UnorthodoxY Archive It's wasn't what you thought

Since I’ve publicly mentioned some resolutions on the site, I figured I may as well post some periodic progress reports and keep myself honest.

People Visited: 5 (1)
Places Visited: 2 (1)
Countries Visited: 2 (1)

The numbers in brackets are ‘new’ people/places/countries (see the rules below). Not a bad start for the first month, particularly since January is generally the month people just sit around and recover from the holidays. Looking back I actually feel like it’s been a month where I’ve done stuff and not just sat of the sofa. Hopefully that gives me a benchmark to live up to for the rest of the year, February is already shaping up to be just as busy.

The rules (‘cos there have to be rules).
For places and countries the numbers are the number of unique places/countries I’ve been so far this year. The number in brackets indicates the places/countries I’ve never been before. Passing through somewhere due to connecting flights or transfers doesn’t count.
For people it’s the number of people I’ve travelled to visit (counting people in Edinburgh only if I make the effort to visit their home). The number in brackets are people I didn’t visit last year and/or would have been unlikely to visit this year if I hadn’t made a resolution to do so. Partners and family members don’t count extra unless I know them separately and “accidents” don’t count, I have to be deliberately going to see the person.

… you just heard is a significant part of my life being sucked into the void that is Celebrity Big Brother. Sad I know. Brief comments after the jump to protect those that haven’t seen the launch show yet. Or those that just don’t care.

Quick aside: I know Scotmid is the store that gets beaten up and laughed at by all the other supermarkets, but no bread? no rolls? no eggs? The only thing that stopped me walking out in disgust was that I needed brown sauce, and they only had one bottle of that left that wasn’t the nasty-generic-co-op own brand stuff. (more…)

People have accused my Christmas post of being ‘twee’ so I’m going to keep this one a bit shorter but those people might still want to stop reading now.

And, yes it was an automatic post, I wasn’t on line at midday on the 25th, if I recall correctly I was in the middle of constructing a trifle. And I’m not online now either, and the chances are by the time you read this it’ll be 2007.

So for the next few days we’ll all be wishing each other a happy new year, to the point where — for me at least — they become just words, another mantra that we repeat. So when you wish someone a Happy New Year today, tomorrow or whenever, all I ask is that you mean it, even if only for that moment.

So, to each and all of you, I hope you have a fantastic 2007.

Really.

And I’ll try and dial down the twee for a bit.

Well the dawning of the new year is almost upon us and it’s the time when, after a few drinks and during a lull in the conversation, people ask about resolutions. It’s a tradition I quite like, it’s not really taken too seriously and it inspires people to think and, perhaps, change something.

I’ve made resolutions most years, some serious, some not so, some detailed, some just an idea. Most I’ve followed through with to some degree or another. This (last) year I resolved to try and get out of the comfortable rut that I find myself in, try new things, go new places, meet new people. I think I achieved that, although it may be cheating to just sod off for on an exotic holiday for a month and not really change much the rest of the time.

A few years back I resolved to actually make an effort to get in contact with old friends and stay in contact with current ones, it was a pretty good resolution and it worked well but I’ve since lapsed into my less communicative ways. I think this year is a pretty good time to resurrect that one, get in touch with old friends, make an effort to go visit people near and far … we’ll see how it goes.

I’m often accused of being a bit of a grinch at this time of year as I don’t really embrace the Christmas season like some people do. Since I spend Christmas with my folks I don’t tend to have a tree, or put up any decorations in my flat. I fact I don’t really do anything special in the run up to Christmas.

I still feel the season is important, but it’s not about the decorations, the trimmings or even ‘the spice’ as the fat tongued mockney twat says in the adverts.

It’s about the people. It’s about family, friends and strangers.*

So I hope each and everyone of you has the best Christmas you can, however you want it to be.

As a gift to me, just take a second away from the turkey, the tinsel and the tree and think of everyone else’s Christmas and what you can do to help them have the best time they can — not just a Christmas but all year round.

Merry Christmas.

I’m not Christian so it’s not about Jesus for me, but if it is for you then that’s cool too.