The 2008 Thanks list.

Thanks to.....

the random fluctuations in the time space continuum, Ina, Debbie, Jason, Ruth and Madelaine for the ongoing help with my OCD and depression, Dr. Dixon for constantly proving the Docs are alright and Dr. V for all his help. Emma for the Welsh lessons and the bara brith, Carl for the leaving kebab and a nickname that's stuck, CGP for keeping the spirit of Yurgen, the rest of the ITSD for being a really good group of guys'n'gals. Slayer for moving the Unholy Alliance gig to the Apollo - one of THE greatest gigs of my life -, The Defenders Of The Faith bands, Trivium for Shogun, Metallica for Death Magnetic and proving me right, Machine Head for just being, and all the other bands that have touched my soul this year. James Gill for the blog comment of the year, Yoda for being the most reliably straight forward blokes I've ever met, Simon for the best parting email I have ever read, Big Bad Bob for all the techie assistance, Robin for making me feel daft and short, Jan for an abject lesson in patience and understanding, John for showing everyone around him the value of the little things and the fragility of life, Nonny for a demonstration in forgiveness, Nikki for providing the glamour to the clan, Jonathan, Mark and Carol for simply being cool, and all my extended family who deserve a mention (and even those that don't). Helen, Andy and Chilli for proving there are some good things west of the Pennines, Mark (3 ones), Dannea, Bailey, Shea and ? - an old friend and three(soon to be four) new ones that came out of nowhere but feel like they've been around forever -, Tom and Dez for being two of the few that really count. Nikki for being a daft dawg and Dixy, Smirnoff and Tigz for simply being themselves.
and last but far from least.....

Owen and Morgan

for being a source of constant pride, amazement and joy

and

Su

for loving me the way she does.

xXx

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It's been a while....

So here we are at the beginning of the last month of 2008, this year appears to have flown by - dunno why, just does (I know that some people have theories about time going quicker as we age but I'm not sure I buy into that).

Life is an interesting thing, just when you seem to have settled things into a predictable order, then out of the blue comes an old friend or a new aquaintance that changes things again. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it's what makes life what it is. I consider myself lucky to have the people that I do around me and to have the friends both old and new that I have. If a persons worth is to be judged by those he calls friend then I am indeed a rich man.

One thing that life has shown me in the last month is that, though you do have to grow old - you don't have to grow up! As long as you are happy and doing no harm then why should you? I intend to be this passionate about the things I enjoy in 40 years time nevermind at this stage of my life. I have wasted alot of my life so far, concerned with what I 'should' be doing and not with what I want to be doing. An old indian proverb says that " do what makes you happy and you will always do well". I think that's very true.

Embrace the uncertainty of tomorrow with open arms and let the river flow carry you where it may, for change is truly life's only constant.

Rememberence

They shall not grow old,as we who are left grow old.

Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them.

Honest Blogger Award

I've been awarded a blogging award (who'd a thunk it!) from Helen at Diary of an Untidy Mind.

Here are the rules of what to do with this award, and then the list of 10 honest things about me.

“When you receive the prize you must write a post showing it, together with the name of who has given it to you, and link them back.Choose a minimum of 7 blogs (or more) that you find brilliant in their content or design.Show their names and links and leave them a comment informing they were prized with ‘Honest Weblog’.Show a picture of those who awarded you and those you give the prize (optional).List [if you can and/or dare] at least ten honest things about yourself. And then, pass it on.”

I have a slight problem doing the noms as I only follow Helen's blog at the minute and not many of my friends / people I come into contact with blog so I'll have to agree to nominate these people as I come across them - I will add the details as comments on this post.

Honest Things About Me
1. I have Obsessional Compulsive Disorder and suffer from Depression. I have both of these all my adult life (and a bit longer). I take good med's that keep both aspects under good control and, these, combined with things I learnt from some excellent group therapy earlier this year, allow me to have a good quality of life. Without them there would not be a me.
2. I am soppy. I love a happy ending, I'm unashamedly in love with my wife, I adore my kids (though they're gits sometimes!?!) and think the lost causes are the ones that deserve the most support. I always the one cheering for the underdog.
3. I am completely at ease with the prospect of dying. My death does not bother me but the impact of it on those I love does. That said, I'm in absolutely no rush to do so.
4. I get on better with animals than I do other human beings, and at times I can be very misanthropic.
5. You're either my friend or you're not. If I care about you then I will do anything for you, I'll be loyal to the death and I will share my life with you. If not, then I won't, it's as simple as that.
6. I hate the term Normal. The sooner we realise that there is no such fecking thing then the world might just start being a better place, and a lot of people will start to feel a hell of a lot better about themselves, and other people.
7. I struggle to cry, but when I do it's sometimes quite spectacular. I'm a very emotional person but crying is something I rarely do, I just don't seem natural predisposed to it...go figure?!?
8. I am a frustrated writer with an inferiority complex. I love to write but hate people seeing my stuff.
9. I believe in fate, but not predestination, and the interconnectedness of all things. I think we control where we're going but somethings happen because they are meant to, not because of any great plan, just because they have to due to cause&effect. I do NOT believe that there is a grand plan or a reason for living.
10. I collect quotes, motto's, idioms, slogans, proverbs and anecdotes. I love them, and there is a lot of wisdom in them.
11. I am fascinated by things that I am not intellectually able to fully grasp. Chaos Theory, Particle Physics, Biology, space travel, computer programming, the full spectrum of human languages, psychology and guitar playing are just a few examples.

