|
| |
| Objectives |
31st Aug 2006 | I’ve been thinking about objectives recently. What my short, medium and long term aims in life are. It has proved remarkably difficult, even the short term stuff. I guess I don’t really know what I want. Everything seems fairly trivial – to lose another 10kg (about a stone and a half) by Christmas is probably the most challenging. Other objectives include getting central heating installed and sorting my savings out. Longer term I may try to get an MSc.
This is all part of a “sort out your life Tim” drive. I’ve been reading management and investment books (I’ve just finished the Motley Fool Investment guide), going to the gym and watching what I eat. I’ve even signed up for an Open University course, but that will take 4 years. As a fantasy I’m promising myself 3 months in South America learning Spanish when I get my masters if I’ve got my savings sorted.
|
| Add a comment | No comments yet |
| Desert Island discs |
28th Aug 2006 | I listened to Desert Island Discs the other day. This is a long established programme on BBC Radio 4 where a celebrity is interviewed in between the 8 tracks that they choose as the music they would want if they were stranded on a desert island.
A difficult choice, but I think if I were limited to just 8 pieces of music for the rest of my life they would be:
Lark Ascending – Vaughan Williams
Clarinet Concerto - Mozart
Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd
Joshua Tree – U2
Beethoven 9th
The girl from Ipanema
Elvis – Can’t help falling in love
Beatles – Hey Jude
|
| Add a comment | No comments yet |
| Budapest |
9th May 2006 | My old school friend Patrick has been living and working in Budapest since January, after buying the airport there. I went out to visit him and explore the Hungarian capital a week or so ago.
Arriving in Budapest Friday evening I was whisked back to Patrick’s palatial flat. His tennis court sized living room overlooks the Danube, and there’s a sauna, a gym as well as multiple bedrooms. A quick night tour of Pest demonstrated that Hungary has good food and sweaty basement bars.
Saturday was a mix of relaxation and chilling. The morning and early afternoon were spent in one of the local spa baths, relaxing in saunas and hot baths, followed by a game of chess over a slow lunch. I lost. That evening we went to Steve’s 40th birthday. Steve is a one of Patrick’s colleagues and his apartment is equally opulent. I had an extremely enjoyable evening drinking cocktails and chatting to pretty Hungarian girls.
|
| Add a comment | No comments yet |
| Car! |
16th May 2006 | | I've bought a car! A little silver Renault Clio, about 18 months old. I drove it down to Mum's and back at the weekend (taking not quite the route I intended on the way down) and enjoyed having it despite taking longer than the train would have. Now I can visit friends, take excursions and generally explore with much greater ease. |
| Add a comment | View comments (1) |
| Life and Death |
7th Mar 2006 | Last Sunday Benedict Isaac Lampard Walker was Christened at Hinde Street Methodist church in a traditional Methodist service, led by a man who looked suspiciously like the traditional image of Jesus; tall, skinny with long hair and bedraggled beard and wearing long flowing white robes. I know Rachel has connections but I didn't realise just how high they went. Benedict is a typical baby and looks much like most babies. He was very well behaved during the service. I wasn't able to stay long afterwards as I had to go down to Mum's.
Jean's funeral was how I imagine she would have wanted it. A small service in the cemetery chapel on Lewes road conducted by Mum's friend David (from Crossover) followed by the burial. I read a tribute from Nick and we sang "Abide with Me" (unaccompanied) and "How Great thou Art". The second hymn was sung along to a slow Jazz version from a CD, very hard to sing to. Jean would have found it hilarious. There was a reasonable turnout, with Yvonne, Bill (with new lady friend), Kathy & Hugo, Simon, Jo & Lucy, Kirsty & John, Matt, Bridget and the boys as well as Joy and a few others I don't know at the funeral.
Afterwards the family went back to Jean's for the wake. We had had problems with the heating before the service, and expected to return to a freezing house. Fortunately we'd been defeated by the timer and the heating had come on of its own accord while we were out. This was a relief because Monday was bitterly cold. As you can imagine the wake was a subdued affair, but it was good to catch up.
|
| Add a comment | No comments yet |
| New galleries |
22nd Jan 2006 | | I've been adding more pictures to the site, and have a couple of new galleries, "Friends and Family" and "England, My England". The names should be self explanatory |
| Add a comment | No comments yet |
| Christmas and New Year |
22nd Jan 2006 | I spent christmas and New Year in china with Nick, Katherine and the kids. It was realy good to be able to see them. I hadn't seen Katherine or George for nearly 2 years, although Nick has visited London more recently.
Overall it was a quiet time, not much exploring of China as I wanted to spend my time with the family, but what I did see impressed me with how much china is getting wealthier each time I go out.
The 2 days I spent on my own in shanghai were interesting, with aggressive touts on the street (something I've never seen before in china) and probably the worst jazz band in the world.
|
| Add a comment | No comments yet |
| Tube Bombings |
7th Jul 2005 | In some ways sirens have been the “leitmotif” of today, but in other ways it has been the sound of “the other shoe dropping”. We’ve been expecting something like this for 3 years, with surprise last year that it was Madrid not London. There was wide spread expectation that something would happen during the election campaign, so it is almost a sense of relief that finally something has happened. That it was the tube network was assumed.
