Hello! Hello? Is there anyone still out there? Oh good. Hello! I’m back, but with another one of those annoying ‘holding posts’ where I don’t actually say anything of note beyond saying stay tuned, something will happen here soon. So, without further ado…Stay tuned, something will happen here soon! Read the rest of this entry »
Tomorrow is the final day in my current job. Luckily a new, and hopefully more exciting and challenging, job awaits, after a nice few days off, of course. It’s always a little unnerving leaving the safety and comfort of a familiar job and surroundings, but I do think it is probably good for me to challenge myself once in a while, and take a few risks. Currently my commitments are few, with no kids and no mortgage, so if I can’t experiment now, when can I? Read the rest of this entry »
Please excuse the indulgence (although hey, it’s my blog and I’ll indulge if I want to), but today is my thirtieth birthday.
The old cliché that time speeds up as you get older seems increasingly true, as does the suggestion that you remain about 16 in your head all your life. Still, I think over the next few decades I’ll grow quite nicely into an old man. I certainly look forward to getting more and more curmudgeonly as I get older.
I’m told your 30s are your best years, and I’ve certainly got a lot to look forward to – personally and professionally. But I think the big 3-0 is going to take some getting used to…luckily I had the foresight to book today off work to enjoy the day and settle into my next decade!
Ah, posts at this blog are like buses. You wait ages for one, then two come along at once.
Anyway, amid all the Cheryl Cole/Ashley Cole/Tiger Woods/John Terry muck-raking and tabloid scandal, here’s what, in an ideal world, would be the final word on the matter, from The Outspoken Omphaloskeptic:
“It’s not actually about the ‘celebrities’ involved but about our collective need to create empty celebrity vessels that we can constantly redraw according to our whims. Apparently it’s big fun when can ‘discover’ that they aren’t the archetypes of virtue, perfection and good-living we pretended to think they were. It’s the metaphorical equivalent to my dogs rolling in fox shit. We just can’t get enough of the stench.”
From the post Sympathy For The Hotdog. In the comments section, but the whole thing is worth reading though (apart from yours truly sticking his nose in).
Today in London the weather is glorious.
It’s still pretty cold. The daily commute was still long and infuriating. Work is still the same-old, same-old, at best. But, with that bright, piercing blue sky, things seem just that little bit more positive. Setbacks, stresses and strains are eased just that little bit by the daylight streaming in, fighting against the omnipresent striplighting.
If only for a day, Spring seems to be on its way. The days are getting longer, and the clear skies suggest we might be able to enjoy those longer days soon.
Spring, as we all know, is the season of new beginnings, of births and rebirths. Spring brings warmth and light to encourage new efforts.
It’s funny how nature and culture offer us so many opportunities for new starts. The calendar prompts resolutions each new year. Every birthday can foster thoughts of making the next year worthwhile. There are new seasons in sport and in art. Lent, starting today of course, focuses the mind on new efforts.
It sometimes seems easy to drift along, let time pass and not strive to be a happier, better person. It can seem impossible to escape the rut we’re in.
Yet, a day like today can wake us up to the potential of the future, can remind us to think about the important stuff we want from life, and to try and go get it. There’s a whole life of new starts and new beginnings for us all.
Thank you for indulging the navel-gazing. Sorry if that was a little new-age-y, certainly not my intention. But you should see how lovely today is here. I wish I wasn’t in the office…and I’m already not sure it was wise to give up chocolate and crisps for Lent. What have you given up, if anything? Or what new starts have you got in mind? And what on Earth am I doing with these italics? What’s that all about?
Wait until next year 