October Dawns

The dawns are happening later and later, the nights are drawing in and the mists are more frequent. I don't mind, the side benefit is the glorious golds and reds in the fields and trees. Saturday saw me go with SOH over to HMS Seahawk (or Culdrose to the uninitiated) to watch him referee the navy boys against a local village.

It is nice over there as their clubhouse is open, so I was warm, dry and comfortable and had the space to lay out my paperwork and crack on with some college work. Culdrose drew 1 all with the other team, but were not the politest team on the pitch.

Me, I enjoyed a cup of coffee, while watching from afar (which suits me) I prefer rugby and hope to see some more local teams playing this season. When we got home, we watched the very disappointing England's performance (or lack of it) against France, and enjoyed a chinese take-away for tea.

A good day, was had by all... shame then that Sunday the Sun didn't make an appearance we had misty weather pretty much all day, but I was busy downloading audio books onto many mp3 players ready for holiday which is fast approaching.

We have finally taken the cage down, which has been Jasper's home since day one. He now has a plastic dogbed with his quilt in it and he accepts it as his new bed, although he would prefer to sleep upstairs with the rest of us.. Sadly for him, as he can't stay still for more than 5 mins... can a dog suffer from adhd? .... he gets to sleep downstairs in his posh new pad but finally I could hoover up all the loose dog hair hiding behind the cage. We are now in the process of selling the cage which has done us proud over the past year and a half.

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 ˙ǝןıɟoɹd ʞooqǝɔɐɟ ʎɯ oʇ ƃoןq sıɥʇ ɯoɹɟ sʇsod ǝɹɐɥs ʎןןɐuoısɐɔɔo puɐ 'ʞooqǝɔɐɟ uo ɯɐ ı

˙ʎןʇɹoɥs pǝɯnsǝɹ ǝq ןןıʍ ǝɔıʌɹǝs ןɐɯɹou - ʎɹɹoʍ ʇ,uop ˙˙˙sı ʇı ʎɐʍ ǝɥʇ sı ʇsod sıɥʇ ʎɥʍ sı ʇɐɥʇ puɐ ɥƃnɐן ǝɯ ǝpɐɯ 'ʎןʇuǝɔǝɹ ssoɹɔɐ ǝɯɐɔ ı ƃuıɥʇǝɯos

 ˙ǝʞıן pןnoʍ ı sɐ ɥɔnɯ sɐ pǝʌǝıɥɔɐ ʇ,uǝʌɐɥ ı ɥƃnoɥʇןɐ sǝıɹǝʇʇɐq ǝɥʇ ǝƃɹɐɥɔ oʇ 'ʞɹoʍ ɟɟo ǝɯıʇ ǝɯos pǝʎoɾuǝ ǝʌɐɥ ı

˙ɹǝʇuıʍ uı sʇɟɐɹp ǝɥʇ ɟo ǝɯos ʍoןs oʇ pǝןןnd ǝq uɐɔ ɥɔıɥʍ - ʍopuıʍ ǝɥʇ ǝɯɐɹɟ oʇ suıɐʇɹnɔ ɯɐɥƃuıƃ ǝɥʇ (ʎןʇsoɯ) pǝʇǝןdɯoɔ uǝʌǝ puɐ ʇǝןıoʇ sɹıɐʇsuʍop ʍoןןǝʎ (pıɔɐ) ǝɥʇ ƃuıʇuıɐd pǝɥsıuıɟ ǝʌɐɥ ı

 ˙dn ʇnd ǝq uɐɔ ǝןod puɐ uıɐʇɹnɔ ɹoop ǝɥʇ ʇɐɥʇ ɹǝʇɟɐ ʇnq 'ʇɐoɔ ɹǝɥʇouɐ ǝʌɐɥ oʇ ǝʌɐɥ sǝop ʇı - ʇuıɐd ǝןqɐɥsɐʍ-uou uo ʞɹɐɯ ɹıǝɥʇ ǝʌɐǝן uɐɔ sƃop ʇǝʍ ʇnq 'ǝƃuɐɥɔ ǝƃnɥ ɐ ʇou os ɐıןouƃɐɯ sɐʍ ʇı 'ʇuıɐd ʞןıs ɯɐǝɹɔ ʇɟos ɟo ʇɐoɔ ǝuo ɥʇıʍ pǝʇuıɐd uǝǝq sɐɥ ɥɔɹod ɹǝuuı ǝɥʇ

