Well I used songs to give to my younger self I. An earlier prompt… At least it wasn’t an expressive dance!

So ever since I heard these they have stuck with me…

Those who feel the breath of sadness
Sit down next to me
Those who find they’re touched by madness
Sit down next to me
Those who find themselves ridiculous
Sit down next to me

And if we want to go back a bit to my younger days…

Streets of London

Have you seen the old man
Outside the seaman’s mission
Memory fading with
The medal ribbons that he wears?
In our winter city
The rain cries a little pity
For one more forgotten hero
And a world that doesn’t care

Funnily enough, it was originally going to be the Streets of Paris.

This verse is the one I can’t sing without having a little wobble in my voice.🥹

You know this is actually quite hard, there are a few books that bug me. Maybe not so much of the ending, but recurring, nemesis,  characters in a series. I am thinking of Obadiah Hakeswill in the Sharp series here.  I don’t know why but his reappearance bugs me.

But in reality what right do I have to change someone else’s story.  I wouldn’t change things, but I might like to see another few chapters…

I have just finished Jurrassic Park… There could have been other survivors… What happened when the military arrived. Oh and why did the film kill off Muldoon?  How long were Grant and Saddler kept against their will…etc, etc,etc.

Talking of Jurrassic Park, the one thing that really, really bugs me is Michael Criton’s overuse of the word ‘said’!

I was teaching six and seven year olds to use words instead of ‘said’…

I actually read a few other people’s ideas and I did like this rewrite…

https://greatthingstaketimebepateint.wordpress.com

So maybe write my own additional chapters, or possibly write my own book.  Twenty or so  years ago I started doing so accidentally. I set homework for my kids in my class  to write the start of a story and said to make it fair I would do the same. The kids loved mine so much that it became my homework every weekend to carry it on.

I have a hard copy of about 20,000 of the 40 odd thousand words that I wrote. One day, ha ha, I will get it finished!

Well if I could have Dinner with a fictional character… I would have to decide between a couple of books.

First would be Lord John Roxton from the Arthur Conan Doyle Books. In fact my first ever Blogger post was about Roxton in the Lost World.

Second would have to be one of the Fellowship of the Ring from the Lord of the Rings…If I had to choose one then probably Legolas.

If I actually had to choose between the two, then Roxton would be my choice.

Well if I honestly had to choose a book that would make me want to head across the pond then it would have to be “The Last of the Mohicans”. Never managed it yet but it is Definitely on my bucket list to visit Fort William Henry and into the great lakes.

The film with Daniel Dat Lewis, definitely helped me want to visit more.

Maybe one day…

I love “Carry on up the Khyber” and have held that gate against the imaginary Burpa Horde.

Easy Peasy… The Hobbit.

Interesting Question… The easy answer is yes… It is one thing I think everyone should be.

There are a couple of sayings that I know of and use:

“You are never too old to learn.”

“Everyday is a school day.” In other words every day we learn something or hear something new.

So yes I am a lifelong learner and fully intend to keep on being one…I mean today I learned that my Latte I made for my wife was actually a Cappuccino and my thing I made using the remainder of the coffee and milk was actually the Latte. I rest my case!

So I suppose when I Pop my clogs and head off onto the black sands then I will learn if there is an afterwards… I just won’t be able to let you know.

Best way to describe it has already been done by Nerdy Viking Photography….https://nerdyvikingphotography.com/2026/06/16/20-year-old-self/

But as they already did it way better than I ever could then I reckon either interpretive dance or music will best suit the moment…

As I am drinking my coffee, then the music will have to do for now.

And finally,this piece of music helps me chill when I am having a bit of a moment…

Peace!

Well if you ignore the phonics ones and things like Binkle and Flip the bad bunnies.

Peter, Jane and Pat the dog.

And of course:

I suppose I would go for The Hobbit.

Still occasionally read it most years.

Looking at Binkle and Flip there it does have a bit of an air of Mr Bunsy has an Adventure. (If you know Terry Pratchett books you will know which one it comes from).

Well I am getting to the age where I no longer bounce like I used to but as I often joke “I sometimes wonder how I am still alive!”

As a younger individual I did many daft things that could have finished me off.

But I suppose one of the biggest ‘risks’ was to move from Northumberland to the Shetland Islands. My wife and I and our 16 week old made the change. I started work on 17th April 2006. Basically 20 years ago.

Was it easy, no, did I struggle, yes. I moved from a school of 40 odd staff to me and a part time admin. From a class of 34 to a whole school of 12.

I basically lost my family and friends, my hobbies -reenactment and my social life again based around the reenactment world. The other huge miss was my in work support network.  That was a massive hit, I remember one day having a bit of a wobble and saying I wanted to go home.  Our house hadn’t sold yet, so my wife said we could easily return, by home I meant my old school.

So to answer the question…when was the last time I took a risk, April 17th 2006. I suppose that was the biggest risk we ever took. We made a vow that day that no matter what was thrown at us we would remain.

Was it hard? Yes! Was it worth it? Again Yes! Did we make the right choice in staying here? Most definitely.

This is the view from my front gate…

That’s about it… A break away from Idiots… Now you know.