Freshly Spilled Thoughts

I watched the first episode of 70 UP last night. It was a real eye-opener for me, seeing all these kids with innocent dreams, hopes and aspirations, then seeing what happened to their lives in 7 year increments.

The happiest ones at the beginning seemed much more miserable by the end.

The poshest/most affluent ones seem to go on the most predictable trajectories.

There was a proper northern kid who did really well academically, but ended up divorced and I felt sorry for him as the woman seemed like she just chose him initially because he ticked a couple of boxes (i.e. attraction). What a shit show.

There was one who started off as an orphan who wanted to become a jockey. He succeeded and was in a major race, but someone told him his weight might be an issue and he quit. That is a major error – never listen to what other people say or think YOUR life should be and bend to the power of their words in passing. Never.  Always follow your dream, even if everyone around you thinks you’re mad or wasting your time. Being true to yourself is literally the only thing that counts.

I could tell he still had regrets about not pursuing being a jockey as a fully fledged career. He did a bit of acting after that but never became a ful time actor. The interviewer said, “You never actually became a jockey or an actor for a living, did you?”. He replied, “Isn’t it better to be a ‘has been’ than a ‘never was'”.

That must be one of the best replies to a critical interviewer I’ve witnessed. Bravo.

He ended up being a taxi driver for a living. The interesting thing to me is as a kid he manifested all this early doors. His dream was to become a jockey and he made that happen before falling at the final hurdle (excuse the pun). When asked what he would do if being a jockey fell through, he said he’d become a taxi driver.

Your brain makes it happen if you practice autosuggestion. It’s absolutely crazy how that works and it’s why I believe in manifesting/visualising what you want in life.

There was another guy who was quite brilliant as a kid, but for some reason he went on to lead a very lonely and solitary life. He was clearly very eccentric and set in his ways, but that is a crushing thing, just being left with your own thoughts for endless years. He had so much potential.

There were 3 women who were basically mates. One got up the duff early and the other two got married. Divorces happened – you know, the usual. It’s a life of sorts I suppose, with people making the best of what they have at their disposal.

I found it all very interesting and at 70 years of age it’s the last one they are ever doing. 1 episode to go.

I told you we’d all get used to the summer, then autumn would come flaunting its wares with only leaves to cover its modesty.

You know, I was thinking earlier, that if you ever wanted to get information or a confession out of a hostage… there would be no need to go down the traditional route of physical torture or submerging them in ice cold water.

All you’d need to do is buy at least one Ed Sheeran album, then leave the room for the entire thing to blare out in stereo from start to finish.

At the end, just walk back in and let them know if they don’t confess right now, the Ed Sheeran album is going to play on loop for the next 72 hours at twice the volume.

At this juncture they’ll tell you anything you want to know.

They’ll even tell you the colour of their wife’s underwear if you employ this method with conviction.

At the moment I’m enjoying watching people swim in the wrong direction. I still haven’t been accepted as a regular at the swimming in the fast lane, so I talk to the outsiders in the slow lane who are much friendlier. A woman with a green cap on looks at me very sternly like I’ve stolen her toffee apples. The other day she waved at someone and said how the devil are you. I replied and said I’m good thanks, but she was talking to the person next to me who she must have gone on a skiing holiday with or something.

When someone says, “It’s a lovely day for it”, what is it they mean exactly? I don’t think they should put me in a position to agree or disagree when they are acting in such a coy and ambiguous manner.

Hello Tuesday. You look familiar. A bit like other Tuesdays I’ve been acquainted with, but there’s something about you that isn’t like all the rest.

It must be your hairdo.

=================================

I asked God to send a swordsman, and he said:

“Look at your hands.”

=================================

We all have the power to pick up the blade, do the hard work and fight the battle.

Choose to be empowered, no matter what your circumstances are.

That my friends, is my thought of the day.

There’s a woman in my feed who mainly types text updates on social media.

She doesn’t reveal who she is (followers only get to see her feet, but I’m not really into that kind of thing).

I digress…

The point of this post is to say she remains anonymous so she can use this social media ‘thang’ as a cathartic vehicle for whatever she has on her mind, with no fear of consequence.

Of course, this means she is unhindered with whatever she writes. I assume it makes her feel better.

The posts are often angry but authentic. It’s interesting in as far as being an insight into a stream of conscious thoughts with a certain sense of word economy (driven by the platform).

Capturing emotion in just a few words is a skill in itself.

For example:

10th September: Quickfire 17 Minute Random Brain Dump

14s
If anyone ever asks what you do, explain to them that if you told them you’d have to kill them. They will ALWAYS laugh in response to this.

Do not fall for this whimsy. When they realise you’re serious in as far as you are not going to tell them, they then think you’re a hitman.
·
2m
To reduce carbs, on days I swim I have an omelette for dinner. Even if I say so myself, I make amazing, albeit relatively simple omelettes.

The secret is that I ________ the ________ until it is cooked to perfection.
·
5m
I saw someone walking a sheep along the pavement the other day, like it was a normal thing to do.

It was on a rope, but the person walking it looked like they thought it was a pet.

Absolutely bizarre.

