Blog challenge - Permission to blog, sir? (Final!!)

(This is the version for the challenge)

(*)

Carry on, blogger. You don't need my permission. Here are some other things you don't need to do:

1. Complete every post in a single sitting

I've shared my first five drafts, wittily titled "Blog challenge - Permission to blog, sir? Drafts 1-5" of this one to give you an idea of how you can develop a perfectly acceptable post in easy stages. This "little and often" technique is a favourite of task management guru Mark Forster. (Q: How many years of your life can you devote to ways of working through a list? A: quite a lot, it transpires. But I digress).

2. Be perfect

A perfect post can slip through the reader's brain without leaving a trace. Sometimes you need a few rough edges to get a grip on. My posts list is littered with drafts which I polished all the life out of. Unpublishable.
Ace chansonnier Leonard Cohen once said that one snatch from one of his songs, "Anthem" captured pretty much his whole philosophy of life.

There's a crack, a crack in everything 

That's how the light gets in 

3. Be clever

If only!!

But if you restrict yourself to things you are sure no-one else has said better, you'll be a while getting started. Of course, linking in your inspirations is a courtesy both to your readers and the luminaries. As well as strengthening the memes you subscribe to. Being a gateway to a selection of clever, right thinking people is often better than being clever yourself.

If you weren't born clever, you can always aspire to wisdom. But wisdom comes with practice. And practice usually means exposing your foolishness.

So just get started.

4. Write prose

Obviously, you can drop in pictures, video and music.
The post I am proudest of is a piece of doggerel verse 
Or sometimes a simple list, like this series from the excellent Nicholas Bate, can be both clear and profound.

5. Work it all out for yourself

Find some examples and bask in their genius. Even if you absorb nothing, it'll give you some perspective. There are a few hints in the verse above. 

Look to Jenson Taylor  for technical tips.

On Google+, flit around an eclectic band like Jenson's Challenged and sup on whatever inspiration you spot.

Oh, and if you want good advice from a professional, rather than my random mumblings, just spend a few minutes with Chris Brogan. This is the best and most concentrated advice I have seen anywhere. I never read him without coming away feeling stupid, inept and inspired. How stupid, inept and inspired do you want to feel today?

6. Know where the next post will take you

You can start off in one direction and end up somewhere completely different. This started off as a jolly, uplifting snap on a beautiful Spring morning and ended up positively maudlin. Still, I'm quite pleased with it.

On the other hand, the post I am cobbling together now seems to be running on rails. Which is probably a bad sign.

7. Lose track of the time

Consider a time tracker. There is no limit to the amount of time you can fritter away on this stuff. Be like MillyMollyMandy: don't forget to get out and plant potatoes and peas.

8. Be shy

Leave comments on other people's blogs. Most of us would kill for any sign that someone has actually read
a post. The most hits I ever got came from a stupid piece of nitpicking on a very fine blog, where I took issue with the way he spelled "whiskey". Got the splendid response: "Read TwistedByKnaves: he knows whisky and Kipling, and that's good enough for me".

Yes, this is a hint!

* Thanks to A Jay Adler's "sad red earth" blog for the picture. This is well worth a look if you're interested in the state of the U.S. http://sadredearth.com/. As so often happens when you find someone interesting through an image search, the page was two years old. However, he's still going strong.

Blog challenge - Permission to blog, sir? Draft 5

Carry on, blogger. You don't need my permission. Here are some other things you don't need to do.

1. Complete every post in a single sitting

I'll share my drafts on this one to give you an idea of how you can develop a perfectly acceptable post by easy stages. This "little and often" technique is a favourite of task management guru Mark Forster. (Q: How many years of your life can you devote to ways of working through a list? A: quite a lot, it transpires. But I digress).

2. Be perfect

A perfect post can slip through the reader's brain without leaving a trace. Sometimes you need a few rough edges to get a grip on. My posts list is littered with drafts which I polished all the life out of. Unpublishable.
Ace chansonnier Leonard Cohen once said that one snatch from one of his songs, "Anthem" captured pretty much his whole philosophy of life.

There's a crack, a crack in everything 

That's how the light gets in 

3. Be clever

If only!!

But if you restrict yourself to things you are sure no-one else has said better, you'll be a while getting started. Of course, linking in your inspirations is a courtesy both to your readers and the luminaries. As well as strengthening the memes you subscribe to. Being a gateway to a selection of clever, right thinking people is often better than being clever yourself.

If you weren't born clever, you can always aspire to wisdom. But wisdom comes with practice. And practice usually means exposing your foolishness.

So just get started.

4. Write prose

Obviously, you can drop in pictures, video and music (Toad Lickers).
The post I am proudest of is a piece of doggerel verse 
Or sometimes a simple list, like this series from the excellent Nicholas Bate, can be both clear and profound.

