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'My Corduroyed Life' - Mark A's Journal
Rather nice, considering how often I get the exact opposite of that!
I was back in Wolverhampton last Sunday. My parents’ house is about 3 miles away from the train station, and on any other day other than a Sunday, there is a bus every 15 minutes. On a Sunday, they’re once an hour if you’re lucky. Upon arrival to Wolverhampton train station, I observed that I had just missed the hourly bus. I cursed under my breath, and decided that I wasn’t going to sit on my backside for 50+ minutes waiting for a bus that may well not even come, so I walked. The walk from Wolverhampton City Centre is about an hour, and I was like ‘bollocks – what a waste of my bloody time’. But I was wrong.
As I passed a rather battered kebab shop, a delightfully vivid memory of the owner who always seemed to love me and my friends and regularly gave us free food flashed into my mind. Grinning, I let myself wallow in indulgent memories as I minced my way on to my parents. With nothing else to do, I decided to look around at the town I have known for 30 years and garner inspiration for memories. I was pleasantly surprised just how vivid, colourful, and downright hilarious the things were that came into my head.
It was a sunny day, I had hella good rock on my MP3 player, and was steeped in good memories: my walk to my parents’ house was the most relaxing, pleasant, stress-free, and thoroughly enjoyable experiences I have had in recent memory. It was truly a blessing disguised as a curse.
For those interested, here is a list of some of the fun times that swam through my mind:
• Hugging a kebab shop owner
• Many wrong kebabs that resulted in toxic trumps that really upset my dad
• The tragic fall of Mike Lloyd’s Music
• The fact that Wolverhampton getting a Subway was considered ‘huge’
• Gold, Frankincense, and Newcastle Brown
• “Who dashed da sausage?!”
• Nearly getting arrested for stealing a Pukka Pies sign
• The snow covered graveyard puke and poo incident
• The Chindit’s tiny pool room where it was near impossible to play pool
• A certain friend’s hilarious behaviour every time his dole cheque arrived
• The post A-level results pub crawl into town
• Leaping into a bush on Chapel Ash seeming like a good idea when drunk
• The gents in Ricos flooding the dancefloor and everyone carrying on dancing in the piss
• Pitch and Putt at Bantock Park
• Calling the Wolverhampton Grammar School the Grarmmer (mock Southern accent) to suggest that they were posh
• My elderly cars and their daft names
• Shopping in La Ropa
• A mate winning £90 on the gambler, and spending it all in a couple of hours
• And so much more…
You know, I may never be a highly successful or rich or famous person. But I’ve had some fun times, and some great memories, with some great people. Even in Wolverhampton!
Have fun,
Mark
Current mood:
cheerful.Current music: There's No Other Way by Blur.
Oh dear...
I promised myself that I'd be more sensible re: weekday drinking in sunny weather this year.
I failed.
Drinking is bad, mmmkay?
M x
Current mood:
drunk.Current music: Only Love Will Break Your Heart by St Etienne.
Really?! Is your life that fucking dull?!
Perhaps I should clarify my vehemence? You know the classic ‘what would you do if you won the lottery?’ conversation you inevitably will have at an event where you share nothing in common with all the people there? There is one particular answer that irritates me even more than ‘I’d give it all to charity.’ (My arse you would!): ‘I wouldn’t quit my job, because I’d get bored’.
What?!
Seriously: what?!
The concept of boredom is something I will never understand. There is SO much to do, so much to consume, so much to experience in this world that ‘being bored’ is, in my opinion, for the dull, the stupid, and the ignorant. If you’re bored, bloody well pull your finger out, and find something interesting to do. Failing that, go on a lifesapping website like facebook or anything. Just don’t waste anyone else’s time by telling them you’re bored: invite them to join you in something fun instead of whinging. Gah! Bored! Bored should be banned.
As for a job – what kind of vacuous creature lives to work rather than work to live? What kind of loser wouldn’t prefer to not have to work? Find an interest! Get some friends! Do something other than work! You only get one life: don’t waste it by rotting away being nothing other than your job!
Ugh! These people don’t deserve to win the lottery, and I do… DAMNIT!
This was another one of those blogs that seemed so much more cool in my head compared to what it looks like in print.
Have fun,
M x
Current mood:
irritated.Current music: Like Never Before by To/Die/For.
I'm not sure whether to be amused or disturbed...
I've been single for less than a month, and I'm already identifying with stuff like this:
This is a strip from the sublime Garfield Minus Garfield web comic which, by removing Garfield from the Garfield strips, completely changes the strip into the sad story of an average bloke as he fights a losing battle against loneliness in the modern world.
I was going to write something about the significance of recent singledom, but I don't think I can be arsed. Just like the above strip, my laziness is indicative of what single life can do to you...
Have fun,
M x
Current mood:
confused.Current music: http://profile.myspace.com/deviantuk.
Really quite a lot. More than a 29 year old really should.
http://www.dvd.co.uk/Music/Various-Artists-Now-Thats-What-I-Call-Music-Vol-69-Now-69-2/CDNOW69/product.htm?sr=sa
I am SO childish.
