I’m feeling very melancholy today. Yesterday I headed to London to meet Rew (who’s in the UK with college for a couple of weeks) and had far too much fun, and now - just like after New York last year - I’m sad that some of my most amazing and beautiful friends are so far away.
Copenhagen, as told by my Facebook and Twitter updates
(January 1st, 2010)
Kinders Al Kinley Colleague just said to me, “enjoy the weekend (the last one before Christmas)”.
27 November 2009 at 15:18
Kinders Al Kinley Drinking a beer and packing to go to something epic. ftw #cop15
11:21 PM Dec 1st, 2009
Kinders Al Kinley felt a bit teary leaving work. Can’t believe it’s here at last. We’re going to Copenhagen to save the world…
01 December 2009 at 19:46
Angelique Orr likes this.
Nikki Brown
Keep us all updated on facebook when you can, yes? I want to talk to you about your job at some point. I would very much like to do an internship with a charity at some point. As soon as I was old enough for charities to take me I’ve been doing voluntary work for various ones (next one is probably Oxfam!) and doing an internship seems like it might be a good idea when I’m well enough.
01 December 2009 at 19:56Kinders Al Kinley
Maybe we can talk about it at Srafcon in Jan. Still not sure if I’m coming. But yeah, come and work for Oxfam! http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get_involved/volunteer/latest_intern.html
01 December 2009 at 20:00Nikki Brown
Come to Srafcon! We’re lovely hosts. I’ll have a look at that link, thanks. :)
01 December 2009 at 20:06Betsy Robson
Yay! Good luck! I love you! back to the USA soon?!
01 December 2009 at 22:47Kinders Al Kinley
Man, I’d love to, but I promised no flights in 2010… anyway, it’s totally your turn to come to Oxford. I’ve got you a Christmas present that says so. xx
01 December 2009 at 22:53Rory Patrick Aloicious McMannus
has the whole world gone fucking mad? www.nevertrustacop.org
02 December 2009 at 12:28Kinders Al Kinley
Because of or despite the people planning to set Copenhagen on fire?
02 December 2009 at 12:56Rory Patrick Aloicious McMannus
despite them and because of the people standing patiently and asking the Police officer for his badge number because they’re pretty sure he’s not allowed to do that while also waiting patiently and asking the men making billions (in profits and/or campaign contributions) if they’d mind very much just making millions for a while becauase some people in Bangladesh are getting flooded constantly. Sheesh!
02 December 2009 at 13:13Kinders Al Kinley
Do you not think there’s any value in persuading people to do the right thing through engagement and discussion and education? Is destruction the only way to affect change?
02 December 2009 at 13:29Rory Patrick Aloicious McMannus
The meeting is between governments, the only discussion is between nations wanting to safeguard their economic interests and get elected again in a few years. There is no engagement, you’re out on the street being herded along a pre-agreed route by riot cops. There’s no need for education, they all know what’s going on out there climate-wise they … See Morejust don’t give a shit, their prioroties are to continue genrationg profits for the multi-nationals that fund their parties and own their country’s newspapers. Come on Kin! No one changed anything without a little destrcution.
02 December 2009 at 13:47Kinders Al Kinley
The represented governments include those from countries who have it in their best interests to prevent climate change. Part of the problem is indeed that developed countries are more interested in doing what’s profitable than what’s fair, but that’s why we’re out there campaigning, and I think we’ll do a better job of winning them over by engaging… See More them than by shutting down the discussions. We’re only out in the streets when we choose to be; we’re also there in the negotiations; engaged with the negotiators in person. I don’t think you’d be surprised by how poorly educated ministers are on any given topic including this one. The effect is pretty startling when somebody finally tells them what they need to know. I agree that a little destruction is powerful but it needs to be part of a broader set of actions. Surely pure destruction is purely destructive - ?
02 December 2009 at 19:28
Sibylle Shacklebolt Have a safe trip, Kinders! I hope you’ll be warm enough. I’ll look for you on the news :)
01 December 2009 at 20:12
Kinders Al Kinley has occasional evenings of uncontrollable win.
03 December 2009 at 22:30
Kinders Al Kinley RT @karinab - @kindersk was the gineau pig for a dry run of our Monday event. Try and guess what it is.
8:52 PM Dec 4th, 2009
Kinders Al Kinley Full day #1 in Copenhagen. It’s not even the weekend before the conference yet and I’m exhausted.
04 December 2009 at 23:05
James Maroney
good news on Obama though; keep up the good work Al!
