Reading and stuff

I have been reading a great book called The way of the superior man by David Deidas. Some of you chaps may have heard or read it. I think I first heard of it from my friend Cj a few years back and have since been reintroduced to it by my mate Andrew. I wouldn't do it justice trying to explain what it is all about, it's easier to read his introduction for yourselves. I have found it has helped me to cajole some sense out of my brain matter recently and is a great guide to living a superior life as a modern man. It is not fluff, so don't be put off fellas.

My training has been progressing at a steady rate. I'm enjoying lifting at the moment, but I can hear the soft calls of the harlot marathon. She gives up her many miles of pleasurable pain and just when you think you are reaching the pinnacle and have conquered her, she nails your feet to the road with concrete blocks and pours fire into your muscles. If I can find two marathons to run this year then I may do that and factor in an ultra for good luck. But for now it's that time of year when we live by the ancient motto - "sun's out, guns out". 

I best put a short end to this brief post. I'm frazzling in the sun and don't want to look like a lobster when I go to work. Before I sign off I can say I'm "tres" excited about our family and friends turning up over the coming days. It doesn't feel that long since I saw some of them because we have used FaceTime and Skype to stay in touch. Others I can't wait to see because I haven't been in touch with them for months and some I haven't seen in over a year. They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder. I believe that it makes you realise how lucky you are to live a life like this and have close ones that will travel to be with you for your wedding. Whenever I feel gloomy I just remind myself of this and know that our first world problems will be alright ;)

Tom :)

New Year's end

I can't believe where the last two weeks have gone since I last wrote a post. Let's just say I had a Christmas break from writing.

Despite my goal to write everyday it hasn't been as frequent as that, so I'm now creating a new routine. After catching up with my friend Andrew last night I am following his lead and discarding the TV in favour of early nights to bed. This is mainly because I am struggling to get into a 6am wakeup routine in order to write at the start of the day and then hit the gym before work. I have been watching some terrible television, so instead of pickling my brain with the nonsense stories of "RBT" and "Outback Truckers" I will be doing something radical, talking. Well actually talking and reading. Though not at the same time, as I am a man and can't ever concentrate on reading when Catherine (or anyone else) is trying to talk to me. This is not a new thing, I lived without TV for two years at my flat in London and managed to read a lot, talk a fair bit and cook some great meals.

I was going to write something for my book this morning, but I thought I should update my blog as it hasn't had much love in the last two weeks. Writing is after all writing, so it doesn't matter to me whether I am rambling on about things on here or developing the characters of my book. The second new habit I am creating is one of consistency with my scribbling. To get up and write every morning for an hour isn't easy, but it is necessary to develop this skill. There will be times when my blog writing reads badly or is just plain crap. But as I am not writing this for anyone's improvement but my own I don't care! The key to developing in any chosen area, whether it be running, writing or work, is to practice frequently. Obviously it is preferable to practice well, but with writing it is more important to scribble as much as possible down and sort the wheat from the chaff later.

Another piece of writing I have to do is my wedding speech. Although I love to talk I don't necessarily enjoy standing up in front of a large group and speaking. Fortunately I just need to thank people and talk about the beautiful bride, so I should be alright. I think I am supposed to be nervous about the Best Man's speech, but as I know the embarrassments I have gone through I don't think I have anything to worry about. There is certainly nothing as good as my brother's escapades!

Preparations are still in full swing and I have a bit of carpentry to do. Fortunately it is nothing that people are sitting on, so I don't need to employ the german engineering to it. It is merely some signs and a couple of small things, so everybody should be safe on the day!

More than anything I am looking forward to taking (paid) holiday for the first time in years and enjoying spending time with my friends and family from England and from our home here in Sydney. I best get my routine in place before they all arrive!

Tom :)