Here Comes The Rain Again
Mid morning, on New Year’s Eve, and the rain is falling yet again. I was up a little after 9, washed up, fed the children, let the chickens out, fed the cats...
Posts from 2012
Game Of Thrones
After buying my other half the first season of Game of Thrones on DVD for Christmas, we have begun watching it over the past several nights. We are only four...
The One Where The Year Rolls Slowly To A Stop
I can’t believe the year is almost over. Last New Year is still fresh in my mind, and yet here we are again, buying groceries, and making plans with friends ...
First Post
This is going to be interesting… my first post from the Chromebook. It arrived at 6pm this afternoon just as I was giving up hope of seeing it today. The par...
Carl Sagan
I first discovered Carl Sagan through the book “Contact”, which I read a year or so before the movie arrived at cinemas. The closing chapter has always stuck...
When Sysadmins Ruled The Earth
I discovered “When SysAdmins Ruled the Earth” while looking at the ePub digital document format a couple of years ago. I was commuting into and out of London...
There And Back Again
I took our eldest daughter to the cinema this afternoon to watch “The Hobbit”. Her only knowledge of the story has been through the first few chapters - list...
The Notebook
I tend to carry a paper notebook everywhere. Sometimes I go for days on end without writing anything in it, but I still keep it with me. You never know when ...
Isnt It Pretty To Think So
I discovered Isn’t it Pretty to Think Sovia Nick’s Tumblr (he’s been listed in theWritersspotlight category for years). He published excerpts while he was wr...
Boxing Day
After the children finally settled down at some time after 3am on Christmas Eve with coughs and colds aided by hair-trigger “Santa Sense”, we wereamazed to m...
2Am On Christmas Morning
Our middle child is sick. We are both still up at 2am on Christmas morning, trying everything in the book to get her to sleep so we can sneak a stocking into...
Christmas Shopping
After W finally arrived home from getting her hair cut this morning (it somehow took 4 hours), I raced out of the house with our eldest to go Christmas shopp...
The Saturday Before Christmas
It’s been a few days since I emptied my head into the computer, and I have little to do this morning (waiting for the dryer to finish a load, while the rain ...
Marilyn Monroe
Once upon a time I went to college, and spent two years drawing people every day. One of the projects intended to fill our head with ideas was “Pop Art”we go...
Beauty
Beauty isn’t on the cover of a magazine, or in the flickering image from a cinema projector.
Starbucks
For many, I don’t think the appeal of Starbucks is the coffee itself. It is the escape; the “other place” we might go, leaving the shackles of our normal lif...
On The Road
While wandering the streets of San Francisco about ten years ago, we happened upon City Lights Bookstore, the legendary haunt of Allen Ginsberg, Frank O’Hara...
Olympians And Porn Stars
I noticed something rather odd recently. I’m not sure if I noticed it because we have rapidly growing children, or because I was in a more observant mood tha...
A Happy Place
The children have become my happy place. Perhaps they always have been. While they push boundaries, press buttons, and explore limits on a regular basis, the...
The Butterfly Effect
I first experienced the writing of Ray Bradbury while at school - a chance english exercise, reading a collection of short stories called “Golden Apples of t...
Technology As An Obstacle
We are surrounded by so much technology, and yet all it really serves as is an obstacle, standing in the way of friends in distant places. Standing in the wa...
Entertaining The Deconstruction Of Hopes Plans And Dreams
Ernest Hemingway once wrote the following;
Arthur C Clarke And The Discovery Of Literature
Arthur C Clarke was the first author I really connected with. His stories captured my heart and mind, and demonstrated the power of the written word. Where A...
All The Worlds A Stage
Shakespeare said;
Working From Home
Fifteen minutes ago I sat down to write something before beginning work for the day. I still haven’t written anything (unless you count this). I now have hal...
The Tumblr Decimation
When I re-joined Tumblr in November, I visited popular posts by people I remembered in the hope that I would remember names or faces in the likes and comment...
Without Words Or Direction
When I sat here a few moments ago (shortly before the “A” key started acting up, and I ripped it from the keyboard, and then realising that perhaps I shouldn...
Sunday Morning Rugby
Over the last year Sunday mornings have transformed from late breakfasts, endless cups of tea, and catching up with friends on the internet to steaming breat...
One More Day
One more morning of getting up before the sun rises. One more day watching a seemingly endless round of lectures.
Bedtime Stories
After returning from work yesterday evening, I arrived home just in time to tuck the children in bed, and read their bedtime story. Given their inability to ...
Into The Belly Of The Beast
The title of this post isn’t entirely true. I wasn’t inside the belly of the beast at all… more “across the road” really.
The Day In Bullet Points
Got up at 5:30am, jumped in shower, then got dressed. While getting dressed did something to my lower back (don’t ask how). Have been ambling around like an ...
