General

Maybe it is the shock of the delayed cognition of turning 39 - perilously close to the age of eternal foolishness - or the weariness of dealing on and off with death and grieving that births this feeling hovering over me that I can’t quite place. It is not entirely inscrutable: the little I understand of it suggests part of it is a heightened sense of my own fragility, the deaths - ranging from old classmates of mine to friends of my father’s - underscoring the fleeting nature of life and with it the sense of time speeding by. The other part that rears its head from the haze is the feeling of drifting, one day blurring into the next which is barely distinguishable from the one that follows it with the only discernible purpose being fighting whatever fire glows brightest both at work and in my personal life. ...

The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night. For all the ill that Satan can do, when God describes what keeps us from the banquet table of his love, it is a piece of land, a yoke of oxen, and a wife (Luke 4:18–20). ...

Mrs T, she of the keen mind and boundless energy, nominated me for the 3 day quote challenge, the key requirements being: Thank the person who nominated you. (Thanks Mrs T). Post a quote each day, for 3 consecutive days and say why it appeals to you. Nominate 3 different bloggers each day! 🙂 PS. As I am no longer as personally connected to tons of bloggers as I used to be, I’ve opted to fulfil items 1 & 2 only. ...

Hanging out with iron man, a few years ago in Manchester and then most recently in Marrakech. For the prompt, Variations On A Theme.

The view that meets my eye on day 1 of 10 in Paphos, Cyprus. Truly looking forward to chilling and bonding with S, and catching my breath after what has been two weeks lived on the very edge of sanity (A Nigerian Wedding will do that to you). --- For the Wordpress photo challenge, Peek.

Image: Rembrandt, The Return of the Prodigal Son (Source)– I trace the beginnings of my faith journey to Easter of 1992, the enduring image of the day being standing alongside forty or so other people at the front of the bare, minimally decorated assembly hall of the College of Education Ekiadolor. I was there because I had been dragged there by my family; there being an Easter conference put on by the student Christian movement my parents spent a lot of their spare time supporting. Besides my irritation at being taken along — and thus losing the few days of freedom free from parental supervision — responding to the altar call along with the others whilst sobbing profusely is the only thing I remember from the events of the weekend. That would not be the last time I would respond to an altar call — or pray a similar prayer for that matter — but the sense of relief, joy and confidence about the future which followed that day is why I come back to that place as the definitive start of my spiritual journey, never mind the fact that it lasted for all of three weeks before the reality of life brought me down to earth. That personal connection was the final piece of the jigsaw that created a church bubble for me. ...

Will Knight highlights the conundrum at the heart of deep learning AI - demonstrably good decisions, the inner workings of which are invisible to us. Fate?

Me, Benin City and an intense desire for fried chicken was how I ended up here; walking along Airport Road looking for a Chicken Republic. Having spotted it from the window of the speeding cab ferrying me from Ring Road to the neither-here-nor-there hotel I planned on sleeping over at on Ihama Road, I grossly underestimated the distance. That only became apparent once my cravings had gotten the better of me and I was back on the road, in the sweltering heat, plodding along whilst wondering what had gotten into my head. ...

Chilli flavoured plantain chips Peri-peri chicken (having a cheeky Nandos is a thing, you know) The scent of warm waffles Friday nights (the prelude to the only truly quiet times I have) Catch up TV (for how easy it makes indulging my fascination with Leroy Jethro Gibbs) Postcards (sending and receiving them) Running into old friends in the most unlikely of places. When a shuffled playlist throws up a particularly apt song Early morning runs by the beach Scoring a late (winning) goal in Football Manager

A damp squib of a day is perhaps as good as any to wrap up January, given how off script the weather has been. It used to be that loads of snow and travel disruptions were par for the course for this time of the year; neither happened. Even the threat of thunder snow - cold air from Canada invading our own Northern skies - failed to materialise, a few inches of snow and gale force winds being the worst of the lot. ...