bookmark_borderThe Book Title Meme

Don’t let the title put you off, this is no ordinary meme. Firstly, and for a change, I know who started it, but most of all this meme requires a fair amount of pondering and no small amount of writing – after all, you’ll be trying to match up to a published author! Enough of my waffle then – there are six parts to this meme, instructions included for clarity.

1. The Dying of Delight
“Briefly describe an aspect of your life for which ‘The Dying Of Delight’ would be an apt title.”

The state of delightedness, of enchantment, is hard to attain. So hard that many people stop trying and let themselves be grind down by the machinations of life. They’re too busy, too important, too stressed, too hurried to let delight creep into their lives. Take a look around you, everywhere you look you’ll see it, the mirroring of lost souls reflected softly and completely in the ripples of a puddle, a leaf cartwheeling and spinning along the pavement.

I refuse this state. Not constantly, nor with any great zeal or vigour but steadily and continually. My delight will not be left to dribble away, to become so muted as to be ignored regardless of the events of my life. I refuse.

For without delight what have we? Darkness descending, and everything you care for pushed away, held away at arms length and beyond. I refuse.

My delight may fade, sputter and spin in the wind but I will not let it be extinguished. Life without delight is surely too terrible and morose to contemplate, and leads down a path I’ve trodden before. Once more I refuse.

OK, that wasn’t in keeping with the spirit of things but it’s what came out…

2. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
“Pick another book whose title has some resonance in your life, and write a little about it.”

The book deals, in a roundabout way, with seeing things from a different point of view and I guess it’s something I’ve always thought I did quite well. I occasionally put it down to the fact that I’m a Libra, but as I don’t really believe in that kind of nonsense I guess I should really try and pin it down with something a little more concrete (a large piece of masonry perhaps?).

I can remember, whilst still at school, hearing about someone’s older sister who had become a diplomat. I can remember looking the word up, and the definition of diplomatic stuck in my head. I can remember thinking “I could do that”, and for a long time time I believed I could.

Fast forward twenty years and I know now – ain’t hindsight wonderful – that I’m not as diplomatic as I thought, and that whilst I can usually see both sides of each story and usually find it easy to empathise with the other person, I’m frequently becoming more and more intolerant and rigid in my views. Liberals are too liberal, conservatives too conservative, and nowhere can I find a middle ground that suits me.

For a while I lost my ability to see things from a different point of view and, if I’m honest, it was hugely liberating and scared me shitless. From being a considerate and thoughtful human being I suddenly became a single-minded, blinkered shadow of myself. I didn’t like it one bit.

These days I treasure my ability to view things from a different angle, to see the other side, and ultimately to understand that other people have to do things the way they do them, even if I don’t understand the reason why.

3. What Women Want Men to Know
“Write one more short personal piece – one which matches the book title chosen (in part 2) by the person who tagged you.”

The glib answer would be something witty and comic, a good old fashioned sexist comment like “they want you to know what they WANT without them knowing themselves” or something simpler like “they want you to know that if you leave the toilet seat up one more time they’ll place your knackers under it and slam it shut”…

The real answer is harder to find because I’m not entirely sure I know any of the answers. I’m still learning you see, and maybe that’s the best way. Rather than presume what I THINK women want men to know, by which I mean what Louise wants me to know, it’s better to work from the assumption that you need to listen, learn and constantly re-evaluate everything you think you knew.

That sounds very tiring but trust me, when it’s with someone you love that’s half the fun! (the other half I can’t mention on here… my Mum reads this you know..)

4. The Dying of Delight
“Take your favourite little-known book and plug it to your readers. Authors need incomes, and word of mouth is one of the best ways to sell books.”

Is this cheating? Possibly, but it’s the best “little-known” book I’ve read in a long long time, so why the hell not. Here’s what I had to say about it. Now visit www.TheDyingOfDelight.co.uk and see if you’d like a copy for yourself.

5. Sit back and marvel at the magnificence of this meme.
It was brought to you by an out-of-breath author, reduced (on account of her publisher* having expired) to trundling copies of her book across the internet on a rusty old trolley with one wheel missing, sweating and shouting “Buy me book, Gov?” Now visit www.TheDyingOfDelight.co.uk and see if you’d like a copy for yourself.

6 .Tag five people with this meme
Whether the people I’m tagging have the time, or inclination, will be seen but I’ve chosen carefully.

First up, that book reader extraordinaire, Karen. Then, in no particular order (and without introduction as it’s late and I’m knackered) Clair, Daisy, Lyle and, to try and tempt him back into blogland, Mr. Hg.

bookmark_borderM74

Unlike Route 66 and the N17, no-one has ever written a song about the M74, but there is time for that to change.