  ˙pǝןʇʇoq ǝq pןnoɔ ʇɐɥʇ ƃuıɥʇǝɯos sı ʎɹpunɐן pǝıɹp ʎןɥsǝɹɟ ɟo ןןǝɯs ǝɥʇ ʞuıɥʇ ı puɐ ǝuıɥsuns ʎq ʎɹp oʇ pɐǝʇsuı ƃuıɹɹǝɟǝɹd ɹǝıɹp ǝןqɯnʇ ɐ ƃuıuʍo ʇou oʇ ʇıɯpɐ ı - ʇıq ɐ ƃoןʞɔɐq ǝɥʇ uo dn ƃuıɥɔʇɐɔ 'ƃuıɥsɐʍ ɟo sʇoן ɹnoɟ ǝuop osןɐ ǝʌɐɥ ı

˙ʎɐpoʇ ɯıɥ uo ǝʎǝ ǝsoןɔ ɐ dǝǝʞ oʇ pǝʇuɐʍ ʇnq ɟɟo ǝuo ɐ  sɐʍ ɯıɥ pǝןqnoɹʇ ʇɐɥʇ sɐʍ ʇı ɹǝʌǝ ʇɐɥʍ ƃuıdoɥ ɯɐ ı ˙ɹǝuuıp ןɐɯɹou sıɥ ɟo 3/1 ʇnoqɐ sʇınɔsıq ʍǝɟ ɐ ɥʇıʍ sƃƃǝ pǝןqɯɐɹɔs ǝɯos uǝʇɐǝ sɐɥ ʇsnɾ ʎןuo puɐ ʎɐp ǝɥʇ ʇnoɥƃnoɹɥʇ ɯɹɐʍ ʎɹǝʌ sɐʍ ǝɥ ʇnq dn pǝuɐǝןɔ ʎןʞɔınb sɐʍ ʇı puɐ ɯooɹɥʇɐq ǝɥʇ ƃuısn ןןǝʍ ʎɹǝʌ ʇods sıɥ ǝsoɥɔ ǝɥ ʎןןnɟʞuɐɥʇ - ʇɥƃıuɹǝʌo ,ʇuǝpıɔɔɐ, uɐ pɐɥ ɯıɥ ǝʞıןun ʇsoɯ puɐ ʇɥƃıu ǝɥʇ ƃuıɹnp ɹnoןoɔ ɟɟo sɐʍ ʎɥdɹnɯ ʇnq 'ʎɐp ǝɥʇ ǝq oʇ pǝsoddns sɐʍ ʎɐpoʇ ǝƃɐɹɐƃ ǝɥʇ uı pǝuıɐɯǝɹ ǝʌɐɥ ʎǝɥʇ ɹǝɥʇouɐ puɐ ƃuıɥʇ ǝuo ɥʇıʍ 'ʇno sǝʞıq ǝɥʇ ƃuıʇʇǝƃ sı ʞǝǝʍ sıɥʇ pǝʞɔɐן ǝʌɐɥ ı ƃuıɥʇ ǝuo ǝɥʇ

Oh and I did this courtesy of here

What is NaNoWriMo and what happens next

NaNoWriMo was something that I hadn't heard of until Tom Reynolds mentioned it on his blog, I needed a distraction from real life and thought yes have a go.

The idea is to write a minimum of 50,000 words from 1st - 30th November 2009 and that means 1,666 words per day... easy peasy I thought. They aren't expecting to be edited so even if you change your mind, or see a problem you just carry on regardless.

