Happily Imperfect

A weekly recap of the articles and posts I’ve read that I think are worth your time. Pentax ME – Down the Road — Some lovely photos, but the camera itself is one my Dad had (I’m 98% sure). I can FEEL it, I can HEAR it. Ohhh aren’t memories odd things. Apple CEO Tim Cook’s Legacy Is Dull Products And Spineless Capitulation — Hard to disagree with any of this. Home | A Concrete Garden — A very low-tech website that may not be there when you visit, if it’s not been sunny enough… SlashFriends |…

Did you sing along to anything today? Describe the moment. My son, 4, has discovered the movie Madagascar. Which is fine because the endless repeats of Bluey (which I dearly love) are starting to grate a little. My memories of this song take me back to my early 20s, the local nightclub, the “everyone back to ours” culture (our flat was closest to the club), of waking up to discover who had fallen asleep on the living room floor. And hangovers. But mostly dancing, of buying into the repetition,…

What song do you wish you had written? Happy Birthday? Bohemian Rhapsody? Lyrics is where my brain focuses, which takes me to Cohen, Garvey, McCartney, Swift, Bush… But meaning matters and this song is such a gentle exploration of how beautiful life is if we pause and look around, literally stop and smell the flowers. There is so much negativity and badness pushed at us through mainstream and social media, it’s nice to be reminded of how lucky we are and how such simple pleasures are right…

I got an intriguing email last night, some of you may have received one too. It was from Oleh Providnyk who said he’d added my site to his new blog map Pixel Area. OK, but what is Pixel Area? Pixel Area is a 100×100 coordinate grid with room for 10,000 websites. Each pixel belongs to a real person and links to whatever they have online: a blog, a project, or just a small site they made. You pick an empty spot, choose a color, add a short description, and visitors find you by wandering around…

Share a song that changed your perspective on music. First question I have to ask myself is, what is my perspective on music, and has it ever changed? I grew up with music, music playing in the kitchen, the radio or cassettes in the car, the LPs in the living room, the piano, my Dad’s guitar and harmonica. I remember my first CD, I remember my introduction to MiniDisc, and my fascination with Napster and then Spotify (the choice!) although I’m now happily in the Apple Music world. But I don’t…

As I have mentioned, I rarely see things completely one way or another. Whether we like it or not we are multitudes and nuance is always required. I can’t think of a single topic where this doesn’t hold true (I’m sure there is, I just can’t think of one right now). And then I read this post which is very clear and, in my opinion, very closed to nuance, and as an owner of a doorbell cam (Eufy (Anker) not Ring) I feel compelled to respond. I do not expect to change Ava’s thought process on this…

Think back to your childhood: What is your earliest music memory? Share that song and your story! Atarah’s Band is my earliest wholly music focussed memory. A flautist who took an orchestra on tour with a show aimed at kids. I can’t remember much more than a flamed hair woman, and being invited up to pick a percussion instrument to play. All very vague, it was the late 70s and whilst music was a constant in our house —my piano lessons were about to start— this visit to Kelvinhall, this…

/pôrt-măn′tō, pôrt″măn-tō′/ nounA word formed by merging the sounds and meanings of two different words, as _chortle,_from chuckle and snort. I love a good portmanteau —brunch is my favourite (spork a close second). Some are clever —Portmanteau is a portmanteau! Some we forget started out as individual words —Pokémon, sitcom, velcro. Some don’t really work —reflexpletive (feels a bit forced, no?) And some of them give me the ick, the dry heaves, every time I see them. I know it’s just words,…

What song makes you feel like anything is possible? Apparently they play this at my son’s school. He’s in his 3rd week, loving it, and even got an award already (the cynic in me is rolling his eyes as so did 20 other kids for various things, the father in me is proud). My son is, like me, not a fan of being centre stage, so I laughed when I saw the photo of all the award winners , all smiles for the camera, holding their certificates proudly with my beautiful son standing centre middle looking…

One thing I’ve learned in finishing my 100 days challenge was the power of small changes. On the whole I didn’t do all that much different. Sure I pushed myself to exercise more but most times that was just a walk in the evening —brisker than a stroll— with my favourite music playing. I’ve always enjoyed walking around listening to music, letting my thoughts roam. It’s almost meditative, something I didn’t even realise when it started to become an occasional habit back in my late teens. I’ve…

