Ahhhh Melancholy – one of my favourite words. Mel-an-choly. Mel-an-choly. It is a line of poetry, a stanza in itself. So less depressing than depression. An interlude rather than a condition. An adagio rather than a grave. “Melancholy is the pleasure of being sad” said Victor Hugo, and as the writer of Les Misérables, I guess he knew…
Category: Being Human
Confrontation (and the Consequences) on Trains
Confrontation is an uncomfortable experience for all concerned. Particularly – it seems – on a train. I was once confronted with the feedback that I “avoided confrontation”. This was presented to me as a vice, whereas I had naively thought that the altruistic desire not to upset other people, coupled with the reasonable desire for self-preservation,…
Blogwash#1 – Hills and Headwinds
Life is a cycle ride. Would you rather cycle through it down-hill into the wind or up-hill with the wind behind you? Hills are predictable. As a kid, I would plot a route on a good old-fashioned map, and by marking off the contours create a vertical section of the terrain. It usually looked disappointingly…
Training Fleas and Taming our Fears
A man walks into a bar carrying a suitcase and orders a beer. “What’s in your case”, asks the barman. “Performing fleas” says the man. “How do you train a flea?” asks the barman, with a skeptical smile on his face, handing him his pint. The man drinks in down in one and places the…
abstinence makes the heart grow stronger
So, I have successfully abstained from poisoning myself with alcohol for 31 days, as part of the great January Dryathalon. And, as one friend rather sardonically questioned “what was all the fuss about?” For her, a life-long teetotaller, it was a fair question. I was equally unimpressed by her abstinence from harming furry animals, starting small fires and…
And so that was Christmas . . .
So that was Christmas and what have you done? Another year over, a new one just begun. So what have we done?
Victory for the Volcanoes
This is an island born of volcanoes and ruled by volcanoes; its people destined ever to be subject their dictatorial tyranny. It is an island constructed of lava, illuminated by lava and then laminated in lava. Like a burning candle which decorates itself in its own molten wax before it too hardens. Like a chocolate…
Perchance to Sleep
We are as sleep-deprived nation. This is because sleep is for wimps. It is a waste of precious time. Hours we could utilise more efficiently to grind through our task list, clear down our inbox, build up our social network or soak up more electronic moving images. My wife says she enjoys sleep, which is…
The Empty Nest?
The nest is empty. The chicks have flown. Now they fluff their own plumage, feather their own nests and jump up early enough to catch their own worms. We taught them all we knew and some things we didn’t know. And they taught us quite a bit in return. Like how being mum and dad…
Things not to do on your Birthday
Reflections on my 53rd birthday 1. Don’t calculate how far through your life you are. Too late. I am taking an online “life-expectancy calculator” and ploughing through a plethora of questions. I am wondering why my marital status, level of education or frequency of flossing will affect the length of my remaining life. Or why…
Unwrapping The World 