The End of the Beard is Nigh

I'm beginning to realise that I love posting on here. I'm not sure why but... its addictive.

Well the first thing to note is that I have just looked in the mirror and seen my face, sans hair, for the first time in about 4 weeks. Why you may ask? Well this is because I have removed the strange musketeer type beard that has adorned my ugly mug for so long. And I have to say its nice. Sure I'm going to miss the reactions on peoples faces when they see me, and, i'm going to look 12 from now on in. But i'm loving not having that itchy feeling, not too mention it was all getting a bit too long and out of control. So ladies and gents I have removed the beard. Ahh...

Secondly then I've just been to CU which was ok. Met a few freshers and got to catch up with some people - most notably a guy called Ola, who is a dude - which was ace. I was actually really touched, and surprised, by Ola's reaction to seeing me. I was really honoured by it and I hope I'll be able to hang out with him more this year. Also got to spend some quality time with the Agape guys which was great. I love (see - a Brit showing emotion. Wow!) you guys. So much fun - even if I do look like the uncomfortable Brit sat in the corner. Nice...

And finally then today has been another day of feeling like a student who shouldn't be a student any more. If that makes sense? Ha. Well if it doesent I can try and explain it a bit better in person.Anyway...

Eric Clapton is great...

Eric Clapton is great. Well some of his songs are good anyway. I'm listening to his MTV: Unplugged album. Amazing guitar playing. Oh and I like this picture - I took it out of the boy Danny's window this morning.

I've been thining about what to write here for a wee while, but, even with considerable amounts of thinking time invested, i've decided to stump for a simple 'what have I been up to' account. So... What have I been up to?

Well, to be honest, this week has been a time of getting back to reality - at least in terms of university. On Monday, for example, I paid my tuition fees which was an experience in itself. In order to pay the Uni, you are required to stand in line for upwards of an hour with what is quite easily one of the most diverse, and most international, groups of people you will come across anywhere. It really is something to behold, though I must add here that I like this particular part of paying tuition fees. Its fun to know that you are surrounded by people from almost every continent on the planet.

However, there are of course less enthralling aspects - one of them being the massive uncertainty that goes with working out what que you should be standing in (there are 3, each for a different method of payment - though it should be noted you aren't really informed which line is which), knowing full well that if you get to the desk in the wrong line you will be consigned to the back of the correct que for another hour. Needless to say I was in the wrong que, but the delightful, nay wonderful lady on the desk recognised my inner depression and let me pay. For this i am extremely thankful.

Today I went into Uni again, this time to meet with my supervisor who has returned to Liverpool after a year on sabbatical in Belfast. And I was a little nervous beforehand. I hadn't met up with her for about 4-5months and I'm a little behind in my scheduled work. But it was actually a very good meeting. I am apparently doing well, working steadily enough and am thinking along the right lines re the completion of my thesis. I have also been told that I may be able to teach a seminar group next semester. Ha!

Otherwise the last few days have been an amazing time of fellowship and friendship for which I am as ever grateful.

Trees...

Ok so where does this look like to you? Personally it reminds me of France (even though i've not really been to France, save for a good ten hours on a coach to Germany). But no... This is Liverpool. Queens Drive to be specific - just before it runs into Sefton Park. This is one of my favourite parts of Liverpool. I took this pic yesterday when I was out with Brit (though she has a much better one on her camera) and I like it.

Right. Time to be bit more productive somewhere else. But please read the post below. This is more a picture post than anything else. Ok adios.

A storm brewing...

I love this picture. I took it about this time last year up in Yorkshire, and it just captures all the power and menace you get with a storm. Ok so its only a meagre British storm but still. Look at that weather front heading in.

I could ramble on for a while but I love the contrast where the two parts of the storm meet. Dark and gloomy on all sides and then a few tiny breaches allowing the sunlight and blue sky to shine through. Quality.

But enough about the picture. So how are you? Good I hope. I've had a pretty grand week since I last posted. I spent Thursday giving our German family friend a tour of Liverpool which was cool. Its bizzare but even though I've lived here for over four years, and, having been coming to Liverpool since I was a tiny baby, there are still parts of this city I don't really know at all or forget about in my day to day business. As part of the tour we spent a good bit of time looking around Sefton Park and then went up the Anglican Cathedral Tower. And up there it is breathtaking. You have views right over the city, the Wirral, the Mersey, and even over to Wales and the Pennines. Tis marvellous. We also checked out the Museum of Liverpool Life down by the docks which was actually pretty cool - well its not everyday you'll find yourself looking at Roman artefacts in Merseyside. So a good day.

Since then well I had the chance to spend some quality time with a good mate of mine on Friday. Its amazing how a few hours spent discussing matters (preferably with a focus on the Lord) can really help give you and others a focus on a situation. Good stuff.