05 December 2009 at 01:07
Kinders Al Kinley #CoP15 conference center is obscenely large. It’s all about to begin. Exciting!
06 December 2009 at 10:43
Kinders Al Kinley just had the most intense period of activity of his life
06 December 2009 at 19:19
Zoe Richmond and Gabriella Hood like this.
Kinders shared The Guardian’s Editorial on Google Reader
Kinders and Emily Subden are now friends.
Kinders favorited The world speaks out against climate change on YouTube
10 December 2009 at 03:58
Kinders Al Kinley is not feeling so loved today
10 December 2009 at 17:22
Alex McCarthy ✯
Aww. *hug* for Kinders!
10 December 2009 at 18:02Zoe Richmond
There’s no ‘like’ button next to your name. But if there was I’d press it.
10 December 2009 at 22:16Gabriella Hood
you are loved.
11 December 2009 at 00:21Kinders Al Kinley
Thanks dudes, you rule. I feel loved again today. Part of me doesn’t want to leave here. Part of me can’t wait.
11 December 2009 at 22:58
Kinders Al Kinley feels loved today; have had a splendid day.
11 December 2009 at 22:51
Angelique Orr, James Maroney and Natalie Brook like this.
Kinders Al Kinley Week1 of CoP15 can best be described by the word “extremes”: most here have been shouted and sworn at, applauded, praised; felt elated, demotivated, frustrated, moved, excited, helpless; cried, fought, laughed and hugged. Despite some hellish days, I feel inspired and privileged to be here at this intensely significant… event. Excited for march/party tomorrow, and week2 to close a fascinating and amazing year.
11 December 2009 at 22:54
Kinders Al Kinley Finds that awful days are always overpowered by the awesomeness of the things I have the privilege of being involved in #CoP15
11:04 PM Dec 11th, 2009
Kinders Al Kinley owes apologies to lots of people for being a miserly grumpyguts today. #CoP15
13 December 2009 at 22:11
Guppi Bola
Chin up Al, coffee tomorrow? xx
13 December 2009 at 22:22Kinders Al Kinley
Crikey, when?! Be nice if we get a chance :)
14 December 2009 at 06:27Adam Tomkinson
Apology accepted.
14 December 2009 at 14:18
Sibylle Shacklebolt I’ve just seen people got arrested for protesting (what on earth). Are you okay?
13 December 2009 at 23:03
Kinders Al Kinley
Yeps. Only about 0.07% of demonstrators got arrested. The other 100,000 had an amazing time!
14 December 2009 at 06:26
Kinders Al Kinley is saying a fond goodbye to the #BellaCenter. I’ve gone from being UN invited today to uninvited tomorrow. #CoP15
14 December 2009 at 16:53
Kinders Al Kinley Just watched probably my last ever Fossil of the Day at #CoP15
14 December 2009 at 17:36
Kinders Al Kinley Proud to have been a Bali bear today
Save the humans
14 December 2009 at 21:58
Leisa Ashton MacLellan
I wondered if that was you- saw it on BBC- you are famous!!!!
15 December 2009 at 20:20
Kinders Al Kinley can’t believe it’s nearly all over.
16 December 2009 at 11:51
Kinders Al Kinley In our hotel, not allowed into #CoP15, it’s snowing and Dire Straits are playing. 2009 is nearly over. Feeling decidedly melancholy.
16 December 2009 at 13:51
Kinders Al Kinley signed the biggest petition in history. Join me. http://bit.ly/54XhuI #CoP15
17 December 2009 at 09:15
Kinders Al Kinley has the official pop mob sore throat
18 December 2009 at 09:01
Kinders Al Kinley Reading Obama’s speech before he speaks it. Bizzare. #CoP15
18 December 2009 at 11:43
Clare Fisher
loving your updates Al, have you got a blackberry or you permanently on the comp?!! oxfam xmas party last night we missed all you guys …
18 December 2009 at 14:49Kinders Al Kinley
My routine is kind of, run somewhere, check emails, run somewhere else, check emails, run somewhere else… How was the party? Bummer to have missed it (third year running) but things are pretty exciting here too!
18 December 2009 at 22:29
Kinders Al Kinley featured on Have I Got News For You today… #CoP15
18 December 2009 at 21:25
Thom Wyatt
Which part? Were you a bear?
19 December 2009 at 04:34Kinders Al Kinley
Yep :)
19 December 2009 at 09:43Thom Wyatt
I’d wondered. You back in the uk now?