Sunday School And Pantomime
Murmurings escaped the children’s bedrooms a little after eight this morning. While gazing at the repetitive strobing of the alarm clock second marker, an un...
Saturday Six
The kids are at the middle school Christmas Bazaar today. W is helping run Santa’s Grotto, Miss 12 is doing stick-on tattoos, and the younger children are ea...
California Suite
Earlier this week some friends called with two spare tickets to watch a play at The Mill at Sonning. Fitting it in amid our work week was something of an adv...
Absent Minded And Distracted
While cycling home from work, I had a great idea for something to write about. The memory that I thought of something great to write about is a strong one. T...
The One Where Miss Seven Had A Day Off For No Reason At All
The primary school our children go to has a rule stating that if your child has been sick, they are not allowed to visit school until the have not been sick ...
Thoughts And Reflections On Blogging
I began blogging before the word had become part of the common vernacular. In the early days, people wrote about their day - their life. Online journals form...
The One Where He Figured Out How To Automagically Cross Post Toeverywhere
It never occurred to me before that the publishing features of WordPress could automatically publicise my scribbling - I hesitate to call it “writing” - out ...
The Night Watch
I’m sitting in our eldest daughter’s bedroom, using her netbook while she pretends to be getting tired. It’s heading towards 10pm. It’s all my fault, and I e...
Five Minutes Respite From The Madness
My work computer, running a shiny new copy of Windows 8, decided to follow the instructions of Chief Crazy Horse today, and agreed that “today would be a goo...
Adventures In Minecraft
Over the course of the last couple of years I have seen several friends post about an odd video game called “Minecraft” - an open ended sandbox where you cou...
Returning To Instagram
I re-joined Instagram earlier in the week. I’m not really sure why I did it, and I’m not really sure if it’s a good idea or not. I don’t seem to be sure abou...
Mayhem And Chaos Abound
At a little after 6am this morning our eldest daughter arrived in the bedroom doorway like a glum silhouette, murmuring about being unwell. Under normal circ...
Seduced By Moleskine
I was in the local bookstore several days ago with our youngest daughtershadowing her while she expertly re-arranged a low table filled with children’s books...
Perhaps Brain Dumps Are Therapeutic
I used to occasionally take part in a damn fool crusade on the internet called “750 Words”. The idea behind the site is that you empty your head into the key...
Wasps Versus Tigers And The Under Eights
On Sunday afternoon we wrapped up warm and made our way to Adams Park on the outskirts of High Wycombe to watch the rugby - London Wasps versus Leicester Tig...
From There To Here A Personal Blogging Journey
For me it all began in the late 1980s, with the explosion of Compuserve and AOL, and the lowering of the bar to a point where everybody could understand how ...
The Digital Photo Mountain
Over the last 12 years I have amassed something in the region of 45000 digital photos (and that number grows by several hundred every time we leave the house...
An Admission Of Horror And Resignation
One of the main reasons I chose to go with Blogger as an enduring solution for the writing I share online was the existence of my old posts - stretching back...
Platforms Destinations And Audiences
Walking back from the railway station last night after a 6 hour journey home, I began turning over a thought in my head. I thought it might be worth explorin...
The Journey Home
After a product and technology demonstration that went better than might have been expected, I wandered out onto the rain soaked streets of Harrogate this mo...
Dinner For One
After arriving back in the hotel room this evening, I changed out of my work clothes, had a wash, and wandered out into the street. For the first time since ...
The Journey North
Monday night finds me sat in a hotel in the far north of England, after close to 6 hours doing battle with the railways. I would like to say the journey was ...
Morning In The Park
There is a vague recollection of waking up far too early this morning, and hearing a little person ask “can we go downstairs?”, followed by a grunt from W, a...
The Tumblr Diversion
The title of this post sounds like the title of a Big Bang Theory episode, and it’s content is perhaps just as nerdy. I re-joined Tumblr last week, after swe...
Getting Back On The Horse
After a day off work sick (where my entire head turned into a very successful snot factory, breaking several production records over the course of 24 hours),...
Nablopomo And Lisa
One of the great benefits of having taken part in this curious online world for so long, is you know the back-story behind things. While reading a press-rele...
Emptying My Head
I have the day off work today, while the school is overtaken by a polling station. I don’t normally take any notice of politics, so was surprised to learn la...
Giving In To The Virus
I surrendered this morning. Raised the white flag. I worked from home yesterday with an awful fever, snotty nose, and sore throat - racing to get some work d...
Working From Home
Vague recollection tells me the dream I was having shortly before the radio alarm clock roused me this morning was a good one - it’s just a pity that I can’t...
Farms Weddings And Family
On Friday morning we threw hastily packed bags into the car, and set out for a farm in Oxfordshire - our home for the weekend while attending my little cousi...
