Friday, December 31, 2010

So That Was 2010

Some people think this year has sped rapidly by, on reflection I think it has gone fairly slow, no bad thing. On the whole it hasn't been a bad year, it's had more highs than lows. The year began with myself and friends coming to terms with the passing of big Russ and so I think it's fair to say the year began on a very subdued note.

An erroneous phone call in January led me to Nottingham, working in a homeless shelter and helping out in it's music shop in the city centre. Nottingham in many ways has changed many of my views on things this year, I've seen some genuinely sad things but I've also seen people move on in life, that is a rewarding to watch in itself. The people in Nottingham have been amazing and I can honestly say I've enjoyed my time there this year immensely.

2010 has also been a year of music, since working in the music shop has its advantages and my knowledge (which was already large or so I thought) has grown to encompass much more styles, bands and genre's of music. The year began with loving the Cocteau twins and moved through 60s psychedelia, electronica, progressive and a plethora of others.

This year saw me reunited with old school friends via Facebook and then meeting them again in person, it felt good to rekindle old friendships again and I hope to see more of them in 2011.

On the social front 2010 has been manic to say the least, weddings, parties, functions, birthdays, gigs, fancy dress and fund raising events. It seemed the summer of love in some respects as weddings graced most months. My friend Dom's stag night was probably the best night I had out all year and brought all of my local male friends together for an epic night. Sadly I missed the following wedding as Gary was back over from Hong Kong and in truth I wish I'd gone to wish them well, even though weddings aren't my thing.

I've seen many friendships grow this year and on stepping into 2011 I feel I am fortunate to have such a good friends network around me.

February saw me visit Malta, fortunately dodging the ash cloud problem from Iceland. It was a nice little break, so much so I went back this month (another blog coming sometime on that). There were other jaunts too, to the lovely north east Yorkshire coast, Norfolk and to London. There were also trips to York and other picturesque places and parks.

April saw the election announcement and I decided I may be changing my vote this time around.

The election duly came in May, I voted, it was a hung parliament which proved a very disenchanted nation indeed. The coalition was formed and even though the party I had voted for were in the coalition I began to have immediate misgivings.

June was the world cup, and lots of social engagements, a busy month indeed. To be fair I never really got into this world cup and didn't watch that much of it at all, though I did spend more time at Meadow Lane this year watching my beloved Notts County, and what a year they've had!

July came, I aged another year, more flecks of grey hair and creaks when I get out of bed in a morning! Gary was visiting (glued annoyingly to his ipad), weddings were happening and I breathed in the lovely pure air when we visited the Whitby area.

August saw a lovely new real ale pub open in town called 'Just Beer' and since then it has gone from strength to strength. I'll probably spend more time down there in 2011 but usually in January I have a month off the beer.

September saw the odious pope visit, something that made my blood boil and for some odd reason I remember a Colombian being named as the worlds shortest man!

October saw the miners in Chile rescued, an amazing feat and testament to mankind ingenuity. I visited London to register at a model/movie extras agency which was a huge boost to morale. Nothing has come of it yet but I hope in 2011 that something does come of it. I also started playing the truly fantastic Lord of the Rings online game.

November, well nothing much happened and the cold weather closed in.

December saw me return to Malta once more and even have a couple of interesting trysts with someone whilst there.

During 2010 there's been some great television, the excellent Ancient Civilisations on the BBC along with the Apprentice and Dragons Den. And I really have to mention the funny yet starkly gritty 'This is England 86'.

Film wise I loved Centurion and Black Death. The Spartacus series was immense and I want more! On the downside there were turkeys at the cinema including Iron Man 2 and the dreadful Inception.

It's not been a bad year really I guess, my dear gran is still alive, I love her dearly and cherish my visits to see her. My dad is always there should I need help and I love and respect him too.

On the downside, my health hasn't been great, I've been concealing things and may need to open up about them in the coming year but I will say this, I'll soldier on whatever may come with my usual plucky hobbit resolve. I'm also hoping my car insurance/accident issue will conclude as quickly as possible in the new year.

Talking of resolve, I intend to blog more during 2011 as writing is therapeutic and something I need to do. I'm not sure what 2011 will bring, I know what I'd like it to bring but I never heap my hopes on too many things, each day is very much an amazing thing indeed and something we should never take for granted.

Thanks for reading and a happy 2011 to everyone who reads the Hobbit's Journal !

Friday, December 03, 2010

That Man Epicurus, Again!

In times of winter, when you hear of tragedy and death or in fact anytime when you switch the tv on and see something regarding death or injustice - you think 'why'?

“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call call him God?”

I just love this point that Epicurus puts across, bearing in mind its not aimed at christianity, more gods in general but it still holds up really well and show's us how intelligent people were back then.

Snow

Never since I've moved to Newark have I known snow like this. On Tuesday the trains stopped running, the town seemed devoid of life, even my local supermarket was a breeze to get around. Most of the other shops had not bothered opening (wise indeed) and the market had been abandoned, though I hear a couple of plucky stall holders still made it. It looks like most of the nation has been gripped with a rather premature freeze and Scotland has had the worst of it (let them have it!!!). I just hope it's all gone before my holiday abroad in three weeks and my plane is clear for take off.




My car from the bedroom window, covered in snow!



A view of the car park opposite my flat.



The gloomy church yard as I passed through to go to the local supermarket.

Light

Took this photo walking across the market square last week. It is times like this I wish I had a better camera but as the light hit the church I thought it a good idea to capture the moment.