One poet, George Mackay Brown, said

‘For the islands I sing and a few friends, not to foster means nor be a midwife to ends’

I hope very much to make this blog exactly that; a personal exploration of the world and of the things that drive me. I hope you will find some of it useful and perhaps want to share some of the wonder inherent in the world that I hope you will sense here.

Some things you will find on my blog: An exploration of minimal astronomy, that is a new paradigm based on  specific minimised equipment but with a novel way of approaching the stars. You will also find some explorations of algal biology and of microscopy in general. I will cover some early attempts to emulate the old sketched style of science illustration using printmaking techniques.There will be some thoughts on how to struggle towards a more minimal lifestyle from someone who is only scratching the surface of that and finally there will be some thoughts on reading books, an activity that gets close to defining true value to me. There will be links to resources that people may find helpful if they are interested in any of these things.

What you won’t find are random ramblings on what it means to be alive, which I suspect will be very different for each of us, there will be no attempt to impose my world view on you nor to sell you anything except perhaps that the concept of an ‘examined life’ is not outdated but instead is more relevant today than ever.