July 2011
46 posts
The best and worst
This is the best kind of cycle path.
Its segregation from both the pavement and the road means that you can go about your business cycling along without ending up on the receiving end of verbal abuse from pedestrians and motorists alike. And from the point of view of pedestrians and motorists it’s a good thing - the annoying cyclists are removed from their route.
These type of cycle...
What does it all mean?
Last night as part of a far longer and more complex dream there was a short sequence in which a bald naked male dwarf with Down’s Syndrome was running around in circles. In the dream, someone told me that this represented a part of my psyche.
But what part? Is there really a deeper significance to this imagery or is my subconscious simply making an attempt to be mysterious and arty? Does...
Bus stop urges
When I cycle into work I go along the same route as the buses and so as a matter of course I cycle past most of the bus stops, quite close to the people waiting there.
Sometimes I realise there must be a bus not far behind me, because as I approach someone sticks out their hand and stares at me (past me).
Whenever this happens I always have to resist the urge to pull over and say “OK,...
Ampersanger
I’m all for ampersands. When you’re trying to shave an aphorism down to 140 characters so it will fit on a tweet changing “and” to “&” is a godsend.
And it’s not too much hassle when coding for the web either. A quick search and replace and &’s your uncle.
But outside these specific arenas there should be strict rules about the use of...
The Cappuccino Effect
Whilst I am still bemused by the sheer variety now available in coffee shops, I have at least discovered a couple of variations that are to my taste and which I can order without being laughed at like Mel Smith in the Not the 9-o-Clock News “Grammo-phone” sketch.
Some people are still struggling. You see them in all innocence arrive at the counter and ask for a “coffee”....
Time the Tyrant
One problem with being an adult is doing something for yourself in your own time. After so long dancing to the tune of others - from parents and schoolteachers in childhood to bosses and highly demanding friends in adulthood - when given your own head and the chance to do just whatever you like, the first instinct is to squander it.
I need a rest and want to do nothing. I can’t have a rest...
Adam is Loved
There’s a graffito on the pavement (yes on the pavement, what of it?) between Coldean Lane and the University that simply says “ADAM IS LOVED”. I find this interesting for various reasons. Firstly that the person who loves Adam is so shy about it that he or she can’t even bear to write it in the active voice. Secondly that in changing it to the passive voice the writer has...
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Hamster Dance vs Nyan Cat
In internet terms 1998 was another geological era, an era when someone created the Hamster Dance site as a bit of fun just to show everyone that the web didn’t all have to look like a dull, badly-formatted Word document.
Are we now all hankering for those simpler days? I suppose so, because I can’t think of any other reason for Nyan Cat’s popularity, which, despite its social...
