Enough

Friday, March 24, 2006 ~ Comments Off

Thank you ALL for responding so generously over the past couple of days. It’s been fun for me, and I hope not TOO boring for you.

I’ve got a few ‘action items’ from it, least of all the comment form order thingy, but mostly I’m just happy that YOU seem quite happy coming here. Putting aside the “I do this for me” ethic of blogging there is an amount of satisfaction to be taken from “doing it for others”… and I’ll leave that statement dangling for you to add your own double entendre.

A quick word of thanks to Lyle who has, again, helped me with a small coding issue for the new “post of the week” site. I’m hoping to get it finished by the first week in April or so, along with another bit of work for a project that I can’t mention (yet). Hopefully that’ll free me up for a third bit of design work for a certain blogger. We do like to keep busy.

The backdrop for next week is mainly long long hours in the office. It’s the ‘final week’, pressure is on and so we all settle in for the long haul, hoping that getting ‘free’ pizza will be enough to maintain morale. It doesn’t. And it’s not free anyway… stop stop, I don’t blog about work..

It’s Mother’s Day this weekend and I know my Mum understands that this particular year will be a hard one for Louise and that I’ll need to be there for her. Louise has been up and down in the past few months as we plow through a series of ‘firsts’ — first Xmas and New Year, first time seeing her Dad again, first time back in the flat in Spain, first time Crufts has been on (my in-laws bred Golden Retrievers for a few years) — and there are many more to come. None of them getting any easier.

On Saturday we are going to visit my Mum, give her a great big cuddle and tell her that I love her, and then on Sunday, weather permitting, we will be joining Louise’s brother and sister (and probably a couple of nieces and nephews) for a walk round Cashel Forest where we have a tree dedicated to Grace.

It’s odd. I’ve hardly mentioned Grace’s passing on here, obviously still too raw, or too personal. She is so very sorely missed.

Actually, I know why I’ve not mentioned it. It’s hard to type with tears streaming down your face.

Wrote the above late last night, tired, emotional and drained. Wrote the following this morning.

Friday at last, a quick week that has left some things unmentioned; Only a few days until the smoking ban kicks in for which I’m mainly glad I won’t stink of smoke after a night out.

Having discussed 4x4s before I’ll just say that the Chancellor isn’t fooling anyone as the people who can afford these big inefficient cars can afford the hike in tax and that I’m not against 4x4s but “gas guzzlers” (but do think some people have 4x4s for the wrong reasons).

And finally, what a refreshing change to hear a politician talk sense. The First Minister (“Big Jack”) was quoted in this mornings Metro as saying that “whilst Flower of Scotland was a good anthem at a rugby match, stirring the fans and inspiring the players… Scotland the Brave is a better choice for things like the Commonwealth Games as it’s largely the tune that is important in those occasions”. Spot on. He also states that we DO need a common national anthem, and I wholeheartedly agree, ohh and, while we’re at it, can we get one to give to England please. They seem to think “God Save ‘Our’ Queen”[sic] belongs to them… quite frankly they can have her if the rest of us can stop singing that drearily awful song.

Answer

Thursday, March 23, 2006 ~ Comments Off

Well that was interesting. A few random thoughts about yesterdays… um… experiment. Yes, let’s call it that. Makes it sound a little more like I planned it rather than just fell prey to the insatiable “muse of frequent blogging” (she’s beginning to get on my nerves mind you, I much prefer the caring caress of her sister the “muse of quality over quantity”).

Do you ever sometimes think you should just delete a sentence or, and this is purely for example, the previous set of parenthesis? I digress (quite often).

So many of you were kind enough to take the time to comment yesterday I thought I’d better make some effort to respond. As I said it was purely a post born through time constraints but my, aren’t we an eager lot when asked a simple question!

It seems that, in no particular order:

• Some people come here mainly because of the content
• Some people come here through habit
• Some people feel they “just should” come here
• Some people enjoy the content but don’t enjoy the diary type stuff
• Some people take solace that other people think the same way they do
• Some people prefer the Overflow (miniblog)
• Some people like that I make them think

All fairly common reasons for visiting any blog I reckon, but it’s good to have a little bit of proof sometimes, no?

As to whether I care about WHY people visit, rather than just that they visit at all, I’ll turn all that stat watching on it’s head and claim that I enjoy writing, I enjoy the discussion, I enjoy the people (that’s you lot).

It does tell me that no-one comes here specifically for the photos and, judging from the tone of most comments and the fact that most people have been visiting for a while, that the archives aren’t hugely important to the large majority (I’m extrapolating slightly though, feel free to contradict me). Neither section is going away mind you as *I* enjoy them.

The real surprise? No-one commented on the fact that the order of the comments box had changed (this is why).

Next question: How often do you visit without leaving a comment?

