Guess its just another fruitless friday

I chose the title, mainly because its not monday, and i doubt very much it will be manic. That and i wanted a more interesting title than 'Back In durham' which I fear I have used previously.

So anyway the basic jist is that I am now back in Durham. Yay! Good news is that the house is still here, and intact, and what's more I now have heat in my room! Wahoo! At last I can be warm (Though in truth I like the cold, and I'm sure it is only a matter of time before my cold heart cools the room with an icy chill) So yes, here I am, getting ready for the beginning of another manic term, which naturally begins on a monday! It's kinda like the quiet before the storm. Life is at half speed, everyone is having long lie-ins and doing nothing all day, while they can then BANG, as of Monday everything steps up a gear or two and the madness begins. Ahh I can't wait!

Thought for the Day: All women become like their mothers, that's their tragedy. No man does, and that's his. (Importance of Being Earnest)

I am still here!

And I will update properly as soon as I can think of something worth saying!

Procrastination

Ahhh work! Gotta love it! I find it very difficult to sit down and do work. So far I have mainly been doing maths, perhaps because it is easier to do than geography. My living hero is a mathemetician, Marcus Du Sautoy, a professor of maths at Oxford, this year he did the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. One of which was on codes and featured the Baudot code, in which each letter/character consists of a combination of 5 zeros or ones (11011 or 00011). An interesting fact about this code is that it was used on Coldplays latest album X & Y, although they actually got the code wrong so it says X9Y on the front instead! Inside the back cover, written in Baudot is 'Make Trade Fair'.

Fair is an interesting word. I wonder whether it is objective or subjective. The immediate answer would be objective, and yet I wonder if there are some situations in which equality and justice are purely subjective. What is justice? A film that deals very nicely with the idea of justice and mercy is the Merchant of Venice. I purchased the DVD after Christmas for a mere £2.97. Well worth watching-a real bargain. I'll tell you what isn't a bargain though-Univeristy! Please student loan where are you? I am in need of some money! Well I suppose actually I may as well get used to debt seeing as it's going to be with me until I finally leave University and go get a real job. At this rate I might not even graduate unless I do some work.

MMVII (I already had that name before I read Taj's blog!)

My thoughts on entering my 21st calender year on this planet...

There are many things I have done that I regret, and there are many things I have not done which I wish I had. There are things I have which I wish I didn't and things I don't have, which I wish I did. There are things I wish I'd said, and things I wish I hadn't said. The list goes on.

All in all, I think I have a decision to make. Not a decision to be made once a year every year and then forgotten once the hangover has receded and the firework smoke has blown away. Instead a decision that I make every day, every minute, every second. Either I can live in the past, or I can live in the present or I can live in the future.

The problem with living in the past is that we never move on. We clutch at things gone by and cling to things, desperate to avoid change, and to hold on to what we have. We do not change, or ever get over anything, and as a result, our whole life is determined by our past.

The prolem with living in the present is that there is no perspective. There is a philosophy these days of 'Seize the moment' and 'If it feels good it must be ok'. However if we live only in the prsent, then our actions and motives will not outlast that moment. It is a very self centred and myopic viewpoint that bears no thought for what is yet to come.

The problem with living in the future is that the future is not definite. Well, at least most of it...We may have dreams, ideas and aspirations, but to live in wait for them is to miss out on the here and now. It can be easy to always be looking forward to a future event...'I just can't wait to...' but then often when we get there, we can start looking for something else. The glitch is that our idea of the future can be extreme- eiher rosey or thorny! It lacks the reality that comes from it actually coming to pass.

I think that you need an equal measure of past, present and future. The past cannot be ignored and forgotten, the present will have consequences and the future will only arrive via a journey through the present. (That is timewise-I am NOT reffering to having to journey through a large gift)

I don't usually make open New Years Resolutions but I feel this one is general enough to be aired! Last year was amazing and I wont forget it. This year I want to be better to my friends and those close to me, learn from my mistakes, do loads of new stuff (list to follow) try and get rid of the horrible parts of me and live my life with an eternal perspective. Not that I am going to achieve that all, or that I have, but that I will try. I can't fail-merely achieve to different degrees!

Happy New Year!

ROOOAAARR! I am the weather monster!

