Happy Smiley People

".... Shiny happy people having fun...." REM

Oh thank the Lord for happy people! Where would we be without these unbelievably cheery people to help us on our way? They have unlocked the secret code to lifelong inner smiliness, contentness and happiness.

I decided to join the merry crusade earlier this year. Yes me, the non conformist! After a year of being surrounded by problem seeking, issue stating, concerned about bloody everything in the world manic tribes, enough was enough!

I now see a world full of hope, full of wonder, full of mountains ready to be climbed again :)

Yay! to the happy people!!

National Me Day

Today is the day when all us people out there, say enough is enough, and have a have a National Day dedicated to our selves. Yes lets celebrate National Me Day. We deserve it. Lets get to know ourselves again today. Lets do it for us.

Forget the 100 and 10 things that have been piling up, burn the To Do list, say "whatever" to the system. Today of all days, just listen to the Me voice that says " You deserve a Me day"

Well, I thought about this, I thought about that; deep into contemplation considering the relative merits of life, the universe and my top priority of whether to go for another cup of tea with a custard cream, when a package noisly landed on the mat. It was a package containing a book. Some kind soul had passed a book to us as part of National Book Night. " All quiet on the Western Front" I have never read this book, but I shall read it. I hear its quite a famous book and quite a deep book too. Needs a long train journey to do it proper justice, methinks.

Its strange but when I look back now on my Me day, I acheived more of the jobs I had put off for ages. I finally replaced a broken floorboard in the living room, I finally put rubber feet on that "dangerous" stool in the kitchen, I finally got the right driver for the printer loaded and on the list went.
Strange thing is I really enjoyed myself getting all these tasks done. An unfamilar feeling of acheivement came over me.

Lets all dunk an custard creme and celebrate National Me Day!

Lifes but a Stage!

"All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages"
- William Shakespeare

Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Linkedin have now become our new, modern international stages. The mega arenas where we unashamedly, without faulter, launch ourselves upon a suspecting world wide audience. Every day of the week, 24 x 7, you can find us. Would Shakespeare be agassed?
I have friends on Facebook that I never speak to now. But their lives are played out for us all to see.... news on their new girlfriends, the new wives, the new children, the broken boiler, the car they desire, the TV ad they watched yesterday..... and on and on and on it goes.
All that chatter, all that NOISE!!

How very apt that I should go and see The King's Speech last week.
A great film. A time when as my mom tells me "life was slow" and everyone had a very private life. A life where you had time to think, reflect and recharge.
Yes thinking, reflecting and recharging. I like that. I will make a mental note to myself right now. Oh perhaps I will add it to my status on Facebook? I'm sure everyone is dying to know what I'm doing.

Status #adding to the noise

"Lifes but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing"

William Shakespeare


"Because I have a Voice" George IV (Colin Firth, The Kings Speech)

Fairwell Comrade George

I attended the funeral of a great neighbour of mine, 91 year old George Barnsby yesterday. George was our resident Communist. El Comandate. It was a humanist funeral and a wonderful celebration of George's life and rightly so. For George was lifetime anti-racist, anti-fascist activist and dedicated his whole life to the rights of man. Many a person paid a moving tribute to the life and dedication of Comrade George to the cause, but I shall remember George best as a neighbour who I would run out to see as he passed my moms house on his way to deliver the Daily Blog to those without a computer. "Hello George" I would call to him, "Hello my dear" he would reply. We would chat about the state of the Labour party, the wonderful regime change in America and the how the world could be a better place. I'll miss Comrade George, but he leaves a great legacy and inspires generations and generations to never give up on hope and freedom.

"without struggle, there is no progress" Frederick Douglass

Yes We Can and Yes We Will

"It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America". Barack Obama

What an historical week its been. Barak Obama's Democratic party win the US 2008 elections and he becomes the first African American US President elect.

I, like a few for some years now I guess felt the nagging feelings of anti war, anti capitalist and anti america since the start of the Iraq war.

So how do you change a countries image? How do you reinvent the feel good factor again? How do you reunite the country and give the people Hope once more?

Tough questions, but the answer most definately would lie with the election of Obama this week. In an election campaign Hope and Change were instrumental powerful words.

His victory speech was nothing short of perfection. Where once Martin Luther King had 40 years prior told the people "We shall overcome" and "I've been to the promised land" Obama told the people "Yes we can" and " We as a people will get there"

I hope they do. America needs change and Obamas the best man for the job.

Shame we dont have any charismatic leaders in Britain. We just have boring Mr Gordon. Is it any wonder no one bothers to vote in general elections here?

Hello Mom! - from space

I decided to download the new 3D Google Earth application and give it a try out. This comes after I spotted this odd shaped camera on a tripod strapped to the roof of a small car in Birmingham last week. Mr K reckoned it was the new 3D Google Camera on the clickerty click circuit de monde. Invasion of Privacy I thought!
So I did the usual, put in my postcode ( annoyed to know we have the smallest garden in the street) put in my sisters postcode, put in my moms postcode.....
And wots this I see my Mom on the drive!
Oh my God my Mom can be seen from space.
Now wot were the chances of my mom being on the drive the moment the Google satellite went click?

"Mom, you wont belive it, but you can be seen from space! You're on Google Earth"

"the what?"

After a half hour conversation explaining wot it is, Mom finally says

" well I'm glad you cant see my face then, I might not have been looking my best "

Invasion of privacy ;)

Lettuce Pray for a Happy Ending

Times are bad. In fact very bad, according to Mervyn King the Governor of the Bank of England. He tells us gloom and more gloom faces the British Economy amid the rising fear of the global credit crunch. Everyday prices have gone up; bread, milk, bananas etc not to mention the petrol.

So dear Comrades, the time has come to take action. The time has come oh yes, the time has come to fight back. The time as come for me to do my bit. The time has come for me to grow my own lettuce!

I grew them from seeds in April ( after the snow week) and I havent stopped worrying about them since. ( I'm sure thats not right)

Are they well watered?

Are they getting enough sunlight ?

Are they OK?

Will they live?

.....on and on the questions go.

Any odd fool would think lettuce look after themselves. I thought that till I discovered I have to go out on "snail and slug patrol" every evening. I have 10 pots of lettuce and discovered to my horror 7 snails had made their homes in my lettuce pots!! the spongers!

My next worry is having to endure lettuce sandwiches, lettuce pie, lettuce caserole, lettuce a l'orange for the next 2 months. Of course thats if my lettuce survive the present economic climate.

Yes indeed Lettuce all Pray for a Happy Ending!

" Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that's about it." Bubba. Forrest Gump