Off to camp....

so its off to camp we go.. and this one promises to be very camp indeed... if the old interweb cafe is iopen, I may update while there... if not then Wisebeard twoblogs says have a good week.. and until we are all camper than campers, Wisebeard salutes you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What we all have in common.....

Strangely enough, I went to the pictures last night.. not that there is anything really strange about that, you understand, but watching the film (Hancock, with Will Smith...) I realised somethingh that to be honest I should have realised long ago... without giving away teh answer straight away, I'll just give a few examples.. sorry.... not exactly a digression.. but I digress... my favourite book by far is PeterBeagle's The Last Unicorn. my favourite anime is Evangelion, or possibly Noir.... I enjoy watching the Sweeney... and so on.. now, I'm a great believer that the main reason people enjoy plays, books, etc is that they can relate to the characters within.. which is why I detest Friends, and Sex and the City, but love Ally McBeal.... of which more later.... and it was while watching Hancock taht I realised why all these things appeal to me... from Ally herself, through regan and Carter, Schmendrick, Molly Grue, King Haggard, the Unicorn, Shinji, Rei, Asuka, Gendo Ikari, Mireille, Kirika... even Kaouru the final angel, all have one thing in common with both Hancock and me... and that, for those who have not encountered these people.. (and you should!) is not that they and I are fictional characters, but the simple human attribute of loneliness.... all are totally, irretrievably lonely.. with the possible exception of Molly and Schmendrick and Mireille and Kirika....and even then i doubt it.. Hancock, for those of you who have yet to encounter him, is a superhero. without giving away any of the plot, he is lonely.. not just alone, but lonely.... and here's the rub.. alone and lonely are not the same.. teh Unicorn is alone... but does not realise that she is lonely until she knows she is the last.. Hancock is alone.. but rei, Shinji and Asuka are not alone.. yet lonely they are, even after they all merge together with the rest of humanity during Instrumentality..... and here is where I relate to them.. I cannot recall, in my entire life, a single day when i did not feel lonely.. I was married, have a lovely son.. who is a joy to spend time with, most of the time... and spend time with scouts and cubs, and Beavers, and Guides and Leaders... I had two short relationships after divorce (although some would say there was only one.. of which more later...) and I but although I am not alone, I have always been lonely... and I'm sure it is the same for many others.... not that I've been unhappy, I hasten to add...well.. not always... well.. occasionally... for me, loneliness seems to be the default setting..... and I wonder how many others are the same.. as a herd animal we seem to be mortally afraid of loneliness.... peopel go to any lengths to avoid it.. I know I did... they get married to unsuitable people, clutch at the first person who shows them any affection, get into bad crowds... clubs seem especially good at preying on this fear, attracting you with the promise of seeing hundreds of others, and possinbly meeting someone who will assuage your loneliness, only to play loud music that is deilberately designed to isolate you from your fellow man, and increase your loneliness in order to persuade you to go again and again..... drumming into you that it is something wrong inside you that keeps you lonely, for how else could you be lonely with all these other people around..... but now I'm beginning to sound obsessed... perhaps its the loneliness.... I must admit that I'm not expecting to ever be cured of this malady.. the most i hope for are relationships with others that don't serve to increase the isolation.... for me that's good enough.... but for now, all I'll add is don't worry about loneliness.... there are too many people around for us not to be lonely.... until we all realise that lonely is not a threat, Wisebeard salutes you!!!!!!!

And it was morning...