Yay! It's raining. I'm not talking about a bit of drizzle, nor a light drizzle. If rain is a Lada, this is a Ferrari! Ooh yes you have got to love storms. Unless of course you live on a floodplain. I might add that if this is the case then count yourself unlucky as development on floodplains has been banned on all but two European countries, and you live in one of them! In fact they are encouraging it in the Uk....strange....Anyway i digress! So here I am sat next to my window with it open, getting a little wet watching the storm. Alas it is nearly over now-they are always so short in England!

Something else that is nearly over is Christmas. Yes, after 4 days of festivities and fun with family and friends not to mention the food and general frivoloties. Oooh a whole lot of 'f's...how...clever!
I won't go into detail but I have been all the way down to bath and back, been a on a nice proper walk, and played traditional family games, inbetween eating. I also found time to do a quick spot of shopping. And so we move into the New Year celebrations...I'm off to Oxford tomorrow, for 2 days, which should be grreeeaaat! (As my friend Tony would say)

Well having written 2 paragraphs of pointless drivel, i won't change that now. I have been fairly busy and haven't had a lot of time to think, so maybe i'll do that later when i get back.

Finally, if anyone has ANY IDEA how to do a Rubicks cube, i HATE you! But don't tell me...i WILL do it!!

Happy Christmas and all that...

Happy Christmas! Yes it may be late, however it is the first real opportunity i have had to sit down and write something. I had a lovely day yesterday and also today, seeing my grandparents and spending time with the family etc etc. I got some really great presents too...I think i will maybe cover them a bit later, once the mayhem has died down a little.

So yes, i hope everyone had a joyful and merry (though not too much) Christmas and that you all got lots of lovely presents. Just thought seeing as its one of the most important times of year for people such as me, I should probably at least give it a mention. I was actually given Richard Dawkins latest book the God Delusion for christmas, and have started reading it-a very good read, and even better for taking apart the arguments one by one! Not that this time isn't important for everyone-I don't wish to belittle the family-time people enjoy or the meaning and attachment it may have to people, but i believe there is something distinctly more profound to Christmas.


I got sent this picture last year and think its still pretty relevant. Its sometimes hard to see through all the wealth, and affluence at a time like Christmas when there is such extravagence and distraction but on the other hand sometimes it is a time when people are reminded of the state our world is in. The outlook is pretty crap. Ok yeah there's good stuff, but theres a whoooollle load of bad stuff-and i'm sure i don't need to tell you about that! You see I think the world is pretty much in need of a saviour. Maybe you disagree, but I look around and I don't see much that suggests we're ever gonna sort ourselves out. I can't even sort myself out or look after myself!

So here's the good news. 'The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned'. Tada! So that's what Christmas is about for me. God's big plan for how to save the world, started by a miraculous birth 2000 years ago, exactly as was predicted. That's worth celebrating!

Hooray!

Exciting news everyone...pigeonboys sister site is now up and running!

Pigeonboy@podbean will hopefully be providing a more multimedia experience on top of the excitement of this wonderful blog...ok, this mediocre blog!

So please drop in and say hi!

Top...1...2...3....4 missing....5 ok....

I'm sure dentists speak a different language. I don't know what they learn at dentist school but I have visions of them all sat round like in secondary school language lessons, learning the language of dentistry. Chanting out 'slight overcrowding'....'5 partially erupted'....'6 capped'...and all the other oh so familiar phrases. And how the writer-downer ever manages to hear what the dentist mumbles I'll never know. I reckon those writer-downers are really just gossippy nosey people in the perfect career. They sit there snidely hearing all the intimate details of your teeth, shooting an unimpressed look if anything should be wrong or interested in everything you could possibly have wrong with your teeth-just nosey. ALSO, pleeaasee can they learn to control that sucky vaccuum thing (no innuendos there-hrmmm don't you think innuendo would be a good name for a games console...the Nintendo Innuendo....) I should mention that this post or this blog in no way endorses Nintendo blah blah blah *insert legal stuff here*

So...where was I, oh yes, that stupid sucky thing. So yeah good idea, need a small hoover thing to suck up saliva etc. But I draw a line at having my cheek, and the inner contents of my nose taken too! I mean are they that nervous-is it necessary to shake that much? I end up with a strange contorted face and a distinctly unblocked nose! My theory is that dentists just make up all that rubbish to intimidate you, to put you in your place (I believe Bill Bailey?!? Does a very funny section on dentists and their tools).

