My little computer war continues. For those of you trying to email me, you may have noticed that my emails are bouncing like bad checks. I found out today that the hard drive at my ISP crashed and they have been having trouble restoring the data. They have informed us that the battle continues and they are doing everything in their power to combat the problem. Of course, I’m still stuck without my primary email account. Anyway, if you need to reach me, then do so at claylowe@yahoo.com

I’ve been having a devil of time trying to get my wireless network up and running. At the moment all the devices seem to be recognising each other, but my laptop refuses to connect to the Internet as provided by my desktop PC. On Friday, when I first set everything up, it worked for all of 5 minutes and then bam…something happened and I lost connection and haven’t been able to connect again since. Then to make matters worse, I was up until 4 a.m. trying to fight of some nasty computer viruses. So needless to say computers are not my friends at the moment.

I was away for most of the week running some courses at Bricketwood. We had an absolute blast. I even went so far as to don my old army battle dress uniform to add a little army style attitude adjustment for the outdoor activities sessions.

I also got to spend time with a mate of mine I haven’t seen for quite some time…well almost exactly a year. We had some pretty deep conversations about life and the pursuit of happiness. I’m feeling more motivated then ever. Even more so considering I spent all of yesterday at the Ordance Survey’s Outdoor Show at the NEC in Birmingham. I had a chance to listen to Mike Harding, Alex Huber, Sir Chris Bonington speak. Absolutely awesome!!! I’m a bit rushed tonight or else I would go in to more detail. The bottom line is though, if you are not doing the thing you love to do [work-wise and life-wise] then you are wasting your time, and time is something none of us can afford to waste.

I’ve been on the road the last couple of days…running a training workshop in Hemel Hepstaed. I get such a buzz from these workshops because of the exchange of ideas and thoughts. Lot of fascinating discussion arise over the course of the 2.5 days. I finished up the workshop by 1300 and then drove further south to meet my boss for lunch at Bricketwood. She flew down from Edinburgh this morning and since she was in the area, we wanted to get together and catch up on where we are with our project.

I’ve picked up a new hobby…one that I’ve thought about starting before but never quite got into it. I’ve taken up poker…Texas Hold’em poker to be exact…the same style of play they use at the poker world championship held in Las Vegas each year. The mechanics I understand. I even have a small strategic grasp of the game. I’ve started playing on line at both Yahoo and Empire Poker, which is an online casino site. I don’t play for real money. The pyschology of the game is interesting. There is even a behavioural style model for poker players. I won’t say which quardrant I fall into least I should ever get in a game with any of you.

My tickets for the Ordnance Survey Outdoors Show arrived today. The show is a good gathering of everything outdoors from expeditions, to adventure sports to adventure travel. Plus there are lots of outdoor vendors there to sell their wares. I’m hoping to catch a fgew of the seminars and pick up some gear. I’ll have to keep a tight watch on my wallet as I have a weakness for buying outdoor gear. There’s just always to be that one cool gadget or piece of the clothing that would be just fantastic to have as a part of my kit bag. Outdoor shops are almost as bad for me as bookshops.

Oh yeah, I’m also on the look out for an adventure van…think Scooby Doo’s Mystery Machine meets the Camelback edition of the Land Rover.

So apparently men spend most of their online chatting time talking about only four things. According to an MSN survey of email and chat rooms (are they secretly reading our email?) men talk most about current culture to inlcude sports and music, money matters, social activities to include what they are going to do on the weekends, and general banter. I’m surprised sex didn’t show up on the list. Especially since DR Stephen Whitehead, a gender expert from Keele University and noted author of a new book on men, asserts that men think about sex, work, and sex in that order.

And what does the fairer sex chat about most online? Apparently they yap about feelings, relationship matters, gossip, and food. DR Whitehead contends women think about relationships, relationships, and relationships in that order.

DR Whitehead suggests there are 27 different types of men. I had a gander at the list and I think i would classify as a Jester type, which means I love laughter and an audience but am prone to being melancholy.