The reaction that I have seen has been true London style – concern about the public transport network (how will I get home), black humour (we didn’t expect the French to take our getting the Olympics this badly), defiance (buggered if I’ll let them bully me) and a decent excuse to gossip, speculate and skive. Personally I’ve combined all the above. With grandparents who stayed in London during the blitz and having worked here during IRA campaigns there is no way I’ll allow another bunch of misguided fanatics force me to dishonour my grandparents or change my behaviour. Saying that, if I can wrangle a day off tomorrow and get a long weekend count me in!
|
| Add a comment | No comments yet |
| Glass Kew |
19th Nov 2005 | I finally got around to doing some “London” stuff this week. On Monday I visited the Persian exhibition at the British Museum (one of my favourite places in London) but the highlight was visiting the Chihuly glass exhibition at Kew Gardens (http://www.kew.org/chihuly/images/index.html). Kew is brilliant anyway, and this time of year the trees make a fantastic kaleidoscope, forming shapes and patterns as the wind moves the multi-hued leaves, but with exquisitely beautiful glass sculptures nestling amongst the plantings, some hidden in the green houses and some exploding in exuberance out of roofs Kew became a magical place.
|
| Add a comment | No comments yet |
| Paris |
26th Oct 2005 | I spent this weekend in Paris. I’ve not been for years and was struck by the elegance and beauty of the buildings. Central Paris seems to have retained a charm that has been swamped by identikit chains of stores and 60s developers in London. The small, seemingly family owned, shops that displayed mouth-watering wares and ornate apartment blocks made for a very pleasant stay.
While there I started reading Jung (Wild Swans) Chang’s biography of Mao. A very interesting and well written book which I’m still plugging my through.
|
| Add a comment | No comments yet |
| Thud - by Terry Pratchett |
15th Oct 2005 | | “Thud”, the latest book by Terry Prachett, is another fun excursion into Discworld. This time Prachett is again referencing current events by introducing dwarf fundamentalists arriving in Ahnk-Morkpork and stirring up trouble between dwarves and trolls and causing Sam Vimes problems. I really enjoy the Discworld books. This isn’t as funny as the last (“Going Postal”) or as captivating as “A Hat full of Sky” but a good read anyway, finished (as ever) within hours of purchase. |
| Add a comment | No comments yet |
| INTJ |
13th Oct 2005 | I did one of those ‘Meyers-Briggs’ personality test. Apparently I’m an INTJ (on the border of ENTJ). This is what it has to say about INTJ:
“Have original minds and great drive for their own ideas and purposes. Have long-range vision and quickly find meaningful patterns in external events. In fields that appeal to them, they have a fine power to organise a job and carry it through. Sceptical, critical, independent, determined, have high standards of competence and performance.”
|
| Add a comment | No comments yet |
| A Star Called Henry |
12th Oct 2005 | | At the weekend I read “A Star Called Henry” by Roddy Doyle. An excellent book, set in Dublin in the first two decades of the twentieth century it describes the childhood and then the young adulthood of a homeless slum child, the son of a brothel bouncer, who grows into an unquestioning soldier in the fight for Irelands independence. Doyle paints a bleak and squalid but believable portrait of Dublin’s slums and then a vivid account of the struggles. I really enjoyed this book. |
| Add a comment | No comments yet |
| Updating the website pt2 |
9th Oct 2005 | | I've done quite a lot on the website recently, adding this "blog", the poker pages and I've started the webpage description stuff. Most stuff is maintainable from pages, and I've put those pages onto the dropdown menu. |
| Add a comment | No comments yet |
| Changing Plans |
9th Oct 2005 | | This week has been not quite as I expected, but still fun. I ended up celebrating two children’s birthdays (Josh Smith’s 3rd and Daniel Little’s 12th) as well as partying in Canary wharf on Thursday. I’d expected to be going Scottish dancing Friday, which changed into Daniel’s party, cooking on Saturday which became a cinema trip and shooting on Sunday, which is now a quiet, tinkering day, hence several “Blog” type entries. I saw “Serenity” Saturday night with Patrick. Not an outstanding movie, but decent Sci-Fi fair. |
| Add a comment | No comments yet |
| Planned China Trip |
9th Oct 2005 | | I've booked my flights now and will be spending Christmas and New Year in Shanghai/Suzhou with Nick and his family. I'm quite looking forward to it, I've booked thre weeks off work and will be in the middle kingdom for about two and a half - it's a lot cheaper to fly mid-week. I'll spend the first few days in shanghai, I've booked a room in the Peace Hotel on the Bund so hopefully I'll get a chance to explore a bit. |
| Add a comment | No comments yet |
| I am eternity |
1st Oct 2005 | | If I ask, “Who am I?” this is a meaningless question. I am. I am me. I cannot be anyone else, or imagine being anyone else so I cannot answer the question except as I am me. Similarly, to ask ; “Why do I exist?” is also a meaningless question. I exist to exist. There is no meaning as there is no existence outside of me. I cannot cease to exist and still be me or have ever not existed and been me which the question implies. Indeed, for me, I am eternity. I am who I am. That is to say I am all of me. I am not what I think, say or do. I am that which brings forth those things. What I believe is an expression of who I am, but I cannot alter who I am even if I think I want to. Those beliefs are themselves part of me and an expression of me. I am and it is enough. |
| Add a comment | No comments yet |
| Simon & Meral's wedding |
13th Nov 2004 | | Simon & Meral's wedding was lovely, and great fun, a civil wedding in a nice hotel in Tunbridge Wells. I went down the night before to join simon on his last meal as a single man - good fun as ever. The next day we sat outside while Simon wrote his speech. |
| Add a comment | No comments yet |
| Updating the website pt1 |
5th Sep 2004 | Set up the new format website. I hope you all like it. Hopefully it will evolve other the next few months.
Entered all of Nick's emails into the database, as well as his writing and photos. It's all available via the menus etc. |
| Add a comment | No comments yet |
|
