Refresh

Been following the election for the past three hours. True multimedia experience - RTE Radio1 has been on, now switched to NPR, streaming Sky News online, watching maps from various services:

RTE

Sky

CBS

I'm hoping within the next hour or two I'll be able to go to bed, content in the knowledge that no member of the Republican party will be running the most powerful country in the world. God bless America.

Best Man Fail

Maturity and/or Motivation

I caught sight of myself in a mirror while walking up the stairs the other day. It evoked a sudden introverted inspection. I'm essentially the same person as I was when I was 15. Same house, same room. Still eat dinner as prepared by my mother. I work a part-time job in a shop. I cycle everywhere, or get the bus. I have no significant other, and I still find it difficult to approach people with an eye toward that sort of thing. Really I just stack up mountains of friends, for which I'm grateful of course, but every now and then I wish I had someone who was more than a friend. My thoughts return constantly to two different women, in two different countries, neither of which are the one in which I'm currently residing. One has too many man troubles already, and the other is in a similar situation, only I'm the cause of her troubles.

The only differences between me and my teen self lie in my accomplishments. I've completed my education, travelled a fair bit, and met countless unique and wonderful people. Sadly, that doesn't look so hot on a CV.

MGMT - Kids

Giruffes

My ex-girlfriend and I used to have a thing about giraffes. They were one of several motifs in our relationship - what noise they made, their long, slender necks, the purpose of the zogabongs...

 

The end result is that every time I see a giraffe, I am reminded of her. Up to recently, I had several little model giraffes sitting on my bookshelf that I had never quite gotten around to getting rid of. But after an encounter with her a couple of weeks ago left me with a bitter taste in my mouth, I decided I had to chuck them.

One was a photograph holder, which I don't use, but still plan to, so he's been relocated to my photo stash. One was a gift from my mother, and has been relegated to storage. Another was a quite beautiful wood carving, and I decided it would be a crime to throw it away, so it was placed in storage as well. Next to the parcel containing various souvenirs of this girl. I'm very much a hoarder - of information, of objects, of memories. So understand my reluctance and my pain, at then disposing of two perfectly innocent giraffes in my rubbish bin.

They're gone now, like her, and I'm finding myself able to live with that. Unexpectedly.

Empty Walks

 

Every now and then I go for a ramble. Or often a cycle. Just go, myself and my camera, trying to find... what? Some peace? Solace? Comfort?

The mountains on a weekday are almost always deserted, empty. Nothing but the sound of the wind, the glare of the sun or the patter of the rain, and the occasional sheep disturbs one's reverie.

Looking back, I went on those walks to get away from it all, but in that isolation all you have is what's inside your head, and it tends to dwell on what you're trying to get away from.

Next time, I'm bringing my whiskey flask.

You mean you want to tax… “thingy”?

Monty Python - I bet they never knew they were predicting the future.