This evening I met with two of my favourite people, Elizabeth (known as Loo) Connor and Elf Eldridge. Both science communicators, I catch up with them each month for three reasons. The first, quite simply, is I like them. The second is that they make me think AND they capture my imagination. The third is that they provide me with new dots. Because while I’m in my element connecting dots, I’m beginning to understand that to do it to the best of my ability, I need new ones. And one of the best ways to do that is by spending time in the realm of the stuff I don’t know I don’t know.

So I meet Loo & Elf at Duke Carvell’s No. 6 Swan Lane Emporium and we’re greeted by Enzo with the magnifient moustache. A moustache, he tells us tonight, that he keeps because it makes his patrons smile. In spite of the fact that its absence would mean not having to make toast soldiers in the morning.

Eschewing the wine list in favour of Enzo’s excellent recommendation, I savour a glass of pinot grigio as Loo, Elf and I talk about all sorts of things. Or more accurately, I ask questions and they talk. About the definition of Science. The transit of Venus. How the legendary molecular biologist Francis Crick apparently first perceived the double-helix shape while on LSD. The natural curiosity of bacteria. Outer space. Inner space. Yes, all sorts of things. And I feel not only my mind expand but my heart because these two very, very bright young science communicators also care deeply about the world.

Eventually I leave No. 6 Swan Lane Emporium and make my way slowly, thoughtfully, home.

It’s been a while since I last wrote a post for this blogsite and talked about polyurethane padding in bras. In the interim I’ve moved house and found home. A home which is part beach-house, part farm house. A long rambling place where bouganvillea blooms and the two goats I’ve inherited bleat about the absence of more interesting food to forage. A space from which to find new dots and connect them. A space from which to venture out into the realm of the unknown.

Just a shortish post tonight, as I dip my toes back into the waters of personal storytelling with a few new sparkling dots tucked into my bag of fairy dust.

Sleep beckons, but before I go, a question…Do you know something now that you didn’t know a day ago?… Just asking.

Sweet dreams all.