Dandelion and burdock

I suddenly had a thirst for dandelion and burdock. A drink I haven’t even thought about since childhood.

It was popular in 1980s England. The lemonade man used to sell it. He’d pop around with his lorry full of pop each week. You could get the usual flavours like lemonade, cola, fizzy orange. Then there was the more exotic flavours like American cream soda, and dandelion and burdock.

It tasted like cola in the same way Dr Pepper tastes like Cherry Coke. Similar, but not the same. Something slightly different giving it something extra for the taste buds to savour.

I’ve tried finding a can or bottle with no luck. Friends up north can locate some but I have yet to locate any down here. I’m not giving up though. A taste memory from my childhood needs satiating.

Keeping to schedule

I used to create a comic strip years ago. I had deadlines to meet. A number of strips to create each week. It became tiring, not fun. I eventually stopped. Doing something to a deadline is work. Creativity should be fun. These mini articles, blog entries, brain dumps, or whatever you want to call them are written for me. If anyone else reads them or finds even one of them remotely useful, then great, but essentially I write them for me. There is no schedule I follow, I just write them and submit. The software organises them and releases them one a day. When there are gaps it’s because the softare has caught up with the backlog. Maybe there was nothing I wanted to write about for a bit. And That’s ok. Schedules are for work and I write for fun.

As long as you can

I was watching the classic movie Gleaming the Cube starring Christian Slater as a skateboarder. It’s a cool movie, you should check it out if you haven’t already*. When I first watched it I wanted an underground den like his friend in the movie.

I learned much later that the actual skateboarding was performed by Tony Hawks. I saw Tony on YouTube recently trying to perform one of his old tricks. He was in his 50s.

This got me thinking.

How long can you do something that you loved doing when you were young, but becomes harder as you age, or is considered not something one does when older, such as skateboarding?

My answer: As long as you can!

If you love something and it brings you joy, why not keep on doing it regardless of what others think? Keep on doing it until your body and mind will no longer let you. Ollie that skateboard, ride that BMX, surf the waves, rollerblade, skoot, and do whatever floats your boat until you no longer can.

Not everything is forever, so enjoy it as long as you can.

*Also check out Pump up the Volume.

You don’t know until you ask

You don’t know until you ask. That was advice from my mother, and her mother. Yet I’m always afraid to ask. What if they say no? Well, that is always a possibility. It’s a 50-50 chance. Yes or no.

So I’ve started asking. You never know, right? And so far the odds have been good. It’s mostly a yes, or an ok if. The latter requiring something to get it to a yes. Never anything that is much effort. It’s rarely been a no.

So now I ask. Politely of course. As you never know until you ask.

Being a picky completionist

I’m being a picky completionist. I don’t complete everything. I used to. But I soon found that life can get in the way, and it’s way shorter than you think.

Nowadays I complete what I enjoy. The rest can stay unfinished. I may return to it at a later date to pick at it, to play with it a little, to savour it for a moment. But essentially if I’m not fully enjoying it I’ll leave it unfinished.

And I’m ok with that.

If I am fully enjoying something then I’ll complete it. Depending on how much I’m enjoying it, and my level of willpower at the time, I’ll devour it, or ration myself. It will depend on the quantity I know is available. This applies to books, TV shows and movies, video games, and music.

I tend to be a picky completionist.

Finding something to read

Finding something to read can be hard. If fiction, it has to entertain me, and within the first few chapters. After that I struggle. I’ll make it to maybe chapter 7, then I’ll bin the book. Well, give it to charity. For non-fiction if it doesn’t grip me in the first few chapters I’ll flick through it looking for any nuggets of wisdom. I may even skeed it. A personal blend of skim and speed reading. Skimming through the book speed reading the bits I find interesting, if any.

It’s a form of ADHD, but one born out of the modern world. A mixture of information overload and impatience. I am old enough now to have calculated how many books I can read in my remaining lifetime given my age and the available leisure time that I am happy to dedicate to reading. The number is not as high as I would like it to be, so I tend to be picky. If the book isn’t well written I’ll quickly move on. I donate a lot of books to charity.

I listen to podcasts while I multitask. If I hear a book recommendation that sounds interesting, I’ll make a note of it. Same goes for recommendations from friends, colleagues, TV, radio, and other literature. I have a reading wishlist and occasionally I’ll buy when the price is low. I never sell, I shelve or donate.

I used to have two or three books on the go, max. Never the same subject and only one fiction. Otherwise I’ll get literature crossover. At the time of writing I have eight books I’m reading. None are gripping. I’m either skeeding or taking forever to get through them. It started at three, but then I was bored and gave another from my to read pile a chance. It failed so I tried another, and another. Now there’s eight. At what point do you admit you have a problem?

I do love to read. But as I get older, finding something good to read gets harder.

Writing just for fun

I like writing just for fun.
This is practice for me.
I don’t profess to be a good writer.
I’m self taught.
It shows.
I’m not making any money doing this.
It’s a sort of digital therapy.
I’m writing just for fun.
And practice.
I didn’t do well in language and writing at school.
But I like words.
And I like reading.
Words can be calming.
When not angry words.
Words can help you make sense of things.
To understand something well, explain it to others.
With words.
Writing just for fun.

When to let something go

Something that you’ve built up over time. Nurtured, put your blood sweat and tears into it. You’re done all you can with it, and now others are ready to take it on, to run with it, to take it further.

Yet you are not sure you are quite ready to let it go. To let it be someone else’s baby, their project, not yours.

Is it safe to leave it in their hands? Will it thrive without you?

It’s hard to let something go that you’ve built up. That You’ve put so much of you into. But maybe it’s time to take a step back and see if it can survive without you. Something You’ve created, and put out into this world.

Knowing when it’s time to let something go.

There needing to be a purpose

I’ve been thinking about my need for there to be a purpose.

If I can’t see how something will help me in my career or goals in life then I keep putting it off, never doing it. Why? Why not do something just for the fun of it, or because you want to? Does there need to be a reason, a purpose, a part of a bigger plan?

You can just enjoy something because it’s fun. It makes you happy. No matter how temporary. There doesn’t need to be a purpose. You don’t have to have a reason that serves something bigger. It can just be this one thing that doesn’t improve your skills, up your experience level, gain you a certificate, or earn you a reward. You can do it just because you wanted to.

You don’t always need a purpose.