A few snippets from Occupy London Stock Exchange. Perhaps a few of these people are rebels without a cause, but I thoroughly enjoyed my visit: drinking tea and talking with people who are demonstrating that is IS possible to envisage alternative ways of living. 

I have recently been geeking out investigating the history of my new flat in Walworth and have been interested in learning about the life of Octavia Hill, pioneer of affordable housing for the poor who designed and commissioned my building and lots of others in the Walworth estate. She believed that tenemant houses ‘should not exceed three stories in height’ and should have the ‘maximum amount of sunlight and the freest circulation or air’, access to recreation land and a backyard. A shame these principles were disregarded in the design of the majority of social housing in London over the last 50 years.

Octavia Hill was criticised by left-wingers for disagreeing with women’s suffrage on the grounds that men and women ‘have different gifts and spheres’ (on these grounds I should probably dislike her), but she definitely knew how to design a decent tenemant building, and I’m a fan of any social pioneer, especially if they’re a woman.

Hello blog! I have been away for a while. So I thought I would restart with a little post about a good discovery I have recently made - Elephant and Castle Urban Forest.

It’s a secret woodland hidden amongst the high-rise buildings of the abandoned Heygate Estate. In its secret glades you can find vegetables growing, walks to go on, art exhibitions and feasts and probably lots of other things. Last night I attended a candle-lit ghost storytelling session, accompanied by songs about ghosts and witches by someone called Nigel of Bermondsey.

It was rather good, I would thoroughly recommend looking out for further events at the Forsest:

http://elephantandcastleurbanforest.com/

I spent the last couple of days hanging out in our teepee and yurt and by the camp fire on the Catholic Worker Farm. The Catholic Workers at the farm live with volunteers and eight women asylum seekers, practice hospitality for lots of visitors, grow organic vegetables, go skipping for food, make jam, and protest at nearby military bases and other places. And lots of other things too.

A very peaceful and inspiring visit.

http://www.thecatholicworkerfarm.org/index.html

This might make you a bit dizzy, but it’s pretty good.

I’ve been thinking for a while about making my diet more sustainable and kinder on the planet. Lots of good ideas in this article. Have decided to try eating meat only about once a week. The only current obstacle to this is a pack of bacon in my fridge…

A friend sent me this today, it’s rather good.

And one more thought for today. Apparently speaking to strangers is good for you! I have quite enjoyed talking to strangers for a while (obviously using my common sense and not talking to any maniacs in dark alleways) and I have to say that it has provided me with some of my more memorable and amusing experiences. Here’s something I read on a random blog:

1.  CULTIVATE CURIOSITY ABOUT STRANGERS

One of the best ways to develop your capacity to look through the eyes of others and escape the confines of your own worldview, is to have regular conversations with strangers, especially those outside your usual social circle. This doesn’t mean a brief chat about the weather. Rather, it involves a mutual exchange of thoughts on your most important beliefs and experiences, and – crucially – an attempt to understand the world inside the head of the other person. We are confronted by strangers every day – the heavily tattooed guy who delivers your post, the dignified elderly woman across the road who always wears a red beret, the new Thai employee who eats his lunch alone in the office canteen, the woman who sits in the underpass all day preening her dog. Set yourself the challenge of having a conversation with a stranger once a week. All it requires is courage.