Bills Posts

What do you do when you go into a bookshop? I usually take a quick look at the Science Fiction Section, but It had been quite a while since I bought an SF book. Notice the tense? Had. Now, don’t get excited, I haven’t bought a physical paper based book. I bought an audio book of Audible, I’d like to recommend a TV series to you, especially if you are with Amazon, where it is being streamed on Amazon, it is being hailed by scientists as very scientifically accurate for a variety of reasons. There are 5 seasons, and it is brilliant.

The series is based on James A. Corey’s series of books. normally, I’d say read the books first, then watch the TV, but this time I did it the other way round. And, I’m really glad I did, because as I listen to the book, I know what things look like, I picture the characters, I know what the ships look like, I know the scenery. It is brilliant.

It also has absolutely nothing to do with my being organised. But, it was a nice diversion. After the Science Fiction section, I usually head up the stairs to the reference area, I usually look in the self help area for the book entitled “Bill – this is the book that will totally organise your life”. Do you procrastinate? I think I do, but probably not as much as I think I do, I feel that parts of my life are not organised, and I waste a lot of time doing things that aren’t massively productive. By the same token though, why should I spend all of my time being busy doing useful things? I don’t of course, but I sometimes feel as though I should. Here then, we need to start thinking about what I mean as “useful” – I guess the first stab at this would be; stuff that keeps my brain busy. Sometimes, my writings are that stuff.

Another part of the book shop I go to is the travel writing section, I think if there is any author that I would aspire to be like in this genre, it would be Bill Bryson. His books are a dream to read. I don’t do a lot of travelling though, so following that route would be a bit pointless. History, I think would be an interesting topic, but I don’t normally visit the history section. That’s partly because I have never felt the need. I’m now thinking of books about writing about history, and also books on the local area, Gosport – don’t seem to be many of them about

I shall keep looking.

Back again to organising my self. I suppose I should at least bring this to a conclusion. I think goal setting would help. The main goal of this blog is to satisfy my need to write. But what service does it give to you, the reader? I’d like the blog to inform and entertain. In order to do at least the first of those, I feel it should have a focus. Well, it does have a focus; my locality project. But what is Locality, as I have already intimated, it is writing about the things in which I am interested. I can even identify those things. But it’s writing about them that is becoming an issue. In order to write about Astronomy, do I actually have to do some? When would that be then? The questions are the same for all of my areas. I do hope you are not getting fed up with my prattling. We will try and get things sorted.

After yesterday’s grey and very misty morning, today’s early trip couldn’t have been much different. A clear and very bright sunny morning. It was a delightful walk, made even more so by seeing the Conmar Gulf outbound. Admittedly not a large ship at 8,000 tons on the way to Zeebrugge.

And so begins post No. 300 in this series of 366 which started in last year, a leap year hence the 366 rather than the 365. I can remember when I started this thinking I have no idea how long I am going to keep this up for, I don’t know if I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it. I may still not finish, but every day brings me closer, and it is now more likely that I will – hopefully.

I have had times when it has been a bit of a struggle. Typically writers block. The thing to do about that was to write about the block. It may have resulted waffle which I was able to do, because I am not dedicated to a specific topic, I can write about what I want. Then, there are the topics I need to stay away from; freedom of speech, politics and religion. It is not the purpose of this blog to stir controversy. I won’t do that.

The purpose of this blog is to satisfy my urge to write. If anything were to purge the urge, it would have been this exercise. I think it has reinforced it. I still want to write, but I want a focus. Locality may provide the framework. I need to look at previous posts where I mention locality, and perhaps do a bit more detailed article as to what it is all about.

In the picture, I reckon that the Normandie is a good bit less than 200m from me, and yet is barely visible. I couldn’t even see her as she came in through the harbour entrance, it was only when I heard her that I realised she was there. I can’t recall the last time the fog was that thick.

I think I prefer the B&W version again.

