book 1: beginning, or drafting a town experiment
'How about we set up a project which might turn the world upside down, in which case we could give it a good shake?'
book 1: beginning / The Letter
‘The passport photograph showed an intelligent looking woman. Someone with a mind of her own. Tom didn’t trust photos.'
book 1: beginning / Tom's study
‘I’ve seen your playfulness on screen, and I’m sort of hoping it wasn’t all acting.’
book 1: beginning / At the party in New York
‘You’d still be one of the richest men on the planet. Aren’t you past the age where you need to verify your cock’s length with the balance on your bank account? I believe, you’re better than that. At least, I hope you are.’
book 1: beginning / At Tom's estate
‘More than anything else, I’ve always wanted to find solutions. That’s what programmers do. They make things run. I’m grateful for this opportunity to think outside the code box and to venture again into something that many will decry as impossible, as has been demonstrated just now.’
book 1: beginning / The First Easy Town Meeting
The absence of voices felt strange, and yet the cold wind had a whisper of its own, pinching her skin, seeking to chill her very bones.
book 1: beginning / Sunday Night
Noel stood up and solemnly declared: ‘This is the end of big brother.’
book 1: beginning / week 1: settling in
‘It’s actually part of life,’ Tilly carried on. ‘Life isn’t simple or safe, so why should the healing process be?’
book 1: beginning / week 2: Health & Care
'I have no intention of denying any part of myself – be it female or male.'
book 1: beginning / week 3: Economics & Business
'Why don’t you look up copper? Surfaces of copper actually kill microbes. If you want to reduce infections in your hospitals, you’re better off if you drop plastic for copper.'
book 1: beginning / week 4: Ecology & Agriculture
'There is nothing like building your own bookshelf. I remember building one, first thing, after handing in my final thesis. I loved the fact that there was nothing to argue about this shelf. It was all rickety, but you couldn’t have theories about it (…)'
book 1: beginning / week 5: Arts & Crafts
This anger, this freaking anger! Why couldn’t she stop it? Why couldn’t she just ...?
A creaking sound made her stop abruptly.
book 1: beginning / week 6: Admin & Society
There was no question too trivial for him, and Alice felt as if he was egging her on to keep asking, to get to the bottom of things.
book 1: beginning / week 7: Research & Education
'Standing in the middle of a cornfield can be elevating, but standing in a field of house blocks is disquieting at best (...)'
book 1: beginning / week 8: Design
‘Panic isn’t going to help. The lighter we take this matter, the less we’ll give away. And Alice, I’m sure, you’ll do well. And should you slip up, it won’t be the end of the world. We have a few influential people on our side, too – people we can trust.’
book 1: beginning / Back in New York
'Maybe we should start a new tombstone tradition. Instead of: She was a great lawyer, mother and daughter, we write: She spent three point eight million dollars in her lifetime. A great service to our economy.'
'We start with one of the root problems, which is the way business is done in and by the Western World.'
book 1: beginning / The First Easy Town Conference
She liked the stars. She loved the immensity of the universe. It was so powerful. She felt as if she could replenish her own strength by absorbing some of the power the universe radiated.
book 1: beginning / Back at Tom's
About
book 1: travelling
Alice is fed up with how the world is run, and she wonders whether a town experiment could help to test some ideas. In a meeting with the billionaire Tom Holbon, she proposes to build a town where the very fabric of how economies and societies work could be questioned and alternatives tested.
book 2: travelling, and we need to talk about sex
'We can continue to whine about the state of the world, or we can employ our imagination to explore how to do better.'
book 2: travelling / New York
‘No, Leo. This whole fuss about sexuality is one of the major things that screws with us. We have to dig in bluntly to unearth everything we humans have made weird.'
book 2: travelling / San Francisco
'And maybe that was all I did: killing the ghosts who couldn’t accept that I had started a new life, a life away from the hypocrisy of religion.'
book 2: travelling / Rio de Janeiro
‘(...) but adults should be curious, too. Maybe we really become too dull as we progress, too broken by everyday life and life’s demands. That’s why it’s so important to do something for adults. We can’t just push all this mess on the youth — or they’ll just end up as dull adults, too.'
book 2: travelling / Buenos Aires
‘(...) Things are not possible, because you believe they are. But they can only become possible when you do believe.’'
book 2: travelling / South Africa
He wished he could have spared his children all of that — even his fame. It’s something you don’t consider when you try to make a name for yourself: fame has consequences, not just for yourself but also for your family.
book 2: travelling / Flight to Sydney
'I wasn't brought up,’ she said with a strange calmness in her voice, and then, she gradually turned the following remark into something positive. ‘And it would seem that, without adult interference, kids couldn't care less about nationalities, traditions, or customs. They just love the world and more so adventures.'
book 2: travelling / Australia
'(...) There is a lot of insecurity involved in beauty. And insecurity keeps people from enjoying their life, from making rational decisions, even from enjoying the company of others.'
book 2: travelling / Holidays
'You look great,’ Any said. 'You’ve got tan, and you look … fantastic.’
Alice chuckled. ‘The magical power of holidays. Imagine what three weeks would do to me.’
book 2: travelling / Flight to Beijing
'Whenever we try to learn without needing to know, we’re likely to fail, or feel like we’ve reached our limits.’
book 2: travelling / China
'So, we are ruining the planet with our excessive capitalism only to impress women and to have more sex with them? Blimey, there’s got to be a better way. If sex is all, we ultimately want, we should get straight to it.’
book 2: travelling / Otaon
'In the mother of Easy Towns, we will learn to be free and enjoy life, in the town of music, we will feel the rhythm of the universe and learn to dance.’
book 2: travelling / Romania
Alice frowned.
‘However,’ Jazz repeated. ‘You can bring your boyfriend.’
‘My what?’
Several people chuckled. Or were they giggling?
Jazz cleared her throat. ‘Your boyfriend.’
book 2: travelling / Flight to Moscow
Jazz dodged sideways, and let Alice hit the air, turned and attacked. This times their sticks clashed. And something came loose.
book 2: travelling / Russia
'I am a hunter not a gatherer.’
book 2: travelling / Berlin
About
book 2: travelling
Travelling around the world, Alice and her team set up an international network for the Easy Town Project. Travelling with them are the past, personal demons, prejudice and unwittingly the issue of sex.
More news are coming up soon.
Due to the coronavirus, the publications will be delayed further.
Feel free to contact me for any further information.