Unnecessary Traversal

I had an appointment at Grantham Hospital this Wednesday, today as I write this. It was to see a rehabilitation consultant for reasons I am yet to fathom. I lost the handy letter with all the details and a map on so rang up and was given specific instructions to report to outpatients before 09:30. So I show up at 09:05 with no paperwork and tell them what I've been told. A lovely lady volunteer ushers me to the automated touch screen check in thingy and informs me that they haven't got my details at the main outpatients desk so maybe rehab/physio round the corner will.

I stride there and talk to another lovely lady who goes and asks those behind the scenes if they are expecting me. As I write this I remember I handed her my driving license, my name is out of the ordinary so instead of spelling it I decided on this course of action. I have just checked my wallet to make sure I retrieved it, I did, crisis over. She tells me that they are not expecting me so I'm probably expected at the other rehab clinic at the other end of the hospital. It is now 09:20 and I am running out of time.

I walk towards maternity and eventually see signs for "Rehabilitation". And then I arrive at a temporary wall blocking off the only corridor that allows internal access to rehab from where I am. The wall is blocking off some building work, fantastic! So I head outside in the hope of bypassing the building work and re-entering the hospital via another entrance, success! I wander into the rehab bit and it is rather deserted. Two nice ladies tell me the session has already started and asked if I still wanted to go in. This is some sort of group therapy. I explain that I'm here because I had loads of nerve damage and muscle wastage after rupturing two discs in my lower back. They direct me back to the physio department from whence I came.

I arrive back at the physio department and tell the nice lady that I've been sent back. She rings my local physio dept to see if they know what in tarnation is going on. They instruct her to use pause/paws/pas? I dunno some system that she is yet to engage. She tells me the name of the doctor I am supposed to see and sends me back to the main outpatients reception. You may remember that this is where I started me jaunt around Grantham hospital.

I speak with the receptionist and she tells me to take a seat and I'll be called in in due course. A couple of minutes later the doc pops his head out the door and calls me in. Not fussed that I am ten minutes late! So what's the moral here? Hospitals are useless? The NHS is a joke? Possibly but what I took away from it is do not lose the appointment letter they send you. Had I had it this whole series of events would not have taken place. Remember when I said I learn things the hard way? As it so happens the hard way was a 35 minute walk around a hospital.

Odd bit of metal work I saw on my way to the hospital.

The World

It is the name of Dio's stand in Stardust Crusaders! Yet to finish reading part three, it was my lunchtime reading when I used to work in Kenya. I've not gotten back to it! The word itself has a germanic route and means the age of man. So not a spacial geography but a temporal marker.

So this is a list of all the countries that the analytics bit of blogger tells me has readers of my blog in!

• Macau
• South Korea
• United States
• United Kingdom
• Poland
• Russia
• Germany
• Hong Kong
• Thailand
• Ukraine
• Chile
• Saudi Arabia
• Malaysia
• Russia
• Netherlands
• Indonesia
• Serbia
• Australia
• France
• Nepal
• Spain
• Sweden
• Canada
• Denmark

I wrote the list and then highlighted so I could add the bullet points. Which country do you think Blogger refused to recognise with it's own bullet? Come now peruse the list and pick a country, I insist. It was of course France! Only seen Paris and it was a bit of a let down. Mostly because we did all the touristy stuff in one day and spent the rest of the time steeped in Tamil culture. One of the many blessings/curses of having family all over the world. You have free accommodation and food regardless of what continent you're on but that does mean you probably won't have an opportunity to sample the local cuisine.

Well now that's out of the way I can get with what really matters. That is of course the phenomenon that is taking the globe at a sensible pace Nicnomications!

Like this and get allocated a mood. Your task is to find a picture of Nicolas Cage fitting the mood. Because neknominate got too mainstream and corporate etc.

I got quizzical from Cara!

Gifs they make the world a better place. My personal favourite involves a post-it note and a cat, don't worry I'll share it somewhere down the line. It's been rather amazing to see the many faces of Nicolas Cage. So far: Jubilant, smouldering, feisty, pugnacious, smug, expectant, impudent, nonchalant, raging and many more :D 

I had a chat with another legend from my recent past. A man who knows everything there is about business and people. And I realised that my CV is stuck in the past so I rewrote it. Well I rewrote it and it turned into something of a monstrosity as my last job appears to have been the most varied occupation I've ever undertaken. I'm in the process of boiling it back down, boiled it too much and ended up with burnt residue on the pan. Residue aside I am on my way to a CV that works :D

And now we come to the subject of roller derby. I love this sport as evidenced in several posts

Roller Derby = Awesome - All about the four bouts I've seen in person
More Quotes - Based around a quote from a legendary Rollergirl. Tweeted it to her and got a favourite!
WFTDA Champs - My experience of the world championships. American times make me sleepy.

