Among many teachers I meet, I have noticed a trend that it has taken me a long time to realise applies equally to me. This trend is summed up by the phrase:

"Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." 

(* There is also an addition to the phrase, most oft heard at teacher trainer schools:
"… and those who can't teach, teach teachers!!!”)

I have always disliked this ugly phrase since first hearing it as a child - after all how could you have teachers who were skilled at what they taught or skilled people who can pass on their skills? - but I’d also noticed that it was often somehow accurate. Capable people chose to teach what they chose not to do.  Teaching is all well and good - for how would anyone learn without teachers? - but should it be at the expense of doing?

Exciting news - Adrian and I have started a new photography blog. It's already turning into a lot of fun! I get to write the background story to my photos, which is a new thing for me. It also means I have to think a little more about the why and the how of going […]

Happy new year to you all! I've been out of action a while after a spinal injury. I'm on the mend now and finally back to work. I'm not allowed to sit for long periods following surgery and this has been a major blow to my writing. It's been so frustrating not only being unable […]

It happened to me today. A project I’ve been working on for a long time no longer made sense. Suddenly my mind was deluged with questions. Am I spending too much time on it? Is it likely to see any return that equates to the investment of my time? And, er, what on earth were […]

I hear it time and time again: it's all about the concept. And that concept is what everyone is chasing. It seems to me that all anyone wants is high concept. Something new. Yet not too new. In fact, if it could be very, very like a product that already exists, but yet is somehow […]

Social media changed everything. Our work, our relationships, our families.

Family get-togethers that took place a few times a year are now daily occurrences. Uncle Joe's lurid comments that were tolerated around the yuletide dinner table aren't so welcome when they crop up in reply to a Facebook comment by your boss.

This is all new stuff for families to deal with, and while some of us are canny, most of us are not. Social media makes it all too easy to air dirty laundry in public, inadvertently let the skeletons out of the family closet or rekindle old feuds with a quip that the commenter thinks is in private.

For those of us who work in social media or who use it as a tool of our work this is all potentially disastrous. Do I really want my carefully crafted PR campaign brought down by Auntie Maud commenting on her longstanding grudge against Cousin Gertrude? No!

But we're all human and short of blocking our family members, what can we do?

An interesting article relevant to collaboration on projects from Lifehacker yesterday prompted an interesting discussion as a result. We are told that we should collaborate … on films, scripts, game development, crowdfunding projects, open source coding. Collaborate is the continual mantra! But it’s important to bear in mind that our projects mean the most to […]

I got asked a few times at the Guerilla Filmmakers Masterclass why I attend the class every year. And I can see why new delegates might ask this - surely you do it once and then “zoom!” you're off making films. That viewpoint makes sense - it's a class so why would you want or […]

Wow! What a weekend at Guerilla Filmmakers Masterclass!!! Now I'm home and organising my notes. (I keep them  all and they get a little more detailed every year as more of it sinks in a little deeper!) I'm also networking with my friends old and new from GFilm 2013 on Twitter. (New delegates: remember to follow up […]

I'm enjoying working with WordPress again and mucking about with PHP. It's been a while, so I'm more than a little rusty. It's like riding a bike though, right? You never really forget … :p I am finding coding a natural accompaniment to writing for me lately. It's good to have something 'doable' to focus […]