19 December 2009 at 18:23Kinders Al Kinley
Nope. Some point this week, TBC
20 December 2009 at 10:39
Kinders Al Kinley My first Oxfam blog post :)
Being Nicolas Sarkozy | Oxfam International Blogs
Very few people have the opportunity to be the President of the French Republic in their lifetime, but today I was lucky enough to take up the mantle, at least for half an hour and be Nicolas Sarkozy.
18 December 2009 at 21:48
Kinders Al Kinley It’s all over. #CoP15
19 December 2009 at 09:49
Kinders Al Kinley Relief that exhausting #CoP15 is over now overtaken by bitter sadness that the deal is a massive #fail
19 December 2009 at 10:09
Kinders Al Kinley is coming home from #CoP15 early. I may have never been so happy
19 December 2009 at 16:19
Kinders Al Kinley necessarily got a lot off his chest last night. Time for 2010, I think.
20 December 2009 at 10:48
Kinders likes Juliana Russar’s photo.
Kinders and Becky Huinker are now friends.
Kinders Al Kinley met Kumi Naidoo at the airport #CoP15
20 December 2009 at 17:11
Kinders and Rully Prayoga are now friends.
Kinders and Christian Gade Bjerrum are now friends.
Kinders and Brian Cugelman are now friends.
Kinders and Bert Maerten are now friends.
Kinders Al Kinley CoP15 as told by Dr Zeuss…
Copenhagen
21 December 2009 at 10:37
Kinders Al Kinley Back home and already bored silly. Anyone fancy an all-delegation meeting?
21 December 2009 at 14:03
Kinders Al Kinley
Video: When George Monbiot met Boris Johnson … | Environment | guardian.co.uk
Environmental columnist George Monbiot challenges Boris Johnson’s green policies in an extraordinary meeting of world mayors in Copenhagen
21 December 2009 at 18:05
Kinders and Jason Wojciechowski are now friends.
Kinders and Anna A K Hinrichsen are now friends.
Kinders shared 3 items (1, 2, 3) on Google Reader
Kinders and Gabriel Leon Wulff are now friends.
Kinders Al Kinley hasn’t been this excited about Christmas since his age was a single-figure.
23 December 2009 at 10:23
Nidhi Shrivastava likes this.
Kinders Al Kinley spent the night having nightmares that people from work were calling incessantly to ask about their hotel in Mexico… :|
25 December 2009 at 13:12
Bert Maerten likes this.
Frida Eklund
Mwrahahahaha!!!
25 December 2009 at 20:23
Kinders shared Letters: Copenhagen: time to stop the finger-pointing on Google Reader
Kinders Al Kinley
A Message to World Leaders from Global Youth
Following the failure and collapse of the 2009 Copenhagen UN climate summit, the international youth climate movement has the following message for world leaders: “You’re not done yet. And neither are we.”
26 December 2009 at 10:46
Kinders Al Kinley La rana. La mariposa. La vaca. Lo siento.
27 December 2009 at 09:27
Frida Eklund
Mexico will be a breeze mate.
27 December 2009 at 11:44Kinders Al Kinley
Mexico will be a long way from wherever I am in December!
27 December 2009 at 14:57
Kinders Al Kinley has had a lovely relaxing Christmas but is ready to go home tomorrow
28 December 2009 at 19:36
Kinders Al Kinley kind of misses Copenhagen…
30 December 2009 at 18:59
Frida Eklund
me too!!
31 December 2009 at 15:35Kinders Al Kinley
What’s wrong with us?
31 December 2009 at 16:10
Posted in Climate change, Oxfam, Personal, Politics, Travel • 1 Comment
2009/2010
(December 31st, 2009)
2009 has been a strange and brilliant year for me. It started with an ending, when Katie broke up our four-year relationship. It was devastating, yet entirely the right thing to do, and, as it turned out, 2009 was the best year of my life (so far). I’ve visited the US, Holland, Scotland, Spain and Denmark; I’ve walked from Petersfield to Brighton. And in between each of these I’ve been in this beautiful city of mine, Oxford. I’ve befriended people from six of seven continents. I’ve discovered a hundred things about myself - my sexuality, my dreams, my fears. I’ve had my mind read and my pulse stopped and drunk the best cup of tea I’ve ever had (all in the space of an hour). I’ve chased thieves down the alleyways of Barcelona and danced at Parliament Square. People keep telling me I’ve been on BBC News as well as Have I Got News For You.
