My last post brought some great comments, and inspired this post.
When I was young, this guy, Ken Dodd, was one of the biggest entertainers around. James, at least, will remember him. This was one of his most famous songs: Happiness.
It embodies a lot of my approach to life, especially when talking about measuring success in terms of happiness and not money. I do the work that I do because it makes me happy, not rich!
People comment on how happy I am, not only bloggers, but people who deal with me face to face.
I recently had a student tell me that without my happy chat each day she might not have finished her degree. How is that for sharing a smile and making a difference?
When we were doing our Christmas food shopping, the woman on the checkout commented on how jolly I was, when everyone else seemed to think that the end of the world was coming. She said I should be employed at the store to cheer up the workers!
A few days ago I was walking down the High Street and was stopped by one of those poor people who do market research. I stopped, chatted, answered her questions. She said I was the first smiling person she had seen ALL DAY! We parted and she returned to her task with renewed vigor.
Spreading a little happiness isn't really that hard, and who knows, you might start a ripple effect going, making a small part of the world just a bit nicer! We all have stuff that tries to make us sad and miserable, and there are times when even I feel like crap, but we also have plenty to feel good about, and I prefer to focus on that, something I learnt to do in my late teens when trying to fight depression.
So, my tip-top tip for today? Think a happy thought, hum a happy tune and SMILE, dammit!
Tuesday, 13 January 2009
Monday, 12 January 2009
Ear-worms...
Terri made me think of this post. When she gets a song stuck in her head she calls it an ear-worm. What a great name for it!
On Saturday, my Ear-worm was "Give it up" by Thin Lizzy:
I didn't realise until I was in the cheese aisle of the local supermarket and found myself singing it, um, quite loudly! Glancing around the packed store I found that there was a huge space around me, the only person within about 20 feet of me was a very worried looking guy rushing past with his trolley. I had to laugh! Were they frightened of catching something? Happiness, perhaps? Who knows? Who cares?
But it does lead to my tip-top tip for the day!
If you are in a busy shop and can't get through, start singing very loudly - you might suddenly find that you have a lot more space around you!
On Saturday, my Ear-worm was "Give it up" by Thin Lizzy:
I didn't realise until I was in the cheese aisle of the local supermarket and found myself singing it, um, quite loudly! Glancing around the packed store I found that there was a huge space around me, the only person within about 20 feet of me was a very worried looking guy rushing past with his trolley. I had to laugh! Were they frightened of catching something? Happiness, perhaps? Who knows? Who cares?
But it does lead to my tip-top tip for the day!
If you are in a busy shop and can't get through, start singing very loudly - you might suddenly find that you have a lot more space around you!
Friday, 9 January 2009
Silly Snippets
This morning was very cold again - so cold I saw steam coming out of a sewer cover! I have never seen this in real life before, only in movies when I suspected it was just an effect...
Got my marks for my first 2 assignments since returning to studying. Pass mark is 40, if you get 70 you are into the First Class category (i.e. the best one). I got 74 and 75. OOOH YEAH!!! (said in a Macho Man Randy Savage voice).
My youngest came up with this the other day. He has been watching something that features a "Yo Momma Fight", as in "Yo Momma is so stupid/fat/ugly...". His one was "Yo Momma is so stupid she sold her car for gas money!"
Mr and Mrs RC walking down the road. RC has a bag of chips/fries. He feeds one to Mrs RC. Mrs RC: Oh, that is so good! Can you do me and eat at the same time? (She actually meant "can you FEED me..." Just so you know...)
Have a great weekend!
I will leave you with a bit of Gary Moore.
Got my marks for my first 2 assignments since returning to studying. Pass mark is 40, if you get 70 you are into the First Class category (i.e. the best one). I got 74 and 75. OOOH YEAH!!! (said in a Macho Man Randy Savage voice).
My youngest came up with this the other day. He has been watching something that features a "Yo Momma Fight", as in "Yo Momma is so stupid/fat/ugly...". His one was "Yo Momma is so stupid she sold her car for gas money!"
Mr and Mrs RC walking down the road. RC has a bag of chips/fries. He feeds one to Mrs RC. Mrs RC: Oh, that is so good! Can you do me and eat at the same time? (She actually meant "can you FEED me..." Just so you know...)
Have a great weekend!
