Random burblings since 1999
A few changes going on, nothing major but I’ve been itching to redesign recently but don’t really have the time. Ohh and if you are reading this via my RSS feed… don’t worry, you ain’t missing much.
Hmmm… not sure I like that font for the “www.gordonmclean.co.uk” bit up top… ho hum..
Do not blog when grumpy.
Mind you, it’s always refreshing to just say what is on your mind. Even if what is on your mind is transitory and not exactly what you’d call a considered opinion. I don’t normally do that, either here or in real life. That is my failing of course, and nowt to do with you ohhh dearest reader.
Ohh and for the record, I was not drunk. And no it wasn’t Peter or Gert, honest, it wasn’t even PB Curtis, it was the six or seven “new” blogs I discovered last night as I indulged in a spot of old fashioned surfing. Such was my boredom I started on MySpace (what a pile of crap that produces), and soon found myself in the land of the highly opinionated, shouty people. I hate them.
Oddly I’m still not entirely sure why I was in such a bad mood, especially as Saturday had been a good day, hell I spent an hour playing with two black labrador puppies!
Anyhoo, today was more jogging (more on that later) and some light gardening before watching some golf and deciding to head to Inverness for a couple of nights at the end of August. Not that much different from yesterday but I’m definitely NOT grumpy today.
Well, no more so than usual.
TOMORROW I’ll post the playlist and announce the winner of the wee competition thing. Promise.
What I WANT to write:
Because I’m hot, tired and fucking grumpy.
I’ve mentioned this before, I’m sure, but what is with the ‘bash brigade’? Some things are popular for a reason. You aren’t expected to like it but it doesn’t make you smart, or clever, or even much fun if all you seem to do (seem) is take cheap potshots at “popular culture”. Popular culture IS cheap, it’s the lowest common denominator, THAT’S WHY IT WORKS.
So, please, enough with the repeated “why is [blah] like [blah] these days?” or “why is everyone [blah]ing this? It’s rubbish”. I get it. Move on.
I’ve had it, and I mean “closing the blog and fucking off” had it, with all this negative fucking energy. You wanna moan and grump and constantly CONSTANTLY judge and criticise, fine. Go for it. But don’t expect me to keep reading, or to listen. I have neither the energy or inclination.
Bunch of moany faced motherfucking weans. Grow the fuck up. And yes, I’m fully aware that writing all of this lowers me to your level, boo hoo. I feel so bad about that. Not.
Ohh and if I COULD turn comments off for this post I would but I can’t be arsed. So please, to anyone who reads this, enough with the “ohh that was me he meant” bullshit, remember, you are only the centre of YOUR universe, the rest of us think beyond the end of our own nose.
Fuck me, I’m fed up.
What I will write:
Blogging is supposed to be fun. I’m not finding this much fun at the moment, so I think things will be light around here. I’m in the midst of improving my fitness and the way I live my life and I’m re-assessing everything. Admittedly I’m hyper-HYPER-sensitive at the moment, and a lot of daft wee things are irking me more than I care to admit.
Anyway, thanks for the suggestions for music. I’ll post details of the final playlist, and the winner for best “Power Track” soon.
Be good, and if you can’t be good, be nice.
This post comes to you from both sides of my character.
UPDATE: Great stuff so far, I’ve started pulling the playlist together so thanks to everyone for the suggestions. Keep them coming though, there is still time to win!
With everything that’s going on at the moment I have to admit that the jogging thing is keeping me focussed and reasonably sane, but then that’s part of the point of doing it. Alongside the whole “get fit/lose weight” thang there is another factor which I’m looking forward to gaining, the “mental release” that regular exercise brings. Those who do it will know what I mean, those who don’t, or haven’t, won’t. And for those who are confused, don’t worry. I am too.
Thankfully, despite the heat, I still have the motivation to go along to the class tonight and I’m hoping to get to Achilles Heel soon to get my gait assessed so I can buy a proper pair of shoes. The classes run for the next 9 weeks, and I’ll see how I’m doing after that. If things are going well I might even shell out for the new Nike+ system (it’s only £19 as you don’t NEED to buy the trainers and I already have an iPod Nano). I mean I can’t start a new hobby and NOT buy a gadget to go with it… er… aside from my new watch of course (which I got for around £20 on eBay, yay!).
