A Brief Respite

It’s been three weeks now since I last posted; I’ve been writing but the words have been faltering. Blog posts, and indeed some other writing is jumbling itself up between my mind and the keyboard/paper so it’s time for me to take a breather again.

I will be visiting all my brilliant writer-friends’ blogs. You guys are all my continuing inspiration and I will keep at it in the background. There’s still at least a week’s worth of Japan left to share and then there are the other ideas! So things will be quiet here at A&I but I’m not going anywhere. I hope that when I return I’ll see all the familiar faces that I’ve grown so fond of in this awesome little e-space.

🙂

 

If You Were Wondering, So Was I…

Wow – almost two months has passed with nary a peep from me here. I cannot apologise enough for that. If it helps, I am fine. I’m torn between going into immense detail and keeping it simple. I think I’ll go with the latter. The explanation for my absence is, after all, quite simple. After leaving my last job, I moved out of my old unit and went on another Japanese adventure with my Dad. Upon my return there was the excitement of moving into my new place and finding my groove. Now that everything’s settling down (and I have internet access!), it’s time to get back into the blog!

Be My Guest!

Earlier this month I received an email from my mate Clay over at EduClaytion asking whether I might have the time to write a guest post for his blog. In response to his request, I cancelled the plans I didn’t have and spent almost a week thinking hard about what I could possibly write that would be good enough to feature on such a great blog.

If you know anything about me, you’ll know that among other things I’m a big fan of the cinema. When it dawned on me that last week was the scheduled release of the Star Wars saga on Blu-ray I found a spark of inspiration. After reading about how George Lucas was going to introduce a number of “revisions and improvements”, I realised that this release may be a little more sinister than I anticpiated.

Blessings From The Internets.

It’s been a while since I really paid attention to the searches that have led to my blog. I’m still beset by people seeking the Ark of the Covenant (seriously guys, I DO NOT have it. Ooh, look over there, a phoenix!) and those looking for the One Ring (Mordor, Mt Doom – ringing any bells, peeps? It’s been destroyed, the lands are safe. Return to your homes and live in peace.) but a few other interesting queries have come my way in addition to these staples.

The interwebs have sent me knowledge and wisdom seekers and sharers alike. They are asking hard-hitting questions. Or soft-edged questions. Either way, they’re asking and who am I not to answer? No-one, that’s who. They’re also sharing their own knowledge, which is great. Naturally, I’ll share it with you. I’m all about the giving.

This Blog May Go To My Head.

What a week this last one has been! Blog-wise at least, there’s been quite a bit of action here in the realm of A&I. While traffic to this little blog has remained steady, there have been a couple of developments that have highlighted to me exactly how head-spinningly precarious the world of blogging can be at times.

I’ll start with the good news first because, to paraphrase one of my favourite bloggers – there’s always a chance I might die before we get to the bad news (thanks Paul, that’s advice I think we can all live by). So here it is:

You Can Quote Me On That

I’ve been out for a run this evening and I’ll be honest – I’m chafed. It happens pretty much every time I go out either because I’m still too fat or because of my running style. I have the ancestral genes of  men and women who toiled on the land as dairy farmers; that’s a whole lot of full cream. While I was in Japan I went to the gym with a friend of mine who, if I had to draw a comparison, I would say was a fair resemblance of Jason Statham. He once told me that I had “The build of a hiker”. That’s the nicest way I’ve ever heard someone tell me I was fat. What does that have to do with this post you ask? Not much – and yet, a lot.

Earlier this afternoon I decided to update some of my Facebook information and there’s a section that I’ve purposely avoided up until today: the Quotations section.

Wanted: Certificate Of Humorocity

Image courtesy of Sifu Renka @ Flickr.com

Ok, so this is my 100th blog post and I’m stuck for ideas. I don’t really want to fall back on the old “analysis of blog stats” topic for this one since that’s kind of a staple for many bloggers. Currently my blog stats pretty much boil down to a few simple truths:

I Need Your (Musical) Help

I wrote a post yesterday and have decided that it will never be published. It was a very vague explanation of my absence from the blogoshpere with no real information; just a whole lot of confusing analogies that only served to make things worse. So I decided this morning to start afresh.

Long story short – my blogging is returning to its formerly glorious priority status. The whys and wherefores are not going to be discussed or even alluded to.

Pressing Pause

If you’ve been keeping up with my blog you’ll have already noticed that the time between posts has increased of late.

I just have to say now that I will not be posting for the foreseeable future.

Thank you to all the great people who have read and commented on my blog, I appreciate every word you have contributed. I don’t know if I will be back, but I will not close this blog because there is a chance I will return. To all of you who are bloggers yourselves I say this – thank you for writing. Please continue to put your words out there, many people love reading what you write regardless of the topic.

To those of you who do not write I say this – thank you for reading. Your audience is greatly appreciated and I am thankful to have held your attention.

To all of you – take good care of yourselves. You are all wonderful people and even though I may not know you or may never meet you, I hope that your lives are all filled with more blessings than struggles.

Thanks again for everything!

A Book Review. Kind Of.

This year I resolved to listen to more music and read more books. Because even as a casual and crazy writer it’s important to know words and understand the different writing styles that exist. Even if I never use them myself, I am determined to become better at this hobby of mine.

I’m a bit of a pretty big fantasy geek. This is true for both books and movies. I’ve always loved ancient history and the myths and legends of cultures around the World. Of course, this kind of interest makes for some pretty unusual imaginings and dreams. I’m ok with all of that.

I’ve challenged myself though to expand my horizons beyond the world of mythology and fantasy. At least somewhat. I picked up Wolf Brother’s copy of “Cujo” a couple of months ago; a copy which I believe was handed down to him from my Mum when she had moved on from Stephen King to Patricia Cornwall and James Patterson.