Daydreaming

If you don't like sport, you'll probably be finding it difficult to divorce yourself entirely from the Olympics. Even in our distant part of the world, where the time difference means that most events are on overnight, there are repeats, the internet, and of course recording the bits you do want to see.

I wasn't particularly gifted at sports as a child. I've always been tall, and the sports teacher spent most of my school life telling me I should be good at high jump/long jump, running and whatever else we were doing, because I was tall. Telling me didn't make it so, but I did love watching those athletes stand on the podium clutching their medals

I only started running a few years ago, tricked into it by a friend and the guy doing the training. Much to my surprise I found I liked it, though I'm not sure 'like' is the right word. I don't leap out of bed thinking, oh goody time for a run. It never gets any easier, and while I'm running my brain keeps asking me what the hell I'm doing. I've not yet come up with an answer. What I do know is that I keep running, and as I've given up other sporting activities I don't enjoy, I guess that somewhere, well hidden, I enjoy running.

I'm not a fast runner, and I would hazard a guess that I'm not one of those elegant, athletic people that appear born to run, but I keep on dreaming that maybe I am.

I’ll be watching the marathon, though my longest distance so far is around 8km, with the dreams of childhood still in my head. Well, that's what writer's do; we think up the impossible and make it happen.

This Is For Everyone

Like many people, I watched the London Olympics Opening Ceremony this weekend.  I say weekend, as Friday night in UK, is Saturday morning here in New Zealand, but it was great to be able to watch the event live.  There were many spectacular happenings, but one that got me thinking was Tim Berners-Lee appearance.

We often glibly talk about how things have changed, without really stopping to think how true that is.  From New Zealand I can text or ring family in England as if they were next door, and I have friends I've never met through Twitter, blogs, email and online forums, groups and courses.

In the late 90s and early 2000s, I taught a lot of computer programmes, and among the subjects was an introduction to the Internet and internet searching. At that time, while Google was one of the main search engines, there were several others that were used as much, and Google hadn't entered our vocabulary as a verb!

The internet is an everyday tool for many of us, and has certainly changed the way we do business, shop and interact with each other.

What Tim Berners-Lee gave to the world is nothing short of amazing.