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I read an article this morning about how many people lie when they write their CV, about all kinds of things… their qualifications, where they have worked before, how much experience or what skills they have etc.
What do you think? Is it acceptable to ‘bend the truth ‘ on a CV,or should you be 100% honest?
I decided to get a guided tour inside the stately home of an old Edwardian industrialist family today. I don’t usually care much for palaces or stately homes in the US any more than I care for them in Europe, but since I’m leaving soon I have to tick off all the things I haven’t done yet, and it’s one of the major historical sights in the area and it’s supposedly one of the best preserved examples of early 20th century American Crafts style housing so I kind of felt like I had to.
Anyway, so the tour began in a way that kind of felt like an Edwardian version of episode of MTV Cribs. And almost immediately, it finally clicked why I just don’t give a single fuck about these places 90% of the time.
The vast majority of these kinds of places are owned either by wealthy aristocrats (in the case of Europe) or wealthy developers, business owners and general robber barons (in the case of the Western US). They gave nothing back to their communities. They left behind no real cultural or artistic legacy. Nothing they did advanced or contributed to society or humanity in any palpable way. All they did was funnel wealth to themselves and use it to invest in architecture and interior design that reflected their own personal tastes.
Sometimes I wonder what kind of sprawling estate I’d build for myself if I was a wealthy billionaire. It’s tempting to say I’d build some kind of horrible Versailles or Hampton Court pastiche. But I’m also a Champagne socialist and I’d find that all rather crass. And also, having a massive mansion to yourself like that must get rather lonely, and I don’t really care for joining the local country club and meeting other people who are just as detached from reality as I am. I could easily see my mind unravelling in the same way Elon M*sk’s has. Maybe I’d have a more intimate house for myself alongside some royal apartments for the occasional guests, and then out the back, a utopian experimental housing estate along the lines of [Bournville](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bournville?wprov=sfla1), a botanical garden and a nice nature reserve. And then every few weeks or so I’d throw an open house event so that the poors can admire my extravagant wealth and benevolence.
Every now and then I bake a bread that is so *chef’s kiss* that it makes me think of quitting my career and opening a hip sourdough bakery. The secret ingredient of good bread is… bread! You know the end pieces of bread that are basically just crust, and they get all dry and no one wants to eat them? If you cut them up and soak them in water before adding the other bread ingredients, it makes a very juicy bread and gives great flavor. Good way to use up old bread, too.
[An artist I am following on Deviantart is running a charity action for snow leopards](https://www.deviantart.com/beckykidus/art/CardsForConservation-cards-now-up-for-sale-1165227974). She has drawn some small cards with big cats on them, and all money goes to the snow trust. I wonder if I could do something like this. Maybe I could draw or paint some birds and sell them for charity. I don’t have as many followers as this artist, but I could perhaps sell them to people I know. That would also eliminate online sale costs.
I’ll have to think about it.