An Unplanned Day Off
I booked today off months ago, to attend my cousin’s wedding. There’s one problem - my cousin’s wedding isn’t until tomorrow. I’m not quite sure how that hap...
Raining
A consistent, relentless downpour of rain is drumming the windows on one side of the house, and pouring from gutters on the other side. Somehow I don’t think...
The Journey To Cumbria
We finally left the house at about 10:30, and set out for “The Lake District” once more. After six uneventful hours, we finally arrived in Boot, just down th...
Twitter Tumblr Facebook And Wordpress The Four Legged Horse Ofthesocial Apocalypse
Anybody that has endured my online adventures for any amount of time knows that I change my mind about platforms and destinations on an almost daily basis. I...
The One Where The Doctor Told Me Not To Be Too Brave
This morning I found myself sat in the local Doctor’s waiting room for the third time since moving here 11 years ago. It was interesting to see how things ha...
The One Where I Broke A Rib
I haven’t really written about this in any great depth - although I have mentioned it. Given that I’ve been off work today, and have an appointment at the Do...
The Monday Morning Story
This morning began with a bedside vigil of the alarm clock - watching as it ticked inexorably towards the moment when I would absolutely have to get up in or...
Sideloading Kindle Ebooks On The Nexus 7 For A Summer Of Reading
Yes, I know the title hints at all manner of technical shenanigans. In reality, it’s just me choosing books to take away on holiday next weekand to begin rea...
Annoyances Mountain Lions And Idiot Cyclists
After much thought and deliberation (actually, very little thought, and even less deliberation), I’ve decided it might be better to not talk to anybody today...
10 Random Questions And Answers
If you could change something about your home, without worry about expense or mess, what would you do?
The Olympics Arrive
I stayed up with our eldest daughter last night to watch the opening ceremony of the Olympics. I had tried to impress upon her earlier in the week that the c...
Late Night With The Netbook
It’s heading towards 1am, and I’m sitting in the dark with the netbook. I’m camping out in the lounge tonight - the patio doors are wide open, with occasiona...
Contemplating A Line In The Writing Sand
Before returning to WordPress recently, I lived almost exclusively among the intrepid community of lifestreaming idiots at Tumblr. I use the word “idiot” in ...
Google Nexus 7
More by luck than judgement, the “Google Nexus 7” arrived yesterday eveningafter falling off my mountain bike on the way home (another story for another day)...
Wine Sunshine And Drudgery
While dissolving into a puddle of sweat in the office yesterday (computers don’t make for good refrigeration devices), I texted my better half;
Memories Of Turkey And The Yediburunlar Lighthouse
Late in the summer of 2006 we got on a plane at London Heathrow, switched our mobile phones off, and dissappeared. Vanished.
The First Day Of The School Holidays
The chickens woke me this morning at some ludicrous hour (yes, we have pet chickens). They appeared to be rehearsing their own special version of the Barber ...
Thoughts On A Blogging Resurrection
When I returned to WordPress last weekend, I mentioned that I had been re-treading a familiar path between blogging platforms. From self-hosted WordPress, th...
In Appreciation Of Friends Pizza Wine And The Stars
After wandering into town yesterday afternoon while the rest of the clan were at a “Teddy Bear’s Picnic” (best not to ask), I picked up some food for dinner ...
Seduced By Moleskine
On the shelf above the desk in our study stands a line of old moleskine notebooks. The first was discovered in the stationary isle of the local book store wh...
Being The Journeyman Blogger
For the past several years I have lived a curious online existencefloating between the various social networks and blog platforms. I’ve been searching for an...
The One Where She Failed The Peter Pan Audition
In an effort to get the younger children into bed a little faster this evening I proposed a race, where the last one with teeth brushed, pyjamas on, and into...
About Last Night
There was a time when I could sit a the keyboard and just “write”. Press keys. Most of the time the words appearing on the screen would amount to no more tha...
Lunchtime In The Land Of Fear And Loathing
Ok, so the title was a bit on the dramatic side. I’m back at work after a day off - wrestling with source code once again, and peering up the side of mount i...
Tuesday Morning At Starbucks With Ethanol Powered Rocket Scooters
Yes, I know the title is rather spectacular. Keep reading - it will all make sense in the end.
The One Where The Bike Tried To Kill Me Honest
While turning the pedals of my mountain bike en-route to work this morning (I hesitate to call what I do “cycling”), an ominous crunching sound escaped my ri...
Part Of Me
While single handed today with two of our children at the weekend, I decided to combat the rain with a trip to see “Part of Me” at the cinema. It caught me t...
Morning In Starbucks
Well this is a novel experience… it’s heading towards 10am, and I’m sat at a small table near the window in Starbucks, watching people come and go. After dro...
To Strive To Seek To Find And Not To Yield
While aimlessly surfing the internet late last night a Facebook browser tab flickered, and began blinking. Curiosity got the better of me as it so often does...