With the news that the proposed extension of the “motorway that goes nowhere” is to be built, and naturally that a variety of protest groups are up in arms at the decision (for some good reason), there is a chance for this dead-end of a motorway to grab a share of the spotlight and gain some notoriety.

For those not in the know, the M74 ends in a roundabout (hence the dead-end references) and is mainly used as a link from the M8 on the journey south to England. Before we moved to Hamilton, which sits on the M74, we used it a lot whilst travelling up from Aylesbury, so we know the way quite well.

Perhaps it’s time to break out the visual aids.

Our route on M74

The red dot is Hamilton. The green line is the current route for anyone travelling from the M74 onto the M8, up and round the back of Glasgow and on towards the west. As you can see the proposed extension will cut a large distance from the journey, not to mention avoiding the notorious Kingston Bridge altogether. For that reason, and the fact that the main reason we generally use the M8 is to travel past Glasgow, I think the proposed extension is a wonderful idea.

But then there is the pollution and impact on the environment to consider. One option would be a viable public transport alternative, except there already is one, the trains run from Hamilton through Glasgow to Balloch at Loch Lomond but we car users do like the comfort and flexibility of controlling our own travel times so that’s never really going to be an option for many.

What else to consider? Pollution, impact on the environment? More than three quarters of Scotland isn’t even inhabited. You want fresh air? Move to Auchtermuchty!

If I’m honest, the main thing that annoys me about this entire thing is the guilt tactics employed by the protest groups. I’m fully aware these things will have an impact on the environment but for my own selfish needs I WANT the extension built. It’ll knock about 15 minutes OFF the time it takes to drive through to Dumbarton, something we do every other weekend, and will also mean our car is emitting less and we’ll be using less fuel.

So, to appease my own inner demons, I guess what I really need to do is find where the balance between the impact cost of building the extension is “equalled” by lowering pollution and saving on fuel use. I feel a rough guess coming on… how about year 2063?

Well it’s either that or buy a bike…

bookmark_borderDiaretic

Thanks to the Metro (the internet; printed) for making my morning already.

Page 3 features a nice photo of the new Dove soap ladies. Real women and twice as sexy as any anorexic Annie.
Page 17 has a look at the latest from Marks and Sparks modelled by the number ONE lady on my “list”, Helena Christensen.
Page 21 reports on the death of Prince Rainier with an accompanying photo, taken in 1956, of the lady that is number two on my “list”, Grace Kelly.

That lot certainly put a spring in my step!

Ohh and I should insert the usual “not treating woman as objects” disclaimer here but I remain unapologetic in my admiration of the female form.

~

A pause for a brief snapshot in my upcoming diary:

TODAY: Happy Birthday Susan, another year wise… older. Can anyone say tequila?
TONIGHT: Off to visit my Gran, see how she’s doing and see what difference having your meals made for you three times a day can make (there’s something to be said for getting old after all Susan!!).
FRIDAY: Emmmm, gosh, nothing planned! Yet. Another couple of birthdays looming though. The next on..
SATURDAY: When my brother-in-law, Paul, hits thirty.. er.. oh god I can’t remember. Not important anyway. Meeting in Jinty McGintys for drinks in the afternoon – the last time we did this I ended up very VERY “I don’t care if it IS the middle of the road I WANT A NAP!!” drunk.
SATURDAY NIGHT: Out for dinner.
SUNDAY: Recovery/Work.

What does your weekend hold, dear reader? Regale me with your plans of exotic trips, lavish nights on the town and glamourous parties.

And yes, I know it’s only Thursday. Humour me.

bookmark_borderIf… Then… Else…

Every now and then I get to this stage. I’ve got several priority ‘things’ (all from different sources, some professional, some not) and they are all fighting for space in my head. There is stuff I need to think about at home, stuff I need to think about for work, even stuff I WANT to think about for work (new stuff, much more exciting than the usual mundane drudgery). Technical stuff, ethical stuff, practical stuff, emotional stuff. Stuff, stuff, stuff.

I’ve tried writing lists, hoping it would help get things organised, but after a little thought I promptly realised that ‘several’ really means ‘greater than thirty’ which just adds more stuff to my head that I hadn’t previously thought about and doesn’t really help matters.

So how come I can’t get around to starting even one of them?

What I need is a team of monkeys, so I can delegate the research part involved in most of the ‘things’… ideas man, that’s me.

Oi!

Who said “Lazy bugger more like..”, I HEARD THAT!

BTW – one of the ‘things’ is wondering if I could reverse engineer After Dark – remember… flying toasters… anyone? hello??