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!

Opportunity Knocked?

The Loch Ness Monster stared at me for twenty minutes. Twenty minutes! Tilting its head from one side to the other, as if trying to work me out. At one point, it stretched its long neck forward, as if trying to get a closer look.

Its tongue licked the air, and it constantly blinked its lizard-like eyes. The rest of its body remained underwater, all I could see was its head and neck.

Then I realised I had my camera. I rummaged through my rucksack; finally grabbing it from the very bottom.

When I looked up, the Monster was gone.

***

I was totally lost. I knew where I was generally, of course, Bhutan, at the foot of the Himalayas.

I’d managed to get separated from the rest of the expedition somehow, and couldn’t call for help on my mobile phone… the battery was dead.

I caught sight of someone ahead of me, dashing from the clearing into the trees, so I decided to follow. And then I wished I hadn’t. Ahead of me, looking out from the trees was the Abominable Snowman.

As my camera is on the phone, I couldn’t even take the photo for proof. However, I ran.

***

The sea was calm that night. The sky was cloudy, but not overly so. The Moon shone brightly behind the clouds, casting a nice glow for miles around.

I was alone on the deck. Although I was tired, I couldn’t sleep, hence deciding to take a stroll around the deck. The excursion during the day was long, I presumed the other passengers were well away.

The formation of the brightly coloured lights by the Moon caught my eye first. Then, the gleaming metallic sphere came into view. I tried to get a photo, but all I captured was the Moon.

***

A trio of tall tales for Sideview’s weekend theme this week, which is That Elusive Photograph. I feel I must add: always be prepared to take a photograph, for it just may be the one that the whole world has been searching for…

Wild!

Another post for Illustration Friday. This time, the theme is Wild. I was going to create a scene featuring a lot of wild animals, but changed my mind and went with a banshee instead. You don’t get anything more wild than a screaming banshee.

Luckily, this one’s quite happy as she’s just been fed. You can still see some of her food in her teeth.

When characters call

Caitlin.
Clancy Farquhar.
Lady Emeralda Smart.
Cirencester Bloom.
Walpole E. Epstein.
Lycralad.
Reg the Vampire.
Gerald.
Wendy Windways.
Agnes Ontario.
And others…

Ten different characters, each with a totally different story. Some crossover, and appear in another’s story; some appear only once, never to be seen again. And some simply provide their name, never to return…

But, when I write about these characters, I have to wonder who it is that is steering their tale.

I have a feeling that it’s the characters themselves. They come to life when I write about them, and stop me in my tracks if I want them to do something they don’t want to do, or simply just wouldn’t do.

“I’m not like that”, they’d say, or something similar.

I’d like them to walk down a hill – they end up racing along a river in a speedboat.

I want them to silently watch on – they don’t – I think, can’t – stay silent.

I have an idea for a story… they have other ideas.

Characters.

Should they be free, or simply be puppets?

I’d prefer freedom myself.

If I was a character.

Oh, Wednesday!

I’ve had an unusual experience this morning.

Not a brand new one, but a new one all the same. I sound like I’m talking writing in riddles, but I’m not.

This morning I burned my belly.

Sorry, I should have told you to put your drink down before you read that.

Now, I can hear the questions whirling around in your mind… He burned his belly? On what? He’s done it before? On what?

I’ll explain. The explanation is very simple really, but before I explain about today’s singeing episode, I’ll write about my previous one, to provide some background drama.

I very often write about my having the physique of a Greek God, which I do. All Adonis-like, toned, tanned and muscular; the envy of many. That goes without saying. The thing is, it’s slightly hidden beneath a little excess.

If I stand at a certain angle, I can just about make out the rippling six pack abs when I look in the mirror, with the light at a certain brightness behind me, and I close one eye. And I don’t look too long at the reflection.

Several years ago, I bought myself a set of those electrocution pads, as I call them. The rubber pads that you stick to various parts of your body, and plug them into a power pack that is attached to your waist. You are then to go about your normal day, whilst regularly experiencing strong spasms surge through whichever muscle you have said pad strapped to. The electric current is meant to tone the muscles gently, and build up their shape nicely. Or, in my case, make you look as though you are dancing in the middle of a frozen lake with arms and legs shooting out at all kinds of angles more often than not.

Those kind of movements don’t help with bad hair either. Anyway, I digress.

One night, I’d somehow managed to forget that I had these electrocution pads on (I was very tired!), so they did their surging best to me as I slept. Unfortunately, as I slept, I didn’t feel them burning me, and when I awoke the next morning, I had a few red ‘burn’ rings across my rather relaxed belly.

The marks cleared up within a month, and I never used the electrocution pads since that night.

And the rings weren’t actually burns either… they were bruises, I would say, in the skin, where the pads had pinched the skin together as they caused the belly muscles to contract.

This morning, I told you I’d tell you, was a different burn completely.

I was ironing, as usual, getting ready for work. I was ironing the shirt that I wanted to wear. As I was ironing the shirt that I wanted to wear, at that time, I wasn’t wearing a shirt. I ironed the cuff, brought the iron up the sleeve, which was by the edge of the ironing board, and momentarily touched my belly with the hot plate of the iron. I didn’t think I was so close to the board, the rest of me wasn’t, but my relaxed belly definitely was.

I soared up to the ceiling without leaving the floor. My back straightened as I dropped the iron, hot-side-down onto the sleeve. Luckily. I wasn’t wearing any shoes, and I didn’t need it to land on my foot, so it was a good catch by the ironing board. Quickly, I removed the iron from the sleeve, no harm done. I then rubbed my belly, which apart from being a little tender wasn’t marked in any way.

Well, not that I could see, anyway. I didn’t have the time to check further in the mirror.

The belly’s fine now, though, I’m pleased to report.

I do have to bring it under control once again, however. Get the old abs back into shape, naturally, without any electrical influence, so that I no longer touch the ironing board when I iron, whilst, at the same time standing away from it.

Lame Adventures recently wrote a post, entitled ‘Feel the Burn’ as it happens, about those new fangled six minutes a week work outs that are supposed to really work. I’m starting to wonder if doing them for six minutes a day would bring in the results quicker. I can gather six minutes a day together no problem.

I shall let you know how I get on…

Urban Creation

Time for another Illustration Friday post, this time with the theme of ‘Urban’.

I started with a walled city, and then removed the wall. I then went for an olde worlde town, but added a city skyline in the background. Apart from roads, doors, the occasional tree, transport and people, something was missing. So I added an urban fox, caught in the glare of a street light… which was also missing…

The first version I saved was a lot brighter, and a lot more colourful, but I wanted to tone down both the brightness, and the colour and bring the attention more onto the fox, rather than the buildings.

After a little jiggery pokery with a few special effects thrown in for good measure, I settled with the cartoon above.

A little rough around the edges, but isn’t urban life a little like that too?