Inconsistency as an old art form

I like to think I’m quite good at a lot of things. I actually like to think that I’m extremely good at a lot of things. But, in reality, and if I’m being one hundred per cent honest, I know that I’m not.

Sometimes I’m better than others, sometimes worse. Sometimes I’m so terrible I wonder why I even bothered to start in the first place. And sometimes I wonder if it was me that had actually done what I’d done (for better or for worse, it works either way).

But what, I hear you ask in frustration, are these ‘things’ I’m rabbiting on about? Well, I shall tell you, in a roundabout* way.

Anything I do.

Everything I do.

Writing. Reading. Creating unique pieces of computer art. Communicating. Listening. Remembering. Sleeping. Dreaming. Sneezing.

Everything I do, I’ll do it differently the next time.

I write a good piece… I then write a terrible one (complete with speling errors!).
I read the first so many fabulous chapters of an un-put-downable book, and then forget that I’d even started it.
I flourish and embellish and exaggerate and colour-in some work of art which wouldn’t look out of place in trendy art galleries anywhere around the world, and when I next look at it, it’s as though, well, a strange computer virus has attacked my art software and distorted whatever I have done.
I’ve never been a great communicator, verbally, but sometimes I’m magnificent. I really, truly, deeply am.
I have one good ear and one not so good one (just the two!), so I miss a lot of what I’m being told… and sometimes make up my own words to try to catch up, thus getting other things wrong. Sometimes hilariously so (especially when I’m singing along to a song. Enya’s Orinoco Flow will always contain the line Save the Whale, Save the Whale, Save the Whale, as that is how I first heard it many centuries ago).
I remember that line as it was oh so wrong, but can I remember any others? Nope! The tune, yes… well, most of it. I even forget people who I sit next to at work occasionally. Sigh.
Sometimes, I sleep soundly. Other times, I wake about fifty times during the night. Sometimes, I sleep too heavily and feel dreadful, and other times I love waking and sleeping on and off all night long.
I love my dreams. I remember some, but not all. Sometimes I dream regularly, sometimes I don’t. Currently, I’m somewhat in the middle…
And sneezing… sometimes, I break the sound barrier as I sneeze that loudly… other times, I stifle a little achoo in a corner somewhere.

Completely inconsistent. But always me.

It’s the core that matters anyway, not the inconsistencies. Well, that’s how I feel about it. Most of the time.

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This post has been written in response to Sideview’s Weekend Theme, which this week is Inconsistency… *I didn’t participate in last week’s theme, Swings and Roundabouts, so I added a little sideways mention at the beginning there. If you’d like to participate in Sideview’s weekly challenge pop along to her site, and have a look at some other posts written by other bloggers who may not be as inconsistent as me. I.

***

Incidentally, the words Inconsistent and Inconsistency were first used in a decade very close to my heart. Yes, that’s right. Between 1640 and 1650 the word came into existence.

Is it just by chance that I’m as inconsistent as I am, looking at that rather random coincidence of timing? Synchronicities are never far away… and I have found another link to my 1642 Quest… although its meaning is as allusive as with all of the other links I have found. Answers will be along soon, I’m sure of it. I just have to ask the right questions first of all!

I still feel good though, even with all the questions, answers and inconsistencies. And that, as a good core, is all that matters…

This Blog: An A to Z

May is the month for introductions.

Well, it isn’t, but it seems to be! Firstly, Andra published a post requesting that we add little introductions over on her blog, so we can then visit other bloggers we may not have had the opportunity to come across yet. I’ve added my dodgy introduction over there, and, when I get back fully into the swing of things, I shall check out the links. And speaking of links, here’s the link to Andra’s post if you’d like to check it out… it’s good to share!

I’m haphazardly and randomly selecting posts from all of the blogs I follow through the reader at present, not reading each post in turn as I used to do… still trying to get back in the swing as it were.

The image for Frank’s latest post caught my eye, so I checked it out. I will get around to reading all of the blogs I follow in due course, so please don’t be offended if I haven’t got to you yet. Clicking the image will take you to Frank’s post, and his version of an A to Z Blogging Challenge if you would like to have a go yourself. It isn’t compulsory, no nominations are needed, and it’s a good way to highlight some of your older posts.