You write with a region, and though I am not yet in Cornwall I decided to join their region and had an absolute blast and will stay in contact with fellow writers in Truro and surrounding areas.

I used to write with a group of friends, and posts between us could be easily 3-5,000 words knocked out in 2-3 days; but that was then and this was now.

I took an idea that had been knocking around in the empty creative spaces of my mind and decided to see what happens, not having set ideas helps because the character starts working with you on the creative process [for all those think voices, speaking to me - honest it is fine I'm used to it :) ] I very often start typing only to find that the persona who finishes the storyline is part me part character and it can be very enlightening and funny on occasion.

I did put a blog together for the posts and then thought if I ever wanted to publish it, it perhaps wasn't the best idea and the thought of other people reading it and making caustic comments wasn't something I felt comfortable with. Having said that I have put half of it up, and will put the rest of it up and if anyone feels a burning desire to read it I can add them to the readership.

An Event and an Achievement

Kathy pointed me in the right direction to Mr Toast's Blog and the 1st Annual Christmas Tea in Aspen Colorado.

I need to be there by 3pm local time, and it wraps up at 10pm so I figured that my fairy godmother would ensure that unlike Cinderalla that I would be back in time for work tomorrow and kit me out with something absolutely magical to wear and arrange the transportation too.

She came up trumps, the fairy godmother (FG), I have a black velvet gown and warm red velvet wrap which matches the shoes. Apparently I can get concorde direct to Aspen and arrive in time even leaving after work. FG has also arranged for hair and make-up to be done on the flight so I am going to look stunningly gorgeous. I love having a FG, and am looking forward to meeting up with some blogging friends.

I have always wanted to visit Colorado, it is just a shame that I won't have any time spare to look around and see the beauty. At least I will have a fun time meeting all the blogging faces I see are attending.

Yesterday saw the end of NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month (all you had to do was write 50,000 words - simples), I had fun with this but it was incredibly hard work and not helped by me having a crisis of confidence a week in resulting in me starting again from the beginning (though I have kept my original 20,000+ words in case I want to revisit it. I tried to do as much as I could daily but even though the daily target was 1666 when it was hard to even think of 50 words to add to a story it was difficult enough. I took a week offline (except for blogging) to concentrate on what I had and my final tally stood at 56,211. I could have had more but I edited a lot of rubbish out in the end and felt it didn't matter as long as it was over the 50,000.

Time to put the writing tools away for a short while, think about other more pressing things..

NaNoWriMo

Yesterday was the start of the project NaNoWriMo, the idea is just to write 50,000 words (ideally making a work of fiction) shorter than a novel, but longer than a story. I got the idea from Tom over at Random Acts of Reality and someone who I have admired for a long time with two novels to his name already, but I also know a couple of others and if that doesn't tickle your fancy then In the Gutter is doing the NaNoBloMo which simply involves writing a blog post once a day for each day in November; easier said than done as I know I did it last year.

So a challenge is there, and I have decided to write. Why not, I have often said I have a book in me, and I used to write with a group of friends in an online RPG game, so now was my opportunity.

The minimum suggested word level is 1,666 per day for 30 days straight (though you can do more), and yesterday I reached 1715 without too much difficulty. NaNoWriMo do suggest that you don't go back and edit something but just continue as normal even if you do spot a glaring error that might cause a problem later.

My posts for the RPG group used to be in the region of 2-3000 but that was every couple of days, though I did do a solo excursion while I was recuperating for an operation and I think the total score on that was over 100,00 words but it was over 5-6 weeks.

So I am optimistic, excited even and plot lines keep whirling through my head something that hasn't happened in quite a while...

If anyone wants to have a peek, you need to drop me an email to get access to the site as I don't want to have it open wide for casual drop in's you never know this might be the book of my dreams or just the dreams of my book.

It's an Official Rant

I don't have many, rants that is, but it really gets my goat up when the powers that be start talking we should fall into line with Europe on the clocks front.. why?

