Features

It’s possibly the best known of all government health messages. It’s a simple and motivating message to eat healthier; it’s easily remembered and is neither patronising nor preachy; it’s entirely general and somehow deeply personal.

There’s a version for the mind, too - The New Economics Foundation’s ‘Five Ways to Wellbeing’ (Thompson, Aked, Marks and Cordon, 2008).  

I love full stops.
I think they're brilliant.
Here's why.
They help me convey messages.
Explain my ideas.
And make important points.
Quickly. Easily. Clearly.
They make type look good.
On a screen. And in print.
They do away with long-winded paragraphs. Wordy documents.
Boring blogs.
And stop me rambling on.
They help me write in a punchy way.
Say one thing well.
So my copy is quick to read.
And easy to digest.
See.
Look how fast you've rattled through this.
Yep.

I have dined out for years on my story of being on the set when John Huston directed the short film, Independence, shot in 1976 by 20th Century Fox for the US National Park Service in Philadelphia. The film starred Ken Howard as Thomas Jefferson, Patrick O’Neil as George Washington, Anne Jackson as Abigail Adams and Eli Wallach as Benjamin Franklin.

A few years back I was luck enough to see Hoss Gifford give a short talk at Flash on The Beach (a developer conference held in Brighton).  One of the nuggets  he mentioned was the notion of GOOD CHEAP FAST (you can only choose two). The idea has stuck with me so I created this little graphic to illustrate the idea further.

It is assumed by most people that the hard part of getting social care is the assessment process, fighting for what you need and then obtaining it in terms of a specific number of hours from a care agency, or having the cash equivalent as a direct payment to employ your own personal assistants, but I would like to suggest that is the easy part. The hard part is actually what you are going to do with the hours you have to make the most of them.

I recently had the pleasure of spending three weeks in the company of friends, whose family include these two, Josh and Lexy. They are a couple of months off turning three and are non-identical twins.

Playlist for Life bases its work on the premise that music is for everyone and that it can be used as a powerful tool to improve the lives of people with dementia, either in the early or advanced stages. It encourages families and other caregivers to offer people with dementia a thoughtfully compiled and personal playlist of music that has been meaningful to them during their life. This is delivered on an mp3 media player device such as an iPod. Playlist for Life can be used in home and residential settings.

There are a whole set of exhortations and expressions which effectively demand the same response from us. From Carpe diem to “seize the time”, we are challenged to take control and make a difference for ourselves and others.

One of my projects is really struggling to get going…

It is called Stories Aloud and is based on the model promoted by The Reader Organisation.

I was training staff and volunteers to read story aloud as a social activity. Then setting up placements for them in wards and day centres where they could read stories and facilitate groups or one to one interaction. The outcomes of increased social connection and some personal reflection related to the story were very beneficial.

Patatap is a portable animation and sound kit. With the touch of a finger create melodies charged with moving shapes. While easy to pick up there is a wide range of possibilities. Switch between multiple color palettes and matching soundscapes on the fly. Whether its on your laptop, desktop, mobile phone, or tablet Patatap invites creators of all ages to engage the mind and senses in a different type of creation process.