And yes, I’m aware that some of you wisecrackin’, smartarsin’ jokesters will bend this question to your own nefarious needs, but do try and fight the temptation, for a change…

Question

Wednesday, March 22, 2006 ~ Comments Off

This is not a plea for re-assurance, nor a cry for help. It IS a quick and easy post for which I make no apology whatsoever.

Look, just humour me, ok? Yes… AGAIN.

Why do you come here?

Stuck in draft

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 ~ Comments Off

Patiently they sit, biding their time. Eager for limelight and growing nervous. What if they pass unnoticed?

As the slow trickle of sand reaches an end some of them wonder if they have already missed their opportunity and, if so, what then? In past times they were given a new life under a different guise, a subtle shift of opinion or view rendering their colours vivid, but now their fate is less certain. They have watched, with transfixed gaze, as others have been removed and deleted and, whilst this knowledge offers little hope, some succumb quietly knowing full well that this is always how it was going to be. Fate is a fickle mystery and holds no comfort.

And still, silently, they remain. Waiting and hoping for that one brief orgasmic release, that sublime moment of dazzling light and unfettered attention. They wonder how it will be to sit alongside their own, to be considered whole and part of the same rather than singular outcasts viewed with sympathy.

Why do we tempt them so? Why do we write them only to watch as they writh and languish as our eyes pass over them each in turn only to fixate on the empty space below. Is it that we prefer the blank canvas? The renewed possibilities that tease us and offer new directions, a view uncluttered by hindsight?

We must, for how else can we suffer the incomplete, the ignored and neglected?

The lonely congregate together, drawing little solace from their shared condition, but quiet unspoken strength from their numbers.

Silently, and patiently, they wait.

Weekender

Monday, March 20, 2006 ~ Comments Off

A stop/start weekend. Saturday saw us heading into Hamilton for some more supplies for Louise, a quick jaunt out to MacArthur Glen shopping outlet (more supplies for Louise) and then racing through to Dumbarton in an effort to beat the traffic that was sure to build up for the Cup Final on… um… Sunday. Thankfully my parents had also thought the Cup Final was on Saturday so I was glad it wasn’t just me… or I was slightly disturbed that I’ve started thinking a little TOO much like my parents… jury is still out on that one.

We caught up with my sister-in-law in the evening. She’s recently decided to put her university course on hold and it was good to see her looking stress-free and relaxed. She hates when I say stuff like this but I still have no idea how she manages to bring up four children (on her own), hold down a part-time job AND study and work for a degree. I admire her more than she realises, and certainly far more than I can express.

Needless to say with everything that has happened in our family over the past six months or so (only the major one was reported here) she was at the end of her tether. Thankfully the university administrators gave her the option of coming back next January to continue her course.

Sunday and whilst I flitted between computer and TV, Louise pushed on with the wedding invitations she has been making and has the bulk of the work completed. Photos will follow (for her site).

So, with another good Grand Prix passed, the week looms large and busy. I have one site to finish, another to wireframe, and all that Scottish Blogs stuff to look at (which I’ll admit has been pushed on the back burner for the time being). All I can say is, roll on April!

A quick word on the Commonwealth Games. I’m not following them in great detail, but I did note that Scotland won another couple of gold medals yesterday, and the Isle of Man won their first gold for 20 years. Bravo indeed.

I also have to mention the rugby. Congratulations to France, and well done Ireland for a thrilling win over England. To all my english readers, yes he DID step on the line, yes Cohen DID NOT step onto the field of play when he took the quick throw-in to himself but that isn’t why you finished so low in the table. Crying about it won’t change that fact.

And so, in closing, I’ll say “Congratulations” to the English ladies team who won their Six Nations tournament. Of course, it would be churlish of me to suggest that they probably wouldn’t have been mentioned on BBC Breakfast News this morning had the men’s team won… right?

The Book Title Meme

Saturday, March 18, 2006 ~ Comments Off

Don’t let the title put you off, this is no ordinary meme. Firstly, and for a change, I know who started it, but most of all this meme requires a fair amount of pondering and no small amount of writing – after all, you’ll be trying to match up to a published author! Enough of my waffle then – there are six parts to this meme, instructions included for clarity.

1. The Dying of Delight
“Briefly describe an aspect of your life for which ‘The Dying Of Delight’ would be an apt title.”

The state of delightedness, of enchantment, is hard to attain. So hard that many people stop trying and let themselves be grind down by the machinations of life. They’re too busy, too important, too stressed, too hurried to let delight creep into their lives. Take a look around you, everywhere you look you’ll see it, the mirroring of lost souls reflected softly and completely in the ripples of a puddle, a leaf cartwheeling and spinning along the pavement.

I refuse this state. Not constantly, nor with any great zeal or vigour but steadily and continually. My delight will not be left to dribble away, to become so muted as to be ignored regardless of the events of my life. I refuse.

For without delight what have we? Darkness descending, and everything you care for pushed away, held away at arms length and beyond. I refuse.