5. Work it all out for yourself

Find some examples and bask in their genius. Even if you absorb nothing, it'll give you some perspective. There are a few hints in the verse above. 

Look to Jenson Taylor [Link] for technical tips..

Flit around an eclectic band like [Jenson's Challenged] and sup on whatever inspiration you spot.


Oh, and if you want good advice from a professional, rather than my random mumblings, just spend a few minutes with Chris Brogan. This is the best and most concentrated advice I have seen anywhere. I never read him without coming away feeling stupid, inept and inspired. How stupid, inept and inspired do you want to feel today?

6. Know where the next post will take you

You can start off in one direction and end up somewhere completely different. This started off as a jolly, uplifting snap on a beautiful Spring morning and ended up positively maudlin. Still, I'm quite pleased with it.

On the other hand, the post I am cobbling together now seems to be running on rails. Which is probably a bad sign.

7. Keep an eye on the time

Consider a time tracker. There is no limit to the amount of time you can fritter away on this stuff. Be like Mandy [link]:don't forget to get out and plant potatoes and peas.

Blog challenge - Permission to blog, sir? Draft 4

Carry on, blogger. You don't need my permission. Here are some other things you don't need to do.

1. Complete every post in a single sitting

I'll share my drafts on this one to give you an idea of how you can develop a perfectly acceptable post by easy stages. This "little and often" technique is a favourite of task management guru Mark Forster [link]. (Q: How many years of your life can you devote to ways of working through a list? A: quite a lot, it transpires. But I digress). [link to Chris]

2. Be perfect

A perfect post can slip through the reader's brain without leaving a trace. Sometimes you need a few rough edges to get a grip on. My posts list is littered with drafts which I polished all the life out of. Unpublishable.
Ace chansonnier Leonard Cohen once said that one snatch from one of his songs (link to "Anthem") captured pretty much his whole philosophy of life.

There's a crack, a crack in everything 

That's how the light gets in 

3. Be clever

If only!!

But if you restrict yourself to things you are sure no-one else has said better, you'll be a while getting started. Of course, linking in your inspirations is a courtesy both to your readers and the luminaries. As well as strengthening the memes you subscribe to. Being a gateway to a selection of clever, right thinking people is often better than being clever yourself.

If you weren't born clever, you can always aspire to wisdom. But wisdom comes with practice. And practice usually means exposing your foolishness.

So just get started.

4. Write prose

Obviously, you can drop in pictures, video and music (Toad Lickers).
The post I am proudest of is a piece of doggerel verse 
Or sometimes a simple list, like this series from the excellent Nicholas Bate, can be both clear and profound.

5. Work it all out for yourself

Find some examples and bask in their genius. Even if you absorb nothing, it'll give you some perspective. There are a few hints in the verse above. 

Look to Jenson Taylor for technical tips..

Flit around an eclectic band like [Jenson's Challenged] and sup on whatever inspiration you spot.

6. Know where the next post will take you

7. Keep an eye on the time

Consider a time tracker. There is no limit to the amount of time you can fritter away on this stuff. Be like Mandy [link]:don't forget to get out and plant potatoes and peas.

Blog challenge - Permission to blog, sir? Draft 3

Carry on, blogger. You don't need my permission. Here are some other things you don't need to do.

1. Complete every post in a single sitting

I'll share my drafts on this one to give you an idea of how you can develop a perfectly acceptable post by easy stages. This "little and often" technique is a favourite of task management guru Mark Forster [link]. (Q: How many years of your life can you devote to ways of working through a list? A: quite a lot, it transpires. But I digress). [link to Chris]

2. Be perfect

A perfect post can slip through the reader's brain without leaving a trace. Sometimes you need a few rough edges to get a grip on. My posts list is littered with drafts which I polished all the life out of. Unpublishable.
Ace chansonnier Leonard Cohen once said that one snatch from one of his songs (link to "Anthem") captured pretty much his whole philosophy of life.

There's a crack, a crack in everythingThat's how the light gets in 

3. Be clever

If only!! But if you restrict yourself to things you are sure no-one else has said better, you'll be a while getting started. Of course, linking in your inspirations is a courtesy both to your readers and the luminaries. As well as strengthening the memes you subscribe to.

4. Write prose

Obviously, you can drop in pictures, video and music (Toad Lickers).
The post I am proudest of is a piece of doggerel verse 
Or sometimes a simple list, like this series from the excellent Nicholas Bate

5. Work it all out for yourself

Find some examples and bask in their genius. Even if you absorb nothing, it'll give you some perspective. There are a few hints in the verse above. 

