Easter Monday Freebies
Happy Easter from me. On Easter Monday and just for the day, you can grab a Kindle version of my first two books of poetry for FREE…. Don’t miss it! Poems for the Little Room, Lulu, 2012 This is my second book of poetry originally published via Lulu but now re-published via Creatspace to get it wider availability and a better price. It combines images and poems that range from a humorous look at a Czech TV interviewer Jan Kraus through to stories of idyllic love – both for partner and daughter. The idea behind this over sized book was that it would be ideal for that little room where guests only want something to leaf through for a short time! Hence its name…. ISBN-10: 1493783114 ISBN-13: 978-1493783113 +
Read More »Hard Dreams
Since we moved back into our apartment in Brno, I have dreamed and dreamed hard. Every night. Vivid dreams that I don’t always recall much of but recall the vividness all the same. I wonder, why would that be? I seem to dream of planes a lot. I watch as they take off, stall, bounce (!) and then explode. Or I watch planes flying low and last night, I watched a plane flying and being constantly struck by lightening from a cloud above. My dreams are vivid but dark like horror movies. Not frightening but menacing in terms of the visuals and atmosphere. Last night, I was running to escape something and everywhere I run there was someone or something so I had to shift direction again. I had no idea what
Read More »Am I Just a Grumpy Old Sod?
I am reaching my mid-fifties mark and I often now hear my mother’s voice from 20-30 years ago telling me she sometimes felt like she was 20 but more often like she was 70. When she arrives here in June for a break I need to her ask her how it feels to be 78! While I know that I am certainly wiser and more experienced, a little more patient and have a better idea of what is really important and what is not, I am more short-tempered than I used to be. I really don’t know why. I just am. Gabriela surprised me not so long ago as I remarked about someone’s behaviour around me and she told me I intimidate people because I look pissed off! I hadn’t
Read More »Games and Things
What a great game the FA Cup semi-final turned out to be. End to end stuff and 8 goals. Of course, Hull City won which means that for the first time in 110 years, Hull City will appear in an FA Cup Final. Its been quite a season for us ‘Ull fans…..I do believe in destiny and I have a funny feeling about all of this… Arsenal can be beaten…..So, I did have a beer too many on Sunday I must admit. Oh well….
Read More »Ambition
One of my ambitions is to sell a few books. OK, I have sold a few books already but not enough to match the ambition. No, I mean a few thousand of one book. The Last Observer, my first novel, probably is the leading candidate for that ambition at least until I can finish the one I am working on at the moment and get it out. The Last Observer has gotten a lot of good reviews but it hasn’t taken off like I had hoped. Check it out… it is a short read and a fast-paced adventure that along the way, will give you a lot to think about on the nature of reality. Join Stanley as he gets sucked into a world of black and white magic. It
Read More »TGIF
It is Friday. It is the end of the working week and time to spend a couple of days engaged in activities other than work. For me and many of my home town peeps, this is a big weekend as Hull City play their first FA cup semi-final since 1930 with a real chance to get to a first ever FA Cup final. On Sunday at 5.07pm local time, I’ll be sat in the local sports bar, half liter in hand to watch that game. To be honest though, the weekend doesn’t mean an end to work. Nope – just a change in format. I finally have some time to get around to doing some household chores. The work never stops nor ends but the variety makes things interesting…. I
Read More »What Am I Becoming?
I never saw myself as a grammar nazi. I make mistakes. We all do when writing. We also use short cuts like ‘u’ for you and so on. To me that is acceptable. I know that I am clueless about commas. I have no idea where commas go so I kind of make it up as I go along. This too must annoy comma nazis. However…. Just recently I have become really quiet appalled at the mistakes people make in written English. Many of these people are totally unaware that they make mistakes too, which makes it even worse. The ones that really, really bug me are as follows; 1. There, Their, They’re 2. Were, Where, We’re and, would you believe – Wear? 3. To, Too, Two 4. Your, You’re
Read More »Life
Blame I know that you blame me And everyone else But I can tell you You must blame yourself You can’t live life Without actually doing You can’t truly experience Without taking some risks Life Accept the responsibility That comes with living Reach out and thrive It’s not the taking but the giving You can’t live life By never being a part of it You can’t truly experience Without just diving right on in Words You say that they don’t matter But it’s better to be silent Than to utter ugliness The Word created this firmament You can’t live life Cursing those around you You can’t truly experience Especially, if you completely alienate Be All that you can achieve Raise yourself and fill that cup Let light
Read More »The Journey
I see inside with dream-like vision I glide through slinky lines of time Silver lights and golden kites I bathe in light and gently recline Like feeling carelessness’ caress Ripples moving up and down my spine Thunderous sounds so boldly loud Speak? These tongues simply opine Tunnels filled and gently moved along Dancing faeries all in a line I drift and travel onwards still Into worlds and realms of mine Is this truly my heaven then? In the stillness of this un-time Deeper and yet deeper still Into this universe of patient calm Knowing that whatever I foresee I am certain that it’s really mine
Read More »The Five Characteristics of Rich People
I was just over on Linkedin where some business/wealth magazine had posted an article with the above title. Their five characteristics were the ones that you would expect… communication, blah blah blah blah…. In my life I have met my fair share of rich people. I don’t mean wealthy and I do mean rich – in excess of $10 million minimum. They did all share a set of characteristics but it wasn’t the ones I just read about. The first characteristic was to be honest greed. They coveted money and they would do almost anything to get it and absolutely anything to keep it once they had it. One man I know whose child played on a ice hockey team with my son would routinely call me up and ask
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