The British are being battered for their drinking culture. Binge drinking has dominated the headlines this week. But the headline that has to take top prize on the subject read, “A combination of sex, alcohol and cheap motorcycle hire are killing many British tourist.”

And finally, what have we become when Marge Simpson is considered to be the ideal mother role model….

I spent the entire day on another planet. Oh I was here in body, but my mind and most definately my spirit were in some other place. Death’s Other Kingdom perhaps, or standing by the River of Dreams or perhaps I went to the Edge. At any rate, I was completely out of focus. I was so out of focus that things seemed clear, if that makes sense.

You say you want a revolution
Well we all want to change the world

I’m feeling like starting that revolution I’ve been hinting at for time now. I’m in one of those moods where I feel like rebelling against the establishment…mainly because it just doesn’t make a damn bit of sense. Alain de Botton has a new book out called Status Anxiety. He puts across some interesting points about what drives us to achieve. His basic premise is echoed in what sociologists have observed, “that we work hard and try to achieve for two reasons: money and status.” We seek status because we want to feel loved. Botton explores the status side of the equation. Personally I’d opt for the money side so I can buy my freedom.

Instead of buying my freedom, I can become a revolutionary instead.

On another note, I’ve been trying to work my way through Joseph Heller’s Catch-22. I find his writing to be brilliantly jarring. I can read his stuff in small dosages, so it’s taking me while to finish.

Last night, in a shameful show of disrespect, Richard “the Duck” Watson talked smack repeatedly as he boasted about his ability to handle the rock and take Clay “the King” Lowe to the hoop anyday, anytime, anyplace.

“I think he’s been drinking to much Sterno,” said the King. “Everybody knows ain’t no mug got more game than me.” The King, looking cool and confident, responded to the challenge.

The last time these two legendary figures of playground basketball met was over a year ago. The Duck, a little younger and faster than the King, had racked up an early lead and seemed to have had the game in the bag. But the King, ever the consummate professional, showed the youngester how the game was really played and shattered the Duck’s hope of fame an glory in a 12 to 10 victory.

“That was a fluke, anybody who was there knows that I dominated that game. King knows it, that’s why he hasn’t been back out on the court with me since. He’s been runnin scared,” said the Duck.

“All I’m saying is, if I were a bettin man…and I hope all you bookies are listening, I wouldn’t put my money on King. When we step back out on the asphalt, I guarantee victory will be mine. And you can print that!”

When asked about the Duck’s flatulent mouth, the King had no comment. He just coolly leaned back in his chair, made a graceful arch of him shooting a basket, and let out the sweet sound of “swoosh.”

The King and the Duck will take to the court within the next month. The time and the venue have not been decided yet. Watch this space for further details.

My mind is a muddy river.

I’ve enjoyed reading the last two issues of Esquire magazine. The What I’ve Learned interviews, in particular, have been inspiring. Jack Nicholson had some insightful words to pass on, as did Ozwald Boateng and Danny DeVito….I admire their dedication to their craft…the single-minded drive to be the best in their chosen field. They have the warrior’s attitude of come back victorious or come back on your shield.

I’ve been busy trying to get the edits done for the rockumentary i’m working on for Slowjet. I’m flying up to Edinburgh tomorrrow night, so I really needed to get at least the first cut done. I was up till late last nite, but it was worth it. I now have the first cut done…assembled as an mpeg and ready to present to the band Monday. Ahhh….how I love the pressure cooker…that reminds me of an old Alice Cooper lyric…

“One spastic explosion…two pressure cookers go insane…It makes me act crazy…I shiver but I love this game…”

I have some research to do this morning for another project I’m working on, then it’s off to the Bear Rock for a little indoor climbing, followed by dinner, movie, and a few pints.

peace

My mind is racing, but my body is tired. I’m a firm believer in planting nuggets of information in my subconscious mind and letting the info percolate. The subconsious mind always finds and answer and usually the answer comes to you when you least expect it…like today, I was sitting at my PC at work. It was nearing quiting time, when suddenly the idea floodgates just broke and ideas started flowing out.

