Nearly Feb?

Don't know about you but January seems to be shooting past. I found the first couple of weeks a little bit 'meh'. I'd had a good Christmas and, probably like many in January, I found the first week or two a bit difficult to get back in to the routine of things - week beginning 9th seemed to go on forever and not in a good way. Much grumpiness (even for me!) and perhaps it's a another sign of middle age - I now partially aspire to 'get back in to the routine of things'!

Thankfully the last week or so hasn't been too routine. I've been able to catch up with a few people - gentle baby steps towards one of my goals of getting a balance back and making more and better time for friends.

Interesting for me, deep down I know how I'd like 2012 to pan out - something I've never thought about or admitted before, in this or previous years. Whether all or any of it happens, who knows? But so far some early, encouraging signs that 2012 may just turn out OK - interesting what a few days can make.

Disjointed, slow or in need of polish?

So how is your 2012 going so far?

I always find the first weeks in January a bit strange, a bit disjointed. This year has been no exception. After the fullness of the Christmas period, which was very enjoyable though also a little tiring, at the start of the year I looked in my diary and found not a single social thing in it for January. Nowt, nada, nothing. Now I wanted to slow down a bit in 2012 but this was taking it to extremes!

One of the things I want to do in 2012 is get some balance back. Not go to quite the extremes of the slow movement or slow living but to enjoy the simple pleasures - I'm aiming to use the #simplepleasures hashtag quite a lot on twitter. Thankfully my social diary has improved (!) and this last weekend has been a lovely blend of doing some things, catching up with people, and having some downtime. Simple pleasures.

How the rest of the year develops will be partly up to me - I had a wry smile reading yesterday's Independent which had some interesting articles on how to be happy & everyday contentment. One reason I like the image (which comes via a friend posting it on Facebook) is it's a good reminder that if things don't quite go as I'd like in 2012 I may need to do a little polishing.

2012 - Looking Forward

So how's 2012 going so far? Have to admit that for brief moment this morning I already felt it wasn't going well - thankfully the day improved!

I don't tend to do resolutions but here are a few thoughts looking forward to 2012.

• The Olympics - personally I'm really looking forward to them. Yes the city may grind to a halt, I haven't got as many tickets as I'd like, and there is the looming worry about just how naff the opening and closing ceremonies may be. But it's a once in a lifetime experience, some of which will be right on my doorstep, and I'm hoping to make the most of it.
• A cycle trip - all being well a group of us, having got the fever doing the C2C cycle route last year, will be tackling the Way of the Roses route. Slightly longer than the C2C, but not as hilly(!), it should be a fun trip. A real potential highlight.
• Work/life balance - this really needs improving in 2012. From the simple things like making more time for friends and family, and doing more cooking (apparently 'pierce film lid several times' is not proper cooking!), to just feeling more comfortable relaxing I'm hoping to get things better. I'll be giving up something I've spent a fair amount of time doing over the years and hopefully I'll be able to use the time in a different way. We will see...

Overall I sense that 2012 will be different, I sense that something major may change. I've no idea what, but I've a 'feeling in me water' (though that could just be middle age.!.) that something will change.

Whatever your thoughts or hopes are for the coming year, I hope that 2012 becomes all that you wish it to be.

2011 - Looking Back

It's fair to say that blogging has been light during 2011!

I don't know how you feel about New Year. Personally I find it a tricky time of year for various reasons but, as the year ends, a few very brief reflections.

Three good things;

• There have been some great breaks and trips during 2011.The undoubted highlight was cycling the C2C route with a great bunch of people - some photos can be found here. One of the best things I've ever done. Other enjoyable trips were the World Cup Cycling in Manchester and a quick skiing trip, both in Feb, and a beach holiday (a completely new experience!) in late Sept.
• Time with friends - old and new - and family. Really appreciated some quality time with people in 2011 which made realise how fortunate I am.
• Turning 40 - not nearly as bad as it sounds and felt surprisingly comfortable with it!

Three not so good things;

• work/life balance still wasn't right. It's not that work was awful, but some of things I do in my spare time were too much like work and took too much time. I need more 'life'!
• Not enough time writing. This was most evident in the almost complete lack of blogging in 2011 - something I enjoy but which fell completely off the radar - but not just that. This is perhaps a somewhat poncey regret, but I like words and didn't spend enough time on them in 2011.
• Not nearly enough time with friends and family. These things need time and I didn't make enough of it for them during the year.

