Funfare for the Common Man

‘What is all the toil and bustle for? What are people aiming at with their ambitions and their frenzied pursuits of wealth, power and preeminence? Are they looking to supply their basic needs? No. The wages of the poorest labourer can supply those. What then are they after? They want to be treated well. They want to be attended to. To be taken notice of with sympathy, kindness and approval.’ (Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations ) May 2005: Part 2 of my ‘this time 10 years ago’ reflections The Celta was done and dusted and it was goodbye to new friends and onwards and upwards towards the start of a new adventure. Where would that be? What would be the first step, my first destination? But first comes the emotional turmoil, the heartbreak. I return home, Belfast at the time, pondering the next step. Even though I’ve spent my whole life moving around every 3 or so years, saying goodbye to old friends and having to meet and make new ones, my heart weighs heavily...

I’m a sucker for nostalgia and sentimentality, especially on 5/10/15/20 year anniversaries. Last September – my God, do I feel old – marked 20 years since I started university. 20 years! Inevitably at times like this I reminisce endlessly and wax poetic and more often than not, share my reminiscences with those who were a part of it. Last September I failed to do so, and I wonder if my friends and former classmates had similar thoughts (considering you are probably reading this, did you, boyos?) Anyway, I’m forever saying to myself ‘this time 20 years ago I was…’ I probably get it from my mother. (It’s hard to avoid the ‘time flies’ cliché, but it does really seem like it.) This month, I’ve been reflecting quite a bit on ‘this time 10 years ago’, for this time 10 years ago marked the start of a new epoch in the life and career of Pedzo, one which he never envisaged taking him to where it has today. It was the beginning of a new adventure, the start of my various hijinks and...

‘Lean back under a tree, put your arms behind your head, wonder at the pass we’ve come to, smile and remember that the beginnings and ends of man’s every great enterprise are untidy.’ (Sebastian de Grazia, political scientist, 1962, ‘Of Time, Work and Leisure’) First, a thank you to those who commented and offered their congratulations on my last post. It is much appreciated. Now to address one of my biggest, most glaring inconsistencies, one that affects many of us in some way, shape or form: the hypocrisy of berating and disparaging technology but then begrudgingly embracing it. I seem to be great at giving advice (note to fellow colleagues: 90% of the ideas I share with you I don’t even use myself) but not following my own. I’m happy to accept and the advice of others, but as far as practising what I preach? Fuhgedaboutit. Over the past few years, I’ve kept in touch with some friends, lost touch with others. Most people these days are on Facebook, but a coup...