In case you hadn't guessed i went to the dentist today and guess what-I only have to go once a year now! Yay! I don't know why everyone dislikes the dentist so much-I've never had any major problems, but one less visit a year can only be good news.

Most annoying question this week...'So, you Christmas shopping?'!?!- 'No, i just thought i'd pop in now that it's quiet in town to get a BBQ for next summer oh and possibly some candles for Diwali'

And there wont be snow in Africa this Christmas time...

...The greatest gift they'll get this year is life. Where nothing ever grows, no rain or rivers flow.

Ahhh gotta love the good old Christmas songs. I'm not going to spend ages discussing the flaws in Band Aid's song, as for many people it will be old news. However if you have not considered it yet-just take a moment to consider the lyrics...possibly the most innacurate and some might argue racist song ever written! And that's one of the better Christmas songs!! The problem is that most Christmas songs are awful.

I have made one trip into town since I have been back-and hopefully wont have to make many more. The number of awful singers belting out or trying to belt out rubbish Christmas songs is just too much. The first few can be laughed off, but by the 20th set, you're wishing it was a silent night. Maybe thats just very scroogish of me, but i'm not a big fan of many christmas songs.

In fact the 4th Carol service of the year turned out to be a bit of a disappointment, with 10 choir anthems and about 5 carols i was allowed to sing! Ah well. There is only one thing for it-I shall write my own Christmas song. This time tomorrow you shall all be treated to my very own Christmas song! (Partly because i promised Katherine one!) Its going to be good! So listen out!

There has been nothing of note which has come to pass since my return from dunelm so i wont keep you any longer with the boring day to day news. 24hrs....hrmmmm

Well this is STILL nice

A year since I started blogging and still waiting for something meaningful! You must all be very patient people! 161 blogs in 365 accounts for one blog every 2 days 6hrs 24 minutes and 29 seconds roughly...


And as i write i find myself in very much the same position as last year. I'm the snow-scene shaker thing that 'snows' on the little scene inside when you shake it. I've just been shaken and so it'll take a while to settle. Maybe thats a bad analogy, but the ones involving the sheep, the pigeon, the pint and the magnetic field were even worse so count yourselves lucky.


And so begins the Christmas holidays...The names of days no longer exist, as I slowly dance between the two states of sleep and awake with very little mental distinguishment and slowly vegetate for a month! Or thereabouts. Well at least I wont be woken by the same alarm every morning at 7am!

It's been a while

Another term come and gone. I have now completed 4 out of my, hopefully 12 terms at University. It feels strange to be a third of the way through already. Last night was the traditional essay night, though i did manage more sleep than this time last year, and managed to hand in what was hopefully slightly better than the one last year. This afternoon we had traditional festivities, if a little early, and then had presents and suchlike. During which it must be note, i discovered the best book ever written (well, with the exception of one or two) 'Don't let the pigeon drive the bus'. Go out and buy it now-it is AMAAAZZZINNG!

So yes tomorrow is Edinburgh and then Friday is home. I think I am only just beginning to appreciate the lyrics 'Another year over, and a new one just begun'. It just keeps coming! Day after day, the sun climbs and falls, and the world continues and I try and make sense of it all. I woner if i will ever feel I have achieved anything near understanding. Life is so complex-rich some might say, but complex. Unlike the world, we don't remain constant-forever changing. When i think back to last year, I was so naive! Just started Uni, and next year I will probably look back in the same way. Its like Christmas. It never is the same. As the years go by, everything changes, people grow up, and childhood experiences fade. I hope that there will always be a part of me that is a child! Maybe just a childlike enthusiasm but an adults perception.

Thought for the Day: Have yourself a very merry Christmas!

Yesterday...

Of course the joke from my first blog was that i spent an entireblog referring to a landform and then called it by a different name-just to prove how little i knew about the subject. The pictures and explanations where in fact related to moraines, though drumlins are equally confusing.

You wanna know what else is confusing? The general lack of blogging! People are still reading mine, and yet disasterously failing to keep their blog up-to-date! I mean i know i hardly blog regularly, but I'm on the verge of stopping looking at certain blogs anymore! I must at this point note that Taj has been blogging very regularly, but that this is to be expected given the amount of time he spends on his computer.

The last few days have not been particularly memorable so i wont waste too much energy talking about them. Though i have been to 3 carol services, carols in the bar, 2 pantomimes and watched 3 football matches on TV in just 3 days!