I had two resolutions in 2009 - the first of my life. One was to go permanently vegetarian. This I succeeded in. The other was to write Katie a letter every week. It would have been strange to have succeeded at that one.
I have lots of resolutions for 2010. My friends tell me they’re all cliches, but they’re sincere. Most of them are just things I’ve been meaning to do and the opportunity to do them seems to have arisen at the end of this year, but I am resolved to do them nonetheless:
Go vegan
I’ve been steering myself towards veganism since July and, despite a massive lapse in December (due to trips to Copenhagen and my parents’ - shh don’t judge me), I hit veganism at the beginning of November. In 2010, though, it’s going to become permanent, and I’m going to throw myself into learning to cook well.
Read
Ever since I got hold of The Wire I’ve stopped reading in bed, which means that - apart from policy papers and invoices - I’ve stopped reading altogether; and I miss it. I made a point of finishing The Wire before Copenhagen so that, when I returned, I could get back to the habit of burying myself in a book before snuggling down for the night.
Get creative
I used to take photographs and record music and write stories and I don’t any more. So let’s have some more of that again.
Learn Spanish
You know, it’s the second most spoken language in the world. And it’ll set me up nicely for COP16 in Mexico (estoy bromeando).
Run a/two marathon/s
Not really a resolution as I committed to it months ago, but running both the Paris and Berlin marathons is my Big Challenge for 2010.
Find someone to cuddle
2009 was the first year of my adult life that i was single and it was immensely good for me in ways I wouldn’t have predicted. But now I’m ready to find someone to cuddle again.
No flying
I took 10 flights in 2009 - 9 of them after beginning my job in the Climate Change Campaign team… So this year I’m taking none.
Keep campaigning
I’ve made so many friends and found so much meaning in campaigning this year, and I can only see that passion and energy growing in 2010. I’d like to start physically campaigning on more than just climate change.
It’s going to be an exciting year…
Here’s a meme about 2009, for those who are interested.
Posted in Art and photographs, Books, Climate change, Oxfam, Oxford, Paris Marathon 2010, Personal, Politics, Trailwalker 2009, Travel, USA • No Comments
I can’t believe this is the first time I’m writing about this.
(October 15th, 2009)
Today is Blog Action Day, and this year’s topic is climate change. That means that this post is one of over 7,000 in over 130 countries, with a readership of over 11,268,800 readers, writing about this issue today.
I first became engaged in the problem of climate change when I was offered a job fighting it. In fact, even that engagement happened pretty gradually - since it didn’t happen because it was necessary: it happened because it was unavoidable. Every day I’m exposed to two quite polar things: the evidence of the effects that climate change is already having on thousands of people every day; and the massive, powerful and inspiring movement working to combat it.
One of the researchers at Oxfam told me a story about workers at a banana plantation in Malawi. The plantation had been washed away by floods, and many of the (ex)workers, who were mostly women, headed to the towns to prostitute themselves, which of course led in turn to greater rates of HIV and AIDS. It’s astonishing just how broad and significant the far-reaching effects of climate change are. Even in my home town of Felixstowe businesses have been swept straight from the shore.
We have an opportunity not just to solve the problems of the present, but also to shape a beautiful future on an unprecedented scale 
What’s equally strange, frustrating and wonderful is that the solutions to this problem are both readily available and very exciting. We have an opportunity not just to solve the problems of the present, but also to shape a beautiful future on an unprecedented scale. Finding and executing answers to climate change means creating new jobs, new communities, new businesses, new friendships, locally, nationally, internationally. It is a chance for a fresh start. And just as exciting - although we would prefer it to be unnecessary - is the movement campaigning for those with the power to support us in this fresh start to do so.
Last weekend I was lucky enough to meet - and be part of - another group in this movement: the UK Youth Climate Coalition. It was moving and motivating to spend several days with a group of people so selflessly and passionately dedicated to doing something so very vital. It was also reassuring: I feel secure in the knowledge that there are so many intelligent, brilliant people fighting for a clean and safe future for us all.
I would absolutely encourage you to do whatever you can, whatever you want to, to help combat the biggest problem humanity has ever faced
Getting involved can mean anything from civil disobedience to signing a petition, from climate camping or scaling the houses of parliament to painting your face blue or just dancing your socks off. But it is immensely rewarding to know that you have been involved in the fight for a better future for everyone, and I would absolutely encourage you to do whatever you can, whatever you want to, to help combat the biggest problem humanity has ever faced. This December, decision makers from around the world will gather in Copenhagen to decide what action to take on climate change. We need to ensure that the deal they come to is fair - insisting those most responsible for climate change support those least responsible, who are also those hit first and hardest - ambitious enough to tackle the problem, and binding. Now is our best - and perhaps last - chance to act.