Stepping Back
This weekend I finally decided to stop doing freelance web development work in my spare time. I’ve made my apologies to the client I have been working with r...
Random Thoughts On Friday
The clock just ticked past midnight. It’s now Friday in England. In a few short hours I will be rolling out of bed, rubbing sleep from my eyes and stumbling ...
Food Friends And Nights To Remember
When we arrived home from work on Friday evening, I seem to remember asking if there were any plans afoot for the coming weekend. Although each weekend is us...
Tiredness Tantrums And Twitter
Has it really been a week since I last wrote in the blog? Apparently so. I’m sat in the study at home, late in the evening on a Friday night, wondering what ...
830Am On Sunday
I can’t believe I’m up so early on a Sunday. I also can’t believe it’s been a week since I last wrote in the blog. I guess I could explain it away by being b...
That Was The Weekend That Was
I’m sat here at work on Monday morning, and I’m pretty much burned out before the week has even begun. I’m thinking that perhaps spending twenty minutes empt...
Weird Dreams
I had the strangest dream last night. I was walking through London, and spotted a girl I grew up across the road from on the other side of the roadstanding b...
Olympians
Our 8 year old is doing a school project on the Olympics, part of which is to prepare a “project board” at homea presentation board covering any aspect of th...
Somebody Press The Stop Button Please
As Mondays after the half term holidays go, today was pretty uneventful. Having an “uneventful” day doesn’t happen by accident of courseit requires skill, de...
Sunday Morning
It’s Sunday morning. I guess the title kind of gave that awayalthough I could have written this on another day, and mis-titled it on purpose. That would have...
Not The End I Promise
Once upon a time I would sit down each night and pour the contents of my head into the keyboardtelling tales, relating stories, and finding words to describe...
Jubilee Friends Food Drink Fantastic
There had been plans to celebrate the Queen’s diamond jubilee on the green outside our housegathering friends and neighbours for a communal picnic in much th...
That Was The Week That Was
I can’t believe it’s been the best part of a week since I last wrote in the blog. There was a time when I wrote every dayrecorded everything that happened. L...
Weekends Are Those Things That Other People Have
Don’t get me wrong - the weekend was tremendous fun, but it seemed to be centered around everybody else’s fun.
The One Where All The Wheels Fell Off The Wagon
Today started with me going nuclear in the kitchen, and ended with me defeatedly reading a stream of emails from work… at 10pm.
Gardening Pratfalls And Explosive Laughter
While cutting the grass in the back garden last night, the children made their way out into the garden to accompany me - to watch, to get in the way, and to ...
Sitting In The Dark
A few moments ago, after wandering into the kitchen with the intention of making a cup of coffee, I filled the kettle with water, switched it on, and then fo...
Losing A Day
I woke late this morning with a pounding headache, and started counting back through the alcohol I had consumed the night before. Three bottles of Budweiser ...
Alone With A Beer
Our eldest is away at a Guide camp, the younger kids are asleep on their bedroom floor (don’t asktheir version of “camping” I think), and W is at her friend’...
Playground Skirmishes Raise An Interesting Dilemma
Over the last few years I have written the story of our adventures as a family, and our children in a blog. I’ve shared countless stories, observations and i...
Late Night In Monaco
After washing the dinner things, tidying the kitchen up, putting the kids to bed (W was out), and checking email last night, I finally made it into the loung...
Dancing Girls And Unexpected Credit
Over the past few weeks my better half has been working on a secret project - at times our lounge has been carpeted with penguin headpieces, and at other tim...
Car Crashes Running And Boobs
While exiting the relative safety of the quiet country estate roads while cycling home last night on my mountain bike, something rather entertaining happened...
The Day After The Night Before
I’m rapidly discovering that burning the candle at both ends doesn’t really work. It probably doesn’t help that I’m not so much burning both ends, as throwin...
Tuesday Morning Parcel Club
It’s Tuesday morning after the bank holiday, and I’m sat at home, watching the minutes tick by. Apparently a parcel is “on the road” en-route to me via the H...
When Did She Start Growing Up
Miss Eleven is changing in front of our eyes. Somebody seems to have taken the happy go lucky young girl, and replaced her with a demanding, lazy, resistive,...
Thoughts About The Failure Of Tumblr
I have been a member of Tumblr since it started. I have walked away and returned many times - each time drawn back by the relationships forged with people al...
Perhaps A Quiet Saturday Might Be Good
It’s heading towards half past one on Saturday afternoon. The younger children are in the park in front of our house playing, the eldest is writing something...
The One Where The Xbox 360 Was Delivered And Probably Stolen
A few nights ago I ordered an XBox 360 from Amazon, along with a few games. It would appear the XBox isn’t going to get here because the delivery driver has ...