I think that's it but I do have passing references peppered all over this funny little blog. I take that back it may be funny and a blog but is most certainly not little. Something like 1500 words per post so that's like over a 100,000 words! Back to the matter in hand, roller derby! So ages ago there was a shout out on the Lincolnshire Bombers Roller Girls, LBRG, fb page asking if anyone wanted to be an NSO. That's the none skating official in case you were wondering. Just prior to this I had had a brief chat with SDRG about how much I wanted to give the sport a crack but my bodies tendency to crack had left me unable. I should clear up that I don't have a tendency for cocaine, crack, my body tends to break in odd ways. Most recently at the lumbar spine level.

Moving past my spine we come to the suggestion of NSOing with the promise of a pink t shirt. I was sold already but now I am positively bouncing around like a tool. So I drop them a message and they say that once the season gets going they'll holla at me. So I forget all about it and get on with the task of finding myself a job.

Going to bust a quote yo, apologies for the yoing I've been listening to some Jesse Pinkman and that guy busts yo a lot. It's about creating the right conditions in order for something to happen. The example used is flowers, if you you want particular flowers you have to consider the soil, manure, water, climate, shade etc. If you just talk about the flowers then they won't happen. Well it looks like I've unconsciously set myself up for one thing and as chance would have it it's what I need in order max myself. I've got the internal contemplative stuff now to add the next level.

So back to NSOing. The head NSO I think that's her title. Not sure my initial thought was chief NSO but that sounds a little military. Anyways I got an email asking if I'd be interested in coming along to a scrimmage to get up to speed with NSO tings. In my mind I was shouting yes but this translated to no action being taken. I ended up replying late last night the day before the scrim. Anyway it all worked out but I did turn up an hour or so early. My own fault for not confirming the time. Was treated to the sight of off skate conditioning. Circuit training! Something I have not participated in since I was a teen. It sends me into a fit of nostalgia as I see shuttle runs, squats dips, pushups, ski sits, superman, person traversing and piggyback shuttle runs!

And then it's time to begin and I take my place next to Arry as her shadow. Never done this stuff before so I'll be watching as she bosses the penalty box. But then Mel comes over and says I actually get to do something! I am quite the fan of doing things. I'm handed a sheet and led through the steps involved in line up tracking. Write down numbers, star passes, which pass the opposition jammer is on, in and out passes for penalties. Doing this only hammered home how fast each jam is! There were three halves and I found myself watching intently  the whole time.

Very high ceiling on account of it being a venue for sports the involve balls and maybe trampolines. There is a sport that combines the the two.... SLAMBALL! I noticed the girders were rather dusty but the layer of dust wasn't disrupted intermittently. It looks like balls regularly bounce off the girders thereby causing the dappled effect. And yes I did spot a ball stuck between a girder and the ceiling, classic :-D It also had the mandatory lines all over the floor. I deciphered the basketball and badminton lines but there was a whole other set that I had no idea about. 5 a side football? Dunno. I'll be back next week to attend a workshop, some more NSOing, watch the lego movie and dress up as something I think should be wiped out of existence.

My favourite gif clicky for it's natural environment

Saturation

This is a story all about how my.... is everyone singing the Fresh Prince theme? Preferably out loud so as to inspire all in the vicinity to join in and make the world a better place. Sadly, this has nothing to do with the Prince, Fresh or otherwise, it is a story about a wet kitchen counter. A wet kitchen counter that was being cleaned by a man who I shall refer to as PAW. His initials, so if you are really sleuthy and knowledgeable about my sizeable base of friends, acquaintances and cohorts then you could probs find out who this was. But why do that? Well because it's a teeny, tiny bit embarrassing!

Ok so the story about the wet kitchen counter. PAW has moistened the counter in some way. I forget how but it was either by spillage or deliberately. I have no idea which. He picks up a dish cloth so he can mop up the liquid, not the couth thing to do, leaving liquid lounging around on kitchen counters. I think that reads rather well. Does it?

