Yelland's Tale

I read this.

This article made me stop and think about things for a little while.

I was intrigued to read that in order to fully operate functionally in his job, he had to be influenced by alcohol. He identified something I have long considered plausible, that the relationship between success and addiction is so so close. Could it be that the addict will strive to do anything in order to satisfy their addiction?  Skill, wit, cunning, deception, cheating, lying, determination are all part of the addict’s repertoire to get their fix and practicing them on a daily basis only makes it easier to transfer them to other means, such as a career. We all have the means to use some cunning now and then or lie, but I don’t think I could do it so well compared to someone who has focussed motivation. When people watching I sometimes try and find characteristics to try and work out what they really want. Not in the sense that they have a hidden agenda but maybe because they do not know themselves or are having trouble to express it. When I encounter those with addictive personalities they always seem to be able to influence me through some means of hi-jinx, sometimes for the good and sometimes for the bad but either way they are infectious individuals.

Yelland’s ambition to prove himself and reading that he had done it appealed to me. I liked that because I want to prove myself, don’t we all? Sometimes, I feel I’m getting closer and some days, I admit, I’m really decades away, but I love reading about people who have done it. It’s always interesting to discover their journey of how they got to the point in their lives where they’re now sitting in front of a keyboard, in Bournemouth, tapping away their tale.  

Everything seemed to change for him when he realised who his real parents were. All those years of training and conditioning the mind in a certain way fell by the wayside once he realised who he was. Turning against The Sun’s overall agenda in order to push his own personal one takes some serious balls in my opinion, slowly altering the newspaper’s stance to protect and help those whom he probably wouldn’t have had he not discovered who he was. I wonder when was the turning point in his life, was it during a sober moment in a cab back from the office or finding some poignant clarity when inebriated during a night out.  

This article blew me away and will probably only raise an eyebrow for you. I’m none the wiser why specifically but am more so generally. I just find this guy interesting, although it seems that although his addiction fuelled his career, where they worked in tandem to maintain it all, his alcoholism began killing the very thing that matters in life, the ones he loved.

It’s also a reminder to me that periodicals still very much have a place, despite what I thought a few months back. There’s no way I would have stumbled across this on the web.

When They Were Rubbish

So the other day whilst getting increasingly frustrated about Spanish grammar, and my inability to understand the rules competently - I’ve got problems with understanding when to apply the perfect subjunctive as opposed to the subjunctive. I thought about how this was never a problem for Jose Pablo, but then concluded that he’s Spanish so why would he ever have had a problem, well maybe when he was seven and couldn’t pronounce ‘¿estas bien?’ So increasingly feeling crap about myself I made a ginger tea and let my mind go a bit wild. By this I mean, I began thinking about well known people and the problems they might of faced.

First off, Pablo Picasso must have been rubbish at painting once. Maybe when he was about twelve and drew something at school and the teacher just snorted in disgust at what was later to be known as cubism. As a result he went home and smashed up all his brushes and cried. Only to realise a few days later that he wanted to continue painting and wanted to create something that would show everyone that he what he produces is extraordinary pieces of art.

Or maybe when Roald Dahl thought he’d finally nailed a short story he had been writing for homework, only for the teacher to castigate him for not knowing where to apply the past-participle. This left Roald spending hours upon hours trying to memorise what this grammatical rule is and where to apply it. Instead of it just clicking he was left feeling annoyed and frustrated. So much so that he perhaps thought that writing wasn’t for him and it was better to instead try and focus his brain on something else, like fly fishing.

Perhaps Lionel Messi thought he’d never be a footballer when he tried to take the ball around bigger and stronger defender only to find himself flattened by a challenge more frequently seen at an NFL game. For a while he probably thought he’d never be able to get past players who were physically taller and stronger than him, and so he considered quitting and turning his attentions to something else. That was until he worked on his skill base and soon realised that he had the ability to ghost past defenders as if they weren’t there and when roughly tackled, was able to grow in strength to sustain those types of challenges.

Hmm, I guess I have used this entry to make realise that pretty much everyone, even those that became brilliant, have had set backs (well in my mind, I think they did), so I’m going to give myself a rest from trying to memorise stuff which at the moment is just not registering, and come back later when I’m not so annoyed at myself. I guess, sometimes I want to understand and remember something quickly when, to be honest, it actually takes me a while to fully take it in.

In other news, I met up with an ol’ pal named Ricky Rickatson (aka Jack Thursby and occasional visitor to this blog)a few weeks ago. It was good to catch up and also to see he still maintains his active enthusiasm for imported American confectionary, ‘fancy a sour Skittle?’

Disclaimer: All examples above are just a figment of my imagination and did not occur, and if they did, well, that’s just coincidence. Honest!

Prospects

These last few days have been ones I love. It’s the transitional period where winter finally diminishes and spring begins to sprout. Saturday and especially today were glorious outside from the moment I woke up and stared out of the window. Yet, upon stepping outside to buy some milk I realised that I’d better go back in and get my hat and gloves because it was still effing freezing.

When the sun starts to rise earlier in the morning and there’s a bright glaze at 07:40 it makes me think about what’s around the corner in the following months because winter is finally ebbing away. It feels good coming home now and it’s not pitch black. Now it’s only just past dusky but every day it’s getting darker later and later.