So, in keeping with the introductions theme, this post will feature 26 alphabetical facts about me, whilst also linking to one of my ancient posts. This post is very link heavy.

Sit back, get yourself comfortable, and prepare yourself for some drivel… I’ll wake you should you fall asleep…

A was going to be about Aquatom, but it can’t be any longer as that character has flown off into the distance, so instead it will be about ART. Namely, the art that I create. I describe it as art, but others may have another word for it, however I enjoy having a go… and it is that that ultimately matters I feel. One of my favourite creations was a Vampire Cat I created for this post. Incidentally, I have a fondness for cats…

B is for Bad Hair. Yes, I have good hair on occasions, but more often than not it’s bad. Very bad. I write about it often. Here’s one of the posts.

C is for Cosmic Ordering. I’m a Cosmic Orderer, I love all things Universal, Magical, and Coincidental. This post is my introduction on how to actually do it.

D is for Dot the Ghost. In my Mansion, I have a visitor from beyond who likes to play with my electricals. Here’s where I introduced Dot to the world.

E is for England. I’m British and I’m English. I occasionally write about England. This post is about England before it was England. England. Did I mention that I occasionally write about England?

F is for Feeling Good. I love to Feel Good. I try to promote it at every opportunity. This links to a page with some music videos that help me to Feel Good…

G is for Gerald. Gerald is a normal everyday person who wound up a group of Goddesses one day by something he wrote. Gerald (and the Goddesses – they don’t need to be angered any further!) features in one of my ongoing storylines, Legendary Circles… this link will take you to the Storylines menu where you can read the tale from the very beginning.

H is for Hair. Yes, I know I’ve already mentioned it, but it’s a big thing when it’s bad. It’s good at the moment, though, so that’s good! Hair’s another post about it…

I is for Imagination. I have a rather vivid imagination. I can remember my dreams (mostly) with ease. I can fly and swim and travel throughout the Universe when I allow my imagination to get going. This post should be about an Intergalactic Drive Through.

J is for Jamie’s Dream. I like to write on occasions about this amazing world of ours, hoping that it will stay amazing. This post is about one of my character’s view of the world.

K is for my keyboard. Well, more precisely my typing. Well, more precisely my Inner Typist’s typing. Fingers is my Inner Typist’s name… he’s one of my many Inner Aspects who make an appearance every now and again in this blog. He thinks that he types exceptionally well, although, on occasions I have to disagree. I have a worn out backspace key to prove it as well. This post is an example of my Inner Typist’s typing prowess…

L is for laboratory. As well as an Inner Typist, I have an Inner Scientist who creates just as much havoc. He wasn’t mentioned in the post Twilight Blues, which caused me to get stuck in the bath, but he was starting to make an appearance back then.

M is for Me! Me! Me me me! The blog is about all of me, including all of my Inner Aspects, thoughts, ideas, ramblings, rhymes, stories, waffle, art, dreams, and… well, everything really. There isn’t a link in this category as you are already there!

N is for Nonsense. A lot of my posts are just that, nonsense, as they are meant to be an escape from reality. They are meant to be fun, good humoured, and easy reading. Nothing heavy here, unless it’s a heavy post. I do do those on occasion too… this post isn’t heavy, however. It’s about censorship. It’s still a popular stopping off point for weary internet searchers, although what they are searching for, and how they feel when they find this post is beyond me…

O is for Oh, how much longer…! Actually, no it isn’t! It’s about One Minute Rambles. Occasionally, I challenge myself to type away, on any subject for one minute, and then (after tidying up the post) post it as is. Here’s an example.

P is for parallel dimensions. I cross many of them, every day. Here’s the proof!

Q is for Quest. I’m drawn to the year 1642, and the early Seventeenth Century. I’m trying to find out as much information as I can about that period to find out why I find myself seeing images in my mind’s eye of the time, and why I’m so strongly drawn to back then. This link goes to my Quest: 1642 page, with links to all of the information I have discovered so far on my journey.

R is for Reg. My Vampire friend.

S is for Surreal Reality. More vampireness.

T is for Time Travel. They say it isn’t possible. I say it is. My Mansion does it to me all of the time. Here’s the account of the first time I travelled… includes a reference to my former online identity.

U is for the Universe. I love it. Here’s a recent post about a planet and a constellation.