Product: Gordon McLeanModel: GM-01Manufacturer: Lynda & Ian McLeanCountry of origin: ScotlandYear of manufacture: 1973Recommended operating environment: Somewhere with coffee, books, music and access to the outdoors. Before use Please ensure Gordon has had sufficient sleep. This is not a suggestion. It is a requirement. Coffee should be provided shortly afterwards. Snacks are optional but strongly recommended. Failure to follow these instructions may result in reduced performance, mild…

What’s your favorite song about moving forward? What’s Next? The refrain commonly heard in The West Wing has always sat well with me, always seemed like a good way to focus on what’s ahead. Of course that’s not always the best thing, ignoring your past means you don’t learn from mistakes, don’t find ways to grow, and likely lose out on more opportunities for a better future version of yourself. But that focus on what’s next, on moving, has helped me through some dark times, some difficult…

The Dolly Parton song that means the most to you. When I was 16 I joined the local Hospital Radio team (Hospital Radio Lennox). We broadcast every evening, and at the weekends. It was an eye opener in terms of exposure to the hospital environment —I will not hear a bad word about nurses from anyone!— and in my growing enthusiasm for music. We had a variety of shows and whilst the bulk of my first year or so was spent on the request shows —where we’d wander the wards and gather requests and…

A weekly recap of the articles and posts I’ve read that I think are worth your time. Re-fueling while cycling made all the difference — After-hours engineering — A good lesson if you are getting into cycling as a hobby-ist. However I do have questions. What’s so bad about gels etc? And why does someone write a post asking for a response and then not have any way to to respond to them? Comments? Reply by email? Nope. So, into the ether this goes… Leisure as a Dream Job – by Madison Huizinga — I…

Today marks Day 100. Overall I’m happy with how it went. I moved enough everyday to mark is as “complete”, and I’ve lost about 7.5kg (plateau’d a bit as I’ve mentioned). The benefits are the adjustment of routine, building better habits, being more conscious of why I think I feel hungry (usually boredom or procrastination) and acting more appropriately. I have still had a couple of days without an exercise activity (yesterday I cut the grass and trimmed the hedges), we’ve still had pizza,…

What song makes you feel like you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be? I am, right now, sitting on the sofa. My best friend, the person who sees me, who gets me, is on the chair. Our son is playing on the floor. When I’m away from them, as I was on Thursday night, I miss them terribly. I am supposed to be here. “Such Great Heights” by The Postal Service Listen on Apple Music Your browser does not support the audio element. Listen to Gordon McLean's Apple Music playlist View original post on…

Share a song that feels like it’s giving you permission to feel everything. I have a melancholy side. I’ve been through depression. It still sits in the background making me question everything. I now know that I don’t need permission to have feelings and emotions. I know that many people share these thoughts, I am not alone, I am not that unique. Occasionally I want to slip away from the world to a quiet place and just … be. No pressures, no thoughts, just a moment of existing. “The Other…

What’s your favorite song about patience? I am not patient. I am more patient than I used to be for sure, but my default is not to wait, is to do the thing. Unless there is thinking involved, in which case I have a tendency to over think things. I’m also better at NOT doing that too. A lot of my patience has been found through meditation, and learning to be in the moment and, if that’s a struggle, finding a way to accept that things will come when they come. Tomorrow is always a new day. It all…

Watching this movie tonight. Spielberg, Hanks, DiCaprio, Williams soundtrack, hard not to fault. What’s struck me is the other actors, Amy Adams, Jennifer Garner, Ellen Pompeo, Martin Sheen, Elizabeth Banks, all of whom I’d totally forgotten. What a fun movie, sometimes it’s nice just to kick back and chill out. Thanks for reading and keeping RSS alive. Visit my site for more.