I will leave you with a bit of Gary Moore.
Wednesday, 7 January 2009
Cutting Crime!
I heard a wonderful theory on the radio last night, it goes like this.
Whenever some awful crime has been commited, the perp's friends and neighbours always say things like "he was such a nice guy, he was the last person in the world to do something like this!" We have all seen this on the TV and in the newspapers.
So, when the Police are investigating crimes they should start by arresting the most unlikely person to have committed the crime. Should save lots of time interviewing the usual suspects only to find that it was the nice postman who did it. (Sorry James!)
In fact, they could go one step further and just lock up everyone who seems to be too nice to commit a crime! That would probably wipe out around 90% of all crime!
What do you think?
Whenever some awful crime has been commited, the perp's friends and neighbours always say things like "he was such a nice guy, he was the last person in the world to do something like this!" We have all seen this on the TV and in the newspapers.
So, when the Police are investigating crimes they should start by arresting the most unlikely person to have committed the crime. Should save lots of time interviewing the usual suspects only to find that it was the nice postman who did it. (Sorry James!)
In fact, they could go one step further and just lock up everyone who seems to be too nice to commit a crime! That would probably wipe out around 90% of all crime!
What do you think?
That was nice!
I woke this morning to the DJ on the radio telling us that there was more snow coming. People were calling in from all over the county saying that there was snow where they were. Looking out of the window all I could see was the remains of our last fall.
By the time I got the bike out there was evidence of a little fresh snow - a gentle sprinkle, like sugar on a cake.
As I left I could feel that something was falling, but it was so fine it was invisible, just lumps of damp air.
Heading off along the road towards the woods I felt it forming into something more substantial - icy lumps of freezing rain, so cold my face hurt!
But I can take it! I am a strong guy! (Cough, cough) I am! Honest!
Anyway, it was not until I arrived that I realised what had happened to me and my bike. We were covered with a fine film of ice. Parts of my coat were rigid! It was so cool! I have never had that before! I felt like Scott of the Antartic, but still alive!
I am such a hero, don't you think?
By the time I got the bike out there was evidence of a little fresh snow - a gentle sprinkle, like sugar on a cake.
As I left I could feel that something was falling, but it was so fine it was invisible, just lumps of damp air.
Heading off along the road towards the woods I felt it forming into something more substantial - icy lumps of freezing rain, so cold my face hurt!
But I can take it! I am a strong guy! (Cough, cough) I am! Honest!
Anyway, it was not until I arrived that I realised what had happened to me and my bike. We were covered with a fine film of ice. Parts of my coat were rigid! It was so cool! I have never had that before! I felt like Scott of the Antartic, but still alive!
I am such a hero, don't you think?
Monday, 5 January 2009
When a Princess asks questions...
How can I refuse to answer?
The always wonderful Princess of the Universe sent me these questions, threatening to send me to The Tower if I did not answer! So here goes!
1. Do you love students, or do you find them to be a hindrance to getting your actual work done?
I love it when the students are around. Smoothing their way through Uni is one of my main roles (for me anyway) and when they are on holiday it always seems a bit quiet and dull. If the job was all serious research and stuff I would have moved on long ago.
2. Did you in fact make a sleigh for Pooh? (And how could you not know about Pooh's history with Winnipeg? Shocking!)
No, I never found the time to do it. I improvised for our Christmas Eve BBQ, though. I sat them all in our garden trolley - Pooh in his Santa outfit, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore with stuck on card antlers, with a big sack of presents. It was great. Regarding Winnipeg link, I have never heard that. Sorry... I tend to think of Pooh as a fairly local thing, given that The Hundred Acre Wood and Pooh Bridge are just south of London.
3. If you had the choice, would you rather be young Anakin doing a pod race, or Luke doing the blowing-up-the-deathstar scene in Episode IV?
Luke blasting the Death Star without a doubt! I always wanted to be a hero, and it doesn't come much better than that, does it? I mean, he almost got the Princess didn't he - but given that she was his sister it is a good thing he didn't quite get her isn't it? Not the sort of thing we want in a family movie!
4. What's going on with Fat Jedi cat? I haven't heard about him in months!
I haven't seen Jedi for some time - when the weather turned cold he just seemed to vanish. I hope he is OK and had a great Christmas. I will be sure to report when I see him again!
