Me from A to Z

...with twenty six things about me and my life that you maybe don’t know from reading other things I have written about myself over the last four years.
You have read them haven’t you?
No you’re right, probably not so I expect I will be safe going over a bit of old ground.
So on with my Saturday night ramble. Yes it’s a choice between writing this or watching a procession of wannabe’s try to make their fame and fortune by singing ...
...it can get out of me and give me as little as possible in return.

B is for: - Bitching.

If there is one thing I can’t stand, it’s bitching especially the back stabbing kind when someone will say this or that about you to another person but hasn’t got the bottle to say it to your face. I think that is a really low thing to do, I know it happens and I know there is little I can do about it but one thing I won’t do is join ... more

The A to Z of me, that means that I am going to have to come up with twenty six things about me and my life that you maybe don’t know from reading other things I have written about myself over the last four years.
You have read them haven’t you?
No you’re right, probably not so I expect I will be safe going over a bit of old ground.
So on with my Saturday night ramble. Yes it’s a choice between writing this or watching a procession of wannabe’s try to make their fame and fortune by singing in an unfashionable coat, guess what won?
Anyway enough rambling, on to the meat of the A to Z of me.

A is for: - Anti-Establishment.

In my youth I was disenchanted soul, a teenager of the eighties, I was brought up with miner’s strikes, high interest rates and high unemployment. Yes I was one of those unemployed yobs that sat in the town centre with punk music blaring out of a cheap stereo whilst drinking cheap cider and bemoaning our fortune. That was a long time ago, now I am a forty something, still disaffected and cynical about a government who tries to fleece every penny it can get out of me and give me as little as possible in return.

B is for: - Bitching.

If there is one thing I can’t stand, it’s bitching especially the back stabbing kind when someone will say this or that about you to another person but hasn’t got the bottle to say it to your face. I think that is a really low thing to do, I know it happens and I know there is little I can do about it but one thing I won’t do is join in any character assassinations behind anyone’s back whether in real life or on the web

C is for: - Chloe.

Chloe was my middle daughter; sadly her life was to be all too short. She passed away after only three months on this earth but she is still here in our hearts and will never be forgotten. Although she died in November 1995 I often wonder what she would have been like had fate had given a chance, she would have been twelve now, is it really so long ago? it still feels like yesterday to me.

D is for: - Dad.

Yep that’s me, chauffer, bank manager, cook, agony aunt, entertainment and a multitude of other hats that make up parenthood. Having such a wide age gap, fourteen and five I get to simultaneously have teenage attitude and the terrible fives, and now I have started on the teenage attitude I know what to look forward to in eight or nine years when number two gets to that stage, joy of joys. But in all seriousness being a father is my main role in life and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Of course Dad stands for my own father, a man who went through the things I am going through now. I have a new respect for him now I know what he had to put up with from me.

E is for: - East.

I am a man of the East, well Eastern England anyway. I was born within a stones throw of the most easterly point in the country at Ness Point in Lowestoft. Hidden away behind the Birds Eye factory, they have finally managed to make something of it in the last few years; it’s still not that impressive though. But go down there on a stormy day and nature makes it a much more dramatic experience, waves crashing over the sea wall, high over your head, now that is impressive.

F is for: - Fishing.

Something I used to do a lot, carp mainly. I used to be up at three in the morning, fumbling around, bleary eyed in the dark as I struggled to get my rods set up for the dawn. The thrill when a big fish took off across the lake, my line whirring off the spool before I lift the rod, wrench it up and bang, I am connected to that powerful beast, a fight ensues as we battle for supremacy, will he trick me, will he escape or will it be my day. Will I get to admire my defeated foe, admire and deliver him back to his home to maybe battle with me another day? Haven’t been for several years now, it is a time consuming pastime and time is one thing I am rather short of these days.

G is for: - Gastronomy.

Food, an essential of life and a pleasure to enjoy, I am pretty open minded about what I eat, I will try anything once and there isn’t much I don’t like really, apart from cucumber, disgusting stuff. Oh and cider, slightly different reason for that though, memories of youth, James White extra strong and the effects of my stomach really wishing I hadn’t drunk it. Even the smell of cider makes me feel ill even now. Italian is my favourite; nothing much beats a really well cooked pasta dish in my view.

H is for: - Harry Potter.

Yes I am one of those Harry Potter mad people who can’t wait for the next book to come out, not long to wait now. I don’t know what it is but I love the Hogwarts world, think I might have fitted in there better than I do the real world.

I is for: - Ipswich Town Football Club.

The Tractor Boys, the best football team in the world, at least we will be one day when a kindly Russian benefactor gives us millions. But for now we just have to concentrate on getting somewhere near the playoffs next season.

J is for: - Just me.

When it all comes down to it, that is me, just me, I am who I am, husband, father, son, worker, colleague, friend and probably more but in the end I am just me.

K is for: - Kayaking.

Something else I haven’t done for years and years, I doubt very much that I could even balance a boat nowadays, let alone do half the things I used to be able to do. I suppose I ought to have another go before I get too decrepit. I used to love surfing on the waves of the North Sea, it was some feeling to ride the waves and then the tip of my kayak goes under the water and I go vertical until the pressure pops me out backwards, of course occasionally I didn’t pop out and went all the way over, not so good. On second thoughts maybe I will keep my feet on dry land now.

L is for: - Lord of the Rings.