After that I headed over to a rather spiffing party with the Agape guys, and it was great. I really do love hanging out with you guys. You are all great. I guess I can be annoying and frustrating with all my mick taking but I really do appreciate the fellowship I have with y'all. Thankyou.

And on Saturday it was cool too. Ok, so this time it was a little different in that me and Danny headed over to see what the craic was having heard of a toilet disaster at the girls house. But after the torrents of water had ceased flowing from the bathroom into the dining room it was a great day. You Americanos are class, splendid, spiffing, marvellous people and I feel honoured to know you.

Back at home

Well hello there. How are you? Good you say? Well that’s grand. Thanks for taking the time to read this blog at this moment in time. Tis appreciated.

So to begin. I’m at home again. Back in the land of sunny St. Helens. And its fun. I’m enjoying seeing my parents, taking in the less hectic life of Liverpool and having my car. Plus we have a family friend from Germany staying over for a few weeks so its been fun to catch up and see them while they are over. Splendid.

But. Now you knew that was coming right? Anyway I digress.. But. I’m missing that hectic life in Liverpool. I love being here at home. I love being with my parents, seeing old friends etc. But my heart is in Liverpool. Sure there maybe times when I want to get away from the stresses and strains of living with seven people, or just let out a loud and prolonged yell in frustration about, well a host of things. Yet even then, even under pressure, my heart lies (At least for the moment) in Liverpool.

I don’t expect that to always be the case, and, as a friend of mine reminded me last year, a wise person is someone who realises that nothing - nothing - in life is wasted. However, tonight, as I sat in the cinema, I was struck by the fact that I really did want to be hanging out with peep’s in Liverpool. Interesting.

On a lighter note I just went to watch Pride and Prejudice and… and… it was good. As in very good. For a bloke that can sometimes be a hard thing to admit, but hey. P and P is a great story – very cleverly written, and some fantastic characters. The film was set in Derbyshire so the scenery was great, and… well Kiera Knightley is a very nice lass. Ha…

Ok well that’s it folks. I need to go and have a time with the Lord methinks, so I will catch you later.

Changing the guard....

If you where to head to Buckingham Palace sometime the chances are you would find yourself, along with many other touristy types, watching the changing of the palace guard. Now you may be wondering where it is that i'm going with this but hang-fire for a sec.

Today has been a metaphorical changing of the guard day here in the world of Liverpool studentdom. To begin with I went for a walk this afternoon and my route happened to take me past two of the big Liverpool University halls of residence. These are the places of legend to all those who count themselves as Liverpool alumni, be they past or present. Anyway, my walk coincided with the the first day of Freshers Week, the day infact when both of these halls fill to the rafters with 18 year olds... And... I felt OLD. Just walking past all those confused and often terrified kids... I am grateful that I am way, way passed it all.

When I got back to my house I came across the second changing of the guard. Yaqi, our temporary Chinese housemate left today to enter his new digs after having been with us for over three months. And it was kind of sad. He's become part of the house and its a shame to see him go... But still time moves on a pace.

The last and final part of the changing of the guard for today came from me heading to CU for a Prayer and Praise meeting. And here I found the guys who were freshers when i was entering the last year of my Undergraduate degree leading the meeting. And again I felt OLD. I'm intrigued to see how God will lead my in CU type things as I feel like I should still go to the main meetings, but when I'm there I don't feel as if I have a readily obvious role. That said I had some fanatastic talks with people tonight - swapping testimonies etc, and I felt that God was showing me ways in which I can serve him.

Marvellous

Colin the Conker

Well as i'm writing, yet another week has come to a close. Where does all the time go? I mean - really - where does time go? Just the other week I was thinking that the entire University summer (so thats June, July and August folks) has just blurred into one big blurry thing. Not the best use of language there, but still. Where does time go?

Anyway I really just want to try and sum up the week in this little post. To be honest its been a good one, if not a little odd.

On the good side then I got to spend some quality time with Brit, and also the new team (aka KC, Kevin, Stephanie, Angie, Danny), on Sunday and also Wednesday and Friday. And i'm incredibly thankful for this. I really like the new guys already and i'm looking forward to getting to know them this year, God willing. And of course its great, nay marvellous, to hang out with Brit, Toth and Ryan. You guys are class.

Still on the good side I've really been looking to grow in my faith and to seek the Lord recently, in a way that I haven't been so good at over the last few months. And when I do seek His will and teachings its been fantastic. The grace of the Lord is supreme and endless, and i am both blessed and grateful.

Slightly lower on the scale of goodness then I bought an amazing cd yesterday. Its is The Bends by Radiohead and it is fantastic. Bizarrely it was released 11 years ago and yet I'm only just coming across it now, but, I love it with a great deal of enthusiasm.

