And me? Well, I'm using the above materials, to make myself of bowl of something. That's hajinomoto, in the glass jar. So, rice, egg, Japanese soy sauce, and seasoning. No prizes for guessing what that makes......
Sunday, March 10, 2019
Winding down.
And me? Well, I'm using the above materials, to make myself of bowl of something. That's hajinomoto, in the glass jar. So, rice, egg, Japanese soy sauce, and seasoning. No prizes for guessing what that makes......
All the news that's fit to speak.
Sitting in the playroom, looking out at a very wet garden (torrential rain last night) and checking news stories for tomorrow's bulletin. I really need to see if I can get it out of the way today, as tomorrow is always crazy. First day of the week, kids back to school (bags, clothes, shoes - all dispersed around the house) trying to get out of the house first thing in the morning is stressful enough without having to find another half hour to do the news. Plus, the cleaner turns up in the middle of all that chaos, and is liable to switch the hoover on.
So, I need to look at the NME Music news page, and parse some content. It's quite amazing how ALL of it seems to be about Michael Jackson, and R.Kelly. I did a bulletin - Friday, I think, where it was just sex abuse allegation stories, for three minutes. Ugh.
And, to top it all off, Milo's rescheduled birthday bash is this afternoon. Not quite a full party, just mates coming over for Pizza and cake - but the house will be a war zone for a few hours.
So, there'a trip to the supermarket that needs to be done, a kids party, a couple of meals to make....it seems so quiet, right now. I suspect that I'll look back and wonder what the hell went on, when I post later.
So, I need to look at the NME Music news page, and parse some content. It's quite amazing how ALL of it seems to be about Michael Jackson, and R.Kelly. I did a bulletin - Friday, I think, where it was just sex abuse allegation stories, for three minutes. Ugh.
And, to top it all off, Milo's rescheduled birthday bash is this afternoon. Not quite a full party, just mates coming over for Pizza and cake - but the house will be a war zone for a few hours.
So, there'a trip to the supermarket that needs to be done, a kids party, a couple of meals to make....it seems so quiet, right now. I suspect that I'll look back and wonder what the hell went on, when I post later.
Saturday, March 09, 2019
Reading again.
I know I've said it a couple of times before, but I'm reading again - and actively trying to increase the amount I read. That, more blogging, writing diary entries when I'm away (as in next weekend in Edinburgh). It's all an attempt to be less....transient, I suppose.
So, I'm reading Norwegian Wood by Murakami, again. I've given it a go before - and got a third of the way through, but drifted off. So, it's back to the start, with a fresh sense of purpose, after a year or two. I was like this wit the Wind Up Bird Chronicle too, and loved that second time around. I think there's an odd thing with Murakami, where your head has to be in the right space. You have to open your eyes - but also, your mind - and there seems to be no way of forcing that. Once you're ready - then you're ready.
Looks like I am.
So, I'm reading Norwegian Wood by Murakami, again. I've given it a go before - and got a third of the way through, but drifted off. So, it's back to the start, with a fresh sense of purpose, after a year or two. I was like this wit the Wind Up Bird Chronicle too, and loved that second time around. I think there's an odd thing with Murakami, where your head has to be in the right space. You have to open your eyes - but also, your mind - and there seems to be no way of forcing that. Once you're ready - then you're ready.
Looks like I am.
Friday, March 08, 2019
Link desert.
So many of the posts in my archives contain links. And frankly, a lot of them are useless. I wish I could see what on earth I was on about. Stuff like "THIS has been making me laugh all day". That's it. That's the sum total of a post, and it's just a dead link. I think, if I'm going to make this a valid reflection of my life, I have to be a little more perspicacious about dropping in links. I can recall when I learned how to do it, and then it unleashed a torrent of the damn things. All pointing this site into a myriad of other directions. I guess what I need now is just one direction: my own.
Walking
That's what I do now. All the time - and as much as possible. Looking at the stats on my phone, yesterday I managed a little over 20,000 steps. Around 17km. I absolutely love walking/hiking, and it's nice to come to the realisation that it was something which was always there. Yesterday was a lovely walk - though a little breezy. Following the Thamesdown link, across Ashtead Park, Rookery Hill, Chalk Lane, Crampshaw Lane, Stane Street - across the M25, then following the path until a long left turn round the golf course, and back via Slough Lane into Headley. All in all, around two and a half hours. I'm not kidding when I say I'd love to be able to do it every day.
