Hmmm…what to write about me.  Well, I live in London, work for a charity, and am a part-time vegetarian.   I quite possibly have a coffee addiction.  I most definitely have a cigarette addiction (but am trying to quit that).  I am a serial charity shop shopper, a bit of a cynical old stick, and I have been known to go running on occassion. 

I’m not sure if I have a huge amount of interesting things to say – having a blog is just an extension of my interest with communication and my compulsion to connect with the world around me.

Random Facts about Me:

Pony:  When I was a child I wanted to be a pony when a grew up.  This is a fact.  Once I even got sent home from school because I was sick after eating grass on the playing field. 

People:  People are fascinating things…a buzz of contradictions and complexities.  People will help complete strangers in crisis but won’t speak to their neighbours.  People fill their bodies with alcohol, drugs, cigarrette smoke and fatty foods, yet move away when someone sneezes on the tube.  People never cease to amaze me (usually in a good way). 

Communications and community:  I am fascinated by the things that people can achieve when they work together, and new technologies.  The world is as big as you want to make it, and community doesn’t need to mean ‘just’ your immediate neighbourhood anymore.

Morrissey:  Possibly safe to say that I have a Morrissey-God fixation.  To date this hasn’t caused any major issues in my life. 

Social Media:  Over the last year or so, I have become increasingly interested in how old communication methods are now meeting new communication tools to empower, enable and connect people who would never have had the opportunity to do so a couple of years ago.  In fact, it has got to the stage where I am probably teetering somewhere along the edge of being a bit of a geek (I have used the phrase web 2.0 in conversation and knew what it meant!)

Market:  I like food from markets / potatos with mud on them /bartering for bread.  Wherever possible I will avoid supermarkets because I resent the monopoly they hold over our towns and cities, limiting choice, retricting opportunities for smaller businesses, and helping to create ‘clone town’ Britain. 

Profession:  Communications and Events Manager for a community organisation in east London.  I do some volunteer work as well, lend with Kiva and am an online mentor on www.horsesmouth.co.uk.  Brownie points galore!

Things I’m proud of:  Moving out of home at 17 and managing to survive on next to no money until I was able to study for a degree by working part time and studying in the evening.  Running the London Marathon without dying (and beating the guy dressed as a Darlek). 

Things I’m not proud off:  Self deprication.  Not making enough time for friends and family.  Procrastination. 

But it’s ART:  I like to paint and do artistic pursuits in general and I like taking photographs with my camerybob (my enthusiasm makes up for the lack of skill!)