Below are some great videos, and if you want to find out more I would recommend visiting the websites 350 and TckTckTck.
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Posted in Books, Climate change, Films, Oxfam, Oxford, Personal, Politics, Science and technology • No Comments
Power Shift ‘09
(October 13th, 2009)
A round up of coverage so far:
- The Guardian article and video by Bibi van der Zee, as featured on the homepage of their website
- The Guardian photo slideshow and interviews
- Brief footage on Channel 4 news
- Many and varied photographs from the event
Friends on Facebook will probably already be tired of hearing about Power Shift, so I’m not going to say too much about it, rather let the coverage speak for itself. What I would like to say is that, not entirely - but predominantly - because of the event, I had one of the best weekends ever (it was also great thanks to sambucca, two shut-ins and a magician who read my mind and [literally] made my pulse stop). It’s unspeakably inspiring to spend several days in the company of a few hundred brilliant people who are all sincerely motivated and committed to such a monumental cause. The crew - all under 25 years old - who put together the program proved themselves to be a group of talented, innovative, passionate people who really are going to change the world with the support of the thousands that they teach and energise.
Here’s the video:
Posted in Climate change, Personal, Politics • No Comments
Diary of a tourist in the USA
(October 7th, 2009)
I wake up on my first full day in New York physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted.
On Friday night I took the snap decision to bus to London to celebrate Frida’s birthday. The upshot of this was two and a half hour’s sleep and a hefty taxi bill - both of which were fine since I would have regretted the alternative (staying in) even more. On the plane I watched The Notebook, which is probably the weepiest film I’ve ever seen, on Nat’s recommendation. Then when we arrived, a gaggle of my American buddies unexpectedly came to meet me in the city. I had forgotten just how much I love and miss these people. I think I dragged Thom and Ian around a bit in order to stay with my American friends, but they’re some of my favourite people in the world. When we said goodbye at the end of the evening I was filled with heartbreak and guilt - what was I doing in the States without having planned to see these guys for more than a few hours?
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Sunday starts off badly. We go for breakfast at Tiffany’s; having not seen the film I’m not sure what the significance of this is, or if breakfast is even served there, but it sounds like one of the Things To Do while in NYC. Tiffany’s is closed, and we visit the Trump Tower, where Ian - a friend of Thom’s from Amsterdam - buys a golf towel for $20.69. It dawns on me that I am not in similar company. This is further compounded when our choice of restaurant for breakfast - pancakes with strawberries and a glass of orange juice - costs $25.
We amble about NYC for a while and finally hop on the boat to Islands Liberty and Ellis. This suits me. We are being Good Tourists. In the immigration museum, I wonder what happened between 1954 and now to make the US so viciously opposed to “aliens” moving in.
Back on land, Thom and Ian want to visit Macy’s, “the largest store in the world”. This does not appeal to me and I find that with every floor I rise up my communistic anger does the same. I take the escalator straight to the top and straight back down again, then sit outside in the Sun in the cycle lane for 40 minutes. One bicycle passes me. Later, I find out Ian spent $300 on a pair of sunglasses. I think I am going to hate him.
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Monday: we arrive in Vegas. Over the last few days I have come to realise - although surely I have always known this - that this holiday is totally unsuited to me. I have no interest in having lots of money, or shopping, or exorbitant over-indulgence. So I am surprised to find that, when we arrive in this bizarre, lego-brick town, I am entirely charmed by it. There is something beautiful in its gaudiness.
After paying an extra - and unanticipated - $300 deposit for our hotel room, I break my internet embargo to transfer some extra funds to the account that I brought a card for (I wisely left one card at home, thus limiting my potential losses). We set off across the casino floor and were seduced by a croupier at a blackjack table, where Ian placed a $50 bet and stuck on 9 when the dealer had 10. I was unsure whether to feel relief that I couldn’t possibly match this absurdity or panic that, in all likelihood, my own inexperience would result in similar humiliation. Then we set off to see Penn and Teller. They were entertaining, but performed only low-key tricks that had been done many times before - hardly worth the $90 ticket price.
I promise this blog post does get more positive.