Overall 2011 felt a strange year - a bit 'meh', a bit of year that felt one of transition, but transition to where wasn't exactly clear! Not a bad year - though it had its moments(!) - but not vintage.

Who knows what 2012 will bring, but tomorrow a few forward looking thoughts.

Have a very happy new year.

That was the week that was

It's been a strange old week or two.

Busy, in that things I committed to a few weeks or months ago have all suddenly come along. Good, in that I caught up with some people who I'd not seen for a while - always good to catch up with old friends. Tiring, it was just too busy and tipped from being 'good busy' to 'bad busy'.

The week ended with an invitation to a performance of Random - a one person short play looking at the impact one day's events has on a family written by Debbie Tucker Green. The performance was stunning, comic, poetic and powerful. Perhaps I should have stayed and chatted with people over a drink afterwards - but the combination of the play, and a long week or two, led to a polite decline but a thoughtful bus ride home.

As I said - a strange week or two...

Just like buses... but in a good way!

It's been a busy few weeks - well months actually - and for me, like for many who work in the Westminster village, the run up to the summer recess has been full on and very busy. This year the 'summer madness' seemed to start earlier than ever.

Given that, it was lovely to spend three evenings this week catching up with friends over food and drink. Always good to see them, all are excellent company - it's the sort of thing I don't do enough.

So, having had a busy time, and having seemingly put my social life on hold for a few months, it was a little 'bus like' when three wonderful evenings came along at once.

Slightly ironic perhaps - a busy spell in my social life highlights that I need to get one!

How old is too old?

A strange couple of days for various reasons. Generally feeling a bit 'restless' with a few things on my mind. Wondering a bit about age - probably something to do with being the 'awkward age' of 39. For example;

• on Sunday I was wondering at what should a man give up wearing hooded tops - unless you're a monk?
• yesterday, for the first time ever, I gave my 'business card' to a couple of people. They were sort of 'homemade' - thank goodness for the variety of stationery Ryman offers - to save the public purse. Surely I'm too old to be giving business cards for the first time?
• Today I phoned a recruitment firm about a job advert I'd seen a couple of days ago. Another first, but it was an interesting looking job and they'd advertised the salary as 'competitive'. The discussion showed it wasn't as 'competitive' as they thought - but am I now too expensive?
• been thinking about 'age' for a couple of other reasons as well.

As I said - a strange week so far - and it's only Tuesday!

Putting out the welcome mat?

Yesterday's trip got me thinking. At Kew there were various tourists - mainly French and Japanese along with a few Americans. I couldn't help wondering how many intended on being there, and how many have perhaps had an enforced enlongated stay due to the Icelandic ash?

We've seen lots on the news about Brits being caught out and having to stay longer overseas, but very little about those who've had to stay here in the UK for longer than they thought.

I hope we were accommodating and welcoming to them - how guests/visitors are treated says a lot about us.

All Hallows Eve

On the whole I'm fairly relaxed about Halloween. If people want to dress up as witches, skeletons or zombies then OK - I don't think it's going to lead down some slippery slope to worshipping Satan.

Similarly I don't think Harry Potter will lead to devil worship. I've never understood the inconsistency that Lord of Rings was 'OK' yet Harry Potter was 'evil' - this largely seemed to rely on the fact that Tolkien was a Catholic and ignored that sorcery and spells run deep through book series of books. However, 'Trick or Treat' really annoys me.

Two reasons - firstly, it's a dreadful import from the USA. Had any of us ever come across it until we watched ET? Let's stand against this cultural imperialism.

Secondly, it sends really confusing messages to children. On one extreme this week we have had the bizarre playground story in Watford - on the other, for one night a year we dress children up and send them off to ask strangers for sweets.

For either reason let's not encourage 'Trick or Treat'.

And the grumpy old man rant ends...

Welcome to 'blogging lite'

Well to say that blogging has been 'light' the past couple of months is an understatement. As most of the readers (well both) know I work in the "Westminster Village" and the last couple of months have been 'interesting'.

