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Anthony Hopkins hasn’t had an alcoholic drink for 49 years.
49 YEARS.
That’s a long time to commit to sobriety.
I have mixed feelings about alcohol. On the good side, some of the best laughs and times in my life have involved the consumption of it, so any form of regret is pointless.
I have a long lasting love affair with red wine…
It’s hard to turn down Don David or a glass of Primitivio.
I think all that stuff was created by some sort of demi-god.
The same one that created things like lust and adrenaline.
On the bad side, I’ve seen lives destroyed, I lost a friend to it (his liver packed up) and there are people I’m related to that have serious issues with it.
It also doesn’t suit some people.
Alcohol can make one person wretched and another one fun to be around.
My one grandfather was an alcoholic of goliath proportions.
So is it a good thing or a bad thing?
It depends on the user. Like any drug, the master starts out thinking that it’s the slave.
That is until the slave becomes the master.
This is what happened to Felix Dennis. A man who built up a NASDAQ listed company in two years whilst being off his tits on cocaine.
You can get a lot done when you don’t need sleep.
Speaking of problems, to my knowledge alcohol never solved any of those either.
Socially, I still think it’s a good thing and I currently have no intention of quitting it altogether.
It’s a counter-intuitive thing to be indulging in regularly if you’re exercising or trying to eat a healthy diet/trying to lose weight.
As fun as it is, there’s no real sense in running 5km and then recovering on half a bottle of wine.
Anyone that drinks a bottle or more is well on their way to being a HOBO.
So I’ve committed to completely quitting alcohol for at least 3 months… with ONE exception.
I’m still going to drink socially if I’m in the mood. Other than that I’m off the booze.
The body starts doing what it’s supposed to do when you aren’t putting it on high alert with alcohol on a regular basis.
Discipline. It sounds boring, but everything good and worth having in the long run comes from it.
So I’m 90% committed with a get out of jail card when I want to indulge without it turning into a habit.
I used to think non-drinkers were boring.
The Oliver Reed part of me still does.
But I never needed alcohol until I was 17, which was something I was thinking about the other day.
If I didn’t need it for 17 years, why is it a thing now.
And I know the answer.
It’s because as adults we open Pandora’s Box when we purse our lips and invite such things.
Once you open the lid and you know what’s inside, it’s hard to forget what you’ve been exposed to.
You can’t unsee it so the rest is just down to how much willpower you have to lead a balanced life.
So that’s my thoughts on the demon drink there 🙂
Have a great rest of your day.
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Just enough time to get a quick one in…
Well we went to the moon, but we didn’t land.
Isn’t that a bit like driving 100 miles to visit a friend, then standing outside the door without ringing the doorbell and driving back home again?
It is to me 🙂
*phone rings*
*picks up receiver*
“Hello. Did you just drive 100 miles over here without calling?”
“Yes. How did you know?”
“I saw you on the CCTV. You did a handstand on my driveway?”
“I know. I do amuse myself.”
“Ha ha. Okkkayyyy….how come you visited without ringing the doorbell?”
“Oh. It was just a test visit. I’ll ring next time.”
“Riigghhhttttt?”
“The good news is the journey went well so I can ring your doorbell with confidence when I’m next over this way.”
“When are you next over this way?”
“Ooh. That’s a good question. Probably in about 50 years time… give or take half a decade.”
“Fab. I’ll look forward to that then. I’ll see you when I’m older than Clint Eastwood is now.”
“You’ve got to ask yourself one question. Do I feel lucky punk. Well, do ya, punk?”
“In the name of almighty Jesus, what are you banging on about?”
“Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry! Sorry, I thought you were a fan.”
“Never watched it.”
“Every gun makes it’s own tune.”
“?”
“The Good, The Bad and The Ugly!!”
“See you in about 50 years then”
“Yep. You can count on it.”
*call ends*
How far is the moon again? Something like 260,000 miles away?
Further than Tesco’s then.
We got to within 4000 miles of it and fucked off back home (lol).
Pardon the French. Excusez-moi.
The people at NASA seem very happy don’t they. They sit around chatting and smiling like Cambridge graduates.
I bet their sponge cake tastes great in the canteen.
“So what is it you do?”
“We look at planets and eat sponge cake.”
“Wow. That sounds awesome.”