V is for Views from the window. As well as taking me to the far flung future and distant past, my Mansion also takes me to various other places around the Universe. I simply need to look out of the window and capture the view. This is an example of one of those views. It could also be for Vampires, but I’ve mentioned them already.

W is for words. This post is now well over a thousand words long, sorry about that. On occasions, I need to create new words for my posts, as the ones that are currently there don’t quite cut the custard – or whatever that phrase is. Any words I create go into my dictionary.

X is for exercise. Please humour me, it’s late and I’m tired, and I wanted to share this post about the effects exercise has on me.

Y is for Your Blog. I have a links page with links to a lot of the blogs I follow, and more will be added soon… is your blog on the page?

Z is for Zombies. I have an Inner Zombie, where bits drop off left right and centre. Fingers, my Inner Typist, also feels like a zombie at the moment too… he is saying he needs to drop off and can’t type any more.

Luckily, we’ve reached the end of this super-sized post.

Fancy writing your own A-Z Challenge post? Visit Frank’s blog, by clicking the picture at the top of this post.

Thank you for reading. You may go now.

Or, wake up.

Sorry.

I forgot about that part earlier…

Hiding in Plain Sight!

I write occasionally, yet on many occasions, about the Spirit of the Tree.

The faces that appear within the leaves, through the leaves, or created by the patterns of the leaves, is what I call, or class as, the manifestation of the Spirit of the Tree.

He / she / it / they are always visible when looking at either photographs of trees and bushes, or actually looking at the trees and bushes themselves. Sometimes it takes a while for the faces or figures to appear, and at other times they literally leap out, they are so clear.

One of my recent posts about the Spirit of the Tree showed the clear manifestation of a dog’s face, and another Spirit image leaning on the railings. Click here to have a look at that post.

This photo, once again taken using the nifty Google Streetview thingy, actually shows the Spirit walking or floating by:

Can’t see it?

Here’s a close up:

Still no? Here’s the first image again, this time I’ve highlighted where the Spirit is:

The thing is, as soon as you notice the Spirit’s eye, the rest of his figure instantly becomes visible. A ghost-like figure caught twinkling in the sunlight as he meanders by…

Can you see any other faces in this image? The last time I posted about the Spirit, the photo was overflowing with faces! Let me know!

One Minute Ramble: Being…

…that’s all!

Not thinking, writing, doing (well… much, anyway!)

Just being…

And feeling good for it!

Enjoying the moment, loving the view, simply kicking back with nothing to do…

Possibly, the shortest blogging break in history… and the longest explanation why!

Yesterday, in a post featured on this blog, I declared that I was going to ‘follow the signs’ and take a break from blogging. I declared this, despite saying in the post that I wasn’t taking a full break, as I would continue with various blogging features I participate in.

I also said that visitor numbers are down; but in fact, they are up each month compared to the entire first year I was blogging, so they’re not down at all, all things considered. And I still receive regular comments from my regular visitors anyway, so that’s no reason to have a break. Thank you, commenters!

Maybe the signs were actually steering me away from having a break… merely pointing out things that I need to notice.

However, that said, yesterday I was set on taking a break and left it at that.

I went to bed last night, and had a night full of vivid dreams. Dreams featuring people I know, hundreds of people I know (some who I haven’t seen for a very long time).

We were all at a rally of some kind in a town centre. I was originally there with one of my cousins and his wife, but as I was chatting to all of the other people who I met, they had eventually mingled into the crowd. Others coming forward when others stepped back. Dreams always have a surreal feel to them, even though they feel real at the time!

Whilst I was chatting to an old work colleague, who was pregnant incidentally, a spotlight shone on me, and a well known TV personality appeared from the crowd. His name isn’t important, as he’s a British TV show host, and I’m not sure if he’s known around the world. He advised me, and the hordes of others present, that I had come second in something I have no idea what (that’s the power of dreams – the most important facts seem to be the easiest forgotten as well!!!). I felt good at coming second, and that’s what’s important.

From the rally, my pregnant colleague and I had to take a passenger lift in a building to the next floor down. How we ended up inside this building when we were originally outside, is beyond me. The lift was one of those olde worldie ones, where there was an outer and an inner door that opened separately. The outer door opened first, and then the inner one, which revealed that the lift hadn’t reached the floor properly. It jolted down, causing the people inside to gasp, and then they all left the lift quickly.