So my mind is racing now from excitment and trying to get the ideas down on paper.

My body is tired becomes I ran 5 miles today, which I haven’t done for a couple of months. Since my last race, I have only been doing short 2 – 3 mile maintenance runs. But now that I have a new adventure race looming before me, I have ramped up my training. I like this feeling….the feeling of having physically exerted myself to a limit. It’s a feeling of ecstacy…a high…relief…relaxation…all rolled into one.

Anyway I sense that I am going to run completely out of steam early tonight, so I better get gone because I have a lot of things to still do before the lights go out.

I was at the mercy of technology today. I had my whole day planned before going into work and then wouldn’t you know it, my user ID was blocked and I couldn’t log on to the network. Thus I was out of action PC-wise until after lunch. And of course, most of what I had planned to do was dependent on me being on my desktop PC. Luckily I had my laptop and could do some unplanned work.

I bought a book on Adobe After Effects from Borders. I want to use After Effects in the post production phase of the new rockamentary I’m working on. After Effects is apparently one the industry’s standard work horses so I thought i’d learn it.

On the adventure race front, I have my first recruit for the team. Laura has confirmed that she wants to be a part of the rebirth of Team Taranis. I still need 2 other members, so if there are readers out there who are interested in Adventure Racing, let me know. The race we are training for is set for 24 – 25 April with Ace Races. The race is over 2 days and has 5 legs – xcross cycle, mountain bike, night navigation, canoeing, and trail run. The race will be in South Wales. Please let me know asap if you are interested. You don’t need to be super fit…just have a good attitude and be willing to give your best and be a team player.

The past week has been a virtual whirlwind of activity. I was up in Edinburgh to meet with my new boss and discuss our near and long-term objectives both from a business standpoint and a personal development standpoint. I’m fine with the business objectives, but always seem to struggle with the personal development objectives. Why? Hmmm….probably because i view personal as personal and business as business. I like to keep work and personal life separate. I suppose if we changed the term to professional development, I could handle that…

I have been working on articulating my philosophy of life which loosely breaks down to this:

• Be loving, sympathetic, concerned, respectful and helpful with others; not greedy, or controlling or aggressive.
• Work hard to solve the problems we face; not follow the past, or merely dream of the future, but to do something now.
• Enjoy the simple, available pleasures of home, relaxation, and friends.

My life goals in terms of values and purpose can be summed up as:

• An exciting life
• Inner harmony
• A sense of accomplishment
• Social recognition
• Freedom
• Happiness
• Wisdom

And my personal characteristics or how I want people to view me as:

• Honest
• Broad-minded
• Imaginative
• Cheerful
• Helpful
• Forgiving
• Responsible
• Capable
• Independent
• Intellectual

I suppose this is a tall order, but at least I have an ideal for which to strive for…

On another note…

While in Edinburgh, I started working on my second Rockamentary for a local Edinburgh band called Slowjet. I’ve got about 2 hours of footage that I have to edit down to 5 minutes. Looking forward to it.

Here are some random thoughts from my notebook over the past week:

• Flew into Edinburgh. I like being in transit…the anonymous feeling. It’s the opposite of Cheers..nobody knows your name.
• It’s half-term in England and it seems like they’re all here. The hotel is packed with them.
• There are two women sitting on thestairs in front of me. The black haired one is giving the platnium blonde a neck and shoulder massage…cheap thrill for me as i drink my beer.

Okay…that’s enough of that.

I arrived in Edinburgh last night around 2200 having spent more time in the Birmingham airport than I’d wanted. The plane was delayed due to a failed generator. No complaints…best that they fix these kind of things on the ground then have a problem in the air.

