I Love this town...

I just bought the Bon Jovi album Lost Highway and the song 'I love this town' hit close to home cos I'll be leaving Cambridge soon, and I do love this town there are some words which stick in my head.

I always knew, that I'd like this place
You don't have to look too far,to find a friendly face
I feel alive when I'm walkin' on the street
I feel the heart of the citypoundin' underneath my feet

Yeahhhhh let the world keep spinnin round 'n' round
This is where it's goin' down, down, down
That's why I, love this town
That's why I, keep co-min' round
Say hey (say hey) say yeah (say yeah)
You make me feel at home some how, right, now
That's why I, love this town

I've got some good friends here, I might have broke a heart or two
It's gettin' loud over there, they boys must have had a few
And hey the cop on the corner, he knows everybody's name
And a kid with a train singin' forsome spare loose change

One of the things that I love about Cambridge is the historical significance of all the buildings and how whenever you pass a building there’s a wonderful story behind it, like the famous Eagle pub where we meet up often which was the place where Crick and Watson announced the finding of the DNA to the public. Then there's Newton’s famous apple tree (actually a descendant from it) on Trinity Street which I would pass each day on my way home from the University.

I'll also miss my friends, but will be coming back in May next year for my Graduation.

The Monk who sold his ferrari

I've also started to catch up on my reading (trying to do everything which I kept postponing saying that I'm too busy, before starting to get too busy again!)

I just completed reading The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, which is the story of Julian Mantle, a hotshot lawyer whose out-of-balance lifestyle leads him to an almost fatal heart attack in a packed courtroom. His physical collapse brings on a spiritual crisis that forces him to confront the condition of his life and seek answers to life’s most important questions. Hoping to find happiness and fulfilment, he embarks upon an extraordinary odyssey to an ancient culture, where he discovers a powerful system to release the potential of his mind, body and soul, and learns to live with greater passion, purpose and peace. The book is written in the style of him sharing this extraordinary story with his law colleague.

I felt that the style of the book, made the message drag a bit, but it had some good insights. The seven mail principles for better living according to the book were:

Master your Mind
Follow your purpose
Continuous Improvement
Live with Discipline
Respect your time
Selflessly serve others
Embrace the present

One particular quote really stood out in my mind, and I really this it's so true...

“Sure I am this day we are masters of our fate, that the task which has been set before us is not above our strength; that its pangs and toils are not beyond our endurance. As long as we have faith in our own cause and an unconquerable will to win, victory will not be denied us.” - Churchill

Cosi Fan Tutte

One of the best things about Cambridge is there are many performances, theatre, opera musicals... where the actors and singers are of 'West End' quality, but the tickets are much cheaper. I guess part of the reason is cos though most of the actors and actresses are students they are all studying classical arts and maybe I've seen the stars of tomorrow performing here!

So these days I thought of catching as many performances as possible since I've got the time. Yesterday I went to see my first Opera with a friend, it was Mozart's comedy, 'Cosi Fan Tutte' sung in English. According to the Wikipedia the title literally means "Thus do all [women]"

It had the theme of "fiancee swapping" where the two main characters disguise themselves and try to seduce the other's fiancee in order to prove to themselves that their women are faithful as their when friend proclaims that all women are fickle.

I thought it had a rather silly story line (and I totally disagree with their idea that all women are unfaithful), but the music was beautiful and the singing was brilliant! [hey am turning British, they're the one's always calling everything brilliant!] All in all it was an enjoyable evening.

Freedom...

I've just completed my MBA and handed in my dissertation end of August. So these days I'm relaxing and it's strange to have so much free time cos I haven't had a break in years. For as long as I can remember I've been extremely busy first with the ALs then Uni, started work even before handing in the final project only left work one week before the MBA. So I actually never had any time to stop and think; never even had a couple of weeks break between my different endeavours.

At first not being busy was difficult for me, but now I'm starting to enjoy the break before going back to the busy work life style. I'm actually just enjoying music, books and long walks; doing more sight seeing; literally stopping to smell the roses and finding my self.