The best book, the best film, the best full stop. I have been a fan of LOTR for more years than I care to remember. My escapist nature coming to the fore again I guess but The lands of Middle Earth were so well constructed that for a few hours while I had my head in the books, I could be there with the heroes, putting the world to rights.

M is for: - Money.

The root of all evil, if you have none you want more, if you have some you want more, if you have loads, then loads is never enough. Would the world be a better place without money? Probably but then people would find other stuff to nick and argue about I suppose.

N is for: - not doing the housework because I am on the PC AGAIN!!!

I am a PC addict. There I have admitted it, the first step to recovery, perhaps, but I have no wish or plans to give up my PC time. I suppose I spend around eight to ten hours a day on the PC doing this and that and some more of that. Now I run our web sites and writing both, novels, here and various other sites, plus all the other bits and pieces I have to do I could really do with more hours in my day or at least making enough money from it to allow me to knock the night job on the head. One day perhaps.

O is for: - Obstinate.

That’s me, push my back against the wall and I will push back. I am stubborn like you wouldn’t believe. I refuse to give up even when maybe I have passed the point of a lost cause. No retreat, no surrender, my motto perhaps or maybe should be give up you idiot.

P is for: - Procrastination.

My biggest fault, why do it today when I can put it off till tomorrow? It’s got me in trouble a few times but is something that is part of me and I am sure it will get me into trouble again in the future.

Q is for: - Quit

What I am about to do with this review, not really. It is rather the opposite of the word quit that I have associated with me. I will never quit at anything. I have to be able to do things once I have started. My answer for O rather gave that away already I suppose but I just can’t stand to be beaten by anything and will continue to gnaw at things until I finish or beat them. Ok one exception, smoking, I have said for years that I will quit one day, that day hasn’t arrived yet but one day will arrive eventually and then I will quit for once and probably feel better for it.

R is for: - rest.

Something in short supply nowadays, there just aren’t enough hours in the day to rest, let alone sleep. I work nights, I am writing my second novel, I have to promote my first very soon, I am running two web sites, I have to do this and that for my farmland that I rent out. Oh and apart from that, I have two kids that need running about and I need to spend time with them and my wife as well, so really there is very little time to rest.

S is for: - Sisters of Mercy.

The best band in the history of music, well in my opinion anyway. I have collected everything they have ever recorded over the years and have seen them live many, many times all over the country. I even had the pleasure of meeting Mr Eldritch himself once.

T is for: - Time.

Something I don’t have enough of that’s for sure. I am positive the days, weeks and years go faster as I get older. I remember when I was at school the terms seemed to drag and the long summer holiday seemed to stretch endlessly into the future. Now though it’s more a case of, has half the year gone already?

U is for: - Unbelievable.

The changes that have occurred in my life over the last few years have been just that, unbelievable. Just a few years ago who would have thought that my biggest joy would be writing, who would have believed I would be any good at it. Not me that’s for sure, but now there is a chance that I could at last forge myself a career rather than just working to live. It will still take no end of hard work but I am determined to succeed.

V is for: - Vegetables.

An unlikely word to associate with me perhaps, but vegetables have been a big part of my life for all my life. I was brought up on a farm; my dad grew all sorts of market garden vegetables. We decided what we wanted for dinner and then went out to the field and picked/ dug up whatever we wanted that happened to be in season. There is nothing like fresh veg straight from the field, the taste is so superior to shop bought. Maybe that’s why my diet nowadays is so lacking in veg. My dad has retired, the farm is now a housing estate but I do miss my home grown veg I must say.

W is for: - When am I going to make a million on Ciao

Of course the answer is I am not, although I might make a million words in reviews, can’t be far off it with this one alone. When I started this I didn’t think it would take me long but it’s well on the way to midnight now and I still don’t have a clue what I am going to do for some of the letters. It makes me wonder, I have been on this earth for forty one years now, there must be something in all that time that applies to me with each letter, but back to the point in hand, I love statistics, yes sad I know, but I am fascinated by facts and figures and it would be interesting to find out if anyone has made a million anything’s on this site.

X is for: - X-Ray.

The normal one for X I would imagine but I have had a few in my time. I had no end when I had my throat slit the other year to remove a growth from my neck. I had several when I shattered my thumb years before that. That time they decided to do the X-rays after the doc had tried to manipulate what he thought was just a dislocation. I have never known pain like it, one of the few times in my life I have actually screamed. If he had done the X-rays first then it would have been unnecessary and maybe my thumb would still bend, hindsight is a wonderful thing isn’t it.

Y is for: - Yesterday.

Today is tomorrow’s yesterday and it seems that yesterdays are getting more numerous than tomorrows at an alarming rate. Getting into my forties has made me think, I am half way through my life, I am halfway through my working life and what have I done? Been stuck in the same job for more years than I care to mention and done nothing to make my mark on the world. Perhaps it is time for that to change. Maybe, just maybe.

Z is for: - Zebra

Well it is, and I saw some a few weeks ago on my Florida holiday so I think that can count as having something vague. I am sure one of them winked at me as well so that makes the association closer if ambiguous.

Made it, it took rather longer than it took for another wannabe to fall by the wayside on the Joseph programme but I finished. It took more thinking about than I thought it would too but I enjoyed doing it and hope that you enjoyed finding out a little about me.

And of course ignore the criteria as usual.

© Docpov June 2007 

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