This is YOUR page. This is where we will post information about friends, contributors and their activities. Let readers know what you are doing, what you are planning to do, and what you would like them to know about yourself. Send your information to admin@nurturingpotential.net and, please note, that if you do not keep us informed, you run the risk of our posting incorrect or outdated information from our records. Information posted here is at the discretion of the editors.
What's New? [Click on the heading to be taken to the story] Joe Sinclair's pending move to Cornwall. News from the Bray family in Turkey. What's Michael Mallows up to these days?
Peace of Mind is a Piece of Cake The 5th International Conference of the "Socratic Dialogue Society"
Joe Sinclair has bought a house in Cornwall and will be moving in sometime in March 2005. His ultimate intention is to sell his (large) London home, buy a small apartment in the Greater London area, and spend most of his time living and working from the Cornish home. In the meantime - and possibly as a long-term alternative to selling the house in London - he would be happy to find someone to "house-sit" or rent a part of the London house. If any reader is interested to discuss this, please email Joe at joseph.sinclair@btinternet.com. Details of his new house have been posted on http://www.scold.org/cornwall/columb.htm and there is ample accommodation for any friends of Nurturing Potential wishing to visit and share the delights of Cornwall as Joe's guest.
We recently received some news from Stephen Bray in Turkey where he and his family have apparently been having some pretty traumatic experiences. Many of you will know that Stephen has been a consultant editor with Nurturing Potential and was a co-author with Joe Sinclair of the second edition of An ABC of NLP. A recent removal of home in Turkey, where he lives with wife Irem and daughter Amazon, has meant (in his words): "I am operating under some restraints due to the building work going on at our house. Currently we're living in a number of houses whilst having some alterations completed on ours. "Actually we were living in No 3 but it started to leak during a thunderstorm and so we decided to buy a 'Sobah' which is rather like a small Rayburn, which burns logs, and installed it in the bedroom sticking the chimney out of the bedroom window. "When we arrived home to let the man deliver the Sobah it was not raining, but inexplicably there was a flock of sheep in the front garden. Irem explained that these were sheep purchased by residents here to be sacrificed during the Bayram, (an Islamic religious holiday). "A little later the sheep were taken from the garden and I thought little more about them. The Sobah was installed and a lengthy stove pipe stuck out of the window. That night we were very warm, and the following day although it was raining slightly when I left No: 3 to come to No: 20 all was peace. On arrival at No: 20 however the telephone didn't work at all. In the event this was because I had unplugged it the previous day so that if there was another thunder storm the modem would not be affected. "When I finally realised this and plugged the phone in it immediately rang. It was Irem asking me to come home at once since the Sobah was now emitting large clouds of smoke and she had to vacate the house with Amazon and was speaking on her mobile phone. "Fortunately Sobah's have a kind of brazier inside them, which I removed and placed outside. Nevertheless everything in the house, including us, smelt like a bonfire. Meanwhile the rain rained and the thunder thundered and several extra leaks started to appear. Around 11.00 a.m. Amazon decided that she was going to sleep but when I came to put her in her cot I found that I was standing in about half an inch of water. "Our local builder turned up later in the afternoon and added two extra extension pipes to our makeshift chimney and we lit the Sobah again, which worked wonderfully. "That night the rain rained, and the thunder thundered but the Sobah burned beautifully, and the three of us started to look and smell more and more like gypsies. "This effect was heightened the following morning when I went to replenish the logs from the store in No; 2. At first I thought it was just that No: 2 smelt damp, but then I realised that No: 2 had been the final bivouac for the unfortunate sheep. Everywhere there were droppings, which smelt like, well frankly like sheep droppings. "Using Amazon's Winnie the Pooh baby-bath, which had been proudly purchased by Irem's mother, as a basket, I made a huge stack in the house. By now Irem and I were wearing heavy walking boots indoors at all times, and Amazon was unable to crawl anywhere, except in the bathroom, which was dry. Everywhere we had huge sheets and cloths which we used to mop up the water. I removed several bucket full in the course of a day. "Meanwhile I discovered that a Sobah will consume up to eight Winnie the Pooh Mothercare baby-baths full of logs every 24 hours. "The phone still not working at No: 20 I went gingerly and using 4 wheel drive to the nearest village along what seemed like a stream, but which usually passes for a road. There I managed to connect to the Internet at the local pub/bar/Internet cafe and manage some emails. "When I returned we opened a bottle of wine and set the table. This was how the head gardener on the estate found us when he called to wish us 'Happy Bayram's". We were both wearing walking boots, sitting in half an inch of water, with more water pouring down three of the house's four walls. We were lovely and warm but smelling of a combination of sheep shit and wood smoke. Nevertheless we had not forgotten to use table napkins, and Irem was just passing me the bread sauce as he arrived. "He could not believe his eyes. "We no longer are camped at No: 3, but have moved to a very comfortable No: 50, which has no Sobah but does have air conditioning. "The current state of play is as follows. Our house No: 6 is uninhabitable due to builders. Our stuff is stored on the covered verandas of No: 4 and 5 together with some of the stuff from No: 3. Our bed, now on blocks remains at No: 3 but its mattress is stored at No: 20, which is also my temporary office. Our logs are in No: 2 and we are living in No: 50. Our Sobah is on loan to the young couple in No: 39. We've been without power for 48 hours, but it was restored late last night, but for how long I don't know? "I thought you deserved a full explanation for the poor service of late ~ this is it." Stephen "P.S. I'm going to concentrate once more on photography, and leave therapy and being helpful for the rest of you good folks. To see what I'm up to please view my new website http://www.lovingphotography.com".
This is the current initiative of Michael Mallows. A direct link to details on his website with information about workshops will be found at http://www.mallows.co.uk/PERSONAL/living_inside_out.htm. The main website link is Michael has been associated with Nurturing Potential since its inception.
WHAT ARE THEY READING IN BEIJING AND MOSCOW?
The Society of Socratic Facilitators, whose UK associated organisation is The Society for the Furtherance of Critical Philosophy, is having its 5th International Conference in Berlin from July 25 to July 29, 2005. The conference will be called The Challenge of Dialogue, and the theme will be Socratic Dialogue and other forms of dialogue in different political systems and cultures - a global perspective. It will concentrate in particular on applying dialogue to: ► promote intra- and cross-cultural understanding; ► develop political awareness; ► critically reflect upon one's own values; and ► reach fair and just decisions within voluntary and state sectors. Full details on the internet from http://www.philosophisch-politische-akademie.de/ where an English version is available.
| |||||