Exhausted (now eight hours separated from our body clocks), we insisted on doing some gambling before bedtime. I played $1 in a slot machine, which involved inserting a bill and pressing a button. I realised instantly that this was going to hold no appeal for me. Afterwards, pacing the casino floor, I see person after person sitting solitary at these machines, idly and seemingly disinterestedly pushing buttons, time after time, to no avail. I can’t keep the image of a trained monkey out of my mind. What is the draw here?
Finally I settle at a table where the croupier teaches us Caribbean Stud Poker. It’s a dull but easy game, and at $5 a bet, stakes are low. I play for 20-odd minutes, my profits fluctuating, and come out $12 down on a $40 investment. But I am no longer a novice. I feel ready - for bed, for the next day, and for Vegas.
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Tuesday. I have grown a beard, and it is infuriatingly itchy. Today I will buy razors - but this, amazingly, turns out to be the least exciting thing about my day. In fact, I don’t even know why I’m mentioning it.
The day begins with a visit to Stratosphere, where we are hung and propelled 900 feet above the strip in the name of adrenaline-based entertainment. Then we head to the Luxor - my favourite of the casinos so far - to see the famous Bodies exhibition. It’s fascinating and brilliant. One room houses embryos at various stages of development, from a barely-visible speck to a recognisable creature the size of a Ty toy. Some of them have had their bones injected with dye so you can see how they develop over the months.
In the evening I realised a ten-year ambition of mine, when we saw Cirque de Soleil perform live. They have had a theatre built especially for their show “Ka” at the MGM Grand. There are iron towers surrounding the auditorium, from which they climb, swing and leap. The stage is not a stage but a pit, its bottom invisible to the audience, and from it three platforms rise and rotate, and on them the circus perform their feats. And what feats! The movements these people make just sing. They are at once beautiful, astonishing, impossible and inspired. I can, without hyperbole, state that Ka is the most amazing and impressive thing I have ever seen. I left with tears in my eyes and no words to describe why. All I can do is encourage you emphatically to see the show if you have the chance.
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Wednesday. I agreed to go with Thom and Ian to a shooting range, where they spent over $100 on a package allowing them to shoot paper targets of Muslims with weaponry matching that used in Iraq. One of the assistants actually said “Durka durka!” - the phrase used with such irony in Team America, lost on this one - as one of the shredded sheets returned. For the sake of getting involved I shot Dirty Harry’s 44 magnum at a zombie.
In the evening Thom and Ian elected to see a striptease. I’m neither prudish nor cheap, but the prospect of spending $60 on a striptease when there were six different Cirque de Soleil shows in town hardly appealed, so I saw Mystère by myself. Not as epic as Ka but still astonishingly impressive. As I left, the Bellagio’s midnight water show was beginning, so I stopped to watch. Thom and Ian visited some bars and got kicked out of a club. I feel I got the better deal.
*
Thursday was spent driving to Arizona in a Ford Mustang. We escaped the electric excess of Vegas and found ourselves thousands of feet up in the mountains, rolling through honest American villages where the only professions are teacher, preacher, barber and shopkeeper. This, I remembered, is the America I love. Out here everything is quiet, gentle, familiar. The real America, at least as I’ve seen it, is not the brash, violent, stupid America that its own media portrays it as, but these communities outside the city walls. Here people know each other, and if they don’t, they’ll befriend you. People in real America just seem to love life and people. Maybe I’m blinkered, but I feel like I’ve sen more of this country than many who don’t live here, and I think I’ve seen a side of it that is undeservedly unpublicised, unheralded - unseen. It is this quiet, friendly, happy America that I fell in love with and I would still love to live here one day.
We’re staying at the Red Feather Lodge - little different to your best Westerns or Holiday Inns, except that it is family-owned. There seems to be a current running through the building - touching anything results in a static shock. We take to touching everything metal as we walk down the corridors, to discharge and avoid sparks when we reach our rooms.
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Breakfast on Friday was a croissant, a bowl of fresh fruit, a glass of fresh orange juice and a cup of tea. Man, I have missed eating healthily. One of the things I would (will?) find interminably difficult to adjust to if living in the States is the quality of the food. As a visitor, a healthy diet - let alone a vegetarian or vegan one - is a logistical challenge all by itself. But I suspect living, rather than visiting, here would make that far easier.
We spent this morning walking along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. It’s everything it’s talked up to be - vast, beautiful, breathtaking. And it’s the most peaceful place I’ve ever been. If there are no birds circling or distant airplanes, the park is silent. Silent. There is no sound but your own footsteps. I suspect the hardest materialist could become the most prolific artists here. I think my 2011 epic challenge might be to hike across the Canyon.