Suffice to say things have been busy, very busy. With work, and other stuff I'd already committed to, some things have had to take a back seat. The blog was one - and not the only one - I've still not got the 'work/life' balance quite right.

Still things could be looking up. Read in today's Observer that Lily Allen once said, "I like big chubby guys with glasses, bald head and back hair."

Blimey, I could be in there...

Hello to 2009

So how was your Christmas and New Year? How was 2008? Looking forward to 2009? How many more pointless questions will he ask?

The image is from one of the Christmas cards I sent to some friends - slightly tongue in cheek to build up my grumpy old man persona. The ironic thing was that the 'Bah Humbug' card was actually the most expensive type I sent!

I hope that Christmas and New Year was good for you - a time of joy, peace and celebration. How will 2009 pan out?

For me 2008 was a peculiar year. Many good things and one-off highlights that I doubt I'll repeat - trips to Buckingham Palace, 11 Downing Street and the British Grand Prix - and others I hope to repeat, though perhaps not soon - trip to the US and seeing the NFL game at Wembley. I felt happy and settled living in the part of London I do, and can happily see me staying here for some time - the first time I've felt that since moving to London in 1996. The career continued to flourish with a new role. So overall, a good year?

Well... I don't know. It must be because it had so many highlights, and yet... I end the year feeling somewhat restless. I can't pinpoint exactly what or why I feel this, I just do. It's nothing 'major' - there is no crisis, no really deep worries, no life changing thoughts. I'm not about to have a midlife crisis, buy a convertible and starting dating a "model/actress/whatever" - although that does sound fun! There is just a sort of restless unease sitting there - nothing more, nothing less.

I'm looking forward to 2009, and I hope you are too. May it be a year of what we'd like it to be - it's a new year, let's all grasp it.

Still a partial plant

Spent the day on an 'awayday' with a group of people. Was a interesting day getting to know people a little better. and part of the time was finding out our preferred 'team roles' using those devised by Dr Meredith Belbin.

I'd done this a few years ago so knew a little of what to expect. Would my preferred 'team roles' have changed much (or at all) over the past 6 years?

Results were in - I'm still a Monitor/Evaluator and a Plant. Does this signify a lack in progress of my personal development? Or I'm comfortable with who I am and play to my strengths?

Strange Week

It's been a strange week.

The bank holiday makes it a short working week and the office is quiet, but there is still loads to do.

News that I've got a ticket see the NFL game at Wembley in the autumn is well received - the amount it will cost perhaps less so!

A potentially quiet weekend - especially in comparison to recent ones - is slightly tempered when I look at my diary and see how busy the coming week is.

A couple of other situations put things in perspective and reinforce the fact that as much as I love words, sometimes saying or writing the right things is incredibly difficult.

Indeed, sometimes I wonder if words are ever enough?

Connections deep and wide...

Spent the last couple of evenings catching up with friends. Thursday was a drink and some food with a friend who I did my accountancy studies with 10 years ago. We've kept in touch and now his career has brought him to the world of Whitehall - handy for catching up when you work in the Westminster village!

Last night was a meal in north London with a group of friends I used to work with nearly 10 years ago - in many respects people to whom I owe my career. Again we've kept in touch and gather together over food once in a while to catch up, gossip and find out what's going on in our lives. The conversation was varied, and at one point I commented that I'd been to at least a wedding a year for the past 15 years - often several in some years.

This seemed to surprise them, not that I got invited to weddings as I'd been to most of their's, but the amount I'd been to. Most of them had only been to a handful, which I found slightly strange especially as I was the only unattached person in the group. I said I guess I know quite a lot of people and often through different aspects of my life - few of my friends intersect. I probably have a wide circle of friends/acquaintances (aside - when does an acquaintance shift to friend territory? - end aside) but I suspect most of the relationships aren't as deep as theirs - for example, many friends and family are spread out around the country. It's probably different to those who have a smaller, but deeper circle of friends and family. Anyway the conversation quickly moved on to catching up with something else.

Driving back I had a brief ponder. I know I'm quite private and can keep a distance - I'm aware of the irony that I have a blog (!) - yet I also keep in touch with people over many years. Is a smaller, but deeper, circle of friends better than a wider set of acquaintances that last over several years?

Who knows - and does it matter? All I know is it was thoroughly enjoyble spending time catching up with people with whom you have a connection and a shared history.