I am british, born british, educated across the world, lived in Europe for 3 years and loved it, travel in-frequently to world-wide destinations and done business with both the European Sector and Americans/Canadians during my time here at the University of the Back of Beyond.

First and Foremost : London, England is the home of Greenwich Mean Time which started when British sailors kept at least one chronometer on GMT in order to calculate their longitude from the Greenwich meridian, which was by convention considered to have longitude zero degrees

Shipboard time itself was still solar time. But this practice, combined with mariners from other nations eventually led to GMT being used worldwide as a reference time independent of location.

Most time zones were based upon this reference as a number of hours and half-hours "ahead of GMT" or "behind GMT". So when they talk about us joining the same European time as Spain, which is many degrees further South than London, or even Italy it makes no sense to me as their days will be different to that of London, in terms of daylight.

Secondly : On a business level, I have managed successfully the 12 hour differences between UK and Australia when talking to a firm providing software to us, likewise the 5, 7 or 8 hour differences between zones in the US and Canada so I can find no good reason to align us to Europe for the one hour that exists.

Not only that but our friends in Scotland would be heavily penalised by the time differences involved and yet another wave of power would be held in European hands..

There seems to be no pride in keeping Britain British, instead we weakly surrender ourselves to our European Neighbours and while their interpretation of the rules can be somewhat elastic, we Brits follow it to the letter of the law.

I want to keep Greenwich Mean Time, for the history of what it means to our country, for what it means to us as a people and not just surrender it meekly because of a weak excuse of business needs... What say you?

Monday Musings and rants...

Thankfully apart from high winds overnight Friday into Saturday, the weather held up as mostly dry and I managed to catch up with the washing... which meant a whole pile of ironing on Sunday... sigh.. you never quite manage to get the good news without the bad.

It has turned progressively colder, the sun has lost it's summer heat and although warmish, it is definitely not hot any more...

The garden is also very, very dry. With deep earth cracks near the apple tree, I haven't seen those in quite a while. The last of the cookers were picked on Sunday, I plan on turning those into something but I haven't quite decided yet... torn between a crumble or a pie but I wish I could find the recipe my mum used to make which was a cake but like a shortcake with stewed apple in the middle of two layers...

Has anyone noticed how dire tv is on a Saturday night, if you aren't into strictly come dancing, with wannabe celebs doing their thing for over 2 hours... or wannabees trying to become celebs on the X factor... the only saving grace is watching Merlin, and even then my mind wandered elsewhere..

What happened to putting on entertainment for the family instead of falsely competing for the same audience? I don't mean Saturday night at the London Palladium, or even the Morecombe and Wise show but a family film, a good drama.. Casualty now shunted to post 9pm means no opportunity for a late night film.

I for one am sick of watching strictly come celebrity get me out of the kitchen shows... that seem to dominate the schedules.. fair enough to have competition for charities to compete for money as in the hole in the wall, but let the public do it instead of celebs.. I'm sure the charities can rustle up some jo publics to help.

Stop wasting my money, in providing celebs with air time that don't deserve it.. instead provide them with a vehicle in which they can demonstrate their acting abilities... or leave them to find a more meaningful life.

Finally I want my life back, or I am going to throw the television out...

A Question for you

I had a phone call, yesterday, asking me if I would like to attend an interview for a job in Cornwall which I had applied for in early August... Seems like the current trend is to contact people well after the closing date and hope they haven't yet got something else in the meantime..

I digress, the form of the interview will be to have a 45 mins interview with a panel and then do a 5 minute presentation- the details of which will be sent to me in the post but involves Convergence in Cornwall (Education I think but as yet I haven' t yet received the details).

Now my question to you is How do you know where to pitch the presentation? tell them what they know? tell them what you know? tell them where you think they are going? tell them what resources you can bring to the college?

Any and all assistance gratefully received.

The time is flying by

Last time I looked at the year, it was cold, wet and windy spring.... now it is a cold, wet and windy autumn.. time is flying on at a fast and furious rate...