6. Know where the next post will take you

7. Keep an eye on the time

Consider a time tracker. There is no limit to the amount of time you can fritter away on this stuff. Be like Mandy [link]:don't forget to get out and plant potatoes and peas. [Speaking of which, time to apply crowbar to Sprog4 and take him and dog out for the first run in a VERY long time]

Blog challenge - Permission to blog, sir? Draft 2

Carry on, blogger. You don't need my permission. Here are some other things you don't need to do.

1. Complete every post in a single sitting

I'll share my drafts on this one to give you an idea of how you can develop a perfectly acceptable post by easy stages. This "little and often" technique is a favourite of task management guru Mark Forster [link]. (Q: How many years of your life can you devote to ways of working through a list? A: quite a lot, it transpires. But I digress).

2. Be perfect

A perfect post can slip through the reader's brain without leaving a trace. Sometimes you need a few rough edges to get a grip on. My posts list is littered with drafts which I polished all the life out of. Unpublishable.
Ace chansonnier Leonard Cohen once said that one snatch from one of his songs (link to "Anthem") captured pretty much his whole philosophy of life.

There's a crack, a crack in everythingThat's how the light gets in 

3. Be clever

4. Write prose

Obviously, you can drop in pictures, video and music (Toad Lickers).
The post I am proudest of is a piece of doggerel verse 
Or sometimes a simple list, like this series (link) from the excellent Nicholas Bate
5. Work it all out for yourself
6. Know where the next post will take you

Blog challenge - Permission to blog, sir? Draft 1

Carry on, blogger. You don't need my permission. Here are some other things you don't need to do.
1. Complete every post in a single sitting
I'll share my drafts on this one to give you an idea
2. Be perfect
LC's philosophy of life [anthem]
3. Be clever
4. Write prose
5. Work it all out for yourself
6. Know where the next post will take you

Going Home

I blame Cathy Laney, Sprog3's flute teacher.

At the start of several years’ hard labour dinning a basic competence in the flute into Sprog3, Ms Laney invested a few minutes drilling the essentials of ¾ time by waltzing parents and children round the room and setting a simple puzzle as homework. The tots were to identify pop songs in ¾ time.

This was always doomed to failure, since:

1. All homework is by definition uninteresting and 
2. All pop songs are set in ¼. And a maximum of three chords. Bah I don’t understand why their time and money on such utter tosh. Mumble splutter.

But the puzzle piqued something deep in my subconscious, which I have never been able to shake off. So every so often (usually listening to Radio 2) my Pop Waltz neuron fires me a tiny happy jolt.

• Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
• Norwegian Wood
• The Grave
• Eclipse
• all other contributions gratefully received: for some reason none come to mind at this moment.

Fortunately I was acquainted with a depressive female student at university. So it follows that I came into contact with Canadian Chansonnier Cohen, whom I may have mentioned once or twice before. And he does a LOT of lilting ballads, so I was reminded of him when we began casting around for waltzes.

Which is a rather roundabout way of saying that I tend to prick up my ears when I hear news of him.

So, anyway, I was looking up transport to my godfather’s funeral when Cory Doctorow tweeted a review and complete stream of the new album, Old Ideas. The first track, Going Home, sets out how the creator keeps the performer on a tight leash. And, how they’re going home now. Beyond the curtain. I'm not ashamed to say that, at this moment, this brought forth the manly tear.

Good tune, too.

I was not close to my godfather for many years: certainly not close enough to say whether he was driven by such an internal dialogue. With a nip and a tuck, the words (hope you have been paying attention and following the links?) fit him pretty well. He was certainly “a sportsman and a shepherd”.  He had a mischievous sense of fun that complemented his calling as a vicar of the church, spending his working life “living in a suit”. (I don’t believe he was a “lazy bastard”).He was proudest of the work that he did in his last job, done one on one, comforting the sick and dying as a hospital chaplain.

I rather suspect that, in public, he did say what a higher power told him. 

He was the kindest, gentlest man I ever knew. 

I have two clear memories of him. He took me to “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” in a fleapit in Edinburgh and, some years later, sold me his Lada. Now, the Lada is NOT generally considered very high up the list of desirable motors, and OHMSS IS generally considered the worst Bond film ever made (even after some stiff competition from some of Roger Moore’s later offerings). But I have fond memories of both. He was one of those people who invest every transaction with a rosy glow of warmth and goodwill.

I’d like to think that the dit higher power also loves to speak with him and has welcomed him home.

Slight rewrite:

Coming home

Without his sorrow

Coming home

Some time tomorrow

Coming home

To where it’s better than before

Coming home

Without his burden

Coming home

Behind the curtain

Coming home

Without the costume that he wore


RIP John Nicholas Chubb

Night Comes On

A lovely, lilting waltz that chugs gently towards the terminus bearing its world weary freight, for all his attempts to get off early. I'm listening to this in Stornoway, the day before I head back to the world from a visit to my mum. Whilst it is tempting to make parallels, loose talk of marble and snow would, I hope, be premature.