The Monday night writing exercise is to write about the current read. I’m still on Bede’s An Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Published in the year 735AD. Because it is an ecclesiastical History it’s focus is understandably on religion, and the key players of the time, queens, kings, bishops. The letters they exchange, their battle for their beliefs, missionaries. As I have said before, it has been fascinating to have a good history book to hand. Nearly all of the names mentioned by Bede are covered in the history book. Of course there is other reference material to which Bede will not have had access. Bede and the history book build up an interesting picture of the time.

I’ve just deleted a paragraph, because my writing on this particular topic was starting to go in a direction that I didn’t want it to. In theory, I should be able to write about what I want. In reality, it’s not as easy as that. That then leads me on to another difficult topic that I’m not going to cover.

Does this mean that I have to stay away from books which cause me difficulties? I don’t think so, it just means I either have to circle around the issue, or avoid it completely. Presumably I’ll reach a point in the future, I will have to write what makes me feel uncomfortable, but that is not the purpose of the current blog. Not yet, anyhow.

This is a picture from part of the route that I normally follow. I have been following this walk for literally years. It’s not that I am bored with the walk. I’m not. But, there are other walks in the town.

There aren’t other walks that I am aware of that have the same set of rewards as this one. There are other walks of course, and they would have different rewards. For a morning walk, my normal route is preferred, so I think it unlikely that I will change it.

What I do need to do is get out at the weekend. I need to put effort in to that. I almost did this weekend, but didn’t quite make it. I’ll have another go next weekend.

I’m still off the view though, i haven’t explored aspects of the “Normal” route. There is loads of history along this walk that i haven’t explored. History is an area of research that I haven’t explored. How to do that? I perhaps need to do some more reading..

Perhaps a subtitle should be; “For a Plan”, with a sub-subtitle of “to plan for a plan” for a blog. I’m not sure I can do that, it kind of changes the purpose of the blog, but on the other hand haven’t I been doing that? For many weeks now, I have been working reasonably close to this list;

• Monday – Book of the Day
• Tuesday – The Waterfront
• Wednesday – Photography
• Thursday – The Weather
• Friday – Writing
• Saturday – The Vlog
• Sunday – Walking

I made it sure that I could also cover random topics. In defining a blog strategy there are two suggestions; to be clear as to the purpose of the blog, to know what it is you want to write about. I’ve now watched quite a few videos on you tube on the topic of blogging. Many of these have been very focussed on blogs relating to running a business. I absolutely am not dong this. The purpose of this blog remains to satisfy my need to write, which it appears has not diminished. As to what to write about, I won’t change the above list. Clearly though the one that is causing me an issue os Vlogging. I have all the tools needed, I lack the material (that’s an excuse – the material is there) and the commitment – I definitely lack that. Time is the major one. Could I create time?

One thing I can do is add some topics; Amateur Radio I really should be covering, Art a bit more often, I’ve enjoyed learning about that, history explicitly, Geology, Microscopy, hunting for micometeorites, and others. I can’t help it, this is what my brain is filled with. It is important s to say that I am a Tyro in all of these topics, and I indulge out of interest.

It appears that Friday, which is writing about writing is turning into a review of the weeks writings. After last weeks review, I found that it was a bit of a pain to go in to each blog, re-read it, make a note that I can write about.

I bought an A5 diary towards the beginng of the year, I haven’t been using it as much as I could, partly because I’ve been writing on Facebook and here. Before I made the 366 commitment I had a paper journal, an A5 moleskin notebook, the diary was supposed to be a gap filler. I now need to use it for that purpose. I’ve been making one sentence notes on what I wrote about over the last week, lets see if it works.

There are then, two ways of looking at this. I can comment on each piece individually which would be OK. But you can look at each piece yourselves, any time, so what good would my re-hashing / re-visiting those posts do? It might be a bit entertaining, and might bring back a few memories but that’s about it. Nothing to carry forward. Having done it, I can forget about it.

What I need to do is look at what I wrote, what went well, what went badly, can I learn anything from the exercise that I can take in to next week. Part of the problem with that is that I can’t be entirely sure as to what next week will bring, so will it be a separate set of problems? In some respects, I wish I had been doing this since the beginning of 366, not towards the end, because by now, I would have worked things out. Unfortunately, my brain can sometimes be a bit slow on the uptake.