A skip has been ordered for the rubbish to be cleared and this weekend will be a task and a half to get rid of all the rubbish treasures accumulated over the years in the sheds, attic and garage... it will be nice to have it over and done with and I hope to find some things which have been lost missing for years.

Perhaps I should have done this sooner, I don't know but at least it keeps me busy and stops me being too stressed out by the lack of progress... no doubt when the rollercoaster starts in earnest it will be going too fast for comfort but I am eager for this move.

Going by another's comments, I won't be alone in Cornwall as another blogger chum is thinking of heading down, and two others are already down there... perhaps a bloggers meet in the future to swap notes might be nice.

CV Howlers

I have been busy reading about how to improve my CV and get a head start, one section of a book I was reading said about the sort of howlers recruitment consultants see and these are some of them.. have a chuckle

• One was like a ransom note, letters and words cut out of the newspaper and stuck onto a sheet of paper
• A scientist sent in a massive document half an inch thick with all their publications in it
• One had a load of sports certificates including their school high jump certificate - they hadn't even won, they came in second
• The one that had dog-eared corners on it that looked as though the dog had chewed on it, or the baby had.
• The one with stains on, what they were no one was prepared to investigate too closely
• The one produced by a graphic designer that was a work of art, for an advertising role
• Personal photos taken in a photo booth - badly
• One listener phoned into a talkback interview we were giving and told the authors about the made who had his CV hand-delivered by a strippergram.
• A bank manager who made his CV out to look like a bank cheque, with the address appearing like the banks address and the telephone numbers looking like the cheque numbers
• An Architect produced a 3-D CV that was the perfect model of a house. On lifting the roof, each room contained different information on the candidate
• An application for every general manager's position advertised at the same company, regardless of the functional area, and sent the same poorly typed standard photocopied letter of application plus a CV with a handwritten reference to the position he was seeking
• An applicant sent his CV in 16 point font so that it read like a kid's book

Needless to say, I have now amended my CV (just kidding) but I did find these funny and also disheartening at the same time as my CV has been passed over a few times... hence my reading up on how to make it look a lot better.

Meur ras onen hag oll

or Thank you one and all

Yesterday I passed the 10,000 visitor mark since I started this blog... I wasn't certain when I started this that anyone would be interested or entertained by my scribbles and really didn't consider why I was doing it other than a need to write.

To those of you who have visited in the past, Meur ras, may we have many more days of laughter, joy and smiles. To those who have yet to visit, or have just made your first visit, Dynnargh and enjoy the ride.

You might have wondered about the title of this post, well one of my hobbies is to learn new languages, and this time I have turned my aging brain to learning Kernow for no other reason than it is nice to have something to do and might come in useful for the future.

Memorable Quotes

I would love to be remembered for saying something so interesting that many years later someone will quote my wisdom.. don't hold your breath waiting, I haven't come up with anything yet and doubt I will but I give you my two favourite quotes on life and age.

Abraham Lincoln:
"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years"

Mae West from I'm No Angel
"It's not the men in your life that matters, it's the life in your men"

Both of these two quotes have got one thing in common (probably more, but definitely one).. you only have one life, don't waste an opportunity, it might not come knocking again at your door or if it does, you might not hear it..

You can live your life, like a good 'un, drinking/eating the right foods and die at 55, or smoke like a chimney, drink like a fish and still be kicking up your heels at 105 - who knows..

All I know is that life is meant to be lived, enjoy each day, even the downs because the rollercoaster of life will at some point in time take you up to the heights again and you will see the furthest horizons of your location again.

Live well and prosper

On a reflective note

I got this as an email, I don't know how true this is. It is supposed to be a poem written by a young cancer sufferer and wanted it to get out to many people. I don't like sending chain emails/letters but I liked the reflectiveness of the words and chose to put it on the blog.

So Jennifer if you are out there, here's to you.

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask How are you?
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?

