28 Day Challenge - Blog Posts
Day Twenty-Two - Coffee / Tea
I don't drink Tea and I very rarely drink Coffee, but when I do it has to be black, very strong and with three or four sugars (depending on how strong the coffee ends up)
Day Twenty-One - My favourite thing to drink
I must admit, my favourite drink at the moment is Sprite, it's not the most healthy thing to be drinking regularly, so I try to mix things up and have fruit juice too. Though I also admit that I drink rather too much Orange Lucozade too... I probably should cut down on that...
Day Twenty - Dinner
A rather random topic change, after the topics of previous days to suddenly depart to last night's dinner. Anyways, answering the question: my dinner last night was Spaghetti and Meatballs; was yummy though as usual there was too much of it :P
Day Nineteen - Something I Fear
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.” ~ Ambrose Redmoon
I'm rather thankful that I am not cursed with an abundance of irrational fear; the only thing I really fear is loss of the people I care about - and I will do pretty much anything to prevent that happening, other than that you can throw pretty much anything else you want at me.
Day Eighteen - Your Plans for Tomorrow
Thankfully, tomorrow is Saturday, so my plan is pretty uncomplicated. I'll probably be getting up with Amanda at about 9.30/10.00 and then walking her to the bus stop when she goes to work before heading home and doing a few chores and then relaxing and playing computer games for the rest of the day until Amanda gets home... ah the simple life
Day Sixteen - The Weather; Return of the Haiku
The great British Summer
Best weather of the year! Beach time!
Oh Wait, it's still raining
Day Fifteen - The Greatest Gift
“The greatest gift is a portion of thyself.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
I must admit I don't like writing about stuff like this, I'd rather not rank the gifts I've been given because I feel that a gift is more than just a material present - it also includes the intention and the feeling behind it. So I'm going to sidestep the question and say that they've all been awesome and if you don't like it, you know what to do.
Day Seventeen - My Favourite Gif
Had to go for a classic, reminds me of my cat tbh
Day Fourteen - Valentines Day
I must admit, I'm not a big one for the big V - I don't see why you need only show someone you love them once a year, why not every day?
Unfortunately I don't really have much practice with valentines day anyway, most of my life I've either been a) too young, b) single or c) too far away from my partner, however this year was different! this year I got to spend the evening of Valentines with Amanda (only the evening though because she had uni during the day) and she made me a really nice dinner and then we watched a DVD, yay for snuggles!
The day after that we actually celebrated valentines day, going out to the cinema and just generally having a nice chilled day together, was awesome.
hopefully next year we'll be free to go out for a meal on the day instead *fingers crossed*
so yeah, short post this time, my inexperience shone through I guess?
Love you lots Amanda!
Nik
Day Thirteen - Beliefs
The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. ~ George Bernard Shaw
I consider myself to be an agnostic atheist - I would like to believe in a divine creator but I don't really see there being any proof to that end. Unlike how most atheists are portrayed, I do not hate god, nor do I hate religion particularly much, I merely find it distasteful the number of atrocities that have been committed in either's name.
I do however find the bible a very distasteful document and it is my opinion that anyone who feels otherwise has yet to actually read it thoroughly. The sheer volume of horrific actions that the book condones and encourages do nothing positive to enhance the image of Christianity as anything but another reason to kill people.
I do however hold firm beliefs that everyone is entitled to believe what they wish, so long as they don't mind me doing the same nor attempt to influence me - a few of my closer friends and even my girlfriend are Christians, and while I admit to a faint selfish hope that they one day turn from this path, if it makes them happy I will do nothing to change their beliefs just as they do nothing to change mine.
If however the existence of an all powerful creator can be proven to me beyond all doubt and scepticism, I will happily alter my path but between now and then; enlightenment is bliss.
Nik
Day Twelve - Relationships with My Parents
"Bloody parents - they're worse than children" ~Me
My relationship with my parents hasn't always been perfect, like all children I started off seeing them as opponents - everything was a struggle, everything was a contest, but thankfully as I grew up I began to realise that they were actually there to help and that between us we could get far more done by pulling in the same direction than in opposites and I can safely say now that while we don't always see eye to eye, we're always there for each other.
My parents have always been fantastically supportive of everything I've tried to do and always been there with advice and gentle guidance to help me find the right path.
"Just because you know how it's done, doesn't make it any less magical"
I've always been somewhat in awe of my dad; his musical talent (and his humility when anyone comments on it) and his ability to do DIY tasks that almost seemed mystical to me, when I was growing up he always had a little story or a joke for every situation and it was always him that made me feel better when I'd fallen over, he's also always protected me as best he can (an example that springs to mind is him making a particularly draconian English teacher of mine actually cry infront of me) I think it's because of this that I've always strived to make him proud of me (though I have occasionally missed the mark considerably).