“It is. You just need an IQ of 153 to join us.”
“An IQ of 153 to look at planets and eat cake? Mr. Kipling must be a f*cking genius”.
“He is exceeedingly good.”
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Prologue for the post that never was…
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I did 5 hours of exercise in 3 days. It’s a bit much, although I already knew it was.
The sliding hack squats on day 3 did me up like a kipper. No wonder it was free.
I knew after that I’d need to take 2 days off…. which extended into 3.
Stimulate, don’t annihilate. Repeat the mantra.
Now Day 4 and it’s time to go again.
One can never rest on one’s laurels.
It’s a shame we have to recover really. I would love to train every day but I exert myself too much to do that.
On the plus side, today is one that includes Zesty Lemon water.
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Here’s a pearl of wisdom from The Middle Ages you could apply to news and social media today.
“When you see a rotten grape, just ignore it and pick another”.
So simple. The power of choice and where you invest your energy.
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I once had a job that bored me so much I used to put blu-tac where the time was on my monitor, just so I didn’t keep looking at the clock.
That’s not a joke.
The only way I knew when it was 5pm was when everyone started getting up out of their chairs and rushing to stampede out of the office.
When you’re in a flow state the hours just whizz by like they never even existed.
It’s like that with anything where you’re keeping plates spinning… as long as you can maintain the spin (so to speak)
I never used to understand people that could stay at work all day filled with boredom and then do overtime as well.
Now I get it… they weren’t bored. It was just me.
LOL.
I sometimes fantasise about living somewhere else with a lemon tree. The lemon part is very important, at least to me.
But would I just get bored of the lemons. Would I start wishing they were satsumas instead or some other type of produce.
I don’t think so, but there’s no way to be sure is there.
I do think a lemon tree is going to introduce itself to me at some point in my life though.
Maybe at a party or a housewarming.
Without the lemon tree I would definitely not be so enthusiastic, but I’d settle for an Olive grove.
The only thing that would top all that is a Vineyard. Imagine!
I’m going to stop there because I have drifted into setting up my own brand of wine instead of relaxing under a lemon tree. Goodday!
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A few years back now I was heading back around 10pm one night and I had a song by Finley Quaye playing in the car.
I stopped to let a group of people cross at the lights. When they heard this song they danced across the road like something out of a Jamaican reggae hall.
It was unscripted and joyous. Every day in life should be like that…
I can’t find the song right now, but this one is another big favourite of mine.
Your Love Gets Sweeter…
I love the album this is on: Maverick A Strike. So much so, I can’t even begin to tell you.
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When I was a kid we didn’t have a lot. My dad was maxed out at work and didn’t have any spare money knocking around.
I went to my parents friends house one day and their son, who was older than me, had a brand new computer. I was kinda mesmerised by it and I don’t know why.
I just knew I was.
I couldn’t just ask for a computer, I had to wish for one.
Somehow a miracle happened. My mum said she would get me one, but it would have to be my birthday and Christmas present rolled into one.
I couldn’t believe it was happening.
I think back then it cost £100, which sounds like nothing these days, but back then you could get quite a lot with one hundred English pounds.
To me, owning one felt like I was part of some special club. One my friends that lived near me were also paid-up members of.
It came bundled with a bunch of shit games, including one called Horace Goes Skiing. My friends from school would come around and we’d play it, as well as another one called Football Manager. I still remember us all with arms over each others shoulders celebrating the goals. It’s hard to explain why it was brilliant; it just was.
Horace was a strange old mascot for a game really. He was a character with massive eyes and not a lot else.
Some people were talking about their favourite Horace game and came up with these to lower the tone:
Horace Gets Shitfaced On Cheap Supermarket Lager is one for the ages 🙂
Horace did get into dogging for a while, this much is true, although he just referred to himself as a ‘keen voyeur’.
Not the kind of thing you admit to on a CV or at parties is it.
I saw him about 6 months later and he told me he was saving up for a Ford Fiesta. I asked no further questions.
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Of course, a more cash-strapped and less well co-ordinated alternative could be:
I drovveeeee all niiiiggggggggggghhhhhttttttt to get to you.
Is that alright?
I drove all night.
Even at the current fuel prices. I still did it. To get to you.
