As 2017 draws towards a close I find myself living in the interesting times referred to in the (possibly apocryphal) Chinese curse. I am therefore in the process of actively evaluating my future plans on both a personal and professional level in order to try to find a path forward that will maximise my...
The 5BX plan, or how to achieve physical fitness in 11 minutes a day
Here is a new scientifically designed approach to Physical Fitness which can develop an adequate level of reserve energy needed for vigorous positive well being and zestful living. – The Royal Canadian Air Force 5BX Plan I first came across the 5BX plan back in the early 1990s. Since then I have probably started...
Adventures on a Grand Scale and the Theory of List-Making
I have always been a list-maker. As a child I frequently made lists of my dreams and aspirations for the future. As a teenage schoolboy I distinctly remember filling my homework diary with an ever-increasing list of Latin verbs that I intended to learn, always starting tomorrow. This was an early example of the act of list-making...
Reboot 5.0
A sustained period of healthy living earlier this year saw a new me emerge. I liked him. He looked good, and because he didn’t drink or smoke he was happier and more even-tempered than the old one. My wife and children liked him too. To mark turning 50 I had completed Ellesmere Triathlon in...
Domain Junkie, revisited
Back in 2008 I wrote a blog post cataloguing my domain portfolio. 8 years have passed and it is time to revisit the subject, as I enter a new phase of business planning and development. I’ll run through the list as it was then, update it and then look at the new additions to...
Paul Theroux on travel writing
‘There’s nothing to write about if all you’re doing is having tea on a veranda in the south of France. You can’t write a travel book out of it.’ Paul Theroux on the subject of Travel Writing in an interview on BBC Radio 4. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b039bg5h#in=collection:p02vb2ph
...Bucket List #27 – Run Snowdonia Marathon
Awe-inspiringly beautiful and epically hard, Snowdonia Marathon has been on my bucket list ever since running my first marathon in 2008. I am delighted to say that I completed it on Saturday 24th October 2015, finishing with a chip time of 4:23:31. More to follow when I have time. I suspect that the next...
Bucket List #13 – Walk the Maelor Way
The Maelor Way is a 24-mile cross country trail, between Grindley Brook near Whitchurch and Bronygarth near Chirk. It was officially opened on April 6th 1991, and was conceived to link the Sandstone Trail with Offa’s Dyke Path (Bucket List #14). I added it to my Bucket List largely because it is signposted quite...
My Resolutions for 2015
It seems particularly typical of my current state of being that I am only writing my resolutions for the coming year on the 6th April. Particularly so as 2015 is an auspicious year. I turned 49 on New Year’s Eve last year, so this year marks the start of a new 7 year plan,...
Bucket List #23 – See Pete Doherty play live
My 13 year old daughter teases that I have a man-crush on Pete Doherty. I stand guilty as charged. The epitome of elegantly wasted, he has raised bohemianism to an art form. Even setting aside his music, his penchant for classic Jags, supermodels, wine, cigarettes and deviance from the social mores of our time...