When these bright but brisk days occur I see it as a sign that sunnier warmer days will be here soon (ok, so will grey clouds and rain) and it feels me with optimism about everything that’s going to happen in 2010. My steps along the path to the shop quicken, as I think that something good will happen to me this year. Not that I deserve it but I just feel like these next seven months will be sunny days where everyone will be having barbeques, people will be out mingling in the sun complaining just how hot it is, the nation will be on this fantastic vibe as it’s a world cup year, and somewhere amongst all that I’ll be really happy about something. I don’t if it will be because of an accomplishment or because of luck, but these are the sort of thoughts that run through my head at 07:45 on a Sunday morning when it’s all quiet outside and it’s just me alone kicking a stone along the redway and thinking things through.

I’m fully aware with myself that I get these feelings each year, and as yet, I don’t think that I’ve had an ultra lucky streak which would make even a leprechaun jealous or that anything I’d done was actually worth talking about. What I kind of like more is not the hope of any of these things happening but the feeling of knowing they might, and I’m happy with that for the time being because these things are out of my control and plus it’s always good to ponder favourably on the future, otherwise you just end up being a grump.

So, when I finally came down from my high of breathing in the fresh morning air, and admiring the horizon lit up by the sun, I got to the shops and realised I’d forgotten my wallet!

Networking

There are many things that I am not good at, but networking is something I do not really like and am rubbish at doing. The garbling and exchanging of information and pleasantries are all achievable. It’s the way the majority of people turn all false that I don’t like. Also when someone yanks out a business card and shoves it in front of my face. I’m not too keen on that either.

This is only because I can’t handle the masquerading of it all. Sometimes when people approach me I think, ‘what are you after?’ And I feel bad for feeling this because I do like to help people but at the same time some people don’t deserve help and so I then try and work out how much information I want to give them.

Then there are times I’m boxed into a corner as someone strikes up a somewhat friendly conversation and the next thing they are trying to illicit what kind of synchronous technology I use and if it was applied what training elements were involved. I do not mind giving this information because, quite frankly I believe it should be passed on so that someone somewhere can do something really interesting with it, what I don’ t like is this tactic of acting to be my friend but at the same time just wanting something of me. I don’t mind that being asked about stuff it’s just that approach which really annoys me.

Sometimes when I realise it is happening I decide to give out some incomplete information just so I feel better because I’m sure they walk away thinking, ‘what a fool, he doesn’t realise I don’t care about him, and now I’ve got what I want...’ That way, they can think like that and I can smirk to myself knowing they haven’t got the complete picture.

What is rather funny is when I am looking for information. Say at an event or conference, I spend at least half an hour watching people walking around interacting, whilst I wrestle with myself about who to decide to approach first. When I finally decide to strike up a conversation, it always begins with me thinking, ‘I feel a right idiot for doing this.’ But I always begin and maintain the topic of what I want as the main discussion, none of this flattery, like ‘you must be really proud of yourself,’ or even stuff about my appearance, ‘your hair looks really good’. My hair doesn’t look good because it takes 0.3 seconds for me to style it in the mornings and I don’t wake up and spend all day beaming with pride.

Fortunately, there are some really nice people out there that wish to exchange information and do so without being smarmy or cunning. What’s even better is that sometimes you start to discover the person they are and you end up thinking that you would really like to work on a project with them. I guess the nature of networking is not to make friends but it also shouldn’t involve bad acting.

In other news, you may recall my post about my iPod being broken. Well, I can honestly say I can now stand tall amongst the likes of Maurice Moss, Screech Powers, Professor Frink and of course him . I took the whole thing apart (whilst making sure I was earthed), removed the hard drive, the battery and unscrewed the ear phone jack and replaced it. And it still worked after!

Quake

Something I need to bring up, even though I’m sure someone has mentioned it somewhere (I hope). Last Saturday’s earthquake in Chile was another reminder of how powerful nature can be. Measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale making it one of the most powerful earth quakes in the last 30 years.

Ok, so I’m slight worried as it could have easily been Peru than Chile seeing that they are both next to each other. But what has struck me is that two massive earthquakes have occurred in the last two months causing huge devastation. Haiti is in complete ruin and Chile is still discovering the extent of the damage that has been done. At present it seems quite a few people are looting shops whether it be for survival purposes or opportunist inclinations, the country is trying to bring itself back to normal.

But the fact there’s been two quakes so close to each other in time needs to be looked at. Are things changing in the world? Or more importantly will there be another one within the next 60 days which could rip cause equal devastation like it did to Haiti.

It’s lucky that there’s nothing like this in the UK. Ok, we get some pretty ropey weather where it’s sunny in winter and rainy in summer but in general it’s mild compared to most climates. Although, it should be pointed out that apparently England was hit by a Tsuanmi in 1607 we fortunately have not experienced anything like that of recent years. Imagine an earthquake hitting London, Birmingham or Manchester – it’s a struggle coping with a heatwave in those places when it happens.

I really hope that seismologists (which I’m sure they have) are starting to look at the patterns between the two. Like, were there similarities in the currents of the sea before they occurred, or when was the last time two earthquakes happened within a space of 60 days, and was there a third shortly afterwards? These are the things that seem to be bouncing around in my mind of late and I just wanted to get it out on the internet so that I can move on and think about other things.