And as for the oddness, then to start I found that mid-week I was finding it hard going with the isolation that is effectively part of my course. But, even here, the Lord is sovereign and when I realised this things became a lot less stressful.

But still more oddity. Sadly I can't really go into detail on this issue as its a personal matter for a old friend of mine, but on Thursday I was approached for advice in a situation that was both unusal and very, very odd for me. But hey - makes life interesting.

Still its been a grand week - a week in which I learnt of 'Brutus the Buckeye' no less. 'Brutus' is of course the nutty mascot of THE (Thats for you Brit) Ohio State University Football team. And I find him most amusing. And I've renamed him 'Colin the Conker'.

Cricket: Take Three

I love this picture. And therefore I'm positing it. The victorious England cricket teams in Trafalgar Square - men and women.

Cricket: Take Two

England (admittedly inspite of my pessimism) have just beaten Australia to win the Ashes trophy. This is marvellous, wonderful, sublime stuff. And this picture is what its all been about. All five, five-day matches. One tiny trophy with some burnt wood in it and two great sporting rivals.

Return of the Americanos...

Well. At the moment theres only one thing I'd really like to note - the return of those darned crazy people known as the Americans. Or indeed Agape. The new team arrived on Thursday (and Friday) and its great to have them back around, especially Brit, Sarah and Ryan. Nice... I have honestly been walking around with a great big beaming smile on my face for the last few days. Its great to have you back guys.

Hmm... Ok, well maybe theres two things to note. A good friend recently gave me a book entitled The Practice of the Presence of God written by a French monk called Brother Lawrence. Now its taken me a while to really get into this book (translation: to actually read it) because of a number of reasons. But it is a rather splendid book. Here is a small extract of one of the chapters (bearing in mind this is a few hundred years old) that I love:

'It is only necessary to realise that God is initmately present within us, to turn at every moment to him and ask for his help, recognise his will in all things doubtful, and to do well all that which we clearly see he requires of us, offering what we do to him before we do it, and giving thanks for having done it afterwards. In this unbroken communion one is continually preoccupied with praising, worshipping and loving God for his infinite acts of loving-kindness and perfection.' (Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God (St. Ives, 1996), pp. 28-29.)

Red Rose of Lancashire

So another post in quick succession. Ostensibly it is to post this picture, and more importantly what it shows. This is the Rose of Lancashire, the traditional symbol of the county that I would call my home. Think of it as my home state if you will. Ok so I live in Merseyside in reality but until 30 years ago Merseyside was Lancashire and had been for somewhere close on 800 years. So its Lancashire to me. I thought i'd post it given all that stuff about being a true Lancashire lad at the top of the blog.

As a wee side note I'd just like to say how amazing it is that we can go from being on top of the world and as confident as anything to feeling trully humbled for what seems like no reason at all.

Last night I went to sleep on a high, having just come off the back of 3 or 4 great days being back in Liverpool. This morning for no real reason I felt low and humbled. Odd.

Weddings and all that...

Other than immersing myself in the news (see below), i've been quite busy of late. I returned to Liverpool on Thursday (having had a pretty hectic week at home in the run up) with a whirlwind of a day. Between multiple trips to supermarkets, Ikea, and numerous runs in my car to Liverpool carting back my stuff, I was pretty shattered by the end of the day.

On Friday I ventured into Uni for some pretty unexciting (infact almost depressing) admin type jobs such as paying library fines, and trying to find out exactly how much money I will have to pay Liverpool University this year for the privillege of teaching myself. Fun, fun, fun!!

Friday evening was better though. I had the chance to briefly catch up with my mate Ryan, before heading off to catch a cool film, called, Crash. Intelligent, thought provoking and highly enjoyable.

On Saturday I frequented another wedding, that of my friends Phil and Anna, and it was great. Fantastic infact. It was amazing to see them married finally (its been a long time coming folks) and the day itself was a fantastic time of fellowship. Very enjoyable, though also very tiring. There should be some pictures at the top of this post.

Sunday was in essence simply a church day but again it was great. Amazing fellowship and a splendid day all in all. I even managed to finally catch up with Ryan properly over a good pint after a few days of trying which was good.

Today I've been brought down to earth a little, trying to sort out yet more of those administration tasks. But again its been a good day, particularly this evening which included me paying a visit to my mate Foz (he also got married recently - Phew!!! Lots, and lots, and lots of weddings) who has just returned from his medical elective in Cambodia. He regailed me and my housemate Damien with many, many tales of Cambodia. Splendid.

One downside to the last few days is that I've been pretty shocking in communicating with some of my more long distance friends. And for that i feel pretty useless. Anyway theres time to try and improve. Laters...

What a wonderful world....