I’m staying at the Holiday Inn right next to the Edinburgh zoo. My window look right onto the zoo grounds. Friends have warned me to be prepared to be awakened by strange animal noises in the night. But seeing how I can sleep through the end of the world, I doubt if i’ll hear anything. In fact, given more snoring record, I’ll probably be of a disturbance to the animals!

Anyway, time to get back to work…

Ruth says I’m lazy. I say I just have no patience for building or fixing things. My definition of lazy is someone who sits around and does nothing all day. The last thing I want to do is sit around and do nothing. I prefer to be outdoors and active…rock climbing, running, competing in 11 hour adventure races, climbing mountains…well you get the point. I see domesticated duties as an intrusion on the precious little free time I have outside of work. Why turn a wrench, when I could be climbing Scavenger or some such route. I say, let a mechanic turn the wrench, after all that’s what he gets paid for. Why am ranting about this?

Well I spent the greater part of Saturday helping Ruth’s dad change the front and back brakes on our car. I was happy to let our mechanic do it, but Ruth’s dad is a born grease monkey and enjoys banging around on cars. I don’t. Still, I felt obligated to pitch in seeing how it was my car. I spent 5 frustrating hours grunting and groaning, pulling and pushing nuts, bolts and springs. There were a couple of times I thought we were going to have to call the AA to rescue us from a sea of brake springs that refused to go back together.

End the end, we did it. We over came the gods of metal and machines, and in the process, saved about £250.

Sunday

I got back from Bristol early this afternoon.

I spent the afternoon unpacking and repacking my suitcase. I’m off to Scotland for a week. Unfortunately, it’s not a leisure trip. I’m there to meet my new boss.

Can’t hang out here to long, I leave for the airport in about 10 minutes.

I borrowed this survey from Quitespecial’s LJ.

Here are my answers…

ANGER

1. Who did you last get angry with?
Anger is an emotion I don’t come across very often, but when I do it’s usually not pretty. The last time I was really angry was during an adventure race in Borneo last year, when one of my teammates didn’t give 100% during an important leg of the race. Because I don’t get angry much, when I do it’s usually an explosive release of all the anger I deny myself. This particular instance, I lost complete control and took out my vengence on a stack of bottled water, destroying many litres of precious water.

2. What is your weapon of choice?
My brain. To paraphrase Sun Tzu, the mark of a great general is one who defeats his enemies without fighting.

3. Would you hit a member of the opposite sex?
Yes if were a case of self-defense.

4. How about of the same sex?
Yes.

5. Who was the last person who got really angry at you?
Probably the self-same teammate whom I lost my temper with. Most people fight anger with anger.

6. What is your pet peeve?
People who are intolerant of another person’s point of view.

7. Do you keep grudges, or can you let them go easily?
Like water off a duck’s back…

SLOTH

1. What is one thing you’re supposed to do daily that you haven’t done in a long time?
Pray.

2. What is the latest you’ve ever woken up?
I once lost a whole day…me and a friend went a couple of days without sleep. When we finally laid our heads down, we didn’t budge for 24 hours…still fully clothes…When I awoke, I felt like I had been abducted by aliens because I couldn’t account for a 24 hour period of my life.

3. Name a person you’ve been meaning to contact, but haven’t?
My family…my mom, brother, sister, grand ma…they are all in the States. I know they are only a phone call a way but days slip into weeks etc. etc.

4. What is the last lame excuse you made?
Just a few seconds ago when I wrote that lame ass line about days slipping into weeks.

5. Have you ever watched an infomercial all the way through?
Yes…it was a Tony Robbins infomercial.

6. When was the last time you got a good workout in?
Yesterday, hiking up Pen y Fan.

7. How many times did you hit the snooze button on your alarm clock today?
None. I’m a early morning person. I’m generally up and active by 5.00 am.