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That nearly Slayer feeling......

in less than 48 hours I will be at what promises to be one of the best gigs I have ever been to.

On Monday Slayer, Trivium, Mastodon and Amon Amarth play the Manchester Apollo on the Unholy Alliance Tour and I absolutly can't wait!

I have this thing about ticking life boxes.
To explain, there are some things that I would like to do before I cross over to the otherside - some are achievable others are dreams - and when I experience one of these things I put a metaphorical tick against it on the list. Some of the best of these are the ones that happen and then you realise they are on your list. But the absolute best ones are those that occur because of the love and care of those who love you and care about you.
I am really lucky.
Despite being a nutcase and more than a little bit strange I have a good group of family and friends that love and care about me, regardless of my OCD, my bad habits and self doubt.

Thank you - you know who you are.

Without you people I would never get these "nearly Slayer" feelings.

YOU ROK!

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Yubnub - What is it?

Yubnub is a social command line for the web.

Basically is allows you to use short commands to perform actions, such as a google search, via a simple command line interface.

For example if you type g mushroom into the yubnub command line it will take you to google search results for mushroom without you having to go to the google homepage.

Yubnub works on many applications and websites and looks pretty cool - I've not had a chance to bo much with it yet so can't really comment.

Check out the Most Used Commands on this link.

And the Golden Eggs are those voted most useful.

Check it out and see what you think!

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Missing the point

Just read this on the Ed's Blog at Scrum of the Earth.





Does this stir the same feelings in you as a Swastika?

Now I know that I'm not a black South African but this seems to be good intentioned people missing the point (and the bigger issue).
As the Blog states it predates appartheid by quite a long time and the symbol that some want to change to represents the division of that regime more than the Bok does - ironic? I think so.

As Ed has said in his blog, the people of the SARU. the players and the fans should be asked and the decision should be made based on the results.

Personally I think it would be a great shame to lose such an iconic symbol from the rugby world, I'm not someone who experienced apartheid, but to me it represnts the values of strength, speed and agility that you would hope the team would play with, regardless of race, creed or colour.

IMHO,there are deeper problems in the South African society that will not be solved by changing the badge on a rugby shirt.

Rant over.

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Techie quiz

Think you know you old computer hardware?

Then this is the quiz for you!
It's from the BBC weekly "magazine" bit of their website - proper nostalgia trip, rubber keys'n'all!

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Sad loss.

Wakefield Wildcats (and former Bradford Bulls) prop forward Adam Watene died suddenly and unexpectedly yesterday.
The BBC Sport article is here.

He was only 31 years old, and is survived by his Wife and their two children.

My deepest sympathy and condolences to them at what must be a terrible time.

Chinese Horoscope system

It's been a while and for that I apologise - I'm just hopeless! :-)

Whilst mooching around the web I found this link.
It's for a site that explains how the Chinese Horoscope system works and calculates your sign - fun and informative.

A Fire Dragon am I! The description isn't that far out either.

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One of the coolest cats I have ever seen..........

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/20/usa.animalbehaviour

The above link contains what is possibly the coolest cat in the world!

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On a serious note

Today we found out that Nick, one of the Dad's from the football team, had been taken in hospital yesterday following a heartattack caused by an infection.
The good news is that he is doing ok but just wanted to say get well soon mate!

A really quick post this as time is short........

I have sorted out the spam I was having on gaz.simplymega.com so that blog is now going to run in tandem with this one, different content though, so have a look sometime.

Until next time.... remember,
Mankind domesticated the dogs but the cats domesticated mankind!

Welcome......

For those who have followed from gaz.simplymega.com - thanks for following me, the entries will be more frequent...honest.
For those who are new - HELLO!

So why the name?
Well, it's a phrase that I've heard in a number of places over time (and on these cool t-shirts from ukpagan.com) and for me it pretty much sums up what it's like trying to live life, be a Husband and a Dad worthy of the wonderful people in my life and have OCD in a world that never standstill and rarely slows down.

I hope you enjoy reading what I'm going to be posting here from now on and welcome any contributions and comments.

Make Toast Not War!

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