I had a baby.  My Mother had a baby. My Grandmother had a baby. My Great-Grandmother had a baby, yesterday. Which one of these babies would you like to see? And you only get to see it for 3 seconds. Difficult choice huh? Let's face it, babies are pretty much all the same. See one, seen them all, right? If you say no, you're in denial. Remember when a friend pulled up with their baby buggy and rolls down the cover to reveal a  sleeping baby. 'Awh...how sweet' you ...

Chased by a pack of crocodiles watched by your naked school teacher and parents. A gigantic rock stops your escape and pins you to the ground as boiling lava streams towards your trapped head. It’s only a dream but most people have stuff like this going on every night, not really doing them any good. Let’s knock this on the head and start changing a few horror stories to better scripts with pleasant results. Firstly, get a pad of paper and pencil by ...

Is a gift always good? The term ‘gifted’ was something i heard from a young age. That somebody was blessed from God to have this talent. That my own failure was due to not having a gift. It took me years to realise this is a load of nonsense. A gift and talent need to be nurtured. Some have an easier time than others to do certain things but still the route of discovery tends to favour the ones who are exposed to the subject or ...

Ready for a fight? Jump into a car and get on the A40, London's through route to the west. This happened to me. Actually I was partly responsible. At first the blame is always with the other drivers. Then I did not feel 100% guiltless. I like to think of myself as correct. Not necessarily on the moral high ground but if the police turn up, I don't want my name in their little book. Can this be avoided? I thought it ...

I met the chocolate salesmen, not the person giving you cheap candy at the local shop but the proper one who travels around with the expensive bars.He handed me a small piece of 70 % chocolate, which I was planning to gulp down. He stopped me and told me to let the chocolate rest on my tongue for a few moments. That was it. The moment of revelation. Why had nobody told me to try this before. They probably did ...

I saw this on a T-shirt the other day. You may have seen it too, etched in the mind of a rebellious teenager.For me it's ok not to know but unforgivable if you don't then go to find out.For example I was shown how to tie my jogging shoes recently. Quite a number of decades since I thought I had been taught this. Before that I found an article which showed me how to shave. This week I had a ...

I want to have the flu. I can feel the symptoms days before but there is no sympathy in telling everyone around you are sick when out playing tennis or cycling around town in the rain. As you can probably tell I am in the middle of having flu. I believe I am in the latter part of it, which means I am in the feel-good section of the pain and suffering. I am starting again to appreciate the real taste of food ...

When I found her she was not she. She didn't like me.Was rude and swore.The golden hair was not golden anymore.The perfect body was just a body.The perfect person I had imagined had the spell of perfection vanish.My heart kick started into reality mode. The air smelt different. I began to realise the advice from my parents was valid. My friends crazy habits that annoyed me were now fun. I got my life back.Hours, days, months spent fantasising about a girl ...

I love my bed but it doesn't love me. I have not always loved going to bed. Once I thought I had serious bed bugs and woke up several times a night. The skin specialist diagnosed some skin thing but my mates said it was probably stress. I ironed the sheets every night, which made a little difference but my skin was still bad. Nearly a year went by before it cleared up and I still have no idea what happened.  Stress ...

I hate goals. The only goal I can think of is one in football. For me, playing football is a memory of mud, rain and bruises. Still, I had a good time and it toughened me up for later knocks in life, when I was asked to actually set goals. At work, in family and personally, everybody seemed to have goals, except me. Education and career goals. My only goal at school was to get out of school. College was supposed to be a stepping ...

When I read or see news articles about people buried under collapsed buildings I immediately flip my mind to what it's like down there. The things anyone would want in that situation. Recognition that the outside world knows they are there, that they are alive and in very deep trouble. Add to that some water and an assurance of quick escape. Sadly, some people live like this, waiting to be found and saved. For others to help and pull them up ...