So, with my current determination to ‘be a runner’ still intact —hell, I’m *this* close to subscribing to Runner’s World magazine (and that’s their choice of apostrophe… with good reason!)— I thought I may as well take it as read that I’ll be getting the Nike+ system in which case, obviously, I’ll need a good “running” playlist!
And, as ever (hey, this is the internet!) I can’t be bothered thinking it ALL up myself so it’s over to you guys. What? You want some pointers? Sheesh, do I have to do EVERYTHING around here?? Ohhh, alright then…
Pace wise the tracks can’t be too slow or laidback. I’d much rather have music than any spoken word stuff (podcasts, audio books, radio etc). The first few bands/tracks that have popped into my head are either dance music (Chemical Brothers) or rock (AC/DC, Muse). Basically it needs to be loud, not too subtle and provide some ‘energy’ when used. Music type and era isn’t an issue, availability is. If I can’t get it from iTunes or some other method then don’t suggest it.
AND, to spice things up a little, how about a little competition.
The Nike+ system includes the ability to set a “Power Song” which you can play at the push of a button, so whoever offers the best suggestion* for a “Power Song” will win a copy of the final “Running Wild” playlist (on MP3 CD probably).
So, I’ll need the track title, the artist and whether it’s a general “running” track or a “Power Song“.
Entries close on this coming Saturday (22nd July). Multiple entries allowed. The decision of the judge (me) is final. All other rules, that I’ve not yet considered, apply.
It’s the first ever competition on this site, so make the most of it!
* I’d love to give criteria for how this will be judged – it’ll mainly be down to which track I get the best ‘buzz’ from so be as wild and wacky as you like.
Thanks to all for your thoughts. What a lovely bunch of people frequent this silly website (err.. that’s a compliment… I think).
Anyway, the good news, yes, that’s right the GOOD NEWS, is that the worst that happened to my niece was some cuts and bruises. Again, it’s the tip of the story but, right now it’s all we really need to hear. Anything else we can deal with.
Right, I’m off to lie on a block of ice for the day… warm isn’t it.
A tad late in posting this but with very good reason.
For a change I’ll cover the weekend in reverse, starting with yesterday as I was on holiday (Glasgow Fair ya know). After cautiously getting out of bed, we headed to Moodiesburn where we met Louise’s Grandpa for lunch. After that it was off to Mount Florida to visit my Gran in hospital – she’s doing OK but I don’t think she’ll be going home anytime soon – and then home. A quick change into shorts and… well we had had grand plans of gardening but it was both too hot and too soon after my hillwalking for me to have any spare energy.
In bed by 9.30pm for a restless night.
Up early on Sunday, I headed through to Balloch to meet up with the rest of the guys and then onto Drymen and Balmaha for a “spot of hiking”. Straight out of the car park at Balmaha and straight up 1207 feet to the top of the Conic Hill. Bloody knackered and had to stop several times but I made it, and the rest of the walk was very straightforward after that. Started at about 11am, and we hit Drymen (about 7 miles away) at 3.30pm.
Saturday and Friday are a bit of a blur. Alas, not for any good reason.
You see, on Thursday night our oldest niece (who turned 17 yesterday) was attacked. By her own admittance she was drunk, but it seems like she was beaten up, and then attacked by three boys. I’ll spare you further details but she’s still very shaken up. The police are investigating and we are all trying not to use the word that begins with “r”…
Even now I still get a rush of emotions thinking about it, how her mother is coping I’ve no idea. Louise and I were talking about how we felt on Saturday and the best I could come up with was “angrysympatheticviolentcryingcaring”.
I’ve mention before about how crap this year has been (that’s “the past 12 months” not the calendar year), and it’s showing no signs of improving.
Sorry. It’s all a bit depressing this… but thankfully it’s still more “sad depressing” than “depression depressing”. Fuck, what a life.
In other news, tomorrow looks like it will be one of the hottest days of the year. And I’ll be out in it, jogging. Fantastic. AND it looks like FX have already started broadcasting the new series of Huff. That’s despite the adverts STILL (last night!) saying “Coming Soon”. Fuckwads.
Anyhoo, enough morose swearing. Tomorrow is another day and all that.