Hair can help

Note from me: This post was meant to go up in November but after broadband fights and stuff it failed to upload. So now, at last, I'm posting it.

I need to confess what has happened to me over the past few weeks.

I'm quite a conservative fellow. I rarely swear, eat my greens and only touch whisk(ey)/cider/ale for medicinal reasons.

That and the love of getting giddy and giggly.

Just so you can get an idea, this is me:

See? Shirt. Tie. Face.

But recently I've stepped out of my comfort zone.

People no longer make eye contact with me. Their eyes wander from my usual gaze to just below my nose. They stumble over words. Their concentration wavers and they seem lost in the wonder over my style statement.

Since the start of the month I've itched, twitched and scratched my upper lip all in the name of charity and awareness.

What can I say? Movember has brought out the rascal in me. I've inspired people to compare me to a member of the Village People or a Western bandit.

Don't believe me?

Mo. Jumper. Face that means business.

But now it's drawing to an end.

Farewell to the fuzz. Move over Mo. Tell the tache to toddle off.  My face is about to be reclaimed by skin.

So look. If you know someone who's joined this crusade over the past month, do give them your support. 

Sure, laugh with them. Give yourself an excuse to giggle at their style. If we can inspire laughter, brilliant. 

But also show them some love, as Americans from the 1990s used to say. Yeah, OK, this information is from episodes of Ricki Lake, but that's the best I can do.

We men, as a whole, don't tend to put ourselves forward if there's a medical issue. We're great at ignoring things. We can pretend we've got blinkers on if there's an issue. We look straight ahead.

If a group of blokes growing facial fluff can help others face up to what's going on around them, then brilliant. It may be silly but Movember can make a difference.

Time to reflect

Well that's come around quickly.

The wedding is Saturday.

I'm planning to write a few blogs before the W-Day* but the way things have gone I may not have time to put paws to keyboard.

So, I'm making hay while the sun shines. 

We're pretty much ready. I'm all one for making lists and but this is one of those times where the items keep growing. Extra bits you've remembered creep on to the bottom of the paper. 

At the end of wedding prep, you realise you've gained a glut of extra information that 'may' come in useful again.  Words that you never heard until about a week ago creep their way into conversations. You would try and forget some of it and yet something tells you it will appear in a pub quiz in two years.

My speech is written, we've nearly packed and I just need a haircut.

Easy.

And yet...

Still a few days to go.

*I hope I'm the first to use that phrase. I'll probably find out W-Day was the day they invaded Winter. You know, the season. These things do happen folks. It's on wikipedia. That's always right, right? Right?

Hello again

I wish I had an exciting reason for not blogging for the past couple of weeks.

I'd thought about making things up* but I did make a promise to myself that everything I blogged would be honest. So here goes.

I had a day off and all was going swimmingly until I tried to spend some time on Monty. Looking back on it, the balancing went well-ish.

In my head, and in the heat of the moment, it was a disaster.

I swore. I shouted. I actually threw a bike lock on the floor.

It was a full on toddler-style tantrum.

Now, I'm not proud of it but, for anyone watching, it would have been a hoot. A fully grown man going mad at an inanimate object (sorry Monty).

It was after that I decided I needed a wee bit of a break from things and the blog needed to take a bit of a break.

I'm feeling better now, thanks for asking.

Since my last blog, I've really been doing much of the same. OK, it doesn't make great reading but I'm persevering with the stairs, plodding on with the wedding plans, celebrating the WTB's birthday and thinking about cycling quite a lot.

Over thinking has often been a problem for me. It could be the thing here too. I understand the balancing aspect and how the pedals propel you forward, it's just the getting started bit.

Anyway, that's me for now. Normal service will be resumed soon.





* Ideas for lack of blog:

• Kidnapped by damned dirty apes
• Taking part in a coup in Cornwall
• Forming a superhero team to fight a giant robot dragon
• Interviewing for the England rugby post
• Running a cable TV channel dedicated to proper crimping
• Working on my rap album

Flying visit

This may be the shortest blog I write.

The day has been a blur.
Crammed everything in.
Work went well.
Stag stuff on way.
Food shopping bought.
Wolfed down grub.

Song for stairs:

I have to say this beautiful song has been a wee oasis for me today. I'm sure it'll calm down tomorrow.

Block

I've started this blog three times tonight and, so far, I've not found a satisfying beginning.

In fact, I've not yet decided on a good subject.

Usually, before I sit down with Annie, the WTB's Mac (chalk up another name for the list), I've got something in my mind that I will write about.

Whether it's Monty, a wedding doodah or something particularly odd that's happened, I usually can muster something for my fingers to dance over.

I sit and type, never really knowing how it's going to go or where I'll end up.

But today? Nada. It's a slow news day in my brain.

I assume this is a kind of 'writer's block' but, as I'm still writing I assume I have something to write about.

Tomorrow, I hope this will be better. It's Valentine's, as you probably know, and I've got a day off, which you probably didn't know. The WTB and I have something planned. We're off to the theatre. It's not a taxing piece we're seeing so my mind can relax, unwind and have a giggle. 

I think the last few weeks have caught up with my noggin. It's slacking a bit and I'm in danger of falling back into bad habits. I could kill a beer, an ale, something sweet or all three.

Instead, I'm going to look at this keyboard and hope something better comes out from my fingertips tomorrow.

Changing man

As you may be able to tell, quite a few things are changing for me at the minute.

The veg bowl is now overflowing in the kitchen. That's not weird granted. The odd thing is that it gets eaten during the week. We no longer stare at the aubergine, it's actually used in meals other than a Thai green curry.  The potato is rarely destined for my chip-esque oven bakes. Mash is now our potatoey treat for the week.

The weight is staying off. I'm lighter than I have been in ages.

I've been on a bike for the first time in a good twenty years. OK I haven't been on a ride (yet) but on the plus side I have avoided being a crumpled, crying mess of a man (so far).

And this blog. It has really been the first diary-style thing that I've maintained. I remember having a copy of the Roald Dahl Diary in one of my last few years of primary school. I always wanted to keep a diary but the young Doney's diary entries were dull. They were not the witty entries that TV showed me children of ten should be writing.

Granted, those TV children can still string a sentence better than I can but, let's face it, they're fictional and I have the upper hand in the realms of reality.

So thanks all. I'm not giving this up I'm just having a short break from my normal ramblings tonight to say thanks for reading this. It's keeping me focused and motivated.

This year is one of change. I'm getting married. I'm turning 30. I'm taming the bike-shaped beast that has haunted me for the majority of my life.

Schmaltz over. Tomorrow, I'm hoping to get back on the bike.