On collecting my holiday reading from the bookshop today I couldn't resist also stacking on the pile the latest issue of The Idler. They are a magazine with a mission: to reclaim idleness as a legitimate pursuit:
It is our conviction that laziness has been unjustly criticised by modern society, and that it deserves to have its good conscience returned to it and defended as an essential component of a happy life. Our intention is to produce a publication that is entertaining, thought-provoking and full of great ideas for living.
This issue is themed, 'War on Work', which, they tell us, kills over 2 million people each year worldwide, more than war, more than drugs, more than alcohol. The promise of the 'work-and-consume' ethic has failed to deliver. It's time to redefine work.
This sounds so promising that, though it was meant to be for St Ives, I started reading it in the car park at the Albert Dock before travelling over to Little Sutton for tonight's meeting. And I felt a glow of healthy recognition when later John said, "I was going to email you all with [piece of worthy work] today but I was out in the garden with the newspaper and it was sunny..." Hallelujah.
john davies
 yellow on blue CAT.png)