"Any mother could perform the jobs of several air traffic controllers with ease." ~ Lisa Alther
My mother has always been the organiser from my experience; while she insists that she doesn't hold the power in our household, in truth she does (our house operates on a fully democratic system: myself and my father get one vote each, my mother gets four votes) Again really, I've been in awe of my mother for a long time, she works very hard for our family, keeping up fairly long hours in a job that was the only thing that kept us afloat for the last few years, in that time she's had to cope with a lot of stress and while I would hope that we've helped her through that as best as we can, she's mostly coped by herself and for this reason it is my firm belief that my mum is truly the strongest person I know.
If either of you are reading this (which I don't doubt will happen) I love you both so very much and am truly grateful for everything you've done for me over the last 22 years.
Nik.
Day Eleven - Being an only child
I've grown up without brothers or sisters, don't get me wrong, I would have loved to have a brother or a sister to share stuff with and to annoy and to play stupid games with, but I've always respected the decision that my parents came to.
Being an only child has been boring and somewhat lonely over the years but it has had it's advantages: it's taught me how to entertain myself and make the most of otherwise boring stretches, it's taught me to value company and friendship when it presents itself, it's taught me to be self sufficient to some extent and it's given me an unrestricted relationship with my parents - I don't have brothers or sisters to compete with for attention or praise or sweets, so I suppose to some extent it has spoiled me but due to the financial difficulties of our family, this has been tempered and I have learned to be resourceful with what I can get.
Do I regret not growing up with brothers and sisters? alittle maybe, it would be nice to have a younger sibling to look out for or an older sibling to learn from, but as things stand at the moment I wouldn't change a thing; it's made me the person I am today and given me a fantastic relationship with my parents and some solid and long lasting friendships that I wouldn't trade for all the money ever minted.
Nik.
Day Ten - How I Wake up in the morning
I feel not unlike a small boy, waking from a bad dream to find reality not much of an improvement. ~ John Byrne
I think I was probably born to hibernate; I find waking up to be the biggest challenge of each day, especially if I have nothing on my to-do list for that day. Usually I require the assistance of an alarm clock with several alarms set to ensure that I actually stay awake. Once I've been awakened by my alarm I have a minute or two in which to actually get up, if I don't - chances are I'll go back to sleep again until the next alarm wakes me.
I'm not adverse to getting up early - this morning (with help as usual from Amanda) I was up at 7.45 in order to go to a local market and for a previous job of mine I had to get up at 6.30 to get a train... which wasn't fun.
...anyways, that's today's topic roughly covered, more to come tomorrow!
Nik
Day Nine - My Favourite Pillow
My favourite pillow - it used to be a t-shirt but when I grew out of it, my mum altered it into a pillow cover and now it sits behind me in my comp chair
Nik.
Day Eight - A Poem
I'm terrible at poetry so I figured I'd have a go at making a Haiku... so here's mine:
Snow to the horizon
Arctic tundra unending
Feet not happy; just cold
I got bored so I made a minecraft Haiku too
You hear a hissing
Nice everything you have there
Shame to destroy it
Nik
Day Six - Recommended Books
I used to spend quite a lot of time reading books, so here's my highlights;
Good Omens (Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman)
The Truth (Terry Pratchett)
Carpe Juguluum (Terry Pratchett)
The Fifth Elephant (Terry Pratchett)
The Janus Man (Colin Forbes)
Snow White and the Seven Samurai (Tom Holt)
Magic Kingdom For Sale - SOLD! (Terry Brooks)
The Bible According to Spike Milligan
Puckoon (Spike Milligan)
The Northern Lights (Phillip Pullman)
The Founding - A Gaunt's Ghosts Omnibus (Dan Abnett)
Of Mice & Men (John Steinbeck)
Fullmetal Alchemist (Manga) (Hiromu Arakawa)
I've had the pleasure of reading pretty much all of the Discworld books by Terry Pratchett and I would happily recommend them to anyone that likes fantasy comedy. If you haven't read one of his books, do it! (And then read the rest... and tell them Nik sent ya)
Nik
Day Five - List of things I fancy doing
To some extent, this is my 'bucket list'
See the earth from space (Bill Bailey: Conveniently missing out 'become an astronaut')
Visit Australia
Learn to Drive
Fly faster than the speed of sound
Get Married & Have kids
Have more money than I know what to do with
Go Zorbing!
Learn to play an instrument
Finally finish working on my RPG system that I started six months ago
Play an MMO to completion (Max Level and do all the end content)
Learn Japanese
Stand at the summit of a mountain
See a tiger in the wild
be chokeslammed by The Undertaker
I dare say there are more things that should go on this list but that's all I can think of.
Nik
Day Four - Someone I love
It'll probably come as a surprise to... absolutely no-one... that my subject for this post is none other than my girlfriend of nearly a year - Amanda.
