Kiting. Of the "Power" variety.

As I mentioned yesterday, today was the date for my first attempt at power kiting. Basically, its like regular kiting, but with a really keen kite that's more like a small parachute. As a novice at all types of kiting, power and regular, I wasn't holding out much hope for having any skill at it, but even I didn't realise actually how bad I would be. Every time I launched it, it would stay in the air for about two seconds, then crash. If it even flew in the first place, that is. The wind, I shall have to blame the wind. Yeah, that's it, there wasn't enough wind.....

Tomorrow is also back to school day after the Easter holidays (or the Easter revision period, as the teachers insisted on calling it). Its kind of weird, thinking this will be my last ever "first day back", as it were. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it. It's good, in a way, because it means it's not long till I'm moving on to bigger and better things (hopefully). But its also pretty sad to think its nearly the end of something that's been such a massive part of my life for the past 7 years. And that I'm going to be leaving pretty much everyone I care about, family, friends, everyone, behind in the next couple of months and heading off to university. It's a strange feeling

However, I do know exactly how I'll feel halfway through double history tomorrow morning.

Depressed. And desperate for another holiday.

Peace and love

Randomness

Don't you find that when things happen randomly, they are invariably better than things that were planned in advance? Maybe its because its unexpected, maybe its because you have no expectations of it. But whatever the reason, random is good!

If you're wondering about the reason for my musings on random-ism, its due to a pub trip gone awry which led to a mass purchasing of ginger beer, milk bottles (the sweets, not actual milk bottles) and Sherbet Dip Dabs, then consumption of said items in a park. Yeah, its as weird as it sounds....

Other than that though, not much to report. A couple of essays have been finished, work was done in the sunshine, and tomorrow I'm going power kiting (I have no idea what it is either) for the first time. Should be interesting, to say the least.

Peace and love

Every little thing my iPod does is magic....

Whilst out for a run today (yes, I indulge in such insane pasttimes), I was jogging along merrily, listening to my iPod. I had it on shuffle because I actually couldn't be arsed to pick what I was listening to, and I was amazed by the selection of songs that came on. I have a pretty eclectic taste in music. I mean, I have folk rock next to hip-hop, right alongside the opera, jazz, punk, pop, rock n roll, classical and the multitude of other audio clutter that forms my music collection. But somehow, my iPod always manages to pick the best song for the situation. I swear it can read minds. If I'm working, it always puts something quiet on in the background,like Mumford and Sons or Miles Davies. If I'm a bit more energetic, some Led Zeppelin or Daft Punk. I'm relaxing and its Gustav Holst or the John Butler Trio. Its an absolute DJ-ing genius.

The best case in point I can think of was during a flight to Spain. I have a massive fear of flying. I literally root myself to the chair, refusing to move, speak or even open my eyes during take off or landing. But I put my iPod on Shuffle and "Ride of the Valkyries" by Richard Wagner came on, Y'know, that music that everyone associates with flying, even if they don't know what its called (YouTube it, if you really don't have a clue what I'm on about. Or not, if you don't care). Even though I was completely and utterly petrified, I had to laugh. My mother's fears that I am in fact mental were confirmed but I felt a little bit better about the flight. So there we go. The point is, iPods : magic, ain't they?

In other news, I finished reading Vergil's Aeneid today. I've never read the second half before,and I must say, its much better than the first. But I'd like to be able to say by now that I actually care about whether Aeneas is a social or Homeric hero in Book 12, but I really don't. Boredom, thy name is Classics essay.
 

P.S If you're a normal person, i.e not interested in Classics, that last paragraph may have been confusing, or boring, or both (indeed, the entire post may have been, but that will have been simply due to the fact that I'm not an interesting person). If it was, I sincerely apologise, but as the majority of my posts will contain Classical references, I suggest you either i) stop reading this blog or ii) start reading up on your Classics. Personally, I would take the second option, not due in the least to the fact that Classics is mostly just swordplay, insults, sex scenes and very thinly veiled innuendo (or not veiled at all, as the case may be with Catullus), but the choice, as always, is entirely yours.

Peace and love

'Ey up, kiddo's (which roughly translates as "greetings, friends")

To anyone reading this, the first thing I'm going to say is.... what happened? I don't know how the hell you've strayed so far of the proverbial beaten track of the Internet as to have ended up on here, but you evidently have. This is where I shall be providing the good people of Internetland with a sample of what goes on in my little world. I shall be putting (virtual) pen to paper and waxing lyrical on all manner of subjects that interest me, raise my ire or just generally pop into the deep, dark and slightly random quagmire that I like to call a mind. And you shall be reading it. To summarise then, unlucky.


The second thing I'm going to say is ..... hello. I know that's normally the first thing people say in conversations, but 1) this isn't a conversation, and 2) I do things differently round here, as you shall soon learn.


I suppose I'd better say a little about myself, hadn't I? Well, my name's Nathan (oh come on, its not as if nathan92 is that cryptic a username). I'm from West Yorkshire, a county in the green and pleasant land that is England. My birthday is on the 10th of July 1992, which makes me a Cancer, apparently. My favourite colour is green and my favourite variety of cheese is Wensleydale (I don't know what relevance that has, but I thought you might like to know)


I like Classics, which is basically about the Greeks and Romans and all the high jinks and shenanigans they got up to. I know it sounds incredibly keen, but really, it isn't. And through that last sentence you learn something new about me, that I'm a terrible liar.


I'm also quite partial to music. However, its normally the stuff that no one else likes, which quite limits my ability to hold conversations with normal human beings about it. Hence one of my reasons for starting a blog, because you aren't normal human beings and also because you can't reply. Oh, wait a minute, you can? Damn!


So yes, I shall endeavour to supply you with details of my various thoughts and exciting escapades through this little corner of the Internet, with which you can hopefully divert yourself from the actually important things in life for a few minutes rather than leaving the computer and facing up to them like you know you should be doing right now. Enjoy

Peace and love