My colleague and I got into the lift, and an electronic voice said “Doors closing.” as voices in lifts tend to do. The lift started to move, and then the voice said “Brace yourselves for impact. Obtain the crash position”. My colleague and I instantly crouched to our knees, the ceiling of the lift came down to just above our heads, and we felt the lift fall down the shaft to the next floor.

An alarm sounded, which at first I thought was the lift alarm, but it was actually my alarm clock trying to wake me up for the day.

In my dream, the lift doors opened again, and both my colleague and I got out, unharmed. There were more people standing there, and one of them asked me what it felt like to come second. I was about to speak when I heard another voice say “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” Odd. Yes, I know.

It was then that I woke up, ten minutes after my alarm, and had to dash around to get myself ready for the day. Oversleeping wouldn’t have been the best course of action for today.

But, as my bath was running, I had a quick glance at both my blog, and the news on the BBC.

Andra has advised about some changes that may have had an effect on blogging visitor numbers around the world (please see the previous post for more details) and the BBC revealed that all online content, including blogs, is going to be stored in a library or two somewhere. Maybe not every blog, but that got me thinking.

The reason the online content is being stored, is for future historians, and research. Click here for the news article. Tweets and Facebook status updates will also be stored (only public ones, that is) – and the aim is for all websites to be archived and stored. This idea has come about due to some websites being deleted that would have contained very useful information relating to the time they were on line. This makes sense to me, as long as it is only information that is publicly available… which publicly available blogs are.

My posts may be mere drivel at times, but for a future historian looking back onto our ancient civilisation they may be invaluable, once they’re discovered in some dark and dusty cellar somewhere and deciphered.

And here’s the reason I started thinking: what if bloggers are being quietly pushed to one side… Being coerced into taking a break, and then never returning to the fantastic world of blogging? Many a suggestion can be filtered between the words we read…

The changes that I have noticed in the blogging world have become very noticeable of late. It is fun, blogging, and visitor numbers don’t matter unless we’re selling anything. In my first month of blogging I felt as though I was writing only to myself, nobody visited… yet I continued. Now, my visitor numbers are much higher than they were back then, but as they are lower than I feel they should be I’m feeling something is lacking. I had the feeling that, because of this, I needed to take a break.  Something isn’t right there.

We could now be in an ideal time to add a voice to how the normal folk live, in addition to all of the usual famous folk who usually fill the pages of history books… although we won’t be able to, if we don’t blog.

Yes, we are busy in our real lives.

Yes, we sometimes lack inspiration for our blog posts.

Yes, we may write drivel.

But we can do it. We have the facility to do so. Even if only one person reads what we have to write, that other person may be inspired to do similar, or do something different in their life. We have the ability to inspire others. Regardless of what search engines or social media sites do to try to change things. If we can’t be found through search engines, we need to come up with better ways in which we can be found.

We can only do this if we continue blogging.

If we keep on keeping on.

And that is why I’m not taking a break.

Now, as you were.

Let the changes begin…

All of this talk about Phoenixes and new beginnings has set me thinking. Things need to change to remain fresh, and hopefully good.

Things can’t stay the same. They have to evolve… adapt… update.

And that is just what I’m doing.

The first thing to go is a biggie.

Hanging up my Cape

Well, figuratively speaking anyway, as I never actually wore a cape. Aquatom1968 has been my blogging persona since I started blogging back in the old sepia coloured days of 2010. Back then, I started blogging as a little experiment, just to see how things went. I wanted an online persona that was different to the real me, one that I could hide behind. And, being a fan of superheroes, that character simply had to be one.

In the two (almost three!) years that I’ve been on WordPress, I’ve met some pretty amazing people who use the blogging platform along the way. I’ve laughed and been saddened, been inspired and had a thirst for more, and enjoyed every moment of it… even the times when I felt down and felt like packing it all in (blogging that is, not, erm, everything!). I persevered, and am glad that I did.

Thank You and Goodbye

Being the nature of the internet, people come and go. Real lives take over, time becomes precious, and blogging takes a back seat. I understand that.

I feel there’s something in the blogging air at the moment that is keeping a lot of us away, for one reason or another, at present. I understand that too.