Name Five Things That Live In The Sea
We always try and sit together at the table for meals - be that breakfast, lunch at weekends, or evening meals in the week. Quite apart from instilling famil...
Mountain Bikes Punctures And Ass Hattery
On the way home from work last night the bike started to feel strange - shifting imperceptibly sideways under me. At first I ignored it, and put it down to t...
Thoughts About The Online Community
I’m betting there must be some kind of mathematical model that describes the clumping of users within blogging communities such as WordPress and Tumblr, and ...
The One Where The Day Went Straight To Hell
In a spectacular display of ass-hattery, the hosting company of one of the services we use all the time at work decided it would be a good idea to upgrade th...
Saturday Morning
For the first time in weeks we have nothing planned today. Saying that, it’s tipping down with rain outside. The kids have avoided killing each other so far,...
Falling Out Of The Loop
I never thought I would say this, but I’ve kind of fallen off the blogging horse. I know it will be temporary, transitory, or any of those other long words p...
Running Around In Circles
Another day passes, and once again it feels like my feet have hardly touched the ground all day. From the moment the radio alarm clock burst into life at 7am...
Please Excuse My Absence From The Interwebs
If you’ve been wondering about my relative silence online, it’s because three things happened; I lost it with Windows 8 and formatted the machine at home Goo...
And We Smile
A little after lunch a window popped open on my desktop, with a single word inside it. “Hello”. The biggest grin spread across my face, and has remained ever...
What Would It Take
I had an interesting conversation with an old friend yesterday. He asked what it would take for me to be lured away to work elsewhere. I’m pretty sure he was...
Livejournal And Vox
After much dicking around (something I seem to be particularly talented at), I renamed my LiveJournal account to my real name. I don’t like “hiding” online -...
Livejournal
I am my own worst enemy. Not content with having a self-hosted wordpress blog that I haven’t written anything in for over a week, I have been nosing around L...
We Won
We took part in a fundraiser at the infant school this evening - raising money for two daughters of a friend to go on a trip to Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Afte...
Busy Busy Busy
It’s been one of those days - up early, single handed the entire day, take all the kids to football (eldest plays for the town - they got thrashed), drag the...
In Need Of Repair
I’m starting to wonder if I’ve been cheating old father time for the last few years, and he’s just discovered the discrepency while doing an audit.
10 Random Questions
While noodling around this lunchtime on the interwebs, it struck me that I haven’t done one of these exercises in quite some time. After googling the random ...
The One Where The Day Didnt Stop
Yes, yes, I know “the day didn’t stop” is a ridiculous statement. Of course days don’t stopthat would imply either the earth stopping spinning (whereupon mom...
Why Im On Tumblr
I have a chequered past with Tumblr. I joined back in 2007, within weeks of the website launching, and dicked around with it endlessly while writing elsewher...
The Madness Of Smoking
W had a bad day yesterday - I think the Easter Holidays caught up with her - dealing with the children, the decorating, and a birthday party in consecutive d...
Turning The Pedals
This blog was called “Turning the Pedals” for a while, and the name befits this week rather well. At the beginning of the week we were holed up at my parents...
The One Where Miss Six Became Miss Seven
I woke this morning at 7am, and figured I had at least another three quarters of an hour before getting up. To be honest, I was surprised the kids didn’t wak...
Answering Questions
My quite wonderful far flung friendAntidamenfrom Norway (we have known each other sincewaybefore Tumblr), requested answers to the following questions - who ...
Easter In Cornwall
Leaving the house on Thursday afternoon wasn’t so much a planned departure, as a concerted effort to lever everybody from the house. A somewhat calm day rapi...
Falling Apart At The Seams
The weekend before last I was playing football on the green outside our house, and the bright idea popped into my head to see if you could kick a football wh...
Mcdonalds Build A Bear And The The New Ipad
After standing in a freezing cold field for a couple of hours yesterday morning watching our eldest’s football team get walloped by a team of bigger, stronge...
Uncertainty
News broke this morning that the company I have been working with recently has had the carpet pulled from under it in a sudden and dramatic manner.
Following Friendship
Something occurred to me today. I have to admit I had not really thought about it before, which probably says a lot about me as a person (or at least, it wil...
Idiocy Abounds
I had intended on walking to the gas station to get something to drink and eat - but was met by a traffic jam. At 11pm. All because the union containing the ...
The Sport Relief Mile
The better part of Sunday saw the Beckett household (and W’s Mum) turn out en-masse in Higginson Park to take part in the Sport Relief Mile. We were all up b...
Old Friends Open My Eyes
I quite accidentally got back in touch with an old friend recently. She worked at a web design company in San Francisco back in the dot com boom, and somehow...
What On Earth Am I Doing Up
It’s 7am on Saturday morning. I’ve been up for the best part of an hour already. I’ve had a shower, tidied up a bit, and am looking forward to watching the F...