Wednesday, March 06, 2019
How to start the day
Or, how not to. It's been a depressing beginning, for a Wednesday. Family stuff, normal pressures. Making me feel hollowed out, and useless. So, I'll try and balance that out, by showing you how my days normally start - and how that's helped me.
In the last six months, I've managed to finally get fit, and lose some weight - part of that has been because of sobriety, but it's also a process that's happened just because it felt like it was time. I've lost 45 pounds, which is a huge amount, I know - and oddly, it's actually been rather easy. In the past, it's always been half a stone here, a stone there. But this time around, the willpower I had discovered since kicking alcohol has served me in really good stead. I just managed to find a course of action, and stick to it. Perhaps more importantly, because I've now accepted change, that process was actually a lot of fun.
I'll deal with exercise another time, but I did want to focus a little on how I changed my diet - and the biggest part of that was finding a routine that helped me out, in the morning. Breakfast is such an important meal - not just for the nutritional values it gives you, but also for the statement it makes. This is how I'm starting my day! This is what I'm doing with my life!
I needed to find something that did all of those things, and was healthy, tasty, and felt right. So here's how it pans out.
I tend to get up before everyone else. Pip sets an alarm really early - 6am. But then, tends to snooze. Me? I'm now wide awake. So, I'll get up, no real point in lying there looking at the ceiling, So, I have time to cook, and to think. Breakfast for me is quite Zen - a chance to organise food, to be methodical. And I think that trickles down to me, and the rest of my day. "Start as you mean to go on", if I had to distill it into one simple phrase.
I have Soba Noodles for Breakfast, with various drinks to accompany. Soba are just wonderful: low GI, virtually no fat, low calories, lots of protein, and fibre. I get my packets from Amazon, on a regular order - they're authentic Japanese noodles, and not expensive at all. Soba noodles need five minutes on the hob, so while they're cooking, I'll get everything else together. Fill a Japanese tea cup with Green tea. Prepare a glass of iced water. Get a vitamin pill (Centrum Men's 50+, ah, old age!) And a glass of coconut milk.
Once the noodles are cooked, they're rinsed in cold water, and drained. Into a small bowl, and then topped with two finely sliced green onions. Shaken over the top - some toasted black sesame seeds, and some Furikake. Then, add some Tsuyu broth. This gives you that real Umami kick - some sweet, some salt. It's about 100ml of broth, I guess.
And that's it. Like I said - it's about having a healthy, great breakfast, but it's also about starting the day off, on the right foot.
In the last six months, I've managed to finally get fit, and lose some weight - part of that has been because of sobriety, but it's also a process that's happened just because it felt like it was time. I've lost 45 pounds, which is a huge amount, I know - and oddly, it's actually been rather easy. In the past, it's always been half a stone here, a stone there. But this time around, the willpower I had discovered since kicking alcohol has served me in really good stead. I just managed to find a course of action, and stick to it. Perhaps more importantly, because I've now accepted change, that process was actually a lot of fun.
I'll deal with exercise another time, but I did want to focus a little on how I changed my diet - and the biggest part of that was finding a routine that helped me out, in the morning. Breakfast is such an important meal - not just for the nutritional values it gives you, but also for the statement it makes. This is how I'm starting my day! This is what I'm doing with my life!
I needed to find something that did all of those things, and was healthy, tasty, and felt right. So here's how it pans out.
I tend to get up before everyone else. Pip sets an alarm really early - 6am. But then, tends to snooze. Me? I'm now wide awake. So, I'll get up, no real point in lying there looking at the ceiling, So, I have time to cook, and to think. Breakfast for me is quite Zen - a chance to organise food, to be methodical. And I think that trickles down to me, and the rest of my day. "Start as you mean to go on", if I had to distill it into one simple phrase.
I have Soba Noodles for Breakfast, with various drinks to accompany. Soba are just wonderful: low GI, virtually no fat, low calories, lots of protein, and fibre. I get my packets from Amazon, on a regular order - they're authentic Japanese noodles, and not expensive at all. Soba noodles need five minutes on the hob, so while they're cooking, I'll get everything else together. Fill a Japanese tea cup with Green tea. Prepare a glass of iced water. Get a vitamin pill (Centrum Men's 50+, ah, old age!) And a glass of coconut milk.
Once the noodles are cooked, they're rinsed in cold water, and drained. Into a small bowl, and then topped with two finely sliced green onions. Shaken over the top - some toasted black sesame seeds, and some Furikake. Then, add some Tsuyu broth. This gives you that real Umami kick - some sweet, some salt. It's about 100ml of broth, I guess.