A joke...

What is the difference between a drumlin and a random lump of Earth?

The answer? Who knows...But if anyone does manage to find out, please let me know (preferably before i have to go and try and identify them in the Lake District in January) For those who do not know much about glaciers, drumlins are deposits left by the glacier, that look suprisingly like lumps of Earth. And while the lecturer may enthusiasticly point out 'drumlins' in a photo and hence deduce the time period, speed, direction and favourite ice cream flavour of the glacier, i am afraid i am slightly more sceptical (or incompetent, one of the above).

In other news, it's nearly Christmas! All we need is some snow...

'And in the frosty season...

'...when the sun was set and visible for a mile, the cottage windows through the twilight blaz'd i heeded not the summons:-happy time it was indeed for all of us; to me it was a time of rapture: clear and loud, the village clock toll'd six, I wheel'd about Proud and exulting like an untir'd horse that cares not for his home-All shod with steel, we hiss'd along the polish'd ice...'

Hmph to gobal warming and the strangely warm beginning to December. Still at least we still have the those cheap flights to hop on and escape it all.

I went protesting yesterday. I won't go into detail now, but if anyone is reading and interested as to what twas all about check out this (Yes emma, that's a link). I also went out for a meal last night-which was grrreaaat! And then went round some college bars which was fun. Will write a more interesting blog when i come up with something more interesting to write! Til then tara

Thought for the Day: 'He who has not Christmas in his heart, will not find it under a tree'

The last day before i can start talking about the thing I'm not talking about

Yes, it is the eve of December, and we all know what happens in December...Yes, Tajs birthday. Sorry Taj, it's not that I'm looking forward too. I just can't tell you about it until tomorrow because November is too early.

I seem to be stuck...this is the third time I have tried to write the second paragraph-the first two just didn't sound right. It's not because i have nothing to say-rather i have no convenient way of stringing my somewhat wondering thoughts together-so here are some thoughts. Put them together as you desire

1) Although every square is a polygon, not every polygon is a square
2) I really feel the urge to stamp on a small dog-i was tempted on the way home
3) Life would be a lot easier for everyone if emotion did not exist-however it would be dull
4) I really must make sure i do not hit strangers when i yawn and stretch in public places
5) Arrghhh maths is actually impossible!
6) My room is a mess
7) How long is it realisitcally going to be before they invent self-writing essays
8) I need a drink
9) Casino Royale is an amazing film
10) I'm a nice guy-can't they just give me a degree
11) Hrmm, so many things I should be doing right now
12) Oooh its nearly C********!
13) Unlucky for some-not for me however
14) I wonder what would be an acceptable number to stop on...

Accidental transvestite

My main problem with clothes shopping, is the fear of becoming an accidental transvestite. Well ok, so i am using slightly the wrong term here but hey-If i cared i'd change it. The problem is, I don't have much dress sense. This might shock all of my closest friends, who have witnessed first hand my amazing co-ordination of colours and fantasticly fashionable attire. However it is true. I can cope with Burtons, or Next, most of the time. The problem arises with those shops who sell guys clothes...next to girls clothes. How does one tell the difference??

Obviously the mini skirt and lingerie section are easily distuingishable, but when we get down to the finer points such as jackets, jeans and shorts, how is one to know? Everytime i walk in to such a shop, i look around desperately for some assurance , on signs and boards, even in the clothes themselves, but sometimes the clothes themselves don't say. So if you see me walking round in what appears to be girls clothes, just give me a gentle nudge and a whisper in the ear and that would be much appreciated.

Toilets are great. You'd be hard pushed to beat a cubicle in the corner of a public loo. Ok so they smell bad, and the floor is often littered with all kinds of indescribable things, however i have to admit i have grown to love the humble cubicle. Why? Because it offers me a few minutes of pure alone time. Its like shrinking back into my brain for 5 mins. No-one else around, completely alone with your thoughts and your own space. Step out of the world and into the calm and serenity of four walls and just you inside (hopefully!?!). I may be odd, but i tend to enjoy being on my own, and going to the toilet gives me a 3 minute break to recover before re-entering the world. Urinals just aren't the same

I don't intend to keep you long

Because to be honest there are far better things to do in this world than sit and read the ramblings of an old man stuck in a young man's body! I realised again today that having not blogged in a fair while, was probably time i blogged again. You see Katie hit the proverbial nail on the proverbial head (which i'm sure he was proverbially annoyed about, having been hit on numerous occasions in the past) in her blog when she talked about people liking to have something to moan about. It's not that i enjoy moaning especially, rather happy things don't always seem so exciting. However i will endeavour to write about all the happy times!