Wonder if I’ll grow up when I hit 30…
M x
Current mood:
amused.Current music: Rock You Like Hurricane by The Scorpions.
So I’m single again…
Simply put, Benji and I split up. It’s all relatively amicable, and it was the right decision for both of us. I’m not as hurt or vulnerable as I could be, but even when you know it’s coming, splitting up with someone is a tough business. I’m fine, and I don’t want to talk about it. And the reason I don’t want to talk about it is that I have told the story too many times already and there's only so many times you can do that without going potty. All you need to know is that I believe it was my fault as much as it was his and that we simply weren’t supposed to last forever: I want all my friends to be friends with him if they want to without feeling like they have to take a side. There are no sides as far as I’m concerned: we just split up because we stopped wanting to be with each other and anyone who wants to be friends with him is most definitely not betraying me.
Keep it steady,
M x
Current mood:
okay.Current music: Rent by The Pet Shop Boys.
I have been doing vital research…
Couple of weekends back, I went to Wrestleslam UK, the UK’s first ever Wrestling Convention, and I had an absolutely awesome time. I got to meet a huge number of wrestling’s legends, and it was just a huge amount of fun. There are pics below of me with all the wrestlers.
However, me being me, I didn’t just meet them, I decided that I was going to be a little bit surreal. I decided that I was going to ask everyone from Kamala to the Ultimate Warrior what their favourite cheese is. Why? Because I could.
So, for your information, here is a list of every Wrestleslam attendee’s favourite cheese!
The Ultimate Warrior: Mozzarella
Marty Janetty: Swiss Cheese
Brutus ‘The Barber’ Beefcake: Extra Sharp Cheddar
Tatanka: Cheddar
Honky Tonk Man: Sharp Cheddar
Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart: Cheddar
Kamala: DOESN’T LIKE CHEESE!!!!!!
Road Warrior Animal: Pepperjack
Sunny: Colby Jack
Demolition Ax: Cheddar
Demolition Smash: Cream Cheese
There you go. Consider yourself informed. Cheddar is the champion of the world when it comes to wrestling legends, and Kamala doesn’t like cheese. Who knew?!
Now go be amazed by the pics of me with the wrestling legends below!
Have fun,
M x
The Ultimate Warrior
Marty Janetty
Brutus ‘The Barber’ Beefcake
Tatanka
Honky Tonk Man
Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart
Kamala
Road Warrior Animal from the Legion of Doom
Sunny/ Tammy Lynn Sytch
Ax and Smash of Demolition
Current mood:
happy.Current music: Classic Wrestling Entrances and stuff.
I have my whole Second Life ahead of me…
As a gamer and geeky internet kinda guy, I am regularly asked questions on gaming things and online stuff by my non-gamey mates. You know the sort of things: ‘have you heard of this console?’, ‘have you played this game?’, ‘which console should I get my kids?’, ‘how does that facebook thing work?’, ‘isn’t that Wii thing ever so lovely?’, etc, etc.
In general, even if I haven’t had huge experience of an element of video gaming (for example, I have scant experience with X-Box), I at least have a working knowledge of the current gaming market, innovations, game genres, fads, etc. In the vast majority of cases, as I have many gamey mates, I have at least seen or ‘had a go’ on most of the current gamey phenomenons.
Particularly because I am an open World of Warcraft addict (WoW being both internet based and gamey), people approach me to ask questions about Second Life. Questions I can’t answer with any amount of knowledgeable level-headedness or neutrality like I feel I can with questions like ‘which console should I get my kids?’. However, Second Life is not something I have ever properly encountered. Like most people, I have heard the sensationalist horror stories and have a vague idea of the concept of the game and its community. To be honest, on first impressions, it creeps me out a little and seems rather peculiar, even for gamers.
So, I thought I’d give Second Life a go just to see what it’s like, and also so I can form an educated opinion on this phenomenon. I can pick any gender, age, appearance, job, sexuality, faith, or whatever that I like. So… um… I’m a bit stuck. I am a relatively content and settled person in myself these days, so don’t actually really desire to me much else other than Mark Adams, and herein lies the problem. I guess I’d like to have a Second Life that is someone very different to myself, but how far can you take this? Things I feel strongly about in real life, such as anti-violence and anti-religion, are things that one can’t easily shed when roleplaying however much ‘it’s not you, it’s the character’.
So I’m putting this out there: please make some suggestions as to whom I should be in Second Life. In a week, I will have a look at everyone’s suggestions and then delve into the unknown territory of this internet phenomenon. :)
Big love,
M x
Current mood:
confused.Current music: The Final Countdown by Europe.
And yes, I realize I am a tosser for not doing a proper post for ages and then posting this shite...
33
This delightfully sick online quiz amused me. Sorry for spamming my own blog...
Considering I am a martial arts trained, relatively fit, heartless, homo b*stard that would remorselessly fuck up anyone that threw the first punch, I am not particularly surprised that I scored a shockingly high 33...
Have fun,
M x
Current mood:
amused.Current music: Rent by The Pet Shop Boys.
I don't have one...
Not because I think I don't need one, but because I know that I won't keep any that are worth making.
Meh.
M x
Current mood:
listless.Current music: Feel Alive by Pure Orange.