Kicking And Screaming
Late last night I called home to see how the day had gone, and to find out what on earth I might buy W for her birthday (which was today). An unexpected voic...
Buzz Out Loud And The End Of All Things
People often say “all good things come to an end”, and I can’t help feeling that sometimes they shouldn’t. Of course we can’t force the present to continue i...
On The Road Yet Again
I woke up at 5:30am this morning, and watched the minutes flicker past on the alarm clock. I reasoned with myself that 6:15 would be the absolute latest I co...
The One Where Blogger Jumped The Shark
After several hours monkeying with assorted python scripts and megabytes of XML a few weeks ago, I succeeded in pulling the full archive of all the blog post...
Mothers Day
The greater part of today adhered to the hopeful script very well indeed. I fell out of bed early, deflected the children for a couple of hours, provided a c...
Being A Writer
A few people have recently commented that I should write. Not just the blog, but a “proper” chunk of writing - a book - a novel. I don’t know. Quite apart fr...
Not Forgotten Just Misplaced
It’s Friday evening, after an unremarkable week. The children are fast asleep upstairs, and “Water for Elephants” is playing on the television. The clock jus...
Tonsillitis
Early in the hours of Monday morning I snapped awake to the sound of footsteps between the bedrooms. Without opening an eye, the footsteps wandered slowly in...
Thoughts About The Raspberry Pi
While reading various forum posts about Raspberry Pi supply chain issues, it got me thinking about the wider picture this evening. I guess for the benefit of...
A Quieter Weekend Than Planned
It struck me this afternoon that I haven’t written in this blog for whole days. Unheard of.
What If We Hadnt Adopted Them
While making a cup of coffee earlier, a co-worker asked me what we are doing at the weekend. I laughed, and she frowned.
An Unexpectedly Rainy Day
While making a cup of tea for my co-workers this morning, I stood daydreaming at the kitchen window - wondering if I should write a few minutes worth of thou...
The Tarzan Yodel Escalation
The evening seemed to be going so well. I got in from work after a pretty productive day, was greeted by the chickens while walking my bike to the shed, and ...
Slowing Sunday Down
In the spirit of the way most things seem to happen around here at the moment, Sunday rolled straight over me like a truck, rather than heeding any instructi...
Another Birthday
In truth, I had completely forgotten about my birthday until a couple of days ago when W mentioned about her parents coming over today to come out for lunch ...
The One Where Miss Eight Showed Her True Musical Leanings
It’s a funny old world. After the stresses and strains of yesterday, returning home in a foul mood (caused by computers failing to bend themselves to my will...
Sometimes Offline Sometimes Tired Sometimes Stressed
I seem to be making a habit of writing at the “wrong end of the day” (or at least, it’s the wrong end of the day if you take any notice of the “Artists Way” ...
Mexican Night
Yesterday morning Mrs Beckett reminded me that we had tickets to attend a charity function at the local primary school - a “Mexican” night. A nearby restaura...
Memories Of The Game Of Kings
It’s late on Sunday evening, and I’m wondering what to do with the last hours of the weekend. I’ve setup camp in the living room - sat at the dining table wi...
What Happened To The Week
It seems like days since I last wrote in the blog. I guess it hasbeen days. When I’m buried in stress during the daytime, it pretty much kills off any though...
Holy Haircuts Batman
I will neither confirm or deny that somebody stole most of my hair this morning.
Emptying My Head
750 Words is a fantastic website where you can empty your head, and get your thoughts analysed by all manner of psychological profiling techniques. The only ...
Hello Midnight My Old Friend
Where on earth did the evening go? Where on earth did the entire day go? I remember looking at my watch mid-morning, thinking it was going to be a slow day. ...
Simplify Simplify Simplify
After giving it a couple of weeks, I’ve unplugged “the blog” (the one you’re reading) from both Facebook and Google Plus. It’s not a niche blog. It’s not goi...
Meetups And Tweetups
Over the past couple of years I have dipped into and out of the community of bloggers writing at Tumblr, and vicariously witnessed the various meetups that t...
Saturday Happens To Me
Saturday began like any other day; with the eruption of the radio alarm clock, the flooding of cold sunlight across the bedroom, and the calls from little pe...
Tick Tock Tea
While out on a secret shopping trip in town to compile goodies for an even more secret parcel I’ll be sending to a friend, I spied something. Something I hav...
The Little Netbook That Could
I never imagined a little, underpowered computer would be so useful. It was bought with some “spare” cash about 2 years ago, as a travelling companion for th...
Recounting A Valentine Adventure
I couldn’t resist recounting this particular adventure. I had planned to write about it earlier in the week, but life somehow got in the way. In the spirit o...