But unlike Fish I don't find myself mourning for a childhood that left behind... mainly because I don't think I ever left it behind... but there we go... so far the week has gone well... an abortive bike ride to Derby, a brisk tidying of a Scout hut cupboard, a nice lunchtime at Oakham castle (sometimes I love this job!!) and best of all, a very nice date on Sunday... with a lovely woman who shall ( with typical Wisebeard confidentiality...) remain nameless.... now Ikea may not sound like a noted Social Venue, but as it is easy to find, fairly presentable and serves very nice meatballs at a very very reasonable price I'm surprised more people don't use it as such.... or perhaps they do.... the lovely weather was very conducive to a stroll round the lake at Shipley Park, followed by a drink (non alcoholic... driving..) at the Nelson and Railway in Kimberley... which was nice.... and combined my love of the water with trains... I can recommend it for the atmosphere, and (though I shouldn't say this..) the barmaids.... but I digress... I enjoyed it in a way I haven't fro a while... and I'm led to believe the young lady wasn't too unhappy with the afternoon.... so I think that goes onto the success board... but I digress.... suffice it to say, I am now quite hp, to use the old idiom, and well adjusted... well, adjusted anyway.... and looking forward to camp in a little over a week... apparently we've all got to dress as monkeys, so at least I don't need a costume.... its quite amazing (even to me ) how the simple things in life can be the most satisfying and pleasing.. which is how it should be... but as always, time is not on our side, and other duties call.... of which, more later... but if one dose of the Beard is not enough, I do have yet another blog out there... and it can be reached through Scouts.org...... sorry everyone!! If I can remember how it works I shall post a link, but until that merry day, Wisebeard Two-Blogs salutes you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trips and starts...

well, the Beard that is wise has entered the exclusive club of boat owners... now, before you begin to imagine some plush well equipped yacht, sailing majestically along the Solent, Pimms swilling hoorays on deck, let me tell you that I'd feel far more at home in a war surplus MTB, or better still a knorr or drakar... of which, more later.. but I have been hankering after a canoe for a long time, dreaming of trips up canals, and across lakes.. and when i say canoe, i mean the open canadian type.. not a big fan of kayaks... but with even the cheapest i've found beyond my at present limited means, I've been land nbound, except for scout trips... so imagine my joy when while shopping in Aldi ( saviour of the poor and cheapskate... due to this fantastic German outlet i can feed my albeit small family for four weeks for less than 80 quid.. but i digress...) when i spotted a lovely little inflatable boat for sale at a staggeringly cheap 30 quid... now, i was under no illusions that it may not be perfect but my reasoning was that if it lasted for three trips it would be cheaper than the equivalent canoe hire... so into the van in went.. so, after our scout car wash one of our great helpers, Richard, offered to use his compressor to blow it up. and imagine my surprise when i saw how big it actually was.. big enough for three 12 stoners.. so just right for me and my son.. and on sunday we dunked it in the canal at Shackerstone, and went fro a boat.. it was of fairly good quality, and stable... but most of all, fun.. and it will now allow us a few cheap outings until i can either buy or build a canoe... i think we often forget in todays world of playstations, and international hiolidays how cheap fun can be... and how much more rewarding.. i mean, anyone can pay a hiundred or so for a console, then buy extra games and feel safe in the knowledge that little johnny is in his room rather than risking his life o the streets.. but for 30 quid little johnny, little jenny and dad could be foating down the canal, watching the moorhens and coots, dabbling with the fish.. and of course this is a one off payment.. go out ten times and its 3 quid a trip... plus you'll be bonding as a family.. i think we constantly fall into the trap of thinking that we are bad parents if we deny our children the so called modern essentials... that we are somehow second class citizens if we prefer to holiday off season in a caravan... and even more so that newer is necessarily better... I've heard parents say that they don't think johnny will like such and such an activity because its a bit old fashioned... but we find the opposite.. that kids actually seem to prefer canoeing, cimbing, hiking, even more than playing with expensive technology.. so why do we believe the opposite?? simply because we are told that this is so.. its rammed down our throats all day.. get a new phone, buy a new tv.. not because there is something wrong with yours, but because it has committed the heinous crime of not being new... well, i for one have never noticed my life being worse than anyone elses, and i don't own an lcd tv, sat nav, camera phone, playstation or anything like that.. apar from my mp3 player.. and thts a cheap one i bought because my sony walkman finally gave up the ghost.. i've no problem with replacing stuff that no longer works... when my tv finally blows its tubes, then i'll probably end up with an lcd one.. but we replace too much that isn't bust.. and that includes trying to replace kids imaginations and longings...but i digress.. until we all don't fix what ain't broke, wisebeard salutes you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!