Expanding Horizons

I'm not really a science person. Although I was pretty good at Biology and fairly good at Chemistry at school (though my Physics teacher did recommend that I gave the subject up!) they weren't the subjects that really excited me. I loved English and History and Geography far more, and with my imagination fired by what I learnt, those were the ones I went on to be pretty good at.
So it was a little surprising really that I went to a talk by Richard Dawkins the other night. Well maybe not, since he's married to the lovely Lalla Ward, my admiration for whom is almost legendary, and she was there reading with him. I wasn't really expecting to enjoy it as much as I did, expecting the subject matter to be a bit dry and over my head. I was wrong. he made the subjects he was talking about seem really rather exciting, and there were things I could relate too, when he talked about the way that science and literature have not always had a good relationship, particularly in poetry. That the passion and excitement he feels for his subject could make for great poetry is reasonable, and one that doesn't seem to be taken anywhere. The age old arts vs science prejudices tend to get in the way...
Anyway I was won over by his work. It was very accessible (I'm now reading one of his books too) and his arguments against the paranormal and astrology seem reasonable to me. It's an argument that we've seen often on PS, and I'm sorry, I'm with the scientists on this one I think... everything has an explanation, maybe we just haven't found all of the explanations we need yet. The paranormal make for some good stories, but I'm pretty much a sceptic when it comes to the existence of ghosts and poltergeists and the like!
And Lalla was great! Her accents were all very convincing and she does have a gorgeous and rather delightful smile!

We had a guy called Steve Rock in to talk to the writers group today. He was rather good and quite inspirational I think. It's always wonderful to listen to another writer talk passionately about the work he does, and thus get others enthused. I can't wait until the dissertation is over and I can get on and do a lot more writing. It's something that I haven't devoted enough time over the last couple of years, which is a shame as it's something I really enjoy.
I've always been a bit miffed really that Steve has never wanted to read my poetry. It's may not all be great, but there are some pieces that I'm really proud of. I don't know... I don't press the issue as there's no point making someone read things they don't want to read. Ah well! It's his loss I suppose!!

Current Music: George Harrison: When Was Fab
Current Book: Richard Dawkins: Unweaving the Rainbow
Current Doctor Who: Death to the Daleks