I need to identify more sources for my inspiration, the two main activities that have inspired me this week are walking and photography, and both of those have been limited to my standard walk. Variety is, as they say, the spice of life.

Last night I spoke about photographic opportunities. Tonight I’m supposed to write about the weather, according to my self imposed schedule. I think today provided me with an opportunity for a photo that I like and a topic that I’m interested in.

When I left the house for my morning walk, there was a distinct chill in the air, it was padded weather jacket time. I appreciated it. As the mornings progressed it developed into a classic summers day, bright and warm.

I went for a walk down Weevil Lane to Priddys Hard, that involves going over the bridge at Forton Lake. As you can see from the picture there were blue sky and clouds, it was middayish, hot. As I was on the return leg I stopped just after passing under the bridge lifting mechanism and thought I might get a reasonable picture out of it, and it doesn’t look too bad. Here’s the colour version, which do you prefer?

I think I know which one I prefer.

What I wanted to do was to get the boat sat on top of the pole, I couldn’t go back any further without going over the side of the bridge, and I couldn’t move in the right direction to get the boat to line up. As it happens, I still like the picture, very much.

I was trying to create what I thought would possibly be a good opportunity for a picture, but circumstances prevented me from getting the image I wanted, but the compromise above still pleases me.

Whilst unrelated directly to this picture, I’m guessing street photography is a bit like that you need to have the opportunity, or you have to contribute to its creation. As much as I like the idea of street photography, it seems difficult to encounter people at 0600 in situations where taking their picture would result in a good street shot.

I quite like other styles of photography; landscapes both country and city but generally they don’t involve people. How can I like the idea of street, but not even try at being good at it? Opportunity – that’s my excuse. Ooh, that’s pretty pathetic isn’t it.

It’s been a strange day. Mostly I got everything done that I planned. The only trouble was whenever I sat down, I wanted to go to sleep. I sat down at about 2PM, and decided to just give in. I slipped in and out, and finally surfaced at about 4. Even at the weekend, I haven’t done this for a long time. Actually, I view them (afternoon naps ) as a waste of time, but when you can’t help it you just have to indulge.

Apart from that there really hasn’t been very much happening today. I was planning to go for a longer walk, time and napping went against that. I did manage to get to the end of the Haslar Marina Pier Wall . I’ve started taking regular pictures of the Cumbrian Fisher;

The Cumbrian Fisher is the tanker in the background. She’s a bunkering ship, which means that she is there to refuel other vessels. I don’t know if it is Navy or the boats from the Marina’s. Every so often she sails out, presumably to re-stock, I’ve been watching her to see if her plimsole level is rising, I’ve been trying to get her every day. I have no idea why. I just do.

These last couple of days have been so nice that getting out for a walk, even if a short one, it has been very nice. I didn’t manage to get to the cockle pond. That was disappointing and frustrating, but I have every intention of going for my morning walk tomorrow (back to normal so to speak).

OK, I’m going to leave this blog entry as is. I’m not that happy with it, because it is more like a diary entry than what I perceive to be a blog entry. Now, that begs the question what is a normal blog entry? even now, I’m not sure I can answer that question. Certainly, it should inform, entertain, educate in different proportions. I guess sometimes it’s ok to deviate from that path, just ever so slightly. Whatever it is, this is not about me. Well, obviously, this one is. But not normally. Or perhaps it’s all about me – who knows? I’m not even sure I do.

On my walk around Gosport today, I went to a part where I don’t normally go. No particular reason, it’s just not on my route. It’s along the waterfront at Gosport Marina, not Haslar Marina, the other one.

It has been a gloriously sunny day, it was far too nice to stay in. I decided to go along this route because I wanted to see how close I could get to the Cumbrian Fisher

I was walking towards the tower block in one of the earlier pictures, I looked up to see several people out sunning on the balcony For a very brief few seconds, I could have been in any one of a number of ports that I have visited in the past. Wherever you are are in the world, people are getting on with life, and that includes relaxing in the sun on your balcony. And that’s why I asked the question, because for those few seconds I could have been in Puerto Rico, Cannes, Florida, somewhere, even Gosport.