Bagpuss On The Bed With Glasses

This will be very short, but I am going to keep posting , just because I can. I came home tonight to find Bagpuss had got glasses, courtesy of my cleaners (APM). It really cheered me up. I'm still reading Stuart Maconie's "The People's Songs" which is also making the train journeys fly by enjoyably. Sometimes you have to talk the calm and peace where you can find it.

Bagpuss On The Bed With Glasses

I saw one of these Facebook maxims that essential said live in the present , if to concentrate on what has happened you will stagnate and if you concentrate on what might happen you will worry and get yourself down, so if I wake up at night I just enjoy being warm and cosy in bed , and I deal with things when they need dealing with. I'm actually finding it very therapeutic , so will keep it up.

Had a nice lunch today for a friends birthday (which was yesterday) and tomorrow at work we'll be giving her a cake. It is really nice when good people can find something to celebrate together..

Anyway it's time for bed now, and I am going to enjoy my sleep.

Actually it's turned out to be quite a reasonable post, I was expecting it to be one or two lines, but it's amazing what you can do when you know friends are looking out for you and caring for you , and that makes you more positive in your outlook and able to deal with things and keep a smile on your face.

Well this looked like it had crashed, so I took a copy of the raw page and saved it just in case, but it seems to have saved now , so think it may be a good time to go to bed now.

Burned Out

Not posted much recently and realised I hadn't even read a book this year, so I started the new Stuart Maconie tome and am surprised how relaxed it makes me feel on the train. I've watch a lot of TV recently and maybe that is stressing me out, though the fact that you don't really have to do anything may be having some kind of weird adverse psychological effect. Maybe BBC's iPlayer is not the cure all or whatever I thought it was. Yes it is very clever and useful, but no use if it just eats up time that can be better and more usefully spent doing other things.



I also listened to the Steve Miller Band's Greatest Hits while reading , which was a sort of double good whammy and hence the brilliant song that I've chosen for this post.

Sleeping With The TV On

I don't if I need to be worried, or I don't know if I should be just happy. I'm actually watching more TV on my phone thanks to the fact that BBC iPlayer allows downloads on my Samsung Galaxy Note2. This week I've watched various music related progammes, and the first episode of the new series on BBC3 called "Uncle", which I found excellent. I've downloaded a few duds, but iPlayer allows me to catch up on the way to and from work.

My problem is that I feel I'm watching less TED talks and reading fewer books. I haven't  read a book so far this year.

Handsome Dick Manitoba

I suppose the simple solution is just to pick a book and start reading it, but it is just another thing I can do while I travel. I can also watch other channels' downloads as well but BBC2, 3, and 4 provide enough excellent quality programmes to keep me going. I can also load films onto the phone and it does have a couple of eReaders so I can actually read book on the phone if I so wish.

The title is taken from a Dictators song (lead singer Handsome Dick Manitoba!) so I have to include that don't I.

Books On Board

Lots of Books

Paddingto Flare

And there's More

The last couple of times I have been to Paddington I've noticed a lovely bookshop on a barge walled Word on The Water. Follow the link to find out more as they are on Facebook.

There's a lot more pictures and some really good links there as well. A really interesting Facebook pages, although if you like books you are bound to like it!



As you come out of Paddington Station you see the barge and books right in front of you, and spoke to the owner who is a really pleasant guy. While the canal has lots of barges, it's brilliant to see something like this that makes you stop , and look and want to talk with people.

I was actually in a rush to get a train and ended up missing it because Word on The Water is so interesting in an area dominated by faceless offices and chains like Marks and Spencer and Tesco.

So although it was a long day yesterday, that was a bright unexpected end to a really good visit to London. Have a brilliant weekend everybody, I certainly will.

And they want more!!

The World Is Full of Wonder

Statuesque

Blue Dragon

Today have have watched two amazing TED talks, one showing some amazing nature photography and the other about 64 year old Diana Nyad who has done the impossible and swum the hundred miles between Cuba and Florida. The talk is here. Then I was directed to this amazing use of 3d Printing here. , and other amazing example here.






It is truly amazing what technology and willpower can bring into being.

The Diana Nyad talk was particularly inspiring because she acknowledged that although she did the physical swimming there is no way that she could have done that without the team of thirty people supporting her.  She still spent over fifty hours in the water, not allowed to touch the support boats or to rest, threatened by sharks and box jellyfish , having to swim at night in total darkness because the light attracts predators, and this was her fifth attempt at it , having been told that it was impossible.

The thing is in all our lives we can succeed if we get help and support from the people we care about and we know care for us, no matter how impossible the task or situation might seem. And as Diana states "Never Give Up" , you never know what could happen if you don't try , you know , you might just succeed!

So there's nothing happened on the horoscope front although I won a small bet on Monday night , lost a small one on Tuesday night , but didn't care because Preston won 3-2 against a decent Ipswich side in the FA Cup. So some good things have happened.

I hope good things happen for you!

Superstition

It's the 13th day of the year and also the 13th day of the month and some people regard 13 as an unlucky number. It has been ingrained into me that it's unlucky , but there is no logical reason for it. Numerous reasons are given such as Judas was the 13th guest at the Last Supper (well they all made up the 13 so anyone could be designated as the 13th one) and bakers used to always add an extra loaf to batches of a dozen in case one wasn't up to scratch. Well given in most cases that all the loaves would be fine doesn't that make 13 actually lucky for the recipients?

I's like seeing magpies , one for sorrow and two for joy , but it's all about interpretation. Missing a bus could be the the "sorrowful" event and catching one could be the "joyful" event. It's just how you choose to look at it.

It's like horoscopes, those wonderfully ambiguous, snippets of promise, given to us by the snake oil merchants that call themselves astrologers. Here's one of mine for today, I'm Libran by the way and that supposedly makes me a balanced personality:

"Once again, your dual nature pops up -- but this time, it's making life sweet! You can see both sides of every issue, and you can also find new ways to bring your people together. Have fun!"

Hmm, well that's clear as a thing that is not very clear. We shall see how sweet life is today and I will post tomorrow and see how I can fit events to prove that this was true (that should be easy ).

I always encourage positivity in myself and others, but that doesn't cause things to happen , but it will drive you towards instigating thing that will be beneficial to yourself. If you can be happy , and positive you are more likely to be confident in your decision making then either reap the benefits of the correct decision or easily deal with the fall out from an incorrect one. Always look for the positives in a situation.

Anyway there can only be one song for today, can't there? Stevie Wonder on Sesame Street does it get any better than that?

An addendum to this post, nothing in my "dual nature" manifested itself, nothing I did made life sweet , though lot's of communications received did that, and I didn't get an opportunity to bring people together that I was aware. Monday was a day much like any other, but if I do notice any horoscopes that come true I will say.

Mr Cave's A Window Cleaner Now!

Woke up this morning (sounds like a blues song , doesn't it), and the pavements outside were white and the skies were grey. This week is going to be busy again with trips to London and a concert at The Sage to fit in, but it's only by doing things that life is interesting.

This afternoon 6Music played an excellent Nick Cave song that I hadn't heard before that seemed appropriate for the apparent inclement weather which we may soon be getting.

This weather , short days and lack of sunshine doesn't make for the greatest of inspiration.

Also I seem to be downloading a lot of TV to my Samsung Note via BBC iPlayer , which is fine but this eats into the time I should be reading or maybe watching TED talks , although it does leave more time to do things when I am at home.

Anyway still lots to do, but wanted to share this great Nick Cave song , and hope you are ready for the week ahead.