Doodling With Intent
Not a lot of people know that I once spent two years trudging to and from college - and while studying computer science, and mathematics, I also studied phot...
An Englishmans Home Is His Homepage
After a number of people chased me with prospective freelance webdesign projects in recent weeks, I thought it might be a good idea to have a homepage.
An Afternoon In The Garden Of Fear And Loathing
It’s half past threefive oclock in the afternoon, and I’m forcing myself to have a belated lunch break at work. Do you ever have days when you watch the emai...
Too Many Hats
Over the last few weeks an inescapable truth has become more evident than ever before; I can’t be everything - I can’t do everything. I can’t be all the thin...
Midnight In Paris For Valentines
This afternoon a good friend asked if I was doing anything special for Valentines. Her bemused reaction to my amusement required an explanation.
Dipping A Toe Back Into Tumbling Waters
I used to have a blog atTumblr. I got annoyed with it’s shortcomings, and walked away. I then tried WordPress. I got annoyed with it’s shortcomings, and walk...
Music
A slow Sunday morning is affording the opportunity to vanish down a musical rabbit hole this morning - in pursuit of new music to listen to. A new soundtrack...
20 Random Things About Me
This is all Lauren’s fault. If not for her reminding me about the wonder that is “X things about me” posts, I would have struggled to come up with anything t...
Much Needed Peace And Quiet
More by luck than judgement, today has become a slow day. A day filled with nothing much at all. A day to sit down, listen to music, write, rest, and drink t...
Further Adventures In Azeroth
Who knew that sneaking through the back woods of a fictional world, running errands for inn keeper’s daughters, and dealing with infestations of things that ...
The Bloggers I Remember
At lunchtime today I was flicking through Darren Rowse’s “31 Days to Build a Better Blog” exercises, after passing the link on to a friend who is just starti...
Let It Snow Let It Snow Let It Snow
The snow began falling as I cycled home last night. Snowflakes are surprisingly painful when your angular momentums coincide at sufficient velocity (that pro...
Thoughts About Leaving Tumblr
At the risk of covering this subject to death and then some, I wanted to write a bit about Tumblr - and my reasons for walking away from it. I made a lot of ...
Revisiting Mary Annings Remarkable Creatures
In a stroke of genius following a horrendous morning, I booked two days off work next week to coincide with half term. You might be wondering why the term “g...
Returning To Normality
After the trials and tribulations of travelling with work, today marked a return to “normal”. My normal. The one where I fall out of bed before I really want...
Another Morning In The Coffee Shop
I am now the proud owner of a Costa Coffee card. I just picked one up from the counter while ordering exactly the right thing, using exactly the right langua...
On The Road Again
It’s Monday morning, and I’m sat in a coffee shop hundreds of miles from home. The day began for me at 6 this morning, rolling out of bed moments before the ...
Home Is Where The Key Fits
Welcome to my humble abode for the evening. I’m not going to tell you exactlywhich hotel, owned by exactlywhich chain I am in, for fear of betraying my posit...
Winter Wonderland
It had been forecast for days. Levels of excitement around the younger members of the household had been escalating dangerously all afternoon. Our promises o...
Islands In The Stream
Over the course of the last few hours I have been searching out old haunts on the internet - in pursuit of original, interesting, and well written personal b...
Frosty Saturday Morning
The arrival of Saturday was marked by the streaming of sunlight across the bedroom ceiling, and the broadcasting of an easy listening playlist from the radio...
A Blogging Journey
For the last several months I’ve been re-treading a familiar path between blogging platforms - one I have walked before. From self-hosted WordPress, through ...
A Second Visit To Azeroth
After dinner yesterday evening I suggested to my better half (having taken a brief look at World of Warcraft last weekend) that it might be a better chill ou...
Thoughts About Virtual Worlds
This evening I installed Second Life, and World of Warcraft - finally taking a look at the virtual worlds I have heard so much about over the last few years.
Another Weekend Vanishes Up Its Own Ass
I’m not entirely sure what happened to this weekend (well, I am, but I’m not impressed that it whistled past as quickly as it did).
Winds Blow Pedals Turn And The World Carries On
I woke in the early hours to a performance of operatic magnitude outside the bedroom window. I can’t recall the wind ever putting on such an impressive show....
Up And Running
I woke up a little after 6 this morning when our youngest charges decided it was time to get up, get out of bed, and start playing some kind of game in their...
To Begin Again
I’ve sat here for the last few minutes and re-written this opening sentence several times. How do you start? What should your first words say? How important ...
Time To Change Heads
After three days chained to the desk at home listening to a far flung educator, and getting far too used to wandering into the kitchen to make coffee and rai...
Thoughts About Blogging
I began blogging before the word had become part of the common vernacular. In the early days, people wrote about their day - their life. Online journals form...
There And Back Again
After being away with work so often recently, I have become first choice among our children for bedtime stories. I’m not sure how long this favoritism will l...