GLUTTONY

1. What is your overpriced yummy beverage of choice?
I don’t really have one. I mostly drink diet-coke.

2. What is the greatest amount of alcohol you’ve had in one sitting/outing/event?
The drunkest I’ve ever been would have to be back in my army days. I drank a bottle of 151 Bacardi Rum. My buddies had to pull an all night vigil around me because I kept going into convulsions.

3. Have you ever used a professional diet company?
No.

4. Do you have an issue with your weight?
No. I’m a lean, mean fighting machine. I eat nails and shit rust. In short, I am hard as woodpecker lips.

5. Do you prefer sweets, salty foods, or spicy foods?
Spicy hot food. The hotter the better. If I’m not dripping with sweat and feeling like someone lit a match in my mouth, then it’s not spicy hot.

6. Have you ever looked at a small housepet or child and thought.. food?
Yes. We have a pet rabbit and considering I’ve eaten rabbit before, I wouldn’t hesistate to slap old Snuggles in a pot and have some roast wabbit as Elmer Fudd would say.

LUST

1. How many people have you seen naked?
Lots.

2. How many people have seen YOU naked?
Lots.

3. Have you ever caught yourself staring at the chest/crotch of a member of your gender of choice during a normal conversation?
Not particularly.

4. Have you “done it”? had sex?
Oh yes! And like a typical male, I fantasize about sex every 7 minutes or is it 7 seconds…

5. What is your favorite body part on a person of your gender of choice?
I’m a sucker for long hair, tasty looking breast and a nice bottom.

6. Have you ever been propositioned by a prostitute?
Yes. I was soldier once and soldiers and prostitutes are the two oldest professions…where you find one, you usually find the other. But to actually pay for sex…where is the fun in that?

7. Have you ever had to get tested for an STD or pregnancy?
No.

GREED

1. How many credit cards do you own?
Two.

2. What’s your guilty pleasure store?
Borders Bookstore…I spend so much money there, I should buy stock in the company.

3. If you had £1 million, what would you do with it?
Invest it…by some bonds and live off the interest. Then I’m become a vagabond and wander the world…mostly on foot.

4. Would you rather be rich, or famous?
Rich.

5. Would you accept a boring job if it meant you would make megabucks?
No doubt. Work is just work at the end of the day.
6. Have you ever stolen anything?
I stole a toy car when I was about 14. I got caught. Got my ass handed to me by my parents and have never stole in the “traditional” sense ever again.

7. How many MP3s are on your hard drive?
Not many. I put them all on my digital audio player. It holds the equivalent of 500 CDs.

PRIDE

1. What one thing have you done that you’re most proud of?
Served my country as a combat infantryman.

2. What one thing have you done that your parents are most proud of?
Graduating from West Point with a degree in History(the U.S. Military Academy, for my UK readers, this similar to your Sandhurst).

3. What thing would you like to accomplish in your life?
Write and publish a successful book.

4. Do you get annoyed by coming in second place?
For a brief moment then I let it go.

5. Have you ever entered a contest of skill, knowing you were of much higher skill than all the other competitors?
I did competitive Judo…I’ve had matches against people of a lower grade than myself.

6. Have you ever cheated on something to get a higher score?
Probably.

7. What did you do today that you’re proud of?
Caught up with all my journal entries.

ENVY

1. What item (or person) of your friends would you most want to have for your own?
A friend of mine that met last year during the Brecons Challenge has one of those Camel Trophy Landrovers that was used in a rally race. It’s the ultimate boy toy.

2. Who would you want to go on “Trading Spaces” with?
Bruce Springsteen.

3. If you could be anyone else in the world, who would you be?
Tim Cahill the adventure travel writer.

4. Have you ever been cheated on?
Don’t know.

5. Have you ever wished you had a physical feature different from your own?
Perhaps height..I’m 5’11 but would have like to have been 6’2.