You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say,'Hi'

You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away.

Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

Neno's Award

This lovely Award has been given to Sage by Dickiebo


Cheers for that Dickiebo

Here are the rules for this meaningful award:

The aims of this award:

* As a dedication for those who love blogging activity and love to encourage friendships through blogging.

* To seek the reasons why we all love blogging!

* Put the award in one post as soon as you receive it

* Don’t forget to mention the person who gives you the award.

* Answer the award’s question by writing the reason why you love blogging.

* Tag and distribute the award to as many people as you like.

* Don’t forget to notify the award receivers and put their links in your post.

Why I love blogging;

I have always wanted to write, since as long as I can remember. Initially it was short stories, then I joined an on-line writing group but I craved more and neither seemed to satisfy me so I started to keep a journal but then I found that I couldn't draw and putting pictures in a book by cutting and sticking reminded me too much like hard work.

So my journal is my blog, some memories, some humour, some serious but always things to appeal to my sense of writing. I enjoy the friendships that I have made along the way of blogging and to those, I pass on this award and hope they will entertain us all by accepting and putting their reasons down for blogging.

Tagged

Janet of 32-Aker Wood
Ruth of RevRuth's Rantings
Lakeland Jo of - Life in Windermere
Asclepius of Hippocrates Got Lost
Angel of A Daydreamers Soliloquy

Warm spring days

Today I took a book out at lunchtime, sat on a picnic rug on the grass and enjoyed the sunshine and warmth.. yet a week ago it was cold, misty and very much not at all outdoor friendly. I enjoyed getting out of the office, away from the computer and all forms of technology, back into something that is pure form of escapism for me - a book.

This one is by Quintin Jardine called Fallen Gods and set in and around Scotland. Hadn't read anything by the author before, but thought it looked interesting when I saw it at the book swap on Friday last week. Needless to say, I managed 70 pages before I had to reluctantly return to work, but it sits on my desk willing me to find more time to read. Oh the joys of being a bookaholic :-)

Another book I picked up last week, was one I have always wanted to read. Ernest Hemingway's Death in the Afternoon, while I have seen glimpses of bullfighting when I was in Spain for a holiday once, it was very much something to be avoided as I didn't and still don't pretend to understand the reasoning behind seeing this as a sport - in fact I rank it up there with bull-baiting and dog-fighting ethically. However, I like Hemingway's style with words and the fact that he also kept a journal of his travels and thoughts as do I but without the style and charisma he does and so I will enjoy the book for that reason if no other.

Blogiversary

At some point in time between 11.59 on Saturday Night and 12.00 on Sunday morning (owing to the fact that I first posted on the 29th Feb 2008) I aspired to a year worth of blogging.. now some 328 posts were made, and 8220 visitors to the site I thank you for your kind attention and hope that the second year is as interesting as the first.

T'was the weekend before Christmas

And shopping was hell,
full of shoppers intent on the melee (yes I know it doesn't rhyme)..
walking this way,
then stopping suddenly, causing me to say 'pardon me'
and sorry for causing you to bump into me.
Shelves were emptying quick as a flash,
people were hurrying to pay with their cash.
Freedom I sought, even in the rain
Shopping before Christmas is always a pain.

We are up visiting friends, and they needed to go shopping in the local Westfield Centre in Derby, now SOH knows I see shopping as a penance, but they do authentic cornish pasties in the shopping centre and we wanted to get one for a colleague at work. We escaped after a few hours, but already tempers were beginning to fray as stocks grew shorter and people wanted items - I was glad to get out in the fresh air and the rain, at least I could breathe better, and walk without tripping over the person's feet in front of me.

Names

Many of you know me as Sage or WiseHerb, and of course you know that's not my name in real life.

A over at A Changing Life, set me thinking about identities and why we use, and how we use them.