Theism Athiesm And Agnosticism
After I got back from my run this morning, while stood in the kitchen making a cup of coffee I switched the television on and half caught a typical “Sunday M...
The Sun Rises And Heralds A Fightback
I worked from home on Wednesday, looking after our seven year old who had started throwing up on Tuesday night. By the end of Wednesday I was throwing up too...
The One Where My Parents Visit
A little after lunchtime today my mobile phone vibrated in my pocket - signalling an answer to the question the children had been asking every half an hour a...
The One Where 2 Hours Became 5
The children made dinner for me today. A special “going away” dinner - to mark my final day with them for a week. As six oclock neared, I pulled the bags I h...
The Morning After The Night Before
For the first time since having the children, we spent New Years Eve at home. Normally we find ourselves spending Christmas and New Year racing around the co...
The Day Before The Night Before Christmas
It’s the final day of work before Christmas, and I find myself at something of a loose end. I’m attempting a little “housekeeping” with the work computer (wh...
The Creeping Dread Of Travelling With Work
On Sunday evening I will leave town on the train, waving goodbye to my family, and head towards a week living in a hotel once again. This will be the longest...
The Beautiful Game
We woke at 7 this morning and watched the clock tick until nearly 8, when we knew we would have to be out of bed. The coach of the local team was calling wit...
Steve Jobs Geektastic And The Future Of Ideas
I received a number of fantastic books for Christmas this year, and can’t wait to read them;
Seven Plus One Equals Eight
In a repeat of last weekend, which I believe I may have referred to as “not a weekend” during more than one stressed moment, this weekend is careering off un...
Responding To A Letter From The Past
While digging through old blog posts a few moments ago, I came across a post I wrote in 2006, titled “A letter to my future self”. I thought I might share it...
Religion And Free Will
Why is it that - without exception - the people I know who believe in a God or Gods and visit church regularly seem to think there is nothing wrong in acting...
Rebelling Against The Self Proclaimed Experts
Earlier today I spent a little time reviewing the people I follow through the various social networks, and re-visited the continual search for the new, and t...
Online Training Exposes A Hangup
Today was the first of three spent holed up in the study at home, taking part in an online training course for a technology platform I’ve been using for the ...
New Years Day With Wonderful Friends
We were invited out this afternoon to spend time with some friends that live across the green from us (quite how we have not got together in the past is anyb...
Its Nothing Like The Movies
For the last several months my entire life has been consumed by work - leaving my family behind for the greater part of each week to live in a hotel far from...
Gravity Happens
Yesterday began before the sun came up, racing across the country in the dark to reach a far away office in time to begin somebody else’s day. From the momen...
From There To Here A Personal Blogging Journey
In the spirit of re-visiting adventures past for the amusement of the masses, I thought it might be interesting to recount a few of the twists and turns of m...
Fourth Night
Tonight marks the fourth and final night in the hotel - I received word in the office this morning that I’ll be released, and will be able to travel home tom...
First Time Ive Been Ill In Over A Year
I’m not joking. It might even be 18 months. Sure, I’ve had colds. This feels more like flu though (I bet it isn’t - but I have a creeping dread). I’ve had fl...
Finding Out Who Your Friends Are
Earlier this evening I wrote a somewhat abrasive comment about Tumblr exercising their right to slash and burn the “Missing E” browser extension from their i...
Final Friday Of The Year
I’m sat in the study at home, bathed in the light of a desk lamp, two monitors, and a laptop. I’m officially “on call” for work - which in reality means I lo...
Embracing Your Inner Weirdness
In recent months the various pulls on my time have regularly conspired to erode the blogging community I know and love to a silent crowd viewed from a passin...
Doing Nothing
I overslept this morning. I had been planning on getting up not long after the children to hopefully deflect them somewhat from my parents. I appeared downst...
Doing Nothing On Purpose
For the last couple of days I have been more or less “offline” - or at least, disconnected more often than not. I will neither confirm or deny that I have ea...
Bad Moods Broken Bikes Football And Running Shoes
I came home in a hell of a bad mood this evening. I would probably have been okay, but found myself picking up mugs, glasses, cups, plates and cutlery before...
An Early Start
The scrambling of a little person wrenched me from my dreams this morning as she made her way up our bed in the dark, and sought warmth in the bedclothes bet...
Adding Up The Miles
This will be the last post for a while about running - I promise. Fitness blogs are insufferable at the best of times - which is why I’ve signed up for a soc...
9 Years Approaches
ParisLemon” recently (the tumblog of former tech journalist MG Siegler), it occurred to me that a rather significant milestone is approaching - as 2011 becom...
4 Trains
While riding in the back of a taxi through Gloucester headed for the station this evening, as I chatted to the taxi driver a glass fronted chip shop flashed ...