Posts

The difference the (absence of the) wind makes. Still freezing though #Paused

Sometime in the late 80’s/ early 90’s.. The place: a University in Ekpoma, Nigeria.. The people: kids and teachers from the Chapel’s Children’s Sunday School, a few of whom I still remember by name - all grown up now. A few dead people (RIP Gracie, GB, ‘Lena and Harold), one fairly famous (Nigerian) fashion designer (M) and seven kids who made it into engineering with a further six involved in other STEM subjects. ...

Detailed, intense, technical conversations debating the finer points of a certain choice of material of construction. Worn, drained and tired at the end of it all but with all that comes a sense of satisfaction at making progress. Better to be busy than out of work I suppose, particularly given the state of the commodity market at the moment. #Thankful

Good things come to those who wait… For a cold, sweaty Guinness, amongst other things. #Malones #Aberdeen

Food, fluids and friendships.. The highlights of days of Christmas past..

Overheard on the airport lounge’s public address system, Amy Winehouse belting out the lines to Back to Black. A bit out of left field but enough to unleash a flood of memories from that summer of 2009. #LifeInASong

Stumbled upon via the Wordpress discovery feature, The True Story of a Seven Year Marriage: Before you can make high towers, it’s best to build a good strong base. It comes from laughter, empathy, forgiveness, accepting the other person’s struggle, and knowing yourself. But sometimes without knowing it, you build too high and too fast. Things get shaky and start to wobble. There is always a way to rebuild if you’re willing. Always new and different blocks to try, always time to take a few steps back and build the bottom stronger. ...

Watching Whiplash again reminded me of the power mentors (or more correctly in this case, people who we look up to and whose opinions we cherish) can have over us, driving us to become singularly focused on achieving, thereby impressing them. The merits and demerits of the influence of Fletcher on Andrew may be open to interpretation - the methods certainly are - but the intensity with which that final scene was delivered might make up for every thing. ...

--- Yesterday was a seventh consecutive day of having managed to start my day with a time of quiet contemplation using the devotional I’ve chosen to use for the year. The reading, from 1 Corinthians 9:27 with its imagery of war with the body got me thinking of all the other metaphors faith (at least in the Christian sense) is described by. A few readily came to mind; an athlete, a soldier, a farmer and a steward of resources. I suspect there are more, if one chose to delve deeper, but all these seemed to support the narrative of focus and discipline on one hand, and reward on the other. ...

Sent on a whim, and very well received by all accounts. I should do this more often. #Embrace spontaneity