I hate Valentine’s Day.
I don’t like the rampant commercialism. I don’t like being railroaded into an expectation of gift giving due to a marketing exercise based on a particular day. And I don’t like being alone on said stupid day. Continue reading Valentine’s Day Massacre
Every time I drop my teenage son off at his mother’s after staying with me for the weekend, he waves me off with a look of intense poignancy that tears me apart. He has stayed over almost every weekend since he was six months old. I am his father and his friend. And I’m also guilt-stricken because I can’t be there for him all the time, the way I think I should be. Continue reading Fatherhood – Never-ending Love and Never-ending Guilt
It’s been three days since my last workout. I’m lying on the lounge, checking Twitter. Alpha Girl enters and does a double-take. “Hey,” she says. “Aren’t you supposed to be doing 500 push ups or something, by now?”
“I’m having a week off,” I reply.
“So, you’re resting your arm?”
“As a matter of fact, yes.”
“Good. It’s about time you used your brain for something other than being stupid, or upset with yourself. Are you intending to lie around all week?” Continue reading Rest, Recuperation and the Art of Camouflage
American alt-rock band Taking Back Sunday have an alt-rock sound verging on punk. They’ve released their seventh studio album, titled Tidal Wave, in Australia a few months ago. As usual I’m catching up. Continue reading A Tsunami of Taking Back Sunday Goodness – ‘Tidal Wave’ album review
I had a few things on my mind today… Continue reading What the Frack? (“Battlestar Galactica” frack, not the process of injecting liquid at high pressure into subterranean rocks)
The first date when you’re online dating can be a bit awkward, can’t it?
I don’t know about you, but I felt that way, sipping a flat white (that’s a standard coffee with a thin layer of frothed milk, for American readers) and talking about an array of subjects and philosophies, at once engaging and confusing. Continue reading Awkward Online First Dates
Free-Wrench is a swashbuckling, steampunk fantasy set in a world of islands, where airships are the primary form of travel between them. The island of Caldera is isolated, by choice, from the rest of the world. Nita is a “free-wrench”, one who works the steam power plants in Caldera’s volcano. Continue reading Free-Wrench. A book review.
So, I’m a bit of a fitness freak (well, less freak and more fitness). Exercise is not only great for physical fitness, but for mental fitness as well. Research has shown that regular exercise can decrease symptoms of depression and anxiety, and contribute to improved self-esteem. So, I need to exercise to keep reasonably on track, head-wise. Continue reading Tabata This, Tabata That…
I started this blog to force me to write every day. So far, so good. Originally, I said I’d be the only person reading it, and didn’t care if anyone else did. After all, it was cathartic, a way of getting issues off my chest. But I guess lately I’ve gotten caught up in whether people are actually reading what I’m writing. Continue reading Blog Addiction – it’s a real medical condition…
In the 1980’s, an English musician called Howard Jones released a great single called What is Love (Anyway).
Today, I find myself asking that question more and more. It’s not like I haven’t been in love before; I have a few times, but I don’t consider those times as “real love”. It’s something I’m still waiting for. Continue reading What is Love? “Real Love”, that is
You Me At Six are an English alt-rock band with four successful albums under their belt. They’ve released a new album, Night People.
Night People is short and to the point, clocking in at just over 35 minutes for 10 songs. It has a polished and commercial sound, leaning heavily on 70’s and 80’s hard rock influences. Continue reading Rock Cliché in Spades (“Night People” album review)
Some days I just feel down.
It’s part of who I am, part of the depression I suffer. I can’t get motivated, it’s difficult to think straight, everything just seems too hard. It’s as if the weight of gravity has increased and I’m just too weak to get up. Continue reading Down Daze
I saw Split today, the new M. Night Shyamalan movie. Having it fresh in my mind, I thought I’d do a little movie review, as I haven’t done one before, and felt that I needed to. Continue reading Splitting Hairs – “Split” Movie Review
I joined up with a Christian online dating service a week or so back (get the lowdown on why, here). I received a contact from a lovely lady; we emailed back and forth, then texted, then spoke on the phone, and texted. We set up our first face-to-face meeting, to have coffee and see a movie together. Continue reading That’s an Online Dating Fail! (Or, Strike One)
My late-teens son, Padawan Nerd-in-Training, rarely listens when I offer advice. I can see his eyes glazing and his brain slowly switching off the brilliant lecture I have so carefully devised. He becomes a literal “brick wall”. Continue reading “There is no try. Just do.”
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