I wrote for a group, a while back, and needed a character to play with. So I created Safara McPherson a fiercely independent character who was a bit of a daredevil and strong person.. completely different from me on most things, notably being at least 4 inches taller! It was due to Saf that I ended up with a motorbike, as I wanted her to have one, as befitted her character. So did some research, went to see them in person, had no intention of having one myself as I considered them way too dangerous and yet here I am 6 years later (almost) with my own bike and travelling 2000 miles in one holiday.

When I needed someone to interact with Saf more closely, Sean Strathern entered the arena of play. Now I admit that this was a bit cheeky, only one other person in the group knew that Sean and Saf were my characters and not two independent writers and it was a challenge to write while thinking like a man (difficult as I had no experience to fall back on only that what sounded different to Saf's style). I sparred with these characters for 6 months before coming clean to the group that in fact they were being written by the same person ie. me, and many of them had thought that Sean was a different writer completely.

The only comment I have to make on the subject was on the piece I was writing it was hard to keep the separation between the two characters, even to the extent that you almost had to push the other character into the background to do the other piece and then swap around.. needless to say my mind was quite bombarded with the ideas for writing for one person while supposed to be writing for the other… it caused many hilarities during the time I had them going..

Sadly now I haven't written anything for months.. maybe one day in the future I will get back to that book in the making.

Blogs and blogging

I have a fair number of blogs down on my reading list, and a lot more on my bookmarked list. I have an eclectic taste in reading (books) and this appears to translate into blogs as well.

So if you haven't made it through some of my links, here are some reasons to do so :

A Cowboy's Wife - Barb is a funny, intelligent woman and can make an awesome apple pie.

Old Age is a Bitch - Elaine's life in blog form, and gently humourous. I want to grow old as gracefully as she is.

Dickiebo - an ex-policeman with a wicked sense of humour

Jam and Clotted Cream - Beth from Cornwall - love her recipes (and so does SOH)

Somerset Seasons - Dorset Days - Leanne's daily blog of life with poetry and pictures to delight

Rev Ruth - Life in the Parish of Ruth

Get out of Jail Free - Annedroid a master of chaplaincy in today's prisons - makes you think of how prisons are not just for prisoners.

Random Acts of Reality - Tom's insight into the life and times of an EMT in London - well written and thought provoking.

Naturewitch - a gardener, and naturalist from Canberra Australia

32 Aker Wood - Janet's adventures with the Mountain Man, The Queen and DeBoy at the back of beyond; a soulmate

Zeltus - the big brother of mine, living the life in France with his wife and two Parson Jack Russell Terriers

I aspire to be like some of these brilliant blog writers I have linked above, and the many others I like to visit but are too numerous to mention. So what, and who inspires you to be something you are not at the moment?

Where do you go to when you travel the blogosphere? tell me and I will attempt to visit them all.

Going Places

Where I have travelled, the paths I have taken throughout my life; have I wandered where I should?

Some of my roads have been paths not of my making, but of other people; some paths have been purely my choice, some have been great with wonderful experiences, others dark and lonely paths where it was never certain whether I was going forwards or backwards.

You learn quickly, and with age and experience proving valuable lessons, that you cannot return from where you came from, but you might find that your path crosses familiar grounds again in the future; giving you hope that you can fix what you broke or finish what you started but those chances are like moon dust – don’t count on them coming around again in this lifetime.

Some of the things I have done, I have not been proud of; the people that I hurt unintentionally as I transited through their lives clumping around on feet of clay as I could only see my path in front of me stretching away with a desire to move on. Now I only feel sorrow at the pain I might have caused in my passing their way.

Some of the things I have done, I have been proud of and have lasting memories of times, people and places that endure even years later; I wonder if they remember me?

Some of the people I have met along the way have inspired me to try harder, to live with risk, to love and to hate (luckily there have been more of the former and less of the latter). Each has left an impression on my soul, even the bad memories had good points and some of the good memories have bad points.

Either way, I have made my choices, I cannot turn the clock back, any more than I can stop the tide from coming or going … so where I go in the future I know not only that I am going places.

This post is inspired by the write-away contest over at Scribbits