Writer's Block in Autumn

Going about my daily business, I tend to eventually find something original to write. But it has recently become more difficult, with one reason being that other people have been writing original stuff, and I can't really add to them. Here is a selection of the better things I've read this week:

The Continuity of the Pencil
In a world of laptops, iPads and the 'cool' stationery that the Japanese love (called 'sharp-pens'), it is a wonder that anyone still uses a pencil these days. But apparently the global pencil market is doing quite well for the moment, supported not just by budding artists but emerging markets where pencils are fundamental to learning. So its not all about $100 laptops in Africa then...

The 'sharp-pen' - not exactly replacing the pencil

Secular Tolerance - Part of the British Spirit
Following the relatively successful Papal visit to England and Scotland, some have started to question what all the fuss about his visit was about. Was it really because the Vatican seemed to be above the law, or merely because it cost the taxpayer millions to arrange his security? I heard somewhere before that Dawkins and Hitchens might try and get the Pope arrested for alleged crimes, but it seemed that Benedict XVI's visit was met with a generally warm reception. The 'aggressive atheist' strands did not figure too prominently, which Janice Turner in The Times argues was a good thing; there are things wrong with the Catholic Church, but it may not be a good thing to 'impose' our secular tolerance. It's a bit like my discomfort with reading the Guardian, which is sometimes a bit too lefty for my liberalism.
Not many people I know are very religious, but I would assume that most of them do not despise the 'evils' of religion. The New Statesman went for 'Catholicism in crisis' as its cover title this week, but it really didn't seem like the Church was facing the biggest threat to its legitimacy since the Reformation, did it?!

So it's nope to the pope...

False 'fun' at work
It might be quite obvious that I would not want to work in PR or advertising. Why? Because it's cool and you live your social life through your job. Now for the Facebook generation that can't really tell public from private, its OK really... but it seems that it is not just in this glitzy world of media services that 'fun' has arrived in the workplace. Social media companies lead the way of course with slides, bouncy castles, and really bright colours making the workplace more relaxed, creative, open, and ultimately more productive. But there must be many other people who shudder at the prospect of going to a team-bonding exercise, where this very smiley man with wide eyes tells you to drop your inhibitions, and jump around the room pretending to be a fruit. How do apples act, this is so weird, right?! But as Shumpeter in The Economist states, 'behind the "fun" facade there often lurks some crude management thinking'. I'm all for innovation  but seriously... this is work, not an extension of your Self. However, German Wal-Mart staff didn't do themselves any favours by resisting new rules of compulsory smiling - national stereotypes go a long way indeed!

See relevant links:
Economist - Schumpeter: Down with Fun
The cover of the New Statesman this week