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What do you really want out of life? Now what's stopping you?

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

To the Manor Born.


"In the beginning the Lord planted a garden and since then it has remained one of the greatest human pleasures"

There is nothing like a stroll through a well kept estate. I spend the day yesterday at Harewood House, an estate just outside of Leeds. With a rich royal history, sweeping views and a rare-bird garden, it was just the place for some quiet reflection amid beauty. Among the hustle and bustle of daily routine it is refreshing to be able to get away from it all and just spend time unwinding. I must have spent a good 20 minutes sitting on a bench admiring the view, inhaling the sweet fragrance of pink rose bushes. The views from the house are breathtaking, even if they are landscaped, and there are worse things that one could wake up to each mornng. The servants quarters below the main house give an interesting insight into the unseen life of the house, a reminder that good planning and organisation are the foundation of many things that look like a success.

At the end of the day I decided I could definitly live the manor life. Anyone with a spare estate...

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Bricks and Mortar


Its been a wickedly windy day in Leeds today. Walking along the canal there were times when I ws almost blown backwards as the wind was funneled down the sidepath. My sister lives in the city and I'm here because she decided to finally tie the knot. The wedding was on Friday and was a fabulous party. Very non-conformist but a completely brilliant bash. It was held in a meadow on the longest day of the year. We had all sorts of fun from the excellent food to afternoon croquet to letting off two dozen chinese lanterns into the night when it finally got dark.

I've a couple of days in Leeds on my own to shop and sightsee. Today I visited the Royal Armoury and took a tour through the violence of history. I have a weakness for swords and armour and was well in my element. I then took a stroll through the Leeds Art Gallery where, compared to my rececent Tate experience, a lot of fun and thought was had. One of the exhibits was an interactive canvas where you were free to pick up a piece of chalk, get down on your knees and scrawl your inspiration about the brick man at the gallery(see image above). I think it was the challenge of using words creatively that got to me. So I put down my two pence of worth.

"From Dust
To Dust
The Eternal Contemplation"

Not a lot, but that's what came to me.

The other exhibit that appealed to me was a series of word/concept breakdowns involving dictionary definitions of the words associated with it. If I feel creative I may do one sometime. Tommorrow its time to shop and I'll find something exciting to do for Tuesday.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

London Calling

Am sitting in an internet cafe in London. Arrived over the weekend in preparatin for my sister's wedding this next week. Have spent the last few days being a total tourist and running around seeing sites that I have not been to yet.

Where to start...

There seems to be a lot more construction around than i remember from my last trip here, probably related to the 2012 Olympics. I try and do something different when I travel-something I would not usualy do to expand my horizons. this time it was the Tate Modern Art Gallery. To be honest I didn't really enjoy it. I could appreciate the concepts put forward and the use of art and texture to portry things but I probably won't be heading back in that direction for a while. Otherwise having a complete blast with much to do.

Saturday, June 07, 2008

50 things you should know

Here's an interesting list on 50 things everyone should know how do do. So it doesn't include blog ettiquite or how to win a Presidential Nomination but it is full of links to places where you can learn what's on the list.

Friday, June 06, 2008

How do you get a child to eat brocolli (or any other foul tasting green). One way is to sit them down and force them to eat it-'you're not leaving the table till its finished'. Many have been scarred by this experience, remember sitting there staring at a pile of steaming green lava with your mother's latest threat ringing in your ears. Bet you still don't eat brocolli.

The other option is to go though the cookbooks and present it in such a tasteful and appealing way that there is no argument-ever. Chop it up, disguise it in a sauce or a different shape (my parent uses to make thinks all sasauge shaped for there was a period where that was all I would eat). Try carrot, butternut or beetroot cake. Problem solved. You improve your cooking ability (your spouse will love you) and there is no stress and argument.

How about other areas of life. In case you havn't noticed when you force someone to do something they almost always push back. Rather make the experience one of benefit and fun. Want to exercise-do it in a manner that apealls to you (if you hate running then try a scenic session of discovery on a bike). It saves the argument

Monday, June 02, 2008

Fighting Faces

Everyone of us wears a multitude of faces. For example, to some I am a teacher, to others a physiotherapist, to others a friend, cook, advisor etc. You get the picture. Through life we fill certain roles as we go along. The irritating part is that often as we move along and grow and develop that people (especially those that have not been around us for a while) tend to treat us as though nothing’s changed. I think everyone who has ever been 20 remembers some idiotic relative who tried to treat you like you were 12 at the annual family Christmas party. That should have set of a bad series of memories for you. Now the nasty reflective part-have you done it to anyone else. It doesn’t have to be as obvious as the example I gave above, but what about the friend who has gotten control of his anger and you are tiptoeing around him like he could erupt at any minute. What a waste of tiptoeing (save it for the midnight sneak to the fridge).

Or maybe you treat yourself like that-after all the effort you’ve put into loosing weight you fail to hold the new internal picture of a thin you and binge out. What about the picture of how much money you have-you get a salary rise but it doesn’t fit the picture of you so you go and blow it on some ridiculous outfit.