Norway Massacre
Just a short post to express my sadness over the 90+ killed in the terrorist attacks.
Please don’t give the mass murderer responsible a stage to express what he has to say. He deserves no rights.
My thoughts go out to the families of those tragically lost.
xx
The Secret Service
I love it when people accomplish their dreams, even more so when it’s somebody I know.
So when one of my friends announced she was setting up her own business I was so happy for her, especially since she had found a fantastic little hole in the market (as far as I know).
Here is what her website says:
So… Imagine your calendar… Now imagine your calendar does everything for you. You will have your very own Secret Service Agent who will remind you of your events, organises your occasion, finds your gifts, present wrapping, delivery, table booking, arranges tickets and much more including our very own secrets.
From being a guest at a wedding, date night, arranging your loved ones birthday, valentine, Christmas, you name it we are at your service. Each event is tailor made to your specific requirements no matter how big or how small. So that’s no stress, no parking, no wrapping, no searching, no delivery, no organising and the secret all at a low cost!!
What’s the secret?
It’s date night, and you’re going for a meal… How about inviting your loved one in a different way? Have drinks ready for your arrival? A special song playing? A message in a fortune cookie? A favourite flower delivered? oh the list is endless to make your event as special as possible and…It’s a secret. None of our products have our own branding, we leave no trace, so you can take all the credit!
All you need to do is email us your event or your calendar and we do the rest!
To see what the Secret Service can offer, go to http://www.secretservice.me
(at present only Blackpool area of England is being served but they are hoping to expand soon)
Final Cover
The printers in China have sent the cover. I was huming and harring about the barcode but at least it doesn’t cover the illustration.
The boy who lived, and the audience that doesn’t.
Last night I went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2, and I think it’s my favourite of the lot. Long gone are the kiddy charms that slowly vanished after the first and second films, and even throws a couple of shots from the first movies just to violently hammer home that the fairytale has grown up.
During that movie though, something hit me that stuck long after the credits rolled up. Usually during these film my imagination runs rampant, with me wondering what it would be like to be in these situations we see on screen but once it’s over, I forget all about it. But last night, I realised that the only escapism that people like me get close to experiencing is sitting in a comfy chair, in a darkened room with a box of popcorn, watching somebody else live out an incredible adventure.
My girfriend Wendy often says she wants an adventure, and I normally agree, but most of the time our day-to-day duties keep us rooted to the same mundane days we live day in, day out. Now I’m not saying that I want to go enroll into Hogwarts or that my life is incredibly boring; far from it, I’m grateful for my life and the relative freedom it allows me. I’m simply getting at that most people are quite happy to watch life go by on a cinema screen, after all, why get involved in all the risks and dangers when we can quite happily watch an actor or actress do it for us. We are more comfortable getting from birth to death in the safest way possible. Ok, I stole this quote from the great late Earl Nightingale, but he definitely knew what he was talking about.
Long ago, during a particularly nasty break-up, my ex complained that all I did was sit in a corner of my living room on the computer. Well, ok, that maybe true, but at the time I convinced myself that giving away a large proportion of my life to follow a dream would assure my future would be a completely amazing one, allowing me to be my own boss and grant me the opportunity to do whatever I wanted to do. Whilst my peers and people my own age would be calmly working themselves through retirement into a comfortable grave, I would be enjoying life to the max. I bear no grudges against my ex for the hurtful things she said, moreover I wish her all the best in life (being bitter is one of life’s greatest tradgedies) and actually thank her for opening my eyes with what she said. I realised afterwards that I should be out enjoying life much more than I was doing.
Nowadays I find myself saying ‘yes’ more, and making more plans. A ten day road trip to Hungary later this year is an example. I don’t even concern myself with the money – make plans and the money will find you. I don’t let circumstances determine my life, and I gladly welcome whatever comes my way.
The craziest thing is as well, since this awakening, my own work seems to have accelerated forward even more. That’s not to say I’m working any less, I just find better ways to balance out my life.