Life goes easy on me most of the time. And so it is, the last few weeks have been great. Despite the overhanging guilt of not working, everything is really good at the moment. What a rubbish word to describe so much. I won't go on too long, infact most of what i feel i want to say Katie has already said! lol. I feel very honoured to know the people i do, and to considered one of their friends, and feel truly blessed to be where I am. Cheesy as cheese on toast, but just as true (Don't ask me how cheese on toast is true...just sounded like it should work!)

Didn't keep you too long...

Whispers from a different now.

Every now and then, something happens. Out of the ordinary comes the extraordinary-out of the mundane, the awesome. It happened just the other night. Lack of sleep is never good, add that to a stressful day and a heap of work waiting to be done two days ago and you have what makes potentially for a difficult day. You may think these are pretty minor problems, but the magnitude of a problem is often only measured by the amount of coverage it gets in your head, so who can judge the size of problems?

Anyway i digress. I was busy scurrying along at night muttering to myself about the cold and the fact that i had to walk so far, when all of a sudden i glanced up at the sky, and there was the most awesome sight ever. The dark night sky with the looming dimly lit cathedral in the foreground. Lights flickered off the river to my left, and way up high, hundreds and thousands of stars twinkled brightly. Then along came a Grey Bar crawl...singing 'skies are grey, skies a grey' in an eerily high tone considering the number of 'guys' in tow. And that was it-my moment gone.

But just for that moment. I saw a different now. I don't know quite how to describe it, but it was as though for a few seconds, every problem had gone away and i was left with a peace that made me want to smile. Not a crappy little sense of good-nature, a deep sense of contentment. It's not always obviously there. There are times when the world gets to noisy, and troubles shut it out. But if you stop for a while, even in the loudest place the whisper can still be heard. I hope you have the privelege of hearing that same whisper.

Thought for the Day:
Frodo: "I wish The Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had ever happened."
Gandalf: "So do all who live to face such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."

CLII

I think sometimes in life things just have to be. There is a time for thinking, a time for pondering, but in the end sometimes we just have to get on with it. This may seem strange written on a blog that is sometimes far too philosophical, but the truth is i do like thinking. Thinking is abstract, beautiful and complex. Yet the complexity is a puzzle, which is enjoyed. It's nice to think about deep philosophical matters.

The problem is that life isn't the fun puzzle...its the jigsaw puzzle's evil twin. The one with pieces that bite as you put them in, or fit and then just when you are about to finish, you take a closer look and notice that the pieces don't quite fit. That's why i think sometimes you just have to stop thinking, and get on with it. Life cannot always be reasoned, or explained away. There are some things we will never know or understand, so there is no point trying to, or getting down about it. Just gotta keep going!

Go Live!

151

" You will accomplish whatever you sincerely believe you will accomplish. And you can believe whatever you choose to believe "

I read that today in a website, and felt compelled to remark at its absurdity. Firstly, as much as i may believe it will, my belief will not help fly me to the moon using only matchsticks, nor get me into the Manchester United first team. No alas, what we achieve has very little to do with how sincerely we believe it.

Secondly, how can we believe in what we choose to believe in? Belief is a deep-set strong conviction regarding a certain matter. To choose belief is an insane paradox. For our choices our governed by what we believe, but what we believe is supposedly up to us. Therefore what basis at all would we have for making any decision. I may choose to believe that I am superman, but no matter how much i choose to believe it, it is still in essence untrue. This is not contradicting an earlier blog, where i stated that truth is subjective. I am rather stressing that truth is undeniable and leads to belief. Unfortunately the truth we have in our heads is sometimes distorted by ourselves.

The other thing i noticed is that it mentions the word 'you' five times. So here is where the foundations begin to crumble. What if...we dare to assume that there is a world other than ourselves? That belief and accomplishment may not only be related to ourselves! That there may be issues of truth that extend beyond our mind.

Thought for the Day: If someone tells you 'There is no such thing as Truth', they are asking you not to believe them