As I mentioned - we've been together for nearly a year (11 months as of the 4th of Feb) but strangely it feels like much less, we're still learning things about each other and making each other laugh with our foibles and little in jokes that are growing daily in both complexity and quantity.
Amanda herself is the most amazing girlfriend I could ask for - both physically beautiful and the most wonderful and kind person I have ever met. She's not afraid to be different from most of the other women her age - keeping a level head and logical mind that I've not seen from many adults whilst still able to do the cutest and craziest things without much shifting of mental gear. Her kindness and consideration knows no limit - she truly is a beautiful person inside and out.
Apologies to anyone who may think I waffled somewhat - perhaps that's what love does to a person.
All that's left to say is: I LOVE YOU AMANDA!!
Nik.
Day Three - Love
“To the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world.” ~ Brandi Snyder
Love is certainly one of the more... complicated emotions, one that is never the same twice. I feel privileged to have experienced love a few times in my short existence to date, I won't go into the sordid details because 1) a gentleman never kisses and tells and 2) it's none of your gorram business :p. Unfortunately (as I have learned through a lot of pain) lust can seem very similar to love at first sight and so the only way to truly find out is by riding it out and seeing where it leads.
Obviously, so far I've merely covered Eros (erotic love as defined by the greeks) and briefly mentioned Thelema (lust) however the greeks identified three other forms of love too;
Agape - which is defined as an unconditional, self sacrificing love - something that has been identified with religious experience though is also reserved for close loved ones like a partner or a child. Until recently I couldn't've said I'd experienced this, as I'm not in the slightest bit religious nor do I have any children however I admit that my feelings for my amazing girlfriend Amanda seem to have merged into this category - I would truly do anything for her (even though she can drive me crazy sometimes :P)
Philia - Brotherly love or close friendship, is again something I am blessed with - despite the fact that I am an only child, I feel a close bond with my best friends - while I cannot compare this directly with brotherly love, I can only estimate that it's roughly there... :P
Storge - is defined as familial love, something else I can certainly say I am blessed with, being part of a close knit family.
As far as I see it, love is an essential part of life in all its forms, for a start it keeps things ever changing, but also it is the glue that binds people together and has allowed us to create the great dynamic culture in which we live...
I probably rambled quite a bit there but Love is quite a hard abstract to talk about without going all tangential, though I must admit the timing is rather apt seeing as it's V day tomorrow...
Nik
Day Two - Introductions
"I'd like to introduce a man with a lot of charm, talent, and wit. Unfortunately, he couldn't be here tonight, so instead . . ." ~Melvin Helitzer
Today's topic is introduction; how you introduce yourself to new people, unfortunately it's been a long time since I've had to introduce myself, perhaps that's a sign of how closed my social circle has really become so tbh I don't have a clue beyond the usual "I'm Nik, I'm not crazy, honest" - usually I'd only introduce myself after I'd been chatting to the person for a while and thus built up some kind of a rapport beforehand so it's less likely they'll be horrified by my terrible introduction and run a mile... or three.
So yeah, short post for today but hopefully I'll be able to make longer ones about some of the other subjects... that's the plan anyway.
Nik
Day One - Death
“I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the ordeal of meeting me is another matter.” ~Winston Churchill
Rather a morbid topic to begin with, but here goes.
Death to me is just another part of the natural cycle; things die, things get consumed, their energy continues through the chain, the power of death seems to be the one thing that has powered our entire ecosystem - which is easy to say in general because there's no personal ramifications, it's easy to say shit dies because the thing that's dying is merely an abstract.
However when that thing is something or someone you've built an emotional attachment to, that concept becomes a scary one and I will admit that the death of someone close to me is the one thing that I am truly scared shitless of because despite what a large percentage of the population will tell you, we don't actually have the slightest of clues what truly happens when we cease to be on this mortal coil.
While I would like to believe in reincarnation (it sounds like a fantastic concept) there are far too many question, for example; do you get to choose? if so, why aren't there trillions of cats filling up this planet? do you have to start again from the bottom as an amoeba? do you carry on up the chain and turn into something else? what is up the chain from humanity? why am I asking so many questions? when will this topic end? and so on...
I also like the concept of an afterlife but the various different sets of qualifying criteria set out by the great (and tiny) religions of our world make this rather over complicated too, what if they're all true? what if none of them are true? what if just one of them is true? how would you know you've picked the right one until it's too late?
I suppose my best guess at the moment would be the 'you just cease' argument though the only crumb of comfort that comes into this is the idea that all the time someone is remembered, they are never truly dead, to me this makes life worth something.
It sets us each with a challenge; do something that would actually make your life memorable, bonus points if Hollywood make a film about it.
To anyone that reads this who is grieving for a loved one or close friend, my heart goes out to you, take solace in the thought that they are free from the struggle of this world and that all the time you cherish their memory, they are never truly dead.
Love, light and peace
Nik.