"Not the couth thing to do, leaving liquid lounging around on kitchen counters"

I do wonder why I can't speak like that. I speak in a pleasant enough manner but I'd never come out with something that sounds as nice as the sentence above. I wonder why. Well I think it's because I speak a damn sight faster than I type. I type 60-80 words per minute, no idea how fast I speak. So in theory if I slow down the pace of my speech I should be able to speak as well I write. That sounds awfully up myself. But it's a theory that I'm willing to try out. Got myself an interview so why not try it out then, when it really matters.

In case anyone is unfamiliar with standard issue dishcloths

So this kitchen counter is wet and PAW has armed himself with a cloth to clean it up. He applies the cloth to the pool. I should point out that myself and my learned colleague Richard are observing this behaviour. We are scientists and observation is kinda what we do. That and mistaking fences for hedges but that's another story for another time. Or if you really want to hear the story drop me a comment and I'll tell you in glorious detail :-D.

As he applies the relatively dry cloth to the pool and the cloth soaks up as much liquid as it can hold. Linking nicely to the title of this little ditty, saturation. It is saturated with liquid and therefore can not absorb any more. But PAW continues swishing the soaked cloth about in the liquid. This isn't drying the counter it's just moving the liquid about. Richard interrupts this exercise in liquid agitation and points out that PAW is not making any progress because of saturation. Ring cloth out over the sink and get back to it.

An anecdote that came forth when I was discussing stratagem for watching vast quantities of footage. Namely season 2 of House of Cards. Not all that vast tbh between 8.67 - 13 hours, not sure if the episodes are 40 minutes of 1 hour long. My brother said he has to intersperse his watching with other things. Quite a productive way of watching such epicness. Do some work, watch some Spacey awesomeness, do some more work, watch even more spacey awesomeness. I don't quite operate that way. I watched the whole thing in three days. I could've done it in 2 but eating, sleeping etc. got in the way. So it would appear I don't get saturated by such things as easily as a higher functioning...not sure how to describe myself and my brother.

So reading! I've got some time to read as I don't have to arise at ridiculous o'clock to commute. But given the current trajectory of things I'll probably be commuting soon enough. I apply for jobs but strangely they are coming looking for me. Not something I'm used to but I could definitely get used to, if you know what I mean. I've been reading something written in 1937 and from it I'm slowly starting to see things differently. From it I was introduced to this awesomeness:

1. Teach me to be obedient to the rules of the game.
2. Teach me to distinguish between sentiment and sentimentality admiring the one and despising the other.
3. Teach me neither to proffer nor receive cheap praise.
4. If I am called upon to suffer, let me be like a well – bred beast that goes away to suffer in silence.
5. Teach me to win, if I may; if I may not win, then above all teach me to be a good loser.
6. Teach me neither to cry for the moon nor over spilt milk.

Those are six maxims that King George V had hanging over his desk. Of those six I immediately understood five, I had to look up the difference between sentiment and sentimentality. The former is feelings of tenderness, nostalgia etc. and the latter is exaggerated self indulgent feelings of things of that nature. A subtle difference but one worth  acknowledging.

I don't really agree with the first maxim as it mentions rules. But I suppose if you are going to play any game then you have to play by the rules otherwise you aren't playing the game. Does that make sense? A game is only a game if it takes place within a certain set of rules. So the parameters are set and by staying within them you ensure everyone involved is playing the same game. All fine and dandy for games :-D

But what for life in general...rules? Nah not a fan.

It's a tree or a loaf of bread or a star...

Thinking through reincarnation. A carnation is a flower but it's also a type of milk...dairy! I've been left with a bit of a thing for dairy after spending so long steeped in it. If you aren't imagining my good self soaking in dairy product then...you are now :-P.

So you remember all that stuff I wrote about the question? Well I'm feeling a little different about the whole subject. It's probably because my system has been invaded by a virus! Yep the rhino has breached my personal perimeter, there is no way to write that that doesn't make it sound in some way sexual. Maybe it's all in my head. Trying to write to Kanye was a bad idea I just get distracted and want to bust a move. I'll be right back...

It's damn near impossible to hear that beat and not want to get to your feet! You can allocate the credit/blame for Kanye popping up in the post to @Swap120. His fish Kanye West passed into the great beyond today. God speed mini fishy Kanye. That brings me on nicely to my thoughts on what happens when you kick the bucket according to Hinduism and Buddhism, reincarnation. So the short version is do good and you come back in a better position and vice versa. Assume that it's true and follow my train of thought.

