The repercussions from the atrocious earth quake in China will stretch far beyond the countless victims of its violence.

The run up to the 2008 Olympics had provided invaluable coverage to the plight of those in Tibet, struggling quietly under their occupation. What sympathy they had gained, and had been reflected in the media, has been over shadowed by the suffering of the Chinese in the worst hit areas.

Those millions in Burma suffering under the stubbornness of their own government have also faded into the shadows of the media storm.

No one, and no nation, deserves to suffer as people have across China and Burma, to name but two, over these turbulent past weeks. An entire nation cannot be condemned for a crime initiated by those select few who are in power.

Yet the pain of the earth quake and the implication of the stolen limelight will continue to play in those under ground theatres for years and even decades to come.

I’m young and consider myself to be ‘with it’. Yet I’m finding more and more often that modern technology is making a mockery of me.

Call me old fashioned, but I’m the kind of person who likes to do things for myself, rather than having something else do it for me. Simple things we all take for granted; like flushing the toilet, or helping yourself to paper towels from the dispenser.

As a young child on a trip to the USA I encountered one of the most unnerving experiences of my life: On the toilet in a state side airport I lent forward to tighten up my shoe and was unfortunate enough to have the toilet I was perched on flush automatically beneath me. A shock no six year old should have to under-go.

Even now, all too often I’m confronted not with a chain to pull or a lever to press, but with a small little sensor, looking alarmingly like a security camera, and a small notice telling me to waft my hand in front of it in order to flush. So I waft away and usually after 60 seconds of some serious wafting the toilet might decide to flush.

So it would follow that after I’ve washed my hand, with a lingering frown of confusion, under a magic tap which doesn’t need to be turned but somehow simply knows I’m there, that the towel dispenser would be technologically minded also.

So I stand there wafting my hand in front of it. Beneath it. And over the top of it. Only to have a highly amused teenager step up beside me and pointedly pull out a towel from the dispenser with his own hands. He smiles at me knowingly and walks off leaving me feeling rather foolish as I reach out and take a towel, the most energetic thing I’ve had to do since arrival.

I can’t help but think that those people who consider the general public as being unable to possibly cope with the complications of turning on a tap, but who could be considered quite grown-up enough to help themselves to paper towels, are missing a lever or two upstairs.

It would save us, the mentally challenged public,  a lot of embarrassment and grief if automatic equipment was installed either as standard, or not at all. This mish-mash of technology and tradition is no doubt the cause of a considerable amount of stress amongst modern man.

Today was day one of work experience at my local paper. And oh my goodness what a day it was. By the time I went for lunch I had already spent some time at the radio studio watching the DJ at work at his labyrinth of buttons, switches and dials. I went to the magistrates court and with a sense of surreal watched a couple of people get tried and convicted for petty crime and wrote a couple of articles for the paper, for which I will get recognition.

It was a fantastic day, and such fantastic people. Everyone there was so keen to help and to answer my questions! I’m hoping and hoping I’ve made a good impression as I could happily see myself working there! I tried my best to do everything on the check list:

1. Arrive early and be presentable and polite (I tried!)

2. Act interested and ask questions (The trick here was not to get annoying by asking too many!)

3. If some one offers you a drink return the favour later on (not much of a tea maker but I tried!)

4. Work as hard as you can (When work is play that’s all good)

5. leave as late as you can (ditto above!)

It was an excellent day and I’m very much looking forward to day two tomorrow!

I don’t think I will ever understand what it is exactly that people get from drugs.

Escapism?

Boredom?

“To get high”?

Why not take a deep breath on a sharp, clear morning with the sun warming your face?

Why not travel somewhere new and discover that strangers can often be more welcoming than friends?

Why not go out of your way to help someone else and see the smile of gratitude shine on their face?

… Why not get lost in a good book?

Why numb your senses to the amazing world around us?

When you could take a step back and admire just how lucky we are to have a world as wonderful as this…

If Little Red Riding Hood is to be believed then wolves are ferocious creatures that do nasty things like eating your grandmother…

http://www.ngkids.co.uk/cool_stories/416/wicked_wolves_/

By Amy Roskilly

The intrusive white Transit van pulled up outside the office. The workers inside looked up from the draining glare of their computers to squint into the bright sunlit car park beyond. The door of the transit groaned open and a pair of glossy tight clad legs descended to the tarmac. Eyebrows were raised, as the woman swung a shiny leather handbag over her shoulder and rearranged her hair. She slammed the heavy door shut and weaved her way between the parked cars, pushing through the swinging red door.

“Good morning. I have an appointment for an interview at 11am. I’m sorry I’m a bit early!”

The receptionist’ impassive expression flicked between the dirty great van and the elegant female before her.

“Erm, yes, of course Miss Roskilly. Right this way please.”

Today was a big day. Waiting patiently outside the locked doors of WHSmith’s at 9am, the amateur writer in me was buzzing with excitement. When I finally got in and seized a copy of a glossy travel magazine off of the shelf I was glowing with pride to see a photo of me and a caption of my article on the front cover! Rifling through the pages I finally reached my article, with my name on the by-line and photo’s of my exploits scattered across a 6 page spread. But, once the excitement of seeing my first piece of work in print, had subsided the disappointment crept in. Reading through my words I felt agitated, I didn’t think my writing was up to scratch… after years of forcing my writing on others to read I finally had my wish of being published and I suddenly didn’t think I deserved it any more.

“It is the first secret conceit of every voyager to imagine that he alone has found the world’s last paradise. It is the second to believe that the door has slammed shut right behind him.” -Pico Iyer

My beloved car, Gerty, who makes up for her many shortcomings with her quirky attitude and tenacious resistance to stalling, has finally been listed for sale.

I have placed a note for her potential new owner, dangling over the rear-view mirror: “Please look after this bear car”