But for those who visit me frequently, occasionally, or have visited in the past and since moved on, on behalf of Aquatom1968, I’d like to say a big thank you to each and every one of you for helping to make this particular journey of my virtual existence a thoroughly enjoyable one.

Aquatom1968 waves a fond farewell as he flies off into the distance.*

Borne of the Phoenix

Yes, the first big change is my name. When I started blogging, I was simply Aquatom1968, and a few months later I added the Tom and the brackets. And that is how I remained. A few months ago, I revealed to the world that I am in the process of writing a book. I’ve always been in the process of writing a book, but just never got around to starting it. Nothing much has changed there, but I want to get my author’s name out there into the world, and stop hiding behind my superhero persona. TL Merriman is my serious author’s name, Tomliam Merriman is my general day to day one. Liam is my middle name, so that can go back to being in the middle, leaving the original name, Tom, and the surname.

See, the more things change, the more they stay the same!

The downside of changing my name means that all of my comments on your blogs will need to be authorised or moderated or okayed or whatever the phrase is to start off with once again – and I apologise for causing you extra work! It should only be for the next first time that I comment…

The Future

Obviously, changing my name goes further than just that. My about page will need to be updated, and I will seriously look at changing both the appearance and name of my blog. Not just yet, though. One step at a time.

I’ll continue writing as before, with my mishmash of posts that seem to have no rhyme nor reason to them, or the order in which I post. I still want this place to be an escape from reality… an odd breath of fresh air, if you like. Hopefully the air is fresh and not stale…

I’ll still participate in the Illustration Friday, post the random views from my Mansion’s windows, scribble down my One Minute Rambles, explore the mysteries of the Universe, time and the mind, try to complete my 101 things challenge, post the odd rhyme or two; the occasional doodle and my tales: both of the ongoing kind, the one-offs and the rather random experiences I come across from time to time. Oh, and I’ll work out how to use Google Plus.

Yes, I’m venturing back into social media, and have set up an account there in my name. I’ll use the account properly once I’ve worked out what it is I’m actually doing, so if you circle me or click me or Google me or whatever it is that you do there, I’ll do the same to you once I’ve found the right button… thank you in advance for doing all those things to me, if you do…

The Now

This is where we are now. Where the action is. The best place to be.

I’m a future writer living in the present day. The present day is where I / we can feel good. The only time of our lives where we can actually FEEL GOOD!

I’m happy for you to be here with me now, as I’m going through this transformation. I hope it’s going to be exciting. I’m sure it is going to be fun!

*Aquatom1968 will still appear occasionally in my Superhero Diaries series, so he hasn’t gone completely from Blogland.

Starlings

I’m still in Outer Space at the moment.

Exploring various parts of the Universe that have only recently been discovered by us ‘mere’ Earthlings.

Everywhere I look right now, I see the Phoenix. On the side of a lorry, in a book, in a blog post, on TV. It even cropped up whilst I was researching my Chameleon post at the weekend.

It has to be a sign.

Hence, I’m still in Outer Space, exploring. Exploring today the Phoenix constellation.

In 2010, a whole new galaxy cluster was discovered within this constellation. It has a technical name, but it’s more friendly referred to as the Phoenix Cluster. As time went on, observers began to see the immensity of what they had discovered.

I have the idea that it is more a ‘Star Nursery’ than a galaxy, as it is creating brand new stars at, well, a rate of knots. One report I read says it creates 740 new stars a year… quite a lot considering our Milky Way galaxy creates one new star a year. There are three trillion stars alone in the cluster’s central galaxy. That’s a lot… the Milky Way only has 200 million stars, give or take a couple.

At the centre of the Phoenix Cluster, there’s a black hole. This black hole is sending out enough energy to enable the gases and whatnot to create the new stars, as it doesn’t give the gases time to cool.

I suppose as more of these ‘starlings’ are born, the Phoenix Cluster galaxy will expand further outwards, getting constantly larger and larger. Well, the Universe is always expanding anyway, just now it can be observed!

It’s also billions of light years away, so there’s not much chance of an immediate collision with our galaxy just yet.

The odd thing about this cluster, is the fact that it appears to have been sprung back into life, after being dormant for a few million years.

Quite apt, considering we can see it in the Phoenix constellation – the Phoenix being the bird that rose from the ashes.

New beginnings.

Like I said, it has to be a sign.