The Truth About Cats and Dogs in Black and White

A recent post "Quote" by the newly self-proclaimed Dancing Queen prompted me to post on something that I believe deeply and passionately. While the quote has a very obvious and good-willed moral I'm going to reflect on those first five words..."you are not your job." Now I know Laurie well, well fairly well and we have been going through our "jobs are getting us down" phase, which, I expect may have prompted the optimistic-flavoured quote post.

I studied Recreation back in the day, which included leisure studies. Now, stop laughing, and start taking me seriously again. We often got flack for the nature of our profession by people who can't take leisure seriously and why should they - its leisure, recreation. So what does this have to do with the question at hand, What do you do? Simple, most people tend to identify with their job, primarily or career, secondly. For example, primary response "I am a Heritage Interpreter" or secondary response "I work in the social sciences." But why not answer with what really defines us - the actions we have the "freedom to" choose that gives us the "freedom from" our other worldly obligations. For example, "Hmmm...what do I do...well I love spending a lot of time outdoors." or "I often love to bbq and listen to great music on the deck."

It is actually quite difficult to define who we are by something other than our work environments. I suppose if your job were professional surfer it may be different. But there is so much more to us then what we get paid to do between 9 and 5 (generalising), what really makes us tick. If you can't figure out the answer then you have lost yourself in the rungs of the capitalist ladder, suffered the truest case of identity theft, sold the essence of you to the highest bidder. So here is my challenge job-centric blog goers - what do you do?

• H.G. Wells, born in Bromley, UK in 1866, his literary career began in 1895 with the publication of his first novel, "The Time Machine."
• Until this first success his life had been a patchwork drapery and chemist apprenticeships interrupted by stints as a teacher's assistant, and eventually studied biology at London's Normal School of Science under Darwin's "bull dog," the great T.H. Huxley.
• The 1890's saw the publication of the "scientific romances" that were to make him the most successful author of his time: "The Island of Dr. Moreau" (1896), "The Invisible Man" (1897), "The War of the Worlds" (1898), "When the Sleeper Wakes" (1899), and "The First Men in the Moon" (1901).
• He turned his writing to social topics, history, and even prophecy with books like "Anticipations" (1901), "The Discovery of the Future" (1902), "Mankind in the Making" (1903), "The Future in America" (1906), "The War in the Air" and "New Worlds for Old" (1908), "What is Coming" (1916), "War and the Future" (1917), "The Salvaging of Civilisation" (1921), "The Open Conspiracy" (1928), "The Shape of Things to Come" (1933), and "The New World Order" (1939).
• A revolutionary in thought and deed, Wells was often the subject of public controversy owing to his attitude on so-called "free love" and women's rights.
• Cheated on his wives repeatedly. He even demanded of his second wife the "right" to take lovers. Wells may have fathered up to five children out of wedlock. His first wife, Isabel, was the daughter of his father's cousin.
• He was a life-long believer in Socialism - the means to mankind's ultimate social salvation. His brand had nothing to do with Marxism and brought him conflict with other leading Socialist thinkers of his day during his brief stint with The Fabian Society.
• The outbreak of the WWI found Wells changing his mind to support this Great War against the "Blood and Iron" Imperial aggression. He reacted by writing the 1914 anti-war and pacifist pamphlet entitled "The War That Will End War." Its title became proverbial almost instantly and is used to refer to the First World War even today.
• Even before the Great War began he published "The World Set Free" early in 1914. It was a prophetic novel about a world war against Imperial Germany and her "Central European Allies" which included a remarkably accurate forecast of atomic warfare and even coined the term "atomic bomb." He was among the first to call for a post war League of Nations but was bitterly disappointed with and critical of the actual League that developed.
• He spent the early part of the 1920's writing "The Outline of History," which like so many of his previous works was also enormously successful on both sides of the Atlantic.
• The 1930's found H.G. profoundly disturbed by the rising of nationalism from Nazi Germany and Fascism in Italy. His critical writings of Imperial Germany and outright vicious attacks on Adolf Hitler and his accomplices earned H.G. Wells the distinction of having his "anti-German" books burned during book bonfires at German universities. The name "H.G. Wells" appeared near the top of a list of those intellectuals and politicians slated for immediate liquidation upon the invasion of Britain by the Nazis.
• He died quietly at home on 13 August 1946. In any appraisal the 20th century, H.G. Wells must be considered among its very most important and influential thinkers and authors.

At the dawn of the industrialisation revolution, long before the technological and nano-technological ages, H.G. Wells invented genetic engineering, the atomic bomb, time travel, and extraterrestrial invasions. He saw the future on such an enlightened vision that he was indeed centuries ahead of his time. It is frightfully clear that he did not write in the fictitious genre in which he was placed. Perhaps he travelled time himself and saw the progression of human societies but his epitaph unquestionably says it best, "God damn you all, I told you so."

Number 2. Batgirl/Oracle. (adapted from DC Comics). Barbara Gordon is the adopted daughter of Commissioner Gordon. A brilliant graduate of Gotham University, she admired the city's resident vigilante Batman and donned a homemade batgirl costume to the policeman's masquerade where she foiled the Killer Moth's attack on Batman. This started her new life as a compatriot to Batman and Robin. The Joker's bullet brought her high flying career as batgirl to an end but despite paralysis, she has accomplished more as a wheelchair-bound crime fighter than she could ever have as batgirl. And this is just the beginning. In her time as batgirl, she served the U.S. Congress, and after her near fatal run-in with the joker she packaged her skills as an information retreival expert under the name Oracle. Combined with her super-hacking skills, possess a photographic memory and hand-to-hand combat, she became known as a legend in the superhero world and recruited heros to act on her data - the birds of prey. She is 5'11, 148 lbs, and a red head with blue eyes.

Number 1. Wonder Woman (Adapted from DC Comics). "Wise as Athena, stronger than Herucles, swift as Hermes, and as beautiful as Aphrodite, Wonder Woman is Princess Diana, champion of Themyscira, the home of the immortal Amazons." She was scupted by clay by her mother Queen Hippolyta and brought to life by the Olympics Gods. She has travelled through time and space, she has been killed by demonfire, and resurrected on Olympus. She can fly at sublight speed, highley resistent to body harm, she can psyhically communicate with animnals, she is an expert in all forms of classical armeed and unarmed combat, a master of the sword, ax and bow and arrow, a skilled tactician and diplomat. Her arsenal includes a magic lasso that forces anyone within its confines to tell the absolute truth and her bracelets deflect bullets...and lets not forget about the invisible jet.

Years later, after becoming mortal and forsaking her royal title she donned the robes of amazon ambassador, not only to the UN but to societies around the world, authored a controversial book recording her observations. Born a princess on an island of immrtal women created by the gods themselves, Wonder Woman has become a legend in the galaxy. Her mission is clear, promote peace, love and, equality, while defending the innocent from the forces of evil. She is premiere member of the Justice League of America and rumoured to be carrying superman's child. She is 6ft, 165 lbs, with black hair and blue eyes. Where is our Wonder Woman?