Emotions are weird things. Dolly Parton’s death was very sad, not seen a single bad word about her, a life lived with love, empathy, and compassion. Aspiring. Tim Curry’s death was also sad, but having been in decreasing physical condition after his stroke, wheelchair bound, there will likely be a sense of sad relief, as I had with my Mum and Dad when they passed. I am still struck by how these celebrity deaths impact me. I wasn’t a massive fan of either, but aware of (and an admirer of) their…

Share a song that captures the feeling of being proud. I have a hard time being proud of myself. I tend to let achievements pass without acknowledging them. But sometimes just getting through is reason to be proud, just making it to the next day. It’s something many take for granted, but I think is a good enough reason to have pride in. Life can be so hard, so take the time to celebrate it each day, and have pride in yourself. You are still standing! “I'm Still Standing” by Elton John Listen on…

What’s a song you’d want to hear while stargazing? I’ve always been mildly fascinated with space, with the moon, with the wonder of the stars. I can’t recall where it started, or when, but as my life settled down I started to look up more and more often. One particular night, not long after my Dad died, I remember being outside with the dogs. It was a crisp cloudless autumn night, a chill in the air, and above me the moon was large, not quite full, and I stood there for a while just looking up.…

I’ve journaled in Day One for about 15 years now. Over that time I’ve tried many different approaches; focusing on gratitude (3 things that sparked joy), a Today I Will/How Was Today? duo entries system, through to a return to my preferred brain dump approach. It took me a long time to get to a point that I am comfortable in my journal and not trying to force my thinking into a certain structure. Some days I write a lot, some days I write little. Some days I write more than entry, most days I…

It’s the start of the school year —our first, as Jack is in Primary One— and we’ve received an email from the school outlining policies, teaching plans, and the like. The email included two PDFs, one was the letter with the aforementioned details, the second was a list of all the major events to look out for through the school year —sports day, school photo day, and the like. There was around 40 different items to add to our (shared) calendars. An onerous task for a human but, hello ChatGPT,…

I’ve been blogging since 1999 so my workflow is a very finely honed precision process. Not. I do have one, of sorts, and it has changed many times over the years. When I decided to refocus on my blog, I took the time to figure out the best way to get thoughts into words, and those words onto my blog. The inspirations My ideas don’t come from one source, they come from RSS feeds, news articles, conversations, or just thoughts that occur to me throughout the day. This post was inspired by Michael…

What song makes you want to forgive someone? After my first divorce I entered what I call my discovery phase. I lived life hard, tried many different things in an effort to better understand who I was. I had a girlfriend, and then two —polyamory— and it was hard. It could’ve been easier if I’d been more true to myself, and if I’d stepped back a little from the life I was living but, that’s the thing about life, when you are IN it, you can’t see the shape of it, can’t see where it’s dragging…

I don’t tend to follow the work of an author, whilst I read my fair share of novels (25-30 a year), I switch up between various categories as I’m more interested in the wordsmithery, the imagery, and the storytelling of a novel than the genre. I’m as happy reading a ‘beach book’ —typically a police crime thriller— as I am the latest Booker Prize winner (apart from The Sellout, I just couldn’t get into it, must try again sometime!). I enjoy sci-fi, and as a young teenager spent a long time in…

What’s your favorite song about hope? You can picture the footage, hand held black and white shots of a teeming throng of young women, screaming, jumping up and down, hands in their hair, completely out of control and under the thrall of the new fangled rock music that was starting to impact the lives of, well, all of us. It’s the ’60s, and The Beatles have arrived. My Mum was one such young woman, through her college years, with her college friends, picking their favourites (hers was Paul),…

A weekly recap of the articles and posts I’ve read that I think are worth your time. PSA: Know What You’re Doing | The Art of Manliness — Amen to this. I’d also add an addendum around being ready to finish your transaction as well. The number of people who can’t figure out how to LEAVE a checkout, or queue, baffles me. I guess I’m a high-agency kinda guy then. As the wildfires burned · thega.me.uk — The Cairngorms fire is still smouldering. My family were evacuated from their home due to it. A…

Share a song that perfectly captures longing. The early days of relationships are wonderful things, all that new relationship energy in your system, spending as much time soaking up this new person, learning them, hearing them, feeling them, touching them, and all the time just wanting more and more and more. But life continues, jobs are needed, so you have hours without them and, from the exalted high you are experiencing with them, the crashing low when they aren’t around can feel so deep…