I'm in quite a privileged position, I've got it easy. So I must have done a lot of good in my previous life/lives to earn this. Good for me. Assuming that a bacterial consciousness can move on to become a human consciousness somewhat confuses me. Bacteria are single celled organisms so if we assume each discrete organism has a separate consciousness. But humans and other animals are made up of many, many cells. A single cell has a mean weight of 1 nanogram so if you weigh 100kg then it you have around 100 trillion cells. If the rules are the same then each cell has a consciousness so if you weigh 100 kg then you are lugging around 100 trillion separate consciousnesses...confusing.

This bit I find ever so interesting. Mutualism and  symbiosis. If we look at the human cell it contains a bunch of interesting stuff. Cytoplasm, ribosomes, dna, rna, mitochondria etc here's a lovely article in case you are a massive nerd like me :D It's the mitochondria that interest me in particular. They are the power plant of the cell, it's where all the wonderful ATP is produced that keeps us chugging along. This is a link to wikipedia as it is by far the most comprehensive ting I've found on mitochondria. As you probably know the DNA that carrys the information to make up the human body is stored in the nucleus of the cell. Mitochondria have their own DNA, it's in a loop. Loopy DNA is associated with bacteria! So every cell of the body has mitochondria which is kinda like having a cell within a cell.

So cells, souls, conciousness. How does it add up? Well each cell has it's conciousness and then there is the bit between the ears. The bit that remembers a lot and insists on recalling it all at the most inopportune moments. I'll not name names but I did see a little ting about being unable to sleep a couple of days ago. Because the old noodle won't cycle down. I can definitely relate. The night of the 14th of Feb was a sleepless night for me. Drag your minds out the romantic gutter twas nothing of the sort but a harsh embrace from the heavens. It was of course a full moon. On the day of a full moon and those leading up to it I find sleep to be fleeting. I am a grade A lunatic, get it? My mind races and as of late I have become accepting, I think.

During this time of racey mind madness I glimpsed something. The idea of illusion has long been batted about. This life is all smoke and mirrors. It's not really real. Life? What's all that then? Well boil it down and it comes to chemistry. Things seeking to be stable result in reactions etc. These reactions form into increasingly complex bullshit that results in walking talking abominations. Welcome to the human race a bunch of chemical soup that got a little out of hand.

Mental projection and regression the root of all suffering. Pain is in the here and now but suffering? Mental suffering is reliving the past or anticipating the future. Now the past is done and dusted and the future is yet to be. So if you are suffering the past of the future then you are suffering something entirely fictional. Now fiction in the sense that it doesn't exist. Rather mad...no?

So onwards to this creature/character that is you, me and everyone else. This thing exists in the now. The now is all there is so if anything exists at all it has to be in the now. So now is all there is but because of the "powers" of the mind we think there was a yesterday and assume there will be a tomorrow. We all know what happens when we assume right boys and girls? You make and ASS out of U & ME. Ass. I don't want to be serious it's ever so tedious! But this is about the fundamentals

Now I'm lost I don't know what's next. So I've gotten to the truth that now is all there is so what? Meaning...is what I want. Meaning, meaning, MEANING. Now here's the dirty little secret. Tim Minchin told me it. Yep the Aussie joke pedlar with a penchant for piano dropped this truth bomb on me on the Youtube! There is none. It's something of a cosmic joke ba dum bum tsss! If you consider the ultimate end of it all based on our current understanding it'll all even out into something of a uniform jumble. That is to say the concentration of energy will be the same everywhere.

Now what meaning could there be when the end of it all is that? So no meaning. So what's the point? I don't know. Not what you or I wanted to hear as why do anything if it's all ultimately pointless? Well there is a bit of a funny twist that's been added. And that would be joy. To laugh, joke, smile and smirk. All those expressions of happiness that we take for granted. We spend a lot of time not being that way too. Too much time. If there is not point then you may as well enjoy it. Pretty much the same conclusion I came to before. But this time I got there from a mad moon based rant.

Lunacy ;-)

The weak in use...get it?

That is an actual phrase right? "The week in news" or have I made it up and convinced myself it's a real thing?! Problem when you keep your own company for a while, you tend to convince yourself of all kinds of things. Maybe it's just me...