Sadly I only had half a tank and I ran out of fuel before I got there.
You won’t believe I actually tried to make it, but I did.
It’s so annoying as the fuel warning light never came on.
Now I’m stuck on an A road waiting for the Green Flag.
And I’m freezing my tits off.
Piss poor planning and nosebleed altitude fuel prices are to blame for this.
Next time can we just meet in the city centre, it’s probably easier.
I’ll get the train, but I’ll leave the guitar at home. It’s a pain to carry.
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I wrote this a few months ago. Given what’s currently going on in the world, it’s aged like fine wine:
I really like Roy Orbison, particularly the “I Drove All Night” song.
Nobody else sounds quite like him.
I drovveeeee all niiiiggggggggggghhhhhttttttt to get to you.
Is that alright?
I drove all night.
Even at the current fuel prices. I still did it. To get to you.
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You know, in life sometimes you just have to let the universe decide.
You can only do what you can do. And you can do no more.
As Popeye once said 🙂
There’s something nice about that I think. Surrendering to the universe.
Don’t get me wrong, I think you have to try to make things happen that mean something and I think you have to show up for the things you want.
But ultimately the universe usually decides.
It’s like if you’re a shit singer you’re never going to win Pop Idol.
Or if you can’t hit double top you’re never going to beat Luke Littler.
But I do also believe in manifesting. Arnold Schwarzenegger manifested his life from Graz, Austria to where he is now.
Anything you can see in your minds eye is actually possible.
So I’m not talking about limiting things with the wrong mindset.
I’m just saying there is power in the universe and sometimes it gets a say too.
Enough of this woo-woo stuff, an epic curry beckons and I’m manifesting that with my hands anointed with culinary greatness 🙂
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I knew a guy who went travelling. He had been with someone but at this point in his journey he was on his own, most likely in a hotel room.
He said to me:
“While I was there I took their version of Viagra.”
“Did you? Why?”
“I was just curious. Wanted to see if it worked.”
“You took a Viagra derivative when you were on your own?”
“Yes.”
“Did it work?”
“Yes. It kicked in for hours.”
“Ooh. I bet you were happy. Another satisfied customer.”
“No. It stressed me out. I couldn’t get to sleep and had to lie on my back.”
*chortle*
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I once had a blog with a load of swearing as a tagline *cringe*. It broke so I had to get hosting support to help me fix it.
When the guy at the other end fixed it he had to verify it was back online by saying all the swear words back to me:
Yes it’s back up now! Thank f*ck for that 😉
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I wish I hadn’t mentioned Babycakes the other day now as it’s taking up rent space in my head. You hum it and I’ll sing it.
Baby cakesYou just don’t know, knowHow I, II like it down low, lowAnd I just want you to knowThat I think our love will growWill take it step by stepBecause I’m not something you own
I wish the charts were always full of random songs like this. Then we could ban Ed Sheeran and live happily ever after 😉
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I know sleeping is necessary, but it’s so time consuming.
I think it would be good if you could just stay awake for 2 weeks and then sleep for an entire week to make up for all the sleep you ignored.
Having to do in daily blocks is just so inconvenient at times.
Put your hand in the air if you agree and I’ll see what I can do for you.
I’m thinking go on holiday abroad for 2 weeks (or by the seaside) then just come back and sleep for a week.
So far I can’t see any downsides apart from not being able to answer the phone or doorbell for 7 days 🙂
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Babycakes – A one hit wonder I’d forgotten all about until I heard it on the radio the other day.
They never even did an album – how mad is that…
It was definitely one of those tunes that stuck in your head for a while:
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Leave Me A Note feature works great. It even does audio messages.
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Do you ever read things you’ve written in the past and think to yourself, “I don’t remember writing this, but I’m kinda funny”.
Happens to me all the time…
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If you like Charlie & The Chocoolate Factory with Gene Wilder and the song
I’m referencing, this is my mates cousin performing it on the piano at the Perrier Awards: -
I DID A THING. I’ve added chat and audio messages to this site.
I am so pleased about this I could tickle a lemon.
Straight away I thought, “The site now seems more alive (for me anyway)” and it’s given me some ideas.
That’s all I have to say. Friday evening is upon us so have a great weekend.
Freshly Spilled Thoughts
Quiet today
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last updated 2 months ago