The online collection of Andy Smithyman

Aaron Sorkin (Toby Ziegler: West Wing)

Always makes me smile. I couldn’t have said it better than myself.

You met God on meadow and moorland; you met Him in the homes of the people. God seemed to be everywhere… not an evangelist, not a special effort. Not anything at all based upon human endeavour, but an awareness of God that gripped the whole community so much so that worked stopped.

(Duncan Campbell describing the 1949 Hebrides Revival)

It’s a quote that still provokes me to this day. Campbell knew how to articulate a moment in a way that never provided a “full stop” to a description: inviting the reader on further trails of daring imagination.

What a great idea - a map made out of geotagged tweets.

A inspiring talk by Adam Savage (of Mythbusters fame) that I continual come back to.It never ceases to amaze me the power that resides within the mind when it embraces creative obsession.

From the fool’s gold mouthpiece the hollow horn.

Plays wasted words, proves to warn.

That he not busy being born is busy dying.

(Bob Dylan: It’s Alright Ma)

Being born… a continual process.

The wheel turns, nothing is ever new.

(Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal In Belgravia)

Sometimes it is good to stop and consider that the ‘new’ always has a link into the ‘past’. It not only helps with battling with the whole self-importance issue, but more important, honours the footprints we find our feet already within. 

I have often found that the most immaterial aspect of a case can be at the same time its most significant.

(Sherlock Holmes: The House of Silk)

That’s my main message, really. Don’t think that the things around you don’t count, because they do.

(Jarvis Cocker: Guardian 17/10/11)

Lesson # The power of the insignificant.

Lesson # Never underestimate the mundane.

The unfinished picture would so like to jump off the easel and have a look at itself.

(C.S. Lewis: Letters To Malcolm)

It has always struck me that any interpretation of a series of events isn’t possible until all the evidence says otherwise and even then one should be wary before jumping to a conclusion.

(Sherlock Holmes: The House of Silk.)

Wise words from the old man.

This book is by the one who thought he’d be farther along by now, but he’s not.

It is by the inmate who promised the parole board he’d be good, but he wasn’t.

It is by the dim-eyed who showed the path to others but kept losing his way.

It is by the wet-brained who believed if a little wine is good for their stomach, then a lot is great.

It is by the lair, tramp, and thief; otherwise known as the priest, speaker, and author.

It is by the disciple whose cheese slid off his cracker so many times he said ‘to hell with cheese ‘n’ crackers’.

It is by the young at heart but old of bone who is led these days in a way he’d rather not go.

But,

This book is also for the gentle ones who’ve lived among the wolves.

It is for those who’ve broken free of collar to romp in fields of love and marriage and divorce.

It is for those who mourn, who’ve been mourning most of their lives, yet they hang on to ‘shall be comforted’.

It is for those who’ve dreamed of entertaining angels but found instead a few friends of great price.

It is for the younger and elder prodigals who’ve come to their senses again, and again, and again, and again.

It is for those who strain at pious piffle because they’ve been swallowed by Mercy itself.

This book is for myself and those who have been around the block enough times that we dare to whisper the ragamuffin’s rumour - all is grace.

(Brennan Manning: All Is Grace)

A book with three parts and 236 pages.

Yet a book that has taken a lifetime to write - All Is Grace

Perfect.

David Crowder Band doing an all time Gaither classic.

Going to miss these guys.

“Many of us have grown up to believe certain things are true in science, without ever questioning them, And, as this research suggests, scientific misconceptions, once picked up, can stay with us for our whole lives”.

(Ian Grant, Managing Director of Encyclopaedia Britannica UK commenting on the science misconceptions, including how a third of people still believe we only use 10 percent of our brain capacity). 

It’s not just science where misconceptions reside. Another reminder to dare to question what is considered the norm.

“You don’t let the guy with the broom control how many elephants are in the parade”.

Merlin Mann

Wise words about vested interests.

I have always found the craft of printing creative. This is astounding on so many levels, particularly when they were told it couldn’t be done.

For more details, visit the Buckminster Fuller article. 

Sums it up

Just did an interview with UCB about Dickens and the Christmas Carol. Their serialisation of this classic tale on everyday this week at 10.20.

The City of London Corporation has lost control of St. Paul’s Cathedral, the high court will hear on Monday, with members of an activist camp “seeing the rules and policing behaviour” in the churchyard.

A line that packs weight beyond its words.

“The world has become a strange and puzzling place that keeps insisting I give up what I thought I knew. 

I don’t expect to ever again feel secured by intellectual confidence. But I find life much more interesting now living with not knowing, trying to stay curious rather than certain”.

(Margaret Wheatley)

Love the idea of staying curious… acts like blood rushing through the veins of life.

“Science is a continual process of refinement. It’s one of the fields where we want to be proved wrong.

The role of the scientist is to stand on the edge and look out on the known and delight in the stuff you don’t know, and then go and explore it”.

(Brian Cox)

A worthwhile summation of life in general.

In support of words and ideas…. a wonderful show of creativity.