Good morning! So here I am at 1 57 am (at least thats when i've started) writing in my blog. Thinking about it, I reckon I haven't gone to bed before 2 am for way over a month now. It seems that I have well and trully returned to my old Undergraduate habits, except back then I was a die-hard student, reading and writing essays to the silly hours of the morning. Nowadays I'm more likely to be found e-mailing, blogging or reading a Bill Bryson book I've already read a good 3 or 4 times but love so, so much that I'm devouring it again. Anyway random train of thought for you there.

To get back to this particular post I've been immersing myself in newspapers of late, picking my way through endless numbers of articles, columns, editorials, reporters blogs, and photos of the horrific events in New Orleans. And I must say that I sit open mouthed when considering it all. On the one hand the tragedy is simply staggering on its scale. An American commentator was discussing the situation on the BBC news yesterday and he put the crisis in a British perspective, comparing New Orleans with Manchester in its size for example, and this just put the Hurricane's devastation in perspective.

On the other hand though its the way the crisis has been handled thats really struck me. Now please don't misunderstand me here - if Britain was ever to face this kind of a disaster I am under no illusion that we, or infact the Government, would be any better placed to handle the situation (The Great Irish Famine being a good historical example of such a poorly handled crisis). But as part of a generation that has grown up looking to America as almost the 'Golden' nation its shocking to see one of its great cities almost disintegrate into chaos.

I hope and pray that the situation returns to some form of normality soon. Oh and if you are British and are feeling a tad helpless the British Red Cross is taking donations to pass on to the American Red Cross.

All of this news though has made me feel a tad low, and its this that brings me to the title of my post. I've been listening to a Louis Armstrong cd today and it has one of my favourite songs on it named 'What A Wonderful World' and it has just helped me to appreciate that this world we live in, though filled with tragedy, is a wonderful world and one that we should be immensly thankful for.

Thoughts for the day...

So todays post will be, as suggested in the title, more of a random collection of my thoughts for the day rather than a straightforward 'blog with a purpose'. And so it begins...

First off: Tragedy. More specifically the fact that the world is seemingly teeming with it at the mo. Or at least its more readily obvious to me personnally at this time.

One the one hand there is current tragedy. First off the hurricane which has annhilated the Gulf states of the US and is looking like being one of the worst disasters to strike the US in its history. And with every news report I see, more and more death and destruction. Trully frightening.. Secondly the stampede in Iraq which has killed some 1,000 people. Again terrifying.

And then, there is past tragedy. I happended to come across a documentary last night on BBC 2 named 'The Children of Beslan'. Essentially this was a programme interviewing the surviving children of the Beslan siege of 2004. Beslan, if you will remember, was a tiny Russian town near war-torn Chechnya, that became the centre of the world's attention for all the wrong reasons. Specifically a group of Chechen terrorists captured and held hostage hundreds of people in the local school, the age range of the hostages being anything from 4 to 84. And then, after bombs were detonated and fierce gun battles erupted, some 300 people lost their lives, many of them small children. Those children who survived spent the program re-living their experiences and it was tragic and chilling and... just sad.

And then to round off the evening I ended up watching another documentary, this time about the UN General who led a tiny number of UN forces during the Rwandan genocide. The programme centered on re-living the harrowing and horrendous slaughter through the eyes of the General, a man who felt he was betrayed by the UN and the Western powers (I would say with considerable justification) and by the end I just wanted to cry. Trully awful...

Secondly: Mates. My mates. I went to the pub with one of them tonight and we ended up talking in-depth about two other mutual friends who, since a New Years party this year, have, well lets say they have issues with each other. And its pretty bad - their issues have divided a group of friends that have been close throughout high school and beyond. As such it has prompted a lot of discussion on how we as a group of friends can rectify the situation. But tonight, as my mate waffled on at length, it suddenly dawned on me that the only solution to the problem is Christ. Thats it. The only true solution. And yet I'm too much of a coward to do anything about it.

Thirdly: Rain. I like the rain. I mean not in a 'I want to stand outside in the rain for hours on end' sense, and I have an equal liking for the sun. But I do appreciate the benefits falling water can bring to our world. For one it brings (at least in the UK) a seemingly endless supply of fresh water. Splendid!! Secondly, for me personnally, it brings relief from hot, muggy days (something my body finds difficult to cope with), and it can also allow me to feel like an 8 year old again. Let me explaing briefly - when you're 8 and playing with your mates its perfectly acceptable to go outside in the rain and mess around, have a laugh etc. But when you 'grow up' and reach adulthood to go out into the rain when you don't need to is considered a sign of being 'irresponsible' or 'insane'. However I beg to differ. Today I went for a walk in the rain and it was wonderful. I wouldn't do it again for a while (i'm not that crazy) but it was fun.