The week has been a little uneventful. Well there was a gathering of legends round my house. Refreshing as it's always fun to meet up with the legends. I know a lot of legends Arthurian and the such. Was given a decent shove to take the initiative and make things happen. But I'm also a little ill and it's not man flu as I've had my jab. Devoid of motivation I've been doing busy work and setting things in motion.

Additionally my tshirt arrived! All the way from France, yep I have a french t shirt. It's pretty cool to look at...I am ever so tired my eyes are shut whilst I type this I wonder if it will look anything like English. Nailed it! Funny thing is as soon as I opened my eyes I made a mistake! Question for the hoard: can you tell that your car has a full tank of fuel? Whenever I fill up I can feel the difference in the car. Twas a moot point at the legend gathering as the yays tallied equal to the nays.

The tshirt! Now for the history of my t shirts yep I shall be going over something so banal. For a long time I owned numerous black tshirts, shirts etc. The colour of knowledge or so I've heard. Then inspired by the comic book heroes I hold in such high regard I sprung for primary colours red and blue. I now have the same colours but adorned with some rather butt kicking artwork. TARDIS, Pikachu, Edwards Scissorhands, Postman Pat/Breaking bad, Zebras, Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy and many wrestling legends. Interesting thing about the imagery + text is that people naturally have to stop and stare to ascertain what they are seeing. I tend to forget there is something stareworthy on my chest. This pretty much happens every time I go into public. So if you are staring at my chest trying to understand the awesomeness there upon then I'd advise you not to look at my face. As what you'll see is a confused look of "Why is everyone staring at my bosom?!"

Birch blossom!

On one of my excursions to visit my elderly dog, Tim. I say elderly but he's about as spry as he ever was. Also he lives in a shed inside a shed next to the garage. I'm not sure why we put a shed inside a shed. I approached the shed to awaken the beast, he spends most of the day snoozing. I spot an odd shot of colour out the corner of my eye. When I turn and stare I am greeted with a sign of spring, birch blossom! Looks like part of our hedge is made up of birch. Strange I know as you don't tend to use trees in hedges that's usually the territory of shrubberies. The rest of the hedge is hawthorn, I could hear you all screaming "WHAT SHRUBBERIES MAKE UP THE REST OF YOUR HEDGEROW!" So the indication that spring is here is somewhat misleading as it also snowed on several days this week. Not the settling kind of snow, oh no, it's the kind of snow that'll ruin a walk etc.

This cold malarky has made me drowsy. Rather annoying as being awake is such a possibility. Not getting much done in my wakefulness so perhaps sleep will be a better use of my time. Or I could sit here recounting what I did yesterday. I was invited to attend an alumni event to be part of a panel of graduates. We were supposed to recount our journeys from graduation. Mine was a lot of manual labour, a couple of accounting placements, cima exams, being incapacitated and then my dairy adventures. I was reminded gloriously of the bubble we all live in. The bubble formed by our particular experiences. From those experiences we for m conclusions on what we believe to be the truth. The problem is that all we experience isn't all that there is. I'm being vague because I don't want to be harsh. Perhaps my biggest shortfall is that I give too much consideration to not hurting folks feelings.

Note to self be more ruthless. Now that I've said that can one be ruthful? Thinking through the general "rules" and I am rather bored with that way of living. But what other options are there? Well there is foraging and...freelance. I don't have the skills for foraging neither the skills for freelance. But the life of a freelancer is ever so appealing. You would be free! But you wouldn't have a lance. I know a fair few freelancers and none of them have lances. Bit of a let down really. Where would one go to get a lance these days? In all my years I don't think I've ever met a Lance or seen a lance.

Oh my book finishing streak is continuing. V for Vendetta from start to finish in a few days! I know it'd have taken me a few years in the olden days. I'm a fantastically slow reader, not really. I start books then forget about them and get distracted by other books. Rather enjoyed it and I read the entire thing in the voice of V from the film. Portrayed excellently by Hugo Weaving, I'd encourage you to read it as it is rather awesome. Fills in some gaps that were missing from the film and adds a little more drama to the character of V. Plus the bit where Natalie Portman is in the rain is done much better in the book. Already onto my next book promises to transform my perspective on people and it's by Dale Carnegie.