This afternoon we were due to take a helicopter over the Canyon itself, but the price tag was far higher than I expected. Not only am I not able to spend $225 on a 45-minutes helicopter, ride, I’d also be unwilling to do so if I could afford it. It’s one luxurious expense too far and I can’t handle such a level of self-spoiling. Thom and Ian, whom I assume are on much higher salaries, or are much better at managing their savings, carried on without me. But Ian was incredulous that I would walk the 10-minute route back to the hotel rather than wait for a ride or take a taxi, so I suspect he has difficulty with perspective.
Here I am sitting in the shade in a tiny town by the Grand Canyon. This is my kind of holiday. Despite its glamour, glory, strange beauty and inspired extravagance, I don’t think I’ll be visiting Vegas again soon. I remembered today that when my Grandma died, the children’s orphanage in India that she supported so well and for so long dedicated a newly built tower to her. I want to find out where it is, and make my next holiday a trip to see the Kinley Bell, and meet the people she wrote to and helped.
Once Thom and Ian return, we plan to watch the Sun set over the Canyon, then take a full moonlit walk (at 7.30pm!) with one of the rangers. Tomorrow we’ll return to watch the Sun rise again, before we set off to the airport and return home. I’m glad our trip ended here, in this peaceful place, and I’m glad to be heading home. I really think that part of the joy of a good holiday is knowing that you have something just as wonderful to return to - and I do.
Posted in Personal, Travel, USA • No Comments
Paris Marathon 2010, my lovely job, Edinburgh festival and Trailwalker 2009
(August 16th, 2009)
An ordinary day in the office
The African Children’s Choir, obviously
Paris Marathon 2010
Today I started training for the Paris Marathon. I ran to Oxfam House to find out how long it would take, as the plan is to run to work every day from now on (this gives me an excuse to use the amazing Oxfam showers, mmm). It took 45 minutes to run about 4 miles - by which I mean run about half a mile and stagger the rest of the way. I have never Run with a capital R before (although I did once chase somebody so fast that they threw up) - and I’m going to relish the challenge.
Charlie invited me to join the little delegation heading to Paris in April, and, needing my epic-event-fix post-Trailwalker, I couldn’t say no (Charlie is, generally, difficult to say no to; I’m not even sure if he was serious but I’ve said I’m doing it now, so I’m doing it). Scott is going to join me (with whom running will, I think, be another challenge in itself), and you’re welcome to come as well.
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My lovely job
An ordinary day in the office
I still haven’t said anything much about my lovely new job, which isn’t really a new job any more as I’ve been doing it since June, but it is lovely. I’m in the Climate Change Campaign Team, whose remit, very broadly, is to make as much noise as possible about climate change to ensure that world leaders commit to a fair and safe deal at Copenhagen in December. I love my job. I’m working with funky people on a really exciting, massively important issue. I’ve never worked so hard (or woken up with work on the brain so often) but it doesn’t matter because I genuinely enjoy every second of it, like a big work-loving weirdo. When I sought out Oxfam for a job back in 2007, I did it because I was tired of supporting businesses whose sole purpose was to make rich people richer, and I wanted to spend my weekdays doing something I really believed in. Of course, I’ve been working for Oxfam for two years now but it’s only since June that I’ve been (or at least I feel like I am) right in the centre of the brilliant work Oxfam is doing.
Look at that, I’ve managed to wax lyrical about my job without even mentioning that I get to shoot off to Copenhagen and Barcelona at the end of the year.
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The Edinburgh festival
The African Children’s Choir, obviously
I’m just back from Edinburgh, where big brother Ed, big-sister-in-law Cat and I spent a splendid week seeing shows, spotting sights and slurping shakes. Highlights of the week were Mark Watson, who I’d always previously thought was funny in a nice sort of way but who on Wednesday was hilarious; comedian Patch Hyde, who put on a show for 17 people in the Fudge Kitchen on the Royal Mile and, if he decides to give up the fudge-based day job, I think will become a comedy star in no time; and the singing, dancing, drumming, beaming African Children’s Choir, who inspired me to sponsor a child.
