Dot King was whittled from the bone of Cain
With a little drop of poison in the red red blood
She need a way to turn around the bend
She said I want to walk away and start over again
Sometimes a song comes up on the shuffle and you forget how brilliant it is. This is from a song by Tom Waits called Walk Away.
I think I might have mentioned it in a previous blog, but Tom Waits is someone I'd sell a kidney to see. If you're reading this Tom, please tour soon.
My daddy told me, lookin' back
The best friend you'll have is a railroad track
So when I was 13 said, I'm rollin' my own,
And I'm leavin' Missouri and I'm never comin' home
"Bottom of the World".
Not sure if you can stream them or youtube them but I could list wonderful Waits songs all morning.
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Morning. Live blogging from the Oak Road Chemo Suite again. As you can see, eating healthily is important when you're having a course of chemo (ignore the lebkuchen in the background). The coffee is there to keep me awake after another shocking nights sleep.
Actually, on second thoughts the dexamethasone I had this morning ought do that quite nicely.
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Numbers
1487.81 is the number of miles I've put in on my bike this year. Although I didn't have an official target, I was vaguely looking at 1000, I think can be quite pleased with that. My app tells me that's worth 92,348 calories.....not sure accurate that can be, but I'll take it.
Remember how I told you I'd gone (a bit) internets viral? Well 10.1k views is the current count on the picture of Tommy Smith I put up. Small by comparison to proper photogs, but I'm blown away by the reception it got.
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Loyalty Card tart
I generally carry a few loyalty shopping cards with me and accept the lack of privacy as the trade off. I usually buy Tesco petrol, but other than that tend to go whatever supermarket happens to be closer or have what I want. Lidl and Aldi been getting a lot of trade this Christmas....that's the Lebkuchen for you.
Over the years we've clocked up a few Tesco points and used them up almost as soon as we get them, using their 'boost' facility where possible (£2.50 worth of points getting £10 worth of Pizza Express vouchers seems a good deal). However, I've never really found much to spend my Nectar points on....until this year. To make life simple this yuletide, we decided to "buy in" Christmas dinner rather than make it from scratch, and found that Sainsburys offer (along with all supermarkets) this facility. Turkey and gammon joint, Xmas veg, pigs in blankets, stuffing, gravy and sauces, and a snowman cake. I'll report on whether or not it was tasty in a few days time.
There was something quite nice about getting a bill of nearly £100 and actually handing over £5.60 in hard cash (it would have been 60p is Gel hadn't picked up a last minute present for a neighbour).
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I'm not a religious person at all. But I am wont to use words like "blessed" and "pray" every so often. I guess these are words that have meaning beyond faith but have been appropriated and are synonymous with faiths of various sorts. If I do use them, I do so in a secular way. Anyway, I'm sure you get that.
We should think about people who suffer or are having a hard time all year round, but there's something about Christmas - the emotional sliders (good and bad) are pushed up to 11 - that focuses my mind more than at other times.
There are two things that have happened that have focussed my mind recently. Coincidentally both are geographically linked.
The first is the news that there are some poor folks in Cumbria who have been flooded out for the second time in a month. For it to happen at all must be hard, but twice - and I hear they are being warned that a third downpour may happen over Christmas - is heartbreaking.
Here is a good article by George Monbiot about the floods.
In the same part of the country, a friend of ours, A, lost her mum two days ago. Losing a loved one is hard at any time of the year, but emotionally and logistically it is harder this time of the year. Throw in the local problems caused by the flooding and, again, it is heartbreaking.
Even though I (and those close to me) are having a difficult time, I feel very blessed. I'm looking forward to a lovely family Christmas, and am optimistic about what the new years holds.
My thoughts and prayers (secular ones remember) go out to the people of Cumbria, and to A and her family in particular, at what is meant to be a happy, family, time of year.
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Fruitbat
This is the name of a cat that used to live with Rumblestrip.
Fruitbat went missing 6 years ago, but miraculously has turned up. J got a call from a vet who had scanned this little black cat that had turned up on the scrounge at someone's house and found a microchip.
It would appear that Fruity is integrating quite nicely into her new home (J moved at least once between her missing and coming back).
A lovely story, which only because of the date, rather than context, I will call a lovely Christmas story, which has had hardened Leica photographers having a little cry. :0)
Merry Christmas everyone, I hope you have a fine break, and thank you for reading this old tat (nearly) every day.
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