So for any fellow workaholics, don’t let life pass you by like a 90min movie. Nobody knows when our own final credits will roll. Adventure awaits all of us, we just need to fathom out where to find it. Don’t let your name, your job, your ego, or your bank account determine who you are. We all came into this world the exact same way, and we’ll exit it the same as well.
It’s what we experience in between that truly defines who we are.
Life itself should be the adventure, so let’s leave this world with some fantastic memories.
Wolcanoes and Cocoons
No I haven’t spelt that wrong. It’s how my and Wendy’s friend Krisztian pronounces Volcano. 🙂
I guess I should put a post about our holiday Tenerife. I can honestly say it’s one of the most chilled holidays I’ve been on. Our villa, was stunning and spacious, reminding me how much I prefer them to hotels. Despite me and Wendy being in a sort of children’s room.
We did the usual tourist thing, going up mount Teide (for a mini snowball fight), trips out looking for dolphins, and basically lounging around the pool and beach with ice cold San Miguels. Went to a fantastic waterpark called Siam Park which looks like something resembling an ancient Thai city and boasts the world’s biggest man made waves.
Would’ve liked to stay an extra few days, but I’m not complaining. One bizarre thing to mention is that I bought a beach towel with the image of a 200 euro note on it, and I came home with 200 euros. Law of Attraction maybe?
My sister Kel, Tiny, my cousin Lee, Krisztian, Sarah, me and Wendy at our villa.
Also a week later we headed to Cocoon, a techno type day festival in Leeds. Within 5minutes I saw a guard chase down a lad who had scaled the fences to get in – made me laugh. It sounded like the same track to me being played all day but everyone else seemed to notice the shift in song every few minutes. 🙂
Although it’s not really my thing, I love seeing my cousins and their friends, whilst mixing with my own mates there.
Me and Wendy
Me and my big cousins Wayne and Lee.
College Reunion
Many people count school as the best days of their life. I’m afraid I disagree, mine were my college years – namely 1999-2000.
I managed to meet a fantastic group of people who I’m glad to say I’ve (mostly) kept in contact with. Over the years our paths have divulged away from each other, but we still stay in touch.
Last week a few of us (Me, Ella, Danny, Gemma, Emily) met for a ‘Come Dine With Me’ style dinner, with each of us bringing a course. Mine was the cheese board, overloaded with probably more cheese than there should have been. I did throw a few babybels on there too 😀
It was a fantastic evening and many pictures were taken. Hopefully I’ll see some soon to upload with the picture below. This was taken during our college course to Amsterdam – Jan or Feb 2000.
From left to right Ben, Liz, Lyndsey (my then gf), me looking all cool!, Caroline, Gemma, Emily, Danny, Ella, unknown lad.
Heroes of Life
Throughout my life I’ve been blessed with a really close family. Childhood memories of family days to Bridlington, Temple Newsam, and Lotherton Hall still stick in my mind.
Back in those days it seemed that time would stay still forever, and indeed sometimes I wished they would.
Now those memories have been running through my mind a lot recently as I’m sorry to report my great Uncle Mark sadly passed away early Monday morning after a long courageous fight with cancer.
He fought to the end, even still updating his facebook just a day before he died.
Rest in peace Unc. You will be sadly missed. xx
Hurdles
As a big believer in personal development, law of attraction, reapng what you sow etc, I’ve heard countless stories of successful people facing all manner of obstacles before they attained their ‘glory’.
Now I’ve encountered numerous obstacles along the way in getting this novel sorted. Some are learning curves like getting to grips with software like InDesign. Others are downright ridiculous like arguing with printers in China about shipping to Liverpool instead of Felixstowe.
Now because I’ve heard all these hurdle stories, does this mean I’ve attracted the same situations into my life? After all, if all these successful folk needed bumps in the road, then surely I do!
Either way, I’m grateful for my determination to soldier on through and put the dedication in where it is needed. I rarely blow my own trumpet but for someone who was once told ‘you can’t draw, you can’t paint, and you have no imagination.’ I’m mega proud of myself being able to fully write, illustrate and typeset an entire 280 page novel!
Big cheesy smiles all round! 😀
Right, back to the battlefield!
kennydreadful 