6. What inborn trait do you see in others that you wish you had for yourself?
Relentless ambition.

7. Do you wish you’d come up with this survey?
Not really, though it is a good survey to play around with.

8. Finally, what is your favorite deadly sin?
Lust without a doubt.

Today I am officially an honorary Brit…my indefinate leave to stay in the UK residency permit came in the post. Yippee!

We spent the evening at the Welsh International Climbing Centre. They have a 45 room bunkhouse. The accommadtions are sparse; basically a couple of cheap beds, small screen TV, and shared toilet and shower facilities. But for £14 a nite plus a full breakfast, it was more than enough for our needs.

We arrived at the WICC a bit to late to do any climbing. They receptionist on duty was going to charge us £4.50 to climb for less than hour. We decided to pass on her generous offer and retire to our room for some light reading and to plan out today’s adventure. Besides, we were too full of steak and chips to contemplate hauling ourselves up a wall.

The beauty of going to places off season is that you generally have the place to yourself. We were the only tennants of the bunk house and had breakfast all to ourselves. And a good breakfast it was.

The plan for the day was to head north towards Brecon stop off at the bottom of the south face of Pen y Fan, hike up it and then beat feet back down and head for home.

The weather today was in stark contrast to yesterday’s beautiful day. Basically I felt like I was back in the UK, cloudy and wet.

The last time I was up Pen y Fan was last year during the Brecons Challenge. It’s a decent enough hike culminating in an 886 meter peak. On a good day, the views are quite stunning. Today we were lucky just to catch glimpses of the valley floor below us.

We made short work of the walk up and back down doing the 4.5 mile loop in just over an hour and half. And then it was back in the car and heading for home.

Drifting through the days outdoors has a timeless quality. I feel a million miles away from my normal life of routine and work. I’ve been off work for 3 days and it feels like a lifetime ago since I was last in the office. It is this feeling that taunts me to throw in the towel of corporate life and become a vagabond roaming the world with the wind at my back and a good pair of hiking boots on my feet.

I got home early evening. It will only be a short stay. Basically I’m back to refit, then pack my bags for Bristol, which is where I’m headed Friday afternoon.

I like to climb rocks. Sometimes I question the sanity of climbing rocks for fun because I’m not sure if it’s for the challenge or if it’s just that I have to much idle time on my hands or simply because the rocks are there. At any rate Paul and I found ourselves headed for the Gower Peninsula in South Wales to climb the Three Cliffs.

The Gower Peninsula is a fifteen-mile-long stretch of undulating limestone that faces the Bristol Channel just to west of Swansea. The peninsula is dotted with yellow sandy beaches and bays with a multitude of precipitous cliffs. I had never climbed a sea cliff before, so was looking forward to combining two things I am naturally attracted to – the sea and rocks.

It seems always on the drive down to these adventures, we invariably end up questioning why we continue to work in the corporate saltmines when we should be chasing a life of adventure and meaning instead of lining some fat cat’s pockets with cash. To day was no different.

We couldn’t have asked for a better day. In fact I had to pinch myself to see if I was dreaming…sunny and warm…in Wales…in Feburary? Can’t be. Yet there we were in t-shirts preparing to climb sections of the Three Cliffs.

Our first climb was long but easy. The climb took us up a route called the Plumb Line, which is rated as a VDiff. It felt good to be gripping some warm rock and hauling myself up to the sounds of the waves breaking on the shore. This definately beat, pushing paper in the office.

Paul is a more aggressive climber than I am. On our second climb of the day, he wanted to have a go at a line called Scavenger. I didn’t like the look of it and if it had been up to me, I would not have attempted it. I derive my pleasure from the feel of the rock, not the challenge of overcoming a difficult problem. The isolated position on the rock can have a very zen-like feel, but its hard to get that feeling when you are literally hanging by the skin of your fingers thinking am I going to fall.

