This was my view of the Himalayas from the plane as I flew north over Asia from Melbourne. The world is such a huge place for an Icarus boy to behold, breathtaking and exhilarating at the same time but immensely humbling. And I was thinking, if the job of art and culture's is to help to adjust the inner life of a civilisation – providing soul food for the soul miners - we need to be aware how hugely vast the world is. It is all to easy to be sucked into the security of the small and parochial. I think that is what this year has taught me (or perhaps that should be reminded me). And yet still I know so little, I flew over this scene, yet a friend of mine is working in Zhengzhou in China, as part of her University's outreach - blimey! Mind you when I googled Zhengzhou it looked fantastic - though googling is something she may struggle with over there. Of course, imagining life elsewhere isn't so hard and every writer should be able to. Like this picture here which is a page on the picture book, KYOTO, we launched last month. Not the Himalayas but mountains from the mind on the issue of global warming - and did we have time to think about that, this week. 13 inches of snow in my back garden has to be a record (and a good excuse to sit in the kitchen and strum a guitar - and talking of which, who knows I may even get a new guitar this birthday - coming up. Though it will be my 56th and the end of the blog so I may have to think about that. 55@55 is kinda out of control, and nothing can go on forever can it?)Anyway this guitar style might serve as a clue:
This was my view of the Himalayas from the plane as I flew north over Asia from Melbourne. The world is such a huge place for an Icarus boy to behold, breathtaking and exhilarating at the same time but immensely humbling. And I was thinking, if the job of art and culture's is to help to adjust the inner life of a civilisation – providing soul food for the soul miners - we need to be aware how hugely vast the world is. It is all to easy to be sucked into the security of the small and parochial. I think that is what this year has taught me (or perhaps that should be reminded me). And yet still I know so little, I flew over this scene, yet a friend of mine is working in Zhengzhou in China, as part of her University's outreach - blimey! Mind you when I googled Zhengzhou it looked fantastic - though googling is something she may struggle with over there. Of course, imagining life elsewhere 
isn't so hard and every writer should be able to. Like this picture here which is a page on the picture book, KYOTO, we launched last month. Not the Himalayas but mountains from the mind on the issue of global warming - and did we have time to think about that, this week. 13 inches of snow in my back garden has to be a record (and a good excuse to sit in the kitchen and strum a guitar - and talking of which, who knows I may even get a new guitar this birthday - coming up. Though it will be my 56th and the end of the blog so I may have to think about that. 55@55 is kinda out of control, and nothing can go on forever can it?) Anyway this guitar style might serve as a clue:
