Archive for the ‘My life & thoughts’ Category
A Christmas performance of Handlel’s “Messiah”
December 19th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
This weekend, Vee and I went along to the Royal Albert hall in London for a splendid performance of “Messiah” composed by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759). Amazingly Handel wrote this oratorio over the course of just 24 days in the summer of 1741. The work consists of 53 pieces which take over two hours to […]
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How to use time well
December 18th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
People often ask me how I manage to do so much – and I answer simply that “I plan”. This Friday’s visit to the Life Skills section of my web site is a highlight of my advice on “How to use time well” which you can read here. Even I will be taking it easy […]
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The Darlington Christmas letter 2015
December 14th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Each year, Vee and I send out a Christmas letter with our Christmas card to those with whom we have been in too little touch in the course of the previous 12 months. It’s a way of keeping friends up-to-date with our lives and activities and seems to be popular. You can now read this […]
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How to be good
December 11th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Another Friday, another visit to my set of web site essays on life skills. Today’s essay is arguably my most ambitious, since it is an attempt to suggest how to be good. Check it out here.
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Unhappiness will not shorten your life
December 10th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
“Illness makes you unhappy, but unhappiness itself doesn’t make you ill … We found no direct effect of unhappiness or stress on mortality, even in a 10-year study of a million women.” So states Dr Bette Liu, now at the University of New South Wales in Australia, about a study which has just been published in the […]
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How to resolve conflict
December 4th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Is there conflict in your personal or professional life. in your relationship, or group or organisation? This advice may help you.
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20th anniversary of the Dayton Agreement that ended the war in Bosnia
November 21st, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Twenty years ago today, an agreement was reached to end the three and a half year bloody ethnic war in Bosnia. The Dayton Agreement froze the conflict but did not resolve fundamental political issues. I saw the post-Dayton situation in Bosnia at first hand when, eight years ago, I visited Sarajevo. You can read the account […]
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What hope is there for Kenya?
November 20th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
I recently visited Nairobi for a week and wrote about my experience here. More recently, I have read a book on the post-colonial history of the country which I have reviewed here. Somewhere between hope and despair, author Daniel Branch concludes: “Kenya may never be prosperous or be a nation; but armed with a government […]
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Ruminations on Rome (5)
November 16th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Whenever we can, on our short breaks together my sister Silvia and I try to visit a location associated with Jewish life and (sadly) death. So, on the last day of our weekend in Rome, we headed out to the former Jewish Quarter to visit the synagogue and museum. Jews have been a significant presence […]
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Ruminations on Rome (4)
November 15th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Sunday in Rome is still a bustling day full of locals and tourists thronging the streets and cafes, but Silvia and I took it easier this morning while going on another tour in the afternoon. So this morning we left the hotel almost an hour later than yesterday and headed for the banks of the […]
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