Tari's Patch

Graduation season is upon us and social media has been full of advice for fresh young graduates - what to do, what not to do, what to expect. Or to be precise, what not to expect. Unkindly, there's even been reminders of the number of highly successful and rich men in the world who dropped out of college - Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg to mention three. Yes, wealth appears still to up there as an ambition, so I get to think about the game of chances. Billionaires seem to have become something of a role model but the odds of becoming one aren't that great. According to Forbes, there is one billionaire for every 5 million population of the world (one in 750,000 in America). Slightly better odds, granted, than putting money on the lottery. If you played the UK National Lottery, you have a one in 14 million chance of hitting the correct six numbers with a typical prize of £2m. In America, the odds of getting the first 5 numbers and the Power Ball is one in 120 million....

Recently I went to a concert at Edinburgh's Usher Hall where one of the soloists was an incredibly handsome and talented young Macedonian guitarist. I was introduced to him at the interval and told him enthusiastically how much I appreciated his playing. I also told him how gorgeous I thought he was. To be exact, I told him that I'd marry him and leave my husband (this was clearly banter, and my husband was standing beside me at the time). He took it warmly and charmingly and responded with matching repartee. So here's the question. Had I been a 61 year old man and he a gorgeous young female artist, would I be accused of sexism, of being patronising? Is it okay for a 61 year old woman to say these things because I believe my guitarist to be perfectly safe from any power play from me? Because I believe there is zero chance that anything I might say to him would be received with any real or threatening sexual connotation? Social norms of course change all the time, as we...

I seem to have been surrounded by the arts festivals these past few weeks. The Edinburgh International Festival 2013 programme was launched last week so the talk around town is which hot tickets we've all got. It is now supposedly spring but with all this snow, wind and rain, this is good cheerful and 'sunny' talk. Much is being speculated as to whether George Street will again be closed to allow for the Spiegeltent to be put up, and for the street to be transformed into an al fresco buzzing clinking street come July. This is Edinburgh getting ready to prove its place as the world's biggest arts and culture city, hosting a dozen or so Arts Festivals during July/August. The museums and galleries will be competing to put on exhibitions to showcase Scottish artists. While I was in the UAE last week I attended the opening of the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Festival - the Mariinsky Ballet and Orchestra performed at the sumptuous Emirates Palace Hotel auditorium with much g...

I blogged about public apologies and public figures' secrets a couple of weeks back. Gratifyingly it seemed to strike a chord. Since then, more scandals have emerged. Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the head of the Catholic Church in Scotland has had to step down from public life as past sexual misconducts with other priests came to light. Lord Rennard, the former LibDem's Chief Executive and senior activist stands accused of inappropriate behaviour and unwanted harassment of women in the past. First and foremost, the  hypocrisy is foolish. I'm still astounded at the number of public figures  who have a Big Secret yet publicly vilify others for doing exactly the same thing. Cardinal O'Brien didn't choose to espouse the cause of poverty, education, social violence or domestic violence as his main platform during his tenure - all of which are so important and a safe million miles from his secret life. No, he made strong attacks of gay marriage and gay adoptions, all of...

An unexpected by-election will take place in Eastleigh on Feb 28. Yet again, a politician set for a glittering career - possibly to the top leadership position of his party - fell from grace through misdemeanours and reputation mismanagement. Chris Huhne may have lost everything - his political career, family, reputation. Although he eventually pleaded guilty in court for perverting the course of justice, to date, he has not actually made a public apology for what he did. He joins a long list of disgraced politicians (Liam Fox, David Laws, Jeffrey Archer, Jonathan Aitken, Jeremy Thorpe and of course the daddy of them all, Bill Clinton) who have with varying degrees of success, sought public forgiveness and return to normality. Two things always strike me when I read about yet another fall from grace (and mostly they're about money or sex - or both - and yes, they're almost inevitably men).  One , like it or not, responsibility comes with being a public figure. Like it or not...

I went to a fabulous birthday lunch last week at the Michel Roux restaurant in Westminster hosted by Claire Enders, a dear friend who is a powerful networker, mentor and successful businesswoman. There were thirty of us there - only women - from all walks of life; publishers, media, philanthropy, education, banking, the arts. This made me think about women-only worlds and how they have evolved in the past four decades or so, even before Peggy Seeger sang I Wanna be an Engineer in the early 70s. The women's movement in the 60s, 70s and 80s brought women together to share books they have read, to discuss the 'new politics' of power and sexuality, to build each other's confidence when competing with men in the workplace. Germaine Greer, Marilyn French and Betty Friedan were our coffee table books. These days I receive many invitations to women-only events or events organised by women or international conferences on women's leadership. This despite the fact that a...

Three weeks in the Gulf - mostly work with some downtime thrown in. There's been a lot going on in the region and at home. Elections took place in Jordan and Israel, the situation in Syria and Egypt ever worsens, World Economic Forum in Davos, the Australian open tennis championships, floods in Indonesia, Algerian hostage situation, David Cameron and That Slightly Delayed Euro Speech, Lance Armstrong's Oprah confession. Lots of voices to listen to, so how to get the right information with just the right amount of opinion thrown in, and learn more? Needs must, I get to discover new bloggers and tweeters and journalists who tell it the way it is - more importantly who explain the complex interactions in this region.  Al Monitor  has been a great new find. Daily lists pop into my inbox with just enough information on top news to give me a sense of what I want to read.  Sultan Al Qassemi  is my favourite new tweeter-find to supplement my staple diet of  Fareed Za...