Charlotte

I know that I am writing this from the point of view of being a reasonably healthy person. I know also that this us a very contraversial topic which is coloured by an individual's background, upbringing, religion, ethical beliefs, etc. But I'm going to try to express my thoughts on this issue.

This article states that Charlotte, the little girl who was born prematurely, is now stable enough to leave the hospital (aged three). She is 'severely brain-damaged, almost blind and deaf, and unable to walk or crawl'.

I'm sure her parents believed they were doing the right thing. I understand that every parent will do everything they can to protect their child. However, I have to wonder whether it would have been better for the medical profession to have not interfered so aggressively when Charlotte was born.

I don't believe in god, I don't believe in a higher purpose, therefore I don't believe that I was "meant to be". I feel we make our own purpose in life; I was born simply because my parents created me and, in a scientific/genetic sense, my life was viable. I'm not saying that neo-natal units and advances in medical techniques are all wrong but I feel that more thought needs to go into how far we as a society should go in preserving life at all costs.

Easier said than done, I know.

In Charlotte's case, the doctors felt it better not to resuscitate her in the event of death but her parents fought that decision, the pressure of which has lead to them splitting up. I'll admit, I've no idea how I'd feel if I was in that situation but I only hope that I would have the courage to stick by my convictions.

Against the odds, Charlotte has survived but she now has no home to go to and has minimal contact with her parents. I'm sure the medical staff are doing their best to ensure she is comfortable and happy but I have to ask, what sort of life is this?

What do you think?

A challenge for my readers in Britain ...

The National Trust is asking ordinary people in Britain to write an account of your day today (17th October) and upload it to the History Matters project.

The aim is to create "a detailed account of people's normal lives when they're doing nothing out of the ordinary; what they did when they got up, what they ate, how they got to work, what they did at work. It's those mundane details, those boring details that will seem extraordinary to people hundreds of years in the future."

So come on, we're all good at waffling about nothing (well, I am!) so jot a few words down about your day and pop on over to History Matters.

Sheesh!!

UN slaps sanctions on North Korea … the outright hypocrisy astounds me!

The US, Russia, Britain, France and China are the “official” nuclear countries (signatories to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty). Obviously, we’re not happy about anyone else having nuclear toys to play with. Now, let's make this clear, I’m not saying that more countries should have nuclear weapons.

Far from it.

But why can we have them when North Korea can’t? What makes us any better or any more suited to having these deadly disgusting weapons of mass destruction? And what will happen if the sanctions don’t work?

We’ll probably invade and try to take them away by force … that’s what we do about everything else we disagree with, isn’t it?

A challenge to my readers ...

My last attempt at NaNoWriMo started well but got into trouble quite quickly. Last years attempt was a romance, a genre I never read and don't really enjoy but, hey, I thought I'd give it a try :o)

We will hopefully be moving in November (more on that later) but I'd quite like to give NaNoWriMo authoring a try again. The question is, what to write?

In terms of favourite authors, I enjoy Terry Pratchett (of Discworld fame), Neil Gaiman (check out his blog), Douglas Adams (creator, as if you didn't know, of HHG2H), Joanne Harris (author of Chocolat amongst others), Laurell K Hamilton (very cool vampire novels), JK Rowling (I don't think she needs an introduction), David Eddings (sword and sorcery quest-based) and, of course, Tolkien (well .. durr).

So, now you know that ... what shall I write? Feel free to make the ideas as wacky or as weird as you want!

Here we go again ...

Stop the presses, women are gamers ... ooooh!

'The debate about how to get women more involved in gaming is a perennial one and one on which there is pretty wide agreement that not enough is being done.'

I feel the correct response isn't to release a pink playstation! And I guess 'fluffy' games may help to introduce young girls to the joys of gaming but it would hardly work on the twenty and thirty somethings.

'Women now account for around a third of UK gamers, so it is time to stop talking about women in gaming as if they lived in a separate universe?'

It's simply not as complicated as some are making it out to be. In fact, I feel it can be summed up in three points:

1. There is a huge variety of games available. In the same way that all men don't all enjoy playing driving games, not all women will enjoy playing shopping games. Stop pigeon holing women - some like playing the Sims, others like real time strategy games and, believe it or not, some just want to shoot things in first person shooters or MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game).

2. Make sure the games have the option for the player to choose a male or a female character (preferrably with realistic body shapes).

3. Get rid of simpering Damsels in Distress who have to rely on the hero and if you do have a strong character don't dress her in gravity defying micro-bikini-armour.

Sorted.

'There is still a perception that women who play male-dominated games are going to be ignored, shouted down or chatted up by men they will be playing against. "There is a preconceived notion that you will feel out of place but that isn't borne out by women who are actually playing games," she said (Ms Kearney, games industry journalist and a Frag Doll)'

I agree with that last comment. I play an MMORPG (called Star Wars Galaxies) with a female avatar (a character whose body shape, skin tone, hair and clothing are all designed by me).

One of the first questions I get asked is whether I am a girl or a guy. When they find out I'm female in real life, the usual response is something along the lines of "cool" and then we go on to talk about other things.

Probaby the only difference is the guys might tone their language down ... until they learn that I also have an extensive vocabulary of profanities when I'm in the middle of a fight!

The gaming community isn't just nerdy guys or pimply faced youths. However, if I'm likely to get any sort of negative response it will be from the latter. When that happens then me or my guild mates just kick his butt. ;o)

Bigger, Better, Faster, Now

Well, we are hopefully buying a house. And what an enlightening experience it's proving to be. The illustrious "they" say that moving house is one of the most stressful things people go through.

But I don't think that the actual move is stressful. Packing and shifting boxes is hard work but, in my experience, physical hard work is rarely stressful - sweaty, tiring, irritating maybe but not stressful.

I don't think the mortgage arrangments are stressful (although maybe we're lucky having a pair of fab Independent Financial Advisors).

What is really stressful is dealing with people whose job it is to sell houses and complete conveyancing.

I'm finding it somewhat vexing that already we are having to chase so-called professionals to do their job! The estate agents ... well lets not even go there. I'm sure our solicitors are competent and efficient (they come highly recommended as such) but I get the feeling that, with the best will in the world, we are just another couple buying just another property. In one sense that is true, but in another sense:

We're not just any other couple - we're us
It's not just another property - it will be our home
It's not just another coveyancing job - it's a couple of first time buyers who are nervous/excited/scared/unsure.

And to top it all off I think London has corrupted me. I think before I lived here, I would happily have let this process chug along. Since living in London, I've become used to the Bigger, Better, Faster, Now approach to life in London. And now I expect those qualities in my estate agent and solicitors ...

... hmm, the word deluded springs to mind.

Hey ho.

P.S. Shameless plug - for the techie people amongst you, you might want to pop over to my hubby's blog. There you will find rants about (and sometimes praise for) Microsoft, links to techie stuff and general musings.