bookings on the table. 'That means Christmas lasts FOUR MONTHS,' I ranted. 'That's one-third of my YEAR dominated by Christmas.' Last Wednesday was the 9th of April. It seems that Christmas now has the same gestation period as a chimpanzee.

I have no problem with Christmas as such. It's an important festival in the Christian calendar, and as this country has, broadly speaking, been heavily influenced by Christian culture for a millennium and a half or so, it is bound to dominate life for a while. And naturally some people choose to spread their Christmas shopping over a long period, or make plans for holidays well in advance to ensure they can get their first choice. But couldn't we keep most of the pre-Christmas stuff - the advertising, the decorations, the hideous soundtracks in shops - to, say, the month leading up to the festival itself?

Right Now: On Air

If you had to listen to the radio right now (perhaps you are), what would you be pleased to hear as you turned on and tuned in?

(I'd be happy to hear anything featuring Matthew Paris - Great Lives for example)

Experience: Chair

Tell us about your favourite chair, and how you experience it.

(Mine is the Chair of Indefinite Studies, which I experience mostly by laughing.)

Picture Response #9

'I look at the picture and I think of ... '

Tell: Place/Food Combination

Tell us about your favourite food-place combination. So this may not involve your actual favourite food, or your very favourite place - but the optimum combination of the two. Maybe it's ice-cream on the beach as a potent association of childhood holidays... perhaps it was a never-to-be-repeated sharing of salty chips with a tipsy lover in a shop doorway while rain pelted down... or a pre-packed Danish on a train, neither of which you like much but somehow the combination of inferior pastry with the rhythm of wheels on track enables you to transcend the moment... you tell us.

Debate: Size Matters

Smaller class sizes would make little difference to most children's experience of mainstream education. School league tables. Best schools. School improvement. Education system.
Au contraire? Education debate! Teaching or training? Skills for life?

Right Now: Gladness

What are you most glad about, right now?

Experience: Dentist

Dentist, Orthodentist, Black and Decker - a drill's a drill, right?
Fear of dentist. Dentist Phobia. Good teeth. Shiny white teeth.
Share with us a memory or two, recent or distant, of a trip to the dentist.

Picture Response #8

What do you think when you see this picture?