"Adapt and survive"

Having finished the wedding pages, I just carried on playing around and, well, here we are, I've all of a sudden got my very own website (Yeah, yeah, I know, what an anorak!! zzz). Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed them, I miss my bikes & being away from home/friends/family so it helps me keep it together.

It makes me laugh you know, as I looked around for some ideas/inspiration for building this site I did some light research and came across a lot of 'personal' websites - man, there are some very strange fucked up people out there - some people write such a load of bollocks on their web-pages. I mean, what's the matter with these people that they think anyone gives a flying fuck about what their favourite colour or band is, or what tv programs they like to watch etc? (Get a fucking life for Christs sake!) Anyway if you're here then you either know me or know someone who knows me pretty well.
So, as you may have guessed, I'm not going to bullshit on about my favourite knitting style or the like (that's a secret!) ...I will however leave you with a few things that mean a lot to me and have left a deep impression...just for the hell of it ;-)

From my [many!] years training in Tae Kwon-Do, I found that over time I learnt so much more about myself than simply how high/hard/fast I could kick or punch. There really is a deep spiritual aspect to all the 'martial arts', as long as you look beyond all the crap and commercialism that they go hand in hand with in the western world. In fact, to be honest, it's true of *any* intense physical discipline really - as I came to realise from the subsequent years I spent Kick-Boxing then Body-Building.

More so in the Tae Kwon-Do however, as it's more associated with a spiritual element. It almost seems to encourage you to be more introspective, to drive yourself and develop the mind as well as body. Once that trait has been learned, or rather 'uncovered', it never seems to leave you.

Something in particular from the Tae Kwon-Do theory that's always stuck in my head are the five tenets of Tae Kwon-Do;

Something else that left a lasting impression on me is a book that I read at a very early age 'Jonathon Livingston Seagull', by Richard Bach. If you don't know the book then there's not too much point in me rattling on about it but, if you get the chance read it and you can draw your own conclusions, it's a rewarding book (BTW I thoroughly [also] recommend 'Illusions' by the same author)

I ultimately found some comforting identity with old Jonathon, I didn't want to stay and 'squabble with the flock' either, I wanted to go my own path and develop in my own direction. People didn't understand that single mindedness at the time, they still dont really (most have got used to it now though). To willingly divorce yourself from those everyday pleasures that others so readily fall into in order to explore something more personally fulfilling.
In fact, true to the book it attracted much criticism...still, I'm digressing and getting carried away...and anyway...Fuck'em!! ;-)

I'll just leave you with a bit of light reading. My mum used to have a copy of the Desiderata on the kitchen wall which I would frequently read, waiting for the kettle to boil, daydreaming away. Have a look and read it, it's a couple of minutes of your life well spent. It may seem a bit old hat now, but even back when I was a kid it struck a chord with me and has stuck ever since - and - whaddya know, I now have my very own copy on my kitchen wall. The older I get, the more I read it, the more I like it.