Does anyone else find that during a full moon they can't sleep? Yesterday was such a day for me so today you'd think I'd be hanging. I am rather full of beans. Perhaps it's the coffee or maybe my lunacy has extended into today, get it?

The Question

From here where they've got a buttload of covers

The question is of course a, I was going to say superhero but he's not. Doesn't have super powers so lets go with sleuth/crimefighter. He was also briefly a black lantern but let's not get into that. I'm not referring to this suave investigator when I say the question. I've been plagued by it since I was eight. Nearly two decades of pondering and I haven't got an answer. Well I have a answer that makes sense but it's such a tragedy.

I think I've written about the question before. Most of these are just vastly reworded versions of previous posts. Now I've said that you just have to go back and read my entire back catalog, right? :-P A feat that would take even the most herculean of readers a few days, weeks, months? How fast would a herculean reader be? Hercules was strong but fast? I suppose explosive strength and speed go hand in hand. Anyways I'm quite a fast reader but I'm terrible at finishing books. I currently have six or seven books on the go. I dip into them and then forget about them. Oh here's where I wrote about the question before. Those life changing moments!

The question is of course what's next? Not what's next for me but for us all, ultimately. I heard it put rather bluntly and elegantly by my favourite mystic. The body is walking in one direction only...straight towards the grave. Physically the form you identify as me will die. As a child we all hold idea that the next step is heaven, well most of us do. I am a hindu but because I grew up a predominantly christian culture when I thought of afterlife, I thought of heaven. But now I don't know what to believe.

Nicked it from here. I think Satan got the short end of the stick. But that's a story for another day.

Leads me neatly to belief and knowledge. The difference between the two...proof? No proof like mathematical proof, am I right? Don't get too excited or worried, I'm not about to dive into some elaborate mathematics about life and death. But tell me this dear reader, do you believe you have two arms?

How many's that?

100% of you???

Now tell me do you believe you have two arms OR do you know you have two arms? Another bit of spiel I nicked from the mystic. You can say what you like about him but he sure can spin a yarn!

So my reason leads to believe that at the end of life there is nothing. The lights go out and they don't come back on again. It still scares me a little, the thought of eternity in the void. Well it wouldn't be in the void, just darkess, nothing... I am such a ray of sunshine in the depths of the British winter, no? But knowing it will all end could come as a comfort for some, the struggle of day to day life. But to others it's a tragedy that this fabulous ride has to ever come to an end. Makes me think that there is truth in the old adage that time flies when you are having fun. If you are miserable minutes feel like hours and days feel like entire eternities! Alternatively if you are joyful your life flies by in the blink of an eye! Slow and painful or fast and fabulous?

Knowing this won't last, provides some rather compelling motivation to make the most of it. At least that would be the most joyful way to live it out. I mean you're at this awesome party for x amount of time, should you live it up or should you mope in the corner cos it's cloudy/rainy/you don't have enough cash/a big enough car/ etc!? Life's too short to be annoyed with every fool, tool, dullard etc. Fume free as my esteemed associate Mark Taylor would say.

Anyone know what these lovely contraptions are?

They are of course fume cupboards, particularly useful when working with smelly/poisonous chemicals. I think they may serve as a welcome deterrent to fuming in general, stop it or you'll have to in the fume cupboard. Are we all savvy with the law of conservation of energy? Energy cannot be created or destroyed it can only be changed from one form to another. For example chemical energy can be converted into light, heat and sound. Burn a candle and the wax does exactly that. Heat doesn't really exist. Not sure if that's the best way of expressing that but heat is an expression of the kinetic energy something has.

It's from this law that the idea of reincarnation being practically true occurred to me. As is the way I am not the first person to arrive at this idea. One U.G. Kirshnamurti said as much on death. "When clinical death takes place the body breaks itself down into it's constituent elements and that provides the basis for the continuity of life." I'd have waffled forever trying to express that idea. UG was a genius! Everything that can be considered as a human being is of the body, even the mind is contained within. When death occurs the system loses all heat to the surroundings and is broken down at the cellular level. But if it is not sealed off then it is absorbed back into nature and will become "alive" once again.

Yep circle of life people. There's a lot to be learnt from a disney movie ;-). And how awesome is James Earl Jones' voice! So in that way the body is immortal. It just continues to shift from one form to another. But what of the personality? Whatever energy makes up the personality is recycled as well. So that really dies, by this line of reasoning. What is personality exactly? How do you define a personality? Characteristics and or qualities, put a bunch of those together and there's a personality. Is that really all we boil down to? Finding that a rather dull tbh.