5. Did you ever try Coke Zero again? What about Diet Coke? I'm very concerned about your sugar intake!
No, I never tried it again. I didn't really enjoy it, it doesn't seem to be any better for you overall and I think I just need that sugar boost to get me up the hills on my bike! I do keep thinking that I should look for an alternative but nothing really seems to last for long, I wander into a store and they have Coke or Pepsi on offer and I just grab it! Thanks for worrying about me - guys tend to like that sort of thing!
I hope my answers were satisfactory - if not, I guess I will be answering them again, with a bit of encouragement from the royal torturer!
If you would like ME to interview YOU, please let me know!
Blog Rules:
The only rules are that you have to link back to the original post and you have to put these rules in your post:
Want to be part of it? Follow these instructions:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions."
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
Well, 2009 is here - I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a great 2009. (I will be catching up up blogs ASAP!).
We had a really good Christmas.
Our Christmas Eve barbeque was great - I did turkey breasts and pepper steak which went down really well. We also had a sack of small presents that were looked after by Santa Pooh in his "sleigh" (see my next post for a full explanation of this) which were given out while I cooked. This really added to the event, as did a bottle of really good red wine - sadly I am the only one who likes it so I had to take care of it all by myself...
Christmas Day was also really good - the kids loved their presents. The boys spent the rest of the holiday playing Gears of War 1 and 2 and Halo 3 on their new X-Box 360 while my daughter played around with her new make up, clothes, MP3/MP4 player (which I had taken the liberty of pre-loading a load of great stuff onto), etc.
We also went to dinner with some friends and ended up playing Guitar Hero World Tour, complete with guitar, mic and drum kit. I know I have said some things about this in the past, but we actually had a blast playing it, and are now considering getting it ourselves. Or perhaps Rock Band? I will have to check them both out before taking the dive - any comments on this would be most welcome!
New Years Eve was spent playing a game that we have just discovered - Chinese Checkers. We all love it, especially Mrs RC who gets really competitive with things like this. I expect that someone will now tell me that you can play it on Facebook! Please don't ! I might just have to revive my account if you do!
Finally, at the weekend, we played host to the people we had visited a few days before, doing a load of Mexican food (including a great chili that we kept going in the slow cooker) and then played Wii Fit, Wii Sports and Mariocart until some awful hour. Great fun, though.
So now it is back to work - and we finally had snow last night - a whole inch! Yes, we get it tough here, you know! It was grewat, though, because even a tiny amount like that stops lots of people driving, and those that do tend to go very slowly! YAY!
Back soon with my answers to The Princess's Questions!
We had a really good Christmas.
Our Christmas Eve barbeque was great - I did turkey breasts and pepper steak which went down really well. We also had a sack of small presents that were looked after by Santa Pooh in his "sleigh" (see my next post for a full explanation of this) which were given out while I cooked. This really added to the event, as did a bottle of really good red wine - sadly I am the only one who likes it so I had to take care of it all by myself...
Christmas Day was also really good - the kids loved their presents. The boys spent the rest of the holiday playing Gears of War 1 and 2 and Halo 3 on their new X-Box 360 while my daughter played around with her new make up, clothes, MP3/MP4 player (which I had taken the liberty of pre-loading a load of great stuff onto), etc.
We also went to dinner with some friends and ended up playing Guitar Hero World Tour, complete with guitar, mic and drum kit. I know I have said some things about this in the past, but we actually had a blast playing it, and are now considering getting it ourselves. Or perhaps Rock Band? I will have to check them both out before taking the dive - any comments on this would be most welcome!
New Years Eve was spent playing a game that we have just discovered - Chinese Checkers. We all love it, especially Mrs RC who gets really competitive with things like this. I expect that someone will now tell me that you can play it on Facebook! Please don't ! I might just have to revive my account if you do!
Finally, at the weekend, we played host to the people we had visited a few days before, doing a load of Mexican food (including a great chili that we kept going in the slow cooker) and then played Wii Fit, Wii Sports and Mariocart until some awful hour. Great fun, though.
So now it is back to work - and we finally had snow last night - a whole inch! Yes, we get it tough here, you know! It was grewat, though, because even a tiny amount like that stops lots of people driving, and those that do tend to go very slowly! YAY!
Back soon with my answers to The Princess's Questions!
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