Such time is always time well spent.

Intriguing...

Somewhat strangely in the past fortnight I've been asked three times, each by different people in different situations and who all know me in different contexts, whether I see myself moving back to Birmingham.

I've been in London now for over 11 years. Admittedly I've spent a lot of time back in Brum, and have lived in four very different parts of London in the past 11 years, but only the other day I, for perhaps the first time in a long while, was thinking to myself how much I felt at home were I currently am...

Must be a vibe I appear to be giving off...

Happy Christmas

Last Sunday the minister at my church did a wonderful talk about the iconography of Christmas cards. It was exactly the sort of talk churches should do more often - relevant, amusing and informative. I was looking through my cards again today and was not quite sure what he would make of some of them. Several feature penguins (what, they weren't in your nativity scene?), some have snowmen, and one, somewhat bizarrely, is a picture of a bicycle covered in snow. My favourite is the one below - surely nothing quite truly captures the spirit of Christmas than women in the 1930s throwing snowballs at each other in bathing suits??


Whatever your feelings are about Christmas - be it the warmth of spending time with family, the annoyance of the consumerism, or the joy of 'the reason for the season' - I wish you all a very Happy Christmas.

Liverpool

I head north to spend a couple of days in Liverpool catching up with people prior to heading further north to Northumbria. It's a strange day to be in Liverpool as it's the day of Rhy's funeral. The strange feeling is compounded by that I'll be staying in Norris Green – indeed the school opposite is Rhy's primary school and is shut for the day.

It's good to catch up – the weather is great and a good time is spent in cafes, coffee shops, bars and restaurants.

And how do you know the bride or groom?

Went to a wedding yesterday- well strictly speaking not the actual wedding but the church blessing and reception but it was virtually the same thing.

It was an East meets West occasion. The bride is Indian and a lot of her family had flown in from Mumbai to attend - the groom's from Berkshire. One side of the church was all saris, the other was all middle class home counties suits and hats. It also lead to the reception being a wonderful mix of cultures - we were in a ballroom of a central London hotel, complete with chandeliers, tucking into curry, saag aloo and roti. The music was an entertaining mix of dance floor classics (Groove is in the Heart etc.) and Bollywood style numbers.

Importantly overall the day reflected the styles of the bride and groom - laid back and fun - and there are definitely worse ways to spend a Saturday.

Work it baby

Had a post work wine and nibbles 'networking event' to go to. Never completely comfortable at these sort of things. Bit strange really - I'd quite happily stand in front of a couple of hundred people and give a talk or presentation, but stick me in a room with warm white wine, trays of nibbles, and people I don't know and I'm a complete fish out of water.

I sometimes wonder if it might hamper my career somehow - the missed opportunity, the demonstration of 'poor' social skills - nevermind my social life. It's just a situation I struggle with, something that's neither natural to me, nor with which I'm comfortable.

This is why I've never tried speed-dating. Well, this and numerous other reasons...

A week is a long time...

Having said normal service would resume, what happens? No posting for several days. Well, it's been a real up and down week.

Monday - a day of seemingly endless meetings. Begin to wonder whether meetings are just a way to enable lonely office workers to meet others...

Tuesday - have to do a presentation to the Audit Committee on how we account for pensions. Yep, it really is as dull as it sounds... The day is enlivened with the birth of a daughter to friends - wonderful, wonderful news.

Wednesday - the past two days, and with significant pharmaceutical assistance, I have struggled into work feeling distinctly under the weather. This was a day too many and I retreat to back under the duvet for the rest of the day...

Thursday - back into work and catch up with things. Get a text, my Grandma has been taken into hospital. An hour later a message is left on my voice mail - I return the call as soon as possible. Sad news, my Grandma has died. Whilst not entirely unexpected - she was in her 80s and had been ill recently - there is still that element of shock at receiving the news. In the evening I go and see some of the family.

Friday - a day of being with the wider family and doing what I can, however insignificant. Arrangements have been made and once again, in a few days, the wider family will gather. I know that stereotypically families often solely catch up at weddings, funerals and bar mitzvahs. Whilst it will be good to see everyone again - and for us gathering at bar mitzvahs would be a major change - I can't help feeling it would nice if it were at something other than another funeral...