Not checked up to see how accurate this is!

Anyone seen breaking bad? Or Full Metal Alchemist?In both there is a run down of the elements that make up the human body. The pic above shows that that's it. But as mentioned before that's not what makes up a human being. There's the bit between the ears, that dwells in the brain, that writes poetry, music and produces fabulous art. That bit is also physical format it in a particular way and you have me, fiddle with that a bit and there's you.

This is a line of reasoning that I find interesting. How many dimensions do we exist in? three right? Those are the physical dimensions. But you are probably aware of the fourth dimension, time. And we move through that as well. This video explains this much better. How many dimensions did you follow it up to? I got to seven before I felt rather confused and like my head was going to explode. Wonder what a twelfth level intellect can comprehend. So a fifth dimensional being would be able to perceive the entire lifespan of an object in an instant. Being able to move in higher dimensions opens up an interesting can of worms.

This can is labelled cause and effect. Cause precedes effect but not if you can move about in higher dimensions. Everything is apparent at once so the cause and the effect are happening at the same time. All rather confusing and makes me feel not so smart. I did briefly forget why I got into this at all! But I've remembered, yay! The cause would be be the body and the effect would be the personality.  There is a rather interesting article here:

http://apeaceful-warrior.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/a-book-titled-biocentrism-how-life-and.html

It goes into quantum physics and that's something I don't even pretend to understand. Inflationary theory, parallel worlds etc. sure I can appreciate the idea but the quantum world confuses me like nothing else.

I have not come to any conclusions as the only way to know is to go. Not quite ready to call it day so it may be a while before I step into the void. Much to do, see, hear, smell, feel and write before I kick the bucket. Reminds me of the black guy in Gladiator, "Not yet..."

A gathering...

I have three other things I'm writing atm. So there may be a torrent of blog posts that come raining down any minute now! Also the six nations has crept up on me, which is pretty impressive if you consider the combined bulk of the six nations! Little too liberal with my use of marks that denote exclamation? I get excited rather easily I may not show it.

This is one of my accounts of a night out. As is the way it started with a journey to tesco where I purchased what I thought was a very reasonable amount of pizza, 4. I then drove an interesting route to Lincoln. For those of you who like to savour b roads then you are in for a little treat. I went through Ruskington, Dorrington, Digby, Scopwick, Metheringham and Branston. I am of course describing a journey along the B1188 aka Lincoln Road.

I arrive about half an hour early and initially walk into the converted church hall, on Eastbourne Street, in a manner that can only be described as a little reminiscent of a home invasion. I walk out and ring the bell so I'm not mistaken for a tea leaf. Vicky and Andrew appear and are not surprised to see me standing in the door way. I go to grab my stuff from the car and as I am walking in I spot a shady character crossing the street opposite me. It is of course the king of excel and a man who does not mince his words, James Knight.



A bit of a chat and I tuck into a scotch egg. Man I love scotch eggs I ate four of the badboys that night! Andrew tells me about his work night out and I enquire as to whether he's familiar with an Eleanor who works in mental health. He says he's seen her name in the system but the last time I spoke to this particular Eleanor was over a decade ago. I felt rather old after I said that. But we reminisce about  birthday parties.

It's around now that I bust open a beer. I haven't had one since around christmas time and it's AWESOME! And around now Swapnal and Mark make their entrance! They are laden with many bags. As luck would have it Swapnal has also purchased 4 pizzas giving us a grand total of 8. We are expecting a total of six gents so eight pizzas should go down rather easily. Now here comes a surprise!

Swapnal busts out two crates of Guinness, two bottles of Disaronno and two bottles of Captain Morgan's spiced gold. These particular spoils are split between myself and James as way of a parting gift. I am rather speechless as I was not expecting this. Gifts are great and love to give them but when receiving presents I tend to have no idea how to react. My general awkwardness in such social situations may be indicative of an underlying ailment. It is of course giftaphobia, the fear of gifts.

Dan arrives and shortly afterwards he and Vicky set sail for Sheffield. I think they drove...I'm pretty sure no sailing was involved. All I know about Dan is that he plays the double base in a jazz band and his name is Dan! I wonder what kind of finger strength is required to play base in a jazz band. My curiosity stems from a quote from scrubs, JD is running away from Elliott and leaps into the lift. She reaches with one finger and opens the doors. He exclaims “Oh no, she's got a pinky hold. Elliot's got the finger strength of a rock-climbing jazz-pianist.”