I remember when people used to walk dogs.
·
6m
I was watching a fight between Dave Allen and Thomas Carty the other day.

Carty flew out of the ropes like Superman. It was amazing to watch. I said exactly those words at the time.

Then Tony Bellew said, “He just went out of the ring like Superman”

Great minds. Great minds.
·
10m
I bought a new webcam.

It cost 50 english pounds and I intend to use it.

But you won’t find me on OnlyFans

(Sorry to disappoint)
·
12m
Anyhoo, I have swum 17 miles since I started on June 18th. Considering I felt like I was drowning for the first 15 miles, this may well be my greatest achievement.

I’ve ordered a crown and a pair of goggles that don’t mist up easily 😉
·
14m
I took inspiration from a 102 year old that said the secret to longevity is swimming & red wine.

I easily ticked the red wine box last night.

But then I had to follow it up with swimming today.

I watched one guy swim 100 lengths.

Amazes me. I did 36.
·
17m
Today I had a convo with AI. I asked it to find the largest pool in the world as long as it doesn’t contain piranhas.

In this convo it referred to me as ‘mate’

I asked it if it called me mate (it did) & it said no, as it if was anticipating being reprimanded (so it lied)

Made me laugh this morning. Someone sent John Cleese this card.

If you’ve ever seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail, you’ll ‘get it’…

Why do women do that cosmetic thing with their lips so they end up looking like they are swimming around in a goldfish bowl?

Men do not find it attractive, but women seem to think they do (it’s unfathomable).

There’s also a limit as to how much ‘work’ someone has done actually takes away their ability to perform basic facial expressions.

Nicole Kidman is a good example. She’s an actress where you can no longer tell if she’s happy, sad, bemused, angry, elated… which isn’t the best thing when you’re trying to convey emotion or a story.

I tried to watch something with her in not long ago and I gave up because I felt like I was just watching a blank slate. I used to really like Nicole Kidman as well.

And don’t get me started on Katie Price. An absolute train wreck that has to keep licking her lips to check they are still there.

You can’t make a silk purse out of a sows ear. You really can’t.

Wow – it’s been so long since I last listened to this. When it came out I thought it was genius.

In 2014 I had this to say about it: “This song (one of my favourites) should have blown up all over the place. As it stands it’s a secret between you and me, okay…“

Listening to it again 12 years later confirms nothing has diminished that opinion…

Josef Salvat: This Life (everyone should listen to this at least once in their lifetime)

I wrote this a few weeks ago. It was an ‘off the cuff’ intro to the start of a short story.

If you read a story that began like this, would you read the rest of it?

The Forgotten Key

The forgotten key was something that he’d only ever heard his dad talk about in passing. The old man was legendary at spinning a yarn and nothing got in the way of a good story, so he didn’t think it was actually real. Not in a million years! Until that day he discovered it hiding underneath an old dusty picnic blanket in the dark corner of the loft. He shouldn’t have even been in there crouching beneath the roof beams, and he’d surely get into big trouble if anyone found out. It was weighty and magnificent in his hand. He stood there for a minute imagining what a key such as this would open. A mighty chest full of treasure? A door to an inner sanctum of some kind? Should he ask his dad about it when he comes home from work or keep this to himself, at least for now?

Moments later there was a loud yet familiar noise outside. The screech of the brakes on his dad’s old Ford pickup. “Shit! He’s gonna kill me.” 

We only ever did this a couple of times, but this was the night everyone in the family got involved with stargazing.

The next door neighbour pressed himself against the bathroom window trying to work out what we were doing (he didn’t know we could see him – the weirdo)

Patrick Moore eat your heart out…

Fully fledged post on this at some point in ze future.

I found a photo earlier of me in Cambridge with friends. We found a conveniently placed mirror we could capture proof of our existence in with the aid of a mobile device 😉

I’m the one holding the phone up obscuring my own face (well done Dean)…

Cool though eh…

Today I swam 36 lengths. I actually managed to relax enough today to enjoy it without feeling like Jaws was about to grab my ankles and pull me under the water (lol). I’ve discovered that my best ally is not thinking about anything while I’m swimming.

If you can just zone out and get lost in the rhythm it turns into an altogether more beautiful thing.

The scales are still showing I’m at 9lbs weight loss since I started this, but I’m noticing subtle things like my clothes starting to feel looser and I’m not getting tired after the session anymore.

My swimming shorts are starting to look like they belong to someone else (lol).

So all this is tangible progress.

I’ve always done cardio but I’ve never done more stamina/endurance based stuff like this in recent years. Even when I was running regularly, I never did it for this long.

I’m going to keep up the resistance training in between so my body hangs onto the muscle while I’m dropping weight off the scales.

I should be a lean, mean, fighting machine in about 6 months from here. *crowd roars*

Hardly anyone I know has watched or knows of the sitcom, Black Books.

People should be walking around saying, “Ah yes. I am aware of this contemporary comedy sitcom classic and I experienced rejuvenation in both mind and spirit after partaking in its viewing.”

But no… they just say, “Nah, never heard of it. I don’t watch programmes about books. Don’t read much actually.”