Some late curation








Em's latest effort with classmates and teacher


Joe Pinkstone - Telegraph 31st Oct - Get angry if you want to get the job done

Anger boosts performance on difficult tasks, not easy ones. Unsurprisingly, life is not solely about the pursuit of happiness and overall positive emotions. What we really need is an emotional mix including negatives - Prof Heather Lynch. The harder the task the stronger the anger the more success.

Charlotte Lytton - Times 4th Nov - How to tackle the winter blues.

Get outside first thing in a morning - exposure to bright light first thing improves people with SAD and lowers the likelihood of psychiatric conditions.
Take vitamin D until March - 10 mag per day
Get a light box??
Keep exercising - releases dopamine and endorphins to lift the mood.
Make plans: don't hibernate. Even when you don't feel like it.

Rachel Carlyle - Times 4th Nov - Can music really help to boost your brain?

Listening to music releases dopamine and serotonin, the body's antidepressants. Particularly music that produce chill and spine-tingles. Chilled-out music also makes you more creative by encouraging new neural connections.
Bittersweet and moving music, not relaxing, best for pain, strength of ibuprofen, 
The key is to engage the parasympathetic system which can also be achieved in second phase of a 4:6 breathing pattern or 6 breaths per minute. 5 minutes a day for anxiety, as good as meditation
Avoid vocals to help sleep.
Music we like most, best for keeping brain younger, especially music from our youth. Good for dementia.



 

Durham - late autumn sun



Deep blue cloudless sky
Dominant grey stone cathedral
Smooth tree-lined calm reflective river Wear
Bubbling fast-flowing restless weirs
Narrow winding streets, open squares

Short pleasant weather window amongst some unpleasant
Time for brother Steve to bow out

*******

He had already gone
But he would have the last breath
Well we had switched him off
We were all there
Funny thing that last breath