There is some generic fuming and Mark reveals more than he intended to. We also realise that he has executed his plan with all the accuracy of blind hippopotamus. Accuracy Mark. And now comes the centurion. This is of course where we down a shot of beer a minute for one hundred minutes. That's only 4.4 pints in an hour and forty minutes. Easy no? In a word no.

We get going and I'm having a whale of time as my two drinking amigos are keeping pace. Around the 38 minute mark Swapnal declares himself out. And around 50 minutes myself and Mark throw in the towel. But the game has had it's desired effect and we are all rather merry. Bubba Sparx rolls round on the playlist and James busts a move to Birchwood Leisure centre.

An actual birch wood!

It is now that I realise I have no form of ID with me! No problem as myself and Swapnal are dead ringers. Not only are we of south asian origin, similar builds, power levels above 9000 etc. We also look and sound alike. We don't but pretty much anyone who has ever met both of us has gotten us mixed up. We stride with purpose to the Co-op to obtain cash. We realise upon arrival that it is shut, not cool Co-op. So we ferociously walk towards town and in our fury we meet Mark's chums. I remember a Chris and an Ash but I was rather inebriated so the rest of their names elude me. Apologies chaps, if we ever meet again feel free to try and spell my name.

It is now that we spot the queue. It can only be described as redonkulous.  We're on the guest list so simples right? Wrong we are pulling a crafty manoeuvre that requires some precise positioning on account of my lack of ID. So we line up single file. As I see this ridiculousness unfolding in front of me it is apparent that this is sure to summon more attention than less. So we reposition into a more conventional queuing formation ready to adopt our single file style at a moments notice. Two of our four man cell are in leaving Mark and myself to wait. Roger arrives and throws perfectly timed distraction. Thus allowing us in with no questions asked.

First order of business is to lose the cloaks, get a drink and drain the lizard. Having completed all those things we go in search of the rest of the group and find them one floor up. I realise something about my particular way of dancing, I need space. Something that is at a premium on a Friday night at Moka. I get over my spacial requirements and enjoy the night. Mark is having a tough time switching of his chatting reflex. He insists on having a chat with everyone within range. As I have mentioned once previously I am somewhat blessed. I think that worked against me on this particular night as I did feel a little like a piece of meat. Suppose we are all little more than pieces of meat!

Session artists, just like Jamiroquai!

The night progresses as per schedule and I am getting all the right signals from all over the place. But I just dont have the motivation to run the game. Then we go in search of the great outdoors again and take a wrong turn. Descending some stairs we turn a corner and try to get past the security. We are turned away as they are not letting people in anymore. So myself and my fellow crafty have made a decision that makes us look ever so uncrafty. We spot Mark, Amanda and Tammy chilling in the smoking zone. I take a picture, hug it out and head on our merry way.

On the way back we remember we have many, many pizzas! We've only consumed two of the 8! The walk back is uneventful but we discuss some matters of great importance. Namely we haven't had any Unicum! Upon arrival back at Swap's pizza is placed in the oven and the discussion continues. It was one of those times when my way with words was down for the count. I'd been awake for around 24 hours at that point and the only answers I could come up with were all cliches. But they were honest cliches. Andrew and his mate arrive from their night out and we distribute the Unicum. It was a mistake. That stuff is truly terrible neat. I've been researching cocktails on how best to get rid of the stuff. Playing with fire is something that you should only do if you're prepared to get burned :-P

And that's the end of the night as I headed to bed and awoke the next day. I headed upstairs grabbed the remenants of the pizza and a box of chicken. I go back to bed and finish reading Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah. Spoilers in case you were planning on reading the book it centres around the idea of living by your own rules. Not a revolutionary idea but there is an interesting extension, to hell with everyone else. Follow my drift? "First do no harm" ringing any bells? The message here is do whatever you want, accept responsibility for any repercussions and that's all he wrote! I will go into more detail if you're too lazy to read the book :-P Another time.

Sweden and the Ukraine - Who are you mystery globe trotting reader? I've had a bunch of hits from these two places. I love that I have people reading these tings from all over the world: America, Germany, France, Australia, England and Nepal to name a small selection. But these two are new :-D