The latest thing

Thursday, March 12, 2009 ~ 3 comments so far

I’m terribly guilty of starting things but never finishing them, and Tuesday prompted me into action once more.

With all the best will in the world I just know that I’ll use the Goodreads website avidly for a few weeks and then my interest will be grabbed by someth… ohh shiny!!

I am an online, web 2.0, magpie. If it’s new I’ll sign up.

So, whilst I’m slowly filling it with “to-be-reads” feel free to have a gander at my shiny new Goodreads account/list, and if you have an account then, hey, let’s be ‘friends’ too!

Snip snip

Wednesday, March 11, 2009 ~ Comments Off

I need a haircut.

It’s starting to look messy, so on Saturday afternoon my niece is coming over to cut my hair. She’s a proper hairdresser and everything so I might get her to style it, colour it, or just put in some highlights, well, maybe lowlights… hmmmm not sure.

Most likely I’ll just ask for a “number 2″ round the back and sides, a trim at the front, and a “tidy up” on top. Thankfully she’s also done a course in barbering for which I modelled a couple of times. It was quite interesting getting your hair cut whilst a tutor advises on how to tell the hairline, and how best to get an even finish, quite educational.

Although I did feel sorry for my niece, it’s not like it takes long to cut my hair.

I’m not at all bothered by my receding hairline, in fact I think it may now just be a receded hairline as it hasn’t really changed much in the past few years.

I have a mix of hairlines. My Dad has a bald patch towards the back, whereas my Grandpa (and also my Uncle, his son) was completely bald bar the sides. So I’ve got hair round the back and sides but it’s much thinner on top than my Dad.

Sometimes I do consider just running a razor over my head and getting rid of the whole lot but I’m not sure I’d suit it.

I’m thankful that, at the moment, I don’t have to sit and wait in a barbershop to get a haircut. Generally I end up waiting 20-odd minutes, and 4 minutes after sitting down I’m done!

One time I was even offered a discount as “It didnae take that long…”.

Bloody cheek.

Book Lull

Tuesday, March 10, 2009 ~ 17 comments so far

Teetering tall and shamed, the pile remains dust covered and untouched. A reminder of best efforts and failed endeavours, a totem of willing words, waiting to be uncovered.

And my parents added another two books to the top of it last week. Gah!!

I dare not count them for, not only would the number be high, it is likely that the number has almost doubled since the last time I checked (19). Most of the time this doesn’t bother me but every now and then I get a huge pang of guilt and promise that I’ll lock myself away with a good book or two and not come out until I’m done (or until someone else needs the loo).

Last month I slowly managed to plough my way through Live and Let Die, all 190-odd pages of it, a couple of pages a day over almost the entire month, whereas my norm is usually to devour a book in a few hours. This has been going on for a while and it really is getting ridiculous.

So, what to do? Schedule in a ‘book reading’ afternoon perhaps? Actually… that might just work. Get the coffee brewing, chuck the headphones on and lose myself in a good book. I have all the ingredients, so guess I just need to find the time.

Any hints or tips, my little bookworms? How do you get ‘in the mood’ to read a book? Do you have a routine? Or just read on a whim? Or is it so part of you that you can’t imagine NOT having at least three books on the go?

Not Watching the Watchmen?

Monday, March 9, 2009 ~ 5 comments so far

We didn’t watch the Watchmen at the weekend, we talked about it but couldn’t be arsed. And I think I’m quite glad. I’m not sure though.

The internets are rife with reviews of this movie. Most of the ones that fall into my view are written by fans of the graphical novel and are quite strident in their opinions.

“Fans” is, of course, short for “fanatics” which should give a better idea of where most of these reviews seem aimed. Many point out the omissions, the inconsistencies and generally the fact that the movie misses the nuances the graphical novel handles so well.

To which I say, “Well DUH”.

No offence but it’s a bit like saying that the way I play Purple Haze isn’t anything like the Jimi Hendrix version. No-one seems to have the same issues with song cover versions, but book to move adaptations (book cover versions, if you will) seem to rile so many people in so many ways.

I do want to see the movie but I might wait until I can watch it at home. I’d hate to upset any fans on the way out of the cinema by stating that I thought it was “quite good”.

That and the big blue cock might be a little off-putting on a large cinema screen…

Rebuilding the man

Thursday, March 5, 2009 ~ 5 comments so far

Slowly he breaks down, carefully deconstructed. The sum of these parts he is not, nor is he whole without them. He is apart and incomplete, still searching for something unknown and out of reach. He is content and sated for now, happy with what he has, disillusionment hovering out of sight.

Childlike he studies each piece, wonder creases his face as he tumbles the shapes between his fingers, marvelling at curves and crevices, skin catching on ripped edges. Gently he places them back down, carefully, orderly and correct.

Each piece tells a story, some laugh merrily, others are inconsolable behind heaves and sobs. Some shriek and wail, others tra-la-la to an unknown tune with a familiar chorus. Some lie dormant as their time has passed, yet their role does not diminish. The naked structure gapes and glares, absorbing them all.

The pieces shimmer and shake, languid in their motion, certain in their reason, and knowing they too will return to their rightful place. None will be left behind, none will float away on the tide of change, they will be reborne and reconsidered, polished and primed.

His thoughts turn elsewhere, the light bends, dazzling and brilliant, and the newest pieces of him are borne, joining the other pieces before him, sliding into place as if they’ve been there all along. Happy and content he can rebuild.

He turns his thoughts to the task at hand and the air crackles as the energy builds. One by one, the pieces start their journey, each is paused for a second, a final inspection, a last glimpse of the separation and purpose, before once again being consumed. The structure slowly fills, orderly and considered, the new jostling with the old.

Some time later he sits on the bed. Quietly contemplative of himself. Each part of him nestles in place, content and happy, complete.

CTRL + Z

Wednesday, March 4, 2009 ~ 9 comments so far

There is no undo button in life. In a way that is a very good thing because the one constant about life is that “it goes on”. And it does. And it always will.

On the other hand it would be nice to be able to undo now and then. Not everyday, I don’t mean when you’ve spilled coffee down your shirt, or want to undo the eating of that double chocolate muffin, but it would be great if you had a few “life undo” tokens available, wouldn’t it?

So let’s say you have one a month. You can only use one per month, you can’t use two then go without the next month, and if you don’t use it, you lose it.

That said, what would I undo? There are some, seemingly, obvious examples which on further inspection would quickly be changed. After all, this is not a magic fix, it is simply an undo and, to drag out another cliche, “what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger”.

So perhaps that is why life doesn’t have an undo, because, quite simply, you don’t need one. Do you?

Flipping point?

Tuesday, March 3, 2009 ~ 10 comments so far

You may, or may not, have heard the phrase ‘Tipping Point’ used to signify “the moment when something previously unique becomes common“. Made popular, although not created by, Malcolm Gladwell, it can be applied most recently to the explosion of people using Twitter, and previously to such web applications/social networking websites, as Facebook.

Which, rather nicely (gee, it’s almost like I planned it!) brings me to my topic. Namely, Facebook and is it starting to tip away from ‘common’ towards something else.

I’m not quite sure where Facebook is tipping towards but there does seem to be the beginnings of a swell, a murmuring of discontent as Facebook continues to grow and tries to adapt itself accordingly. Basically, on a more and more frequent basis, Facebook seems to be starting to irk some people.

In that respect, it’s very much like the noise that preceded it’s massive growth but on the opposite side of the slope, the word of mouth is heading towards negative territory. Anyone else think so? Just me?