My delight may fade, sputter and spin in the wind but I will not let it be extinguished. Life without delight is surely too terrible and morose to contemplate, and leads down a path I’ve trodden before. Once more I refuse.

OK, that wasn’t in keeping with the spirit of things but it’s what came out…

2. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
“Pick another book whose title has some resonance in your life, and write a little about it.”

The book deals, in a roundabout way, with seeing things from a different point of view and I guess it’s something I’ve always thought I did quite well. I occasionally put it down to the fact that I’m a Libra, but as I don’t really believe in that kind of nonsense I guess I should really try and pin it down with something a little more concrete (a large piece of masonry perhaps?).

I can remember, whilst still at school, hearing about someone’s older sister who had become a diplomat. I can remember looking the word up, and the definition of diplomatic stuck in my head. I can remember thinking “I could do that”, and for a long time time I believed I could.

Fast forward twenty years and I know now – ain’t hindsight wonderful – that I’m not as diplomatic as I thought, and that whilst I can usually see both sides of each story and usually find it easy to empathise with the other person, I’m frequently becoming more and more intolerant and rigid in my views. Liberals are too liberal, conservatives too conservative, and nowhere can I find a middle ground that suits me.

For a while I lost my ability to see things from a different point of view and, if I’m honest, it was hugely liberating and scared me shitless. From being a considerate and thoughtful human being I suddenly became a single-minded, blinkered shadow of myself. I didn’t like it one bit.

These days I treasure my ability to view things from a different angle, to see the other side, and ultimately to understand that other people have to do things the way they do them, even if I don’t understand the reason why.

3. What Women Want Men to Know
“Write one more short personal piece – one which matches the book title chosen (in part 2) by the person who tagged you.”

The glib answer would be something witty and comic, a good old fashioned sexist comment like “they want you to know what they WANT without them knowing themselves” or something simpler like “they want you to know that if you leave the toilet seat up one more time they’ll place your knackers under it and slam it shut”…

The real answer is harder to find because I’m not entirely sure I know any of the answers. I’m still learning you see, and maybe that’s the best way. Rather than presume what I THINK women want men to know, by which I mean what Louise wants me to know, it’s better to work from the assumption that you need to listen, learn and constantly re-evaluate everything you think you knew.

That sounds very tiring but trust me, when it’s with someone you love that’s half the fun! (the other half I can’t mention on here… my Mum reads this you know..)

4. The Dying of Delight
“Take your favourite little-known book and plug it to your readers. Authors need incomes, and word of mouth is one of the best ways to sell books.”

Is this cheating? Possibly, but it’s the best “little-known” book I’ve read in a long long time, so why the hell not. Here’s what I had to say about it. Now visit www.TheDyingOfDelight.co.uk and see if you’d like a copy for yourself.

5. Sit back and marvel at the magnificence of this meme.
It was brought to you by an out-of-breath author, reduced (on account of her publisher* having expired) to trundling copies of her book across the internet on a rusty old trolley with one wheel missing, sweating and shouting “Buy me book, Gov?” Now visit www.TheDyingOfDelight.co.uk and see if you’d like a copy for yourself.

6 .Tag five people with this meme
Whether the people I’m tagging have the time, or inclination, will be seen but I’ve chosen carefully.

First up, that book reader extraordinaire, Karen. Then, in no particular order (and without introduction as it’s late and I’m knackered) Clair, Daisy, Lyle and, to try and tempt him back into blogland, Mr. Hg.

Whoosh

Friday, March 17, 2006 ~ Comments Off

The Guinness Surger sounds a bit like a bad American car but it’s actually a clever wee ultrasonic widget. Plug it in, add a spot of water to the base, sit a glass of cold, freshly poured, Guinness atop and WHOOOSH (check the video on the page).

I have to admit that I could happily lose an afternoon in the pub just watching pints of Guinness settle. There is something mesmerising and hypnotic about watching the black and cream blend and split, swirling round the glass, a tiny maelstrom settles to deliver it’s delicious payload.

Mind you, I’m pretty sure that, after a few “oooohhh” and “ahhhh” moments, the Surger would end up consigned to the depths of the bottom kitchen drawer where it would meet all those other helpful gadgets. You know the type, they are usually remnants of Modern Home Exhibitions where, with unbridled awe, you watch a demonstration of the “twirly cucumber cutter” or the “quick chip maker” and eagerly hand over bundles of notes only to find that what you really should have bought was the person demonstrating them. These people are a unique race and are the only people on the face of the planet that can operate them… thinking about it now I wonder if they were, in fact, aliens. Hmmmm. Would explain a lot, the gormless leer, the careful delivery of the presentation, the way they easily handled a gadget that you obviously need at least three pairs of hands to operate properly… yes, it’s all beginning to fit now!

Enough nonsense. Expect a ‘new’ meme tomorrow, and have a great weekend.

Anyway, where are my glasses? No not those ones, those ones.