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Trailwalker 2009
Trailwalker sits at the bottom of this entry because it’s now officially Old News (see also Item 1), and if you’re not sick of hearing from me about it: congratulations! You made it to the very end. As did we, although for a while it looked like we wouldn’t (at Checkpoint 9 - 88km in - two of my teammates were asleep, I was uncharacteristically angry at myself for trying to prove something utterly arbitrary and my other teammate had a hairline knee fracture. But stopping 88km in is, well, stopping 12km out, and you don’t do that). Do enjoy my entertaining but information-free video and let’s let that be the end of it (but do feel free to pester me incessantly for sponsorship when you have a go yourself next year).
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Coming up in 2009…
The rest of this year is going to disappear in no time - which is a shame because it looks like it’s going to be great fun. I have trips planned to Barcelona, Las Vegas and Copenhagen (twice) - the latter of which is to influence the outcome of “the most important gathering since the Second World War”. There might be another house move coming up, and if it works out it’ll be one that facilitates house parties. Hopefully I can see my American pals, albeit briefly, in September or October while I’m that side of the Atlantic. I have my piano and my glockenspiel back, and Rory and I are going to hook up and get recording.
There’s only one thing missing…
Posted in Climate change, Oxfam, Paris Marathon 2010, Personal, Trailwalker 2009 • No Comments
Crush
(June 25th, 2009)
I write this post at the risk of being found out.
I feel like I’m back in school again, like I’m still a gangly teenager with no self-confidence and a tendency to blurt remarks that sounded graceful and witty and brilliant in my mind and somehow got mashed in my throat to emerge and cavort through the air like grizzlies on skates until they inevitably hit the person they were so unceremoniously (yet with such good intention) hurled at. I am, as I said on Twitter, crushing like a big goof. I had forgotten this sensation. It is silly and delightful and awful and fun and hilarious and terrifying and all-fucking-consuming. I lose sleep over it and when I finally crash I sleep more soundly than I can otherwise recall. Food tastes sweet on my tongue and bitter in my stomach. I am an addict, hooked on a freely- and widely- available drug, with sweeping, colourful highs and bizarre, existentialist lows. I am, as evidenced here, hopelessly melodramatic.
I am an addict, hooked on a freely- and widely- available drug, with sweeping, colourful highs and bizarre, existentialist lows. 
I am a hypocrite, for wanting something I have learned to live better without (but I am also human, and - I think - just going through the motions). I’m confused and certain, determined and digressive by turns.
There are three ways to make a crush go away. The first is to act on it (which is accompanied by the risk of hideous, soul-shredding failure); the second is to continue crushing and inevitably embarrassing yourself until you pass the point of No-Redemption; and the third is to wait (which doesn’t always make a difference, and may simply lead to the second).
Place your bets, folks.
Posted in Personal • 5 Comments
Tomorrow
(June 21st, 2009)
Many years ago, my sister bought me a glass paperweight with the word “Tomorrow” engraved on it. Its purpose, I think, was to keep ready all your papers for the next day’s work, but I always treated it as a statement (of intent? Hope? Mystery?) and stood it up somewhere where it would get attention. I remember asking her to hold it by the edges so that it wouldn’t get fingerprints all over it, in response to which she maliciously did the opposite. But if that paperweight represents tomorrow, then what I really want more than anything is for her, and all of you, to have your fingerprints all over it. xx
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Why I’ll vote next time
(June 11th, 2009)
I don’t like writing contentious posts - I absolutely shy away from any sort of conflict, although I cope with it far better online than I do in person - but I do like it when a debate begins on my blog. Maybe I should be disagreeable more often.
*The question in full: if in an election 8,145 votes are cast to nominate 2 winning candidates out of 10 total candidates, how many total permutations are there (e.g. 8145-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 or 8143-1-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0), and in how many of those permutations does Candidate A win the second seat by earning only one more vote than another candidate (e.g. 8000-73-72-0-0-0-0-0-0-0)? Feel free to have a go yourself…
In my constituency Green and Labour won seats. Labour’s seat would have been Green had the latter won just 13 more votes. Guess how many spoiled votes there were? But that’s just a statistical coincidence that I found amusing; it would be just as relevant to say that if 7 Labour voters had voted Green the latter would have taken the seat.
Anyway. The statement I wanted to make is that, despite the statistical unlikelihood (which I’ve set my big brother Ed, an actuarial mathemetician, the challenge of calculating)* of the party I would have supported tying for a seat or losing by one vote, the possibility is worth considering, and next time I’ll vote. Abstention was a gamble that - this time - paid off, but next time maybe a further 11 people will cast a vote…
Posted in Oxford, Personal, Politics • No Comments