And that's it. Like I said - it's about having a healthy, great breakfast, but it's also about starting the day off, on the right foot.
Adsense.
Well, I got rid of it.
I had "earned" about £1.20. In three years. They don't make any payments until you hit sixty quid - and at current rates, that was going to take another decade, or more. And looking at the blog, with adverts, it was really, really ugly. So, I'd rather do without the cash, and have this little diary of mine as a bit of an oasis, away from all of that commercial nonsense. Hope that's OK.
I had "earned" about £1.20. In three years. They don't make any payments until you hit sixty quid - and at current rates, that was going to take another decade, or more. And looking at the blog, with adverts, it was really, really ugly. So, I'd rather do without the cash, and have this little diary of mine as a bit of an oasis, away from all of that commercial nonsense. Hope that's OK.
More Keith.
It's been preying on my mind, a little, over the past day.
I know that there's been a ton of press about what a genius he was - and how he made the Prodigy great, and how terrible that someone so gifted could throw it all away. Well, what if it was us that created the persona, not him? I'm starting to think we created the need for that cartoon genius - and Keith was bright (and sensitive!) enough to realise the gap existed, and filled in the spaces. Then, I'm thinking ti trapped him. What If he didn't really want to roll out the cartoon, again, and again? I know how this feels, and it's not great, at all. If what you do on stage, doesn't really come from the heart, then it drains your lifeforce, at an astonishing speed. I'm more heartbroken for Keith, than I was, and in a different way. I realise some people won't get this - but looking at this from the point of view of being on stage - it really hits home, to me.
I know that there's been a ton of press about what a genius he was - and how he made the Prodigy great, and how terrible that someone so gifted could throw it all away. Well, what if it was us that created the persona, not him? I'm starting to think we created the need for that cartoon genius - and Keith was bright (and sensitive!) enough to realise the gap existed, and filled in the spaces. Then, I'm thinking ti trapped him. What If he didn't really want to roll out the cartoon, again, and again? I know how this feels, and it's not great, at all. If what you do on stage, doesn't really come from the heart, then it drains your lifeforce, at an astonishing speed. I'm more heartbroken for Keith, than I was, and in a different way. I realise some people won't get this - but looking at this from the point of view of being on stage - it really hits home, to me.
Monday, March 04, 2019
A sad day.
Found out that Keith Flint has died. Really sad news- and shocking too: suicide at the age of 49. A sobering day, and a bit of a sucker punch. The Prodigy were hugely important to me, to the band, to a lot of people. For me, though - it was that first album, and the rush I got, listening to those churning breaks, and riffs. I know it was Liam doing all of that, but it was Keith expressing it, on stage. I saw them play the Camden Palace, back in '92, and Keith just made it all make sense, to me. He got to live out the dream, to live through the music. That's all I'd ever wanted, being in a band. I didn't care they weren't my songs, I just wanted to have the music to play in the background, while I could look out across a sea of faces. That's what Keith did, and he did it better than anyone. I was in awe of him, if I'm honest.
Living the dream, and living it right, is sometimes better than actually dreaming it, in the first place.
Living the dream, and living it right, is sometimes better than actually dreaming it, in the first place.
Sunday, March 03, 2019
Sunday Afternoon
...and I'm feeling a little out of sorts, myself. A little bit of the willpower I've gathered around food, and snacking too much, seems to have evaporated. I think it's time to knock the sugary stuff on the head again, and cut back on other fripperies. I've done so well over the last six months or so, that I don't want to see that effort wasted, even a tiny bit.
The wind is picking up - there's a storm on the way, apparently. So, it's time to light a fire, tidy up the house, get the bulletin sorted for tomorrow morning.
The wind is picking up - there's a storm on the way, apparently. So, it's time to light a fire, tidy up the house, get the bulletin sorted for tomorrow morning.
Spanner in the works
Milo's Birthday party today - except he's just decided to throw up. So, everyone's off to the cinema without him, poor love. Also means I have him all day tomorrow. Ah well, can't be avoided. This means i'm online perhaps more than I'd anticipated, today. So might try another blog post later. I know that my posting frenzy follows a long-established pattern - hey, I'm excited by the blog! Then - ah, I can't be bothered anymore....