Paul wanted to have a go, so I took the position of seconding his lead. Paul started up Scavenger. He reached the face placement of gear with no issues. On the way up to his third placement, his second piece of gear fell out. If he slipped now, he would have a long way to fall before being caught. Not to much of a problem as long as his first only placement at this point was good enough take his weight in a fall. My palms began to sweat as I watch Paul scurrying to find a crack to place some more protection. It didn’t help that his legs were getting tired and visibly beginning to shake. I was silently chanting to myself, place some gear Paul, place some gear. Finally, he found a crack, placed some protection and clipped in.

The next few moves up were equally a bit scary. Paul reached the crux and took a breather before continuing up. Another piece of gear fell out after I lost sight of Paul. Now all I could do was watch the rope and hope for the best. It was ages before I finally heard Paul shout down those sigh of relief words, “I’m safe,” which means he was tied in and ready to belay me for my climb.

Now it was my turn. The thing with Scavenger, is you really have to rely on your feet as the hand holds…well really finger holds…are small. Reaching the first two placements wasn’t to bad, but after that my hands raced to find something to grip on. Reaching the crux was difficult. I was sweating and breathing heavy. Okay time to commit. I went for it and lost my footing taking a fall. Paul caught me almost instantaneously, so I did fall far or hard. I recovered…focused…and went for it again. Success. I reached the crux and had a breather. The rest of the climb was tough but not tenuous. I reached the top breathing heavy.

Paul had a great big grin on his face and so did I. This was for me the most difficult climb i’ve done in my short climbing career. It was the perfect end to a good day. The sun hung low in the sky just shy of sunset as we headed back down to solid ground.

This a picture of the Three Cliffs with the routes outlined.

My saunter to New Street station in Birmingham turned into spending the afternoon wandering around the city centre. I’ve been to Birmingham on many occasions, so I didn’t quite fullfil my original intent which was to hop on a train to someplace I’ve never been…reason…time was just not my friend…I had to be back in Leamington before 1600 to pick up my car from the mechanic…so I thought, why not see what I have not seen in the “city of 1001 trades.” Many of the giants of Industrial Revolution kicked around in Birmingham…men like James Watt, Matthew Boulton, William Murdock, and Joseph Priestley.

I did a quick read through my guide book to get a general sense of history and to make a mental map of the street plan. Having limited time on the ground, I decided to head for the art gallery first.

There’s something about wandering around city streets that tugs at my sense of insignificance. I feel like Ralph Ellison’s main character in the Invisible Man.

“I am inivisble man. No I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids – and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorted glass. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination – indeed, everything and anything except me.”

Chances are I will never see any of these people again…and to think for a brief moment fate brought us in contact with each other and yet we will never really know one another…

Enroute to the art gallery, I stopped to take some random photos of people:

In Victoria Square, a new bottled water company was running a promtoinal event. They had invaded the city in drooves to hand out free bottles of water. It was like being in a marathon race where people handing you water along the route. My thirst was quenched all day.

The city art gallery is famous for its comprehensive collection of Pre-Raphaelite art. I find most art galleries to be very inspiring. I’m particular attracted to pictures of great men doing great things…heroic scenes of sacrifice. Where are the giants among us now?

My next stop was the Ikon gallery of contemporary art. I must confess, I am one of the unenlightened buffons who doesn’t understand contemporary art of the let’s collect ‘found objects’ of junk, slap it on a piece of board, give it a title and call it art. One of the displays at the Ikon was a box full of tangled Christmas lights that were switched on. I’m sorry, I just don’t get it. Every year when I collect the Christmas tree out of the attic, i’m confronted with a box of tangled lights, but I never thought to slap a title on them and call it art. Maybe that’s why i don’t have a major exhibition at the Ikon.

It didn’t take me long to get exhausted by the mockery of art I saw in the Ikon. Where is the blood, sweat and tears like you see in the works of the old masters?

Time ticked and I had to move on. I only had about an hour left before I had to get back to the train station. The central library was my next stop. My love of books kept me from passing by such a shrine without having a wander around the stacks. Unfortunately this was my last stop before heading home.