August 2009
Monthly Archive
Not Waving But Drowning
Posted by Suzi on 25 Aug 2009 | Tagged as: Poetry
I was just reading Stevie Smith’s poem Not Waving But Drowning. You can hear Stevie Smith talking about and reading the poem on the poetry archive.
The poem is a thoughtful comment on the pretence of life and perhaps a statement on our time. Are we waving or drowning?
“I read about a man getting drowned once – his friends thought he was waving to them from the sea but really he was drowning. This often happens in swimming baths or at the seaside – and I thought about that, in a way, it’s true of life too: that a lot of people pretend, out of bravery really, that they are very jolly and ordinary sorts of chaps but really they do not feel at all at home in the world or able to make friends easily, so they joke a lot and laugh and people think they are quite alright and jolly nice too but sometimes the brave pretence breaks down and then, like the poor man in the poem, they are lost.”
Hugs, human voice simulators and totem poles in Cambridge
Posted by Suzi on 15 Aug 2009 | Tagged as: Art, Museums
I was in the Archelology and Anthropology museum the other day and say some fabulous art work tucked away in a corner upstairs. There were some Ceramic Cast Hugs by Bonnie Kemske and a sound and movement device entitled Vox Theremin by Micheal Markert. Worth popping in to have a look at the art and the museum in general. It’s open Tuesday - Saturday 10:30am - 4:30pm and admission is free.
Following in Darwin’s footsteps
Posted by Suzi on 07 Aug 2009 | Tagged as: Environment, Travelling
The Clipper Stad Amsterdam is leaving port soon and departing on a journey that follows the path of the Beagle to the Galapagos Islands. Find out more here.
Busy with meetings and exploring the pubs of Cambridge
Posted by Suzi on 06 Aug 2009 | Tagged as: Pubs, Things to do
After a long week at work it was a bit of a relief to have a quiet evening on Friday. Will and Ella came up on Saturday and I got to wander all round Cambridge with them. We popped into the Green Dragon for a summer drink and then walked along the river and round the center. Then on Sunday I cycled out to Impington to a book club meeting. We discussed Brave New World and finished off with tea and cake which was all very Sundayish.
Monday after playing tennis with Chris a fellow humanist I ended up with Gavin and Chris in the Maypole. I am wondering if everything in Cambridge always ends with a drink at the Maypole. On Tuesday it was off the the Free Press to meet the rest of the humanists after nipping to the Stop the War meeting.