So, I'm going to try and keep it up this time. After all, I managed sobriety, didn't I? Looking back through the archive, I'm absolutely astounded about how much I promised, in respect of kicking the booze, and how little I delivered. However, it's also heartening to see how close I got, in 2016, which was some sort of start. I gave up, finally, in September 2016.
Sobriety, above all else, is a battle of willpower, and If I won that battle, maybe i can do the same thing with Blog posts.
As I've said so, so many times, we'll see.
So, I'm going to try and keep it up this time. After all, I managed sobriety, didn't I? Looking back through the archive, I'm absolutely astounded about how much I promised, in respect of kicking the booze, and how little I delivered. However, it's also heartening to see how close I got, in 2016, which was some sort of start. I gave up, finally, in September 2016.
Sobriety, above all else, is a battle of willpower, and If I won that battle, maybe i can do the same thing with Blog posts.
As I've said so, so many times, we'll see.
Saturday, March 02, 2019
One of the best things about archives
Is seeing, and listening to what you were inspired by, so many years ago. I've found a few things that made the years fall away - The Upper Room, Trespassers William....but top of the pile has to be this. Some absolutely gorgeous Japanese minimal glitch-techno ambience. Phew. How fantastic is this? Above all, it reminds me of the train to Brighton. Sitting there, looking out of the window - past Thornton Heath, or Wandsworth Common, or Merstham, Horley - travelling home, when that was home. After a day of work in London, knowing that the seaside beckoned. No matter how packed, crazy, or delayed that train was - it was always a pleasure to relax, and leave my cares behind. This was the soundtrack to that journey, so many times. Listening to it, even now - I can hear why.
Need to get this out there
As a descriptive post, for where I am, and what I'm doing. I've had a little look back through the archives, and a lot of posts seem to be anchored around times, places, and snapshots of my life.
So, I'm on the bed, it's a grey March morning. The cat is next to me, purring quietly. The kids are watching telly (Marnie) and playing PS4 (Milo). I've had my Soba noodles for breakfast, and I'm going to think about a stroll on the common, once Pip gets back from the gym.
The common has been a big thing for me, over the past six months. I've walked at least four miles a day, most days of the week. That's one of the reasons I'm skinnier than I was. That, and completely giving up alcohol. I read back through the archives, last night, and was astounded how much I used to drink, but also how much I revelled in it. Those days are gone.
Life's good. I mean - well, it always is, but it's good, this morning, it really is.
So, I'm on the bed, it's a grey March morning. The cat is next to me, purring quietly. The kids are watching telly (Marnie) and playing PS4 (Milo). I've had my Soba noodles for breakfast, and I'm going to think about a stroll on the common, once Pip gets back from the gym.
The common has been a big thing for me, over the past six months. I've walked at least four miles a day, most days of the week. That's one of the reasons I'm skinnier than I was. That, and completely giving up alcohol. I read back through the archives, last night, and was astounded how much I used to drink, but also how much I revelled in it. Those days are gone.
Another one of those"Hey, where did the time go?" posts
Ugh.
How long has it been? Social media has made blogging a bit redundant, for me - and I can't help thinking that's a real shame.
So, I'm going to try and put stuff up again, for the hell of it.
I've managed to turn a lot of things around, in the last couple of years, so being able to document some of those things will be ....beneficial, I think.
Plus, I've been looking back at the archives for this blog, and I always think how much I absolutely LOVED writing it. With that in mind, I've also decided to do a design revert - and take it back to the old school. This Orange theme was the first I ever used, IIRC. It's nice to have it back.
How long has it been? Social media has made blogging a bit redundant, for me - and I can't help thinking that's a real shame.
So, I'm going to try and put stuff up again, for the hell of it.
I've managed to turn a lot of things around, in the last couple of years, so being able to document some of those things will be ....beneficial, I think.
Plus, I've been looking back at the archives for this blog, and I always think how much I absolutely LOVED writing it. With that in mind, I've also decided to do a design revert - and take it back to the old school. This Orange theme was the first I ever used, IIRC. It's nice to have it back.
Thursday, July 28, 2016
More change
And this one is odd. I've started to think I've got it wrong about CD's, and remasters. I thought that a remaster couldn't be anything but an improvement, but I've just had to go out and buy a dozen original Genesis albums, as the remastered CD's were just awful. Original CD's give me the chance to hear things as I did, when I first heard the albums. Am I just growing old? Or do I crave that link to my past?
I need to delve deeper. I'll report back.
I need to delve deeper. I'll report back.
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