So much to learn…

Last night was “Queen Night” on the “X” Factor and it got me thinking again about how much in life that seems just perfectly natural to me means absolutely nothing to Amanda because she “wasn’t there”.

So here is a list of some things, people, events etc that are just a normal part of life to me but will need explaining to Amanda…..

Queen Freddy Mercury (God rest you Freddie) ABBA The Beatles the lunar landings Falklands War World War II (the European part) the Normandy beaches The Battle of Britain Remembrance Sunday New Year (Western as opposed to Chinese) Top Gear Top Gun Top of the Pops “Ghost” (I’m looking forward to explaining some of that…) Heaven Can Wait (…. have I got a morbid streak ?) Blondie J J Cale Love Actually Last of the Summer Wine Porridge The Two Ronnies Monty Python (God help me !……) the Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy (… and again !) Slartibartfast (well, one has to start somewhere ) wedding receptions summer holidays I’m ****ing Matt Damon Trevor Senior, Jimmy Quinn, Martin Hicks, et al… Elm Park Reading 2 – Brighton 0 Ally McBeal (spot the link between the last two ! ) Maggie Thatcher (where am I going with this ? …..) Radio Luxembourg The Ashes the Barmy Army Lord’s (Mecca) bunking off work to go to Chesterfield to see Middlesex play, only to find you get caught in a close-up on tv with a tinny in your hand ….. ! I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue Humph Samantha Mornington Crescent (there’s an easy one, won’t take long…) The Commonwealth “Dr. Livingstone, I presume ?” India The whole of the Roman Empire, and everything it has meant to everyone in the Western world ever since……. Henry VIII Blackadder Manuel from Fawlty Towers the Eurovision Song Contest (I don’t even understand that myself !) Wogan Galway Bay the old Wembley Stadium American Football Snow (although actually, Amanda spent 8 months studying in Minnesota, so she already knows what snow is !) French Knickers Amaretto Elvis Morecambe & Wise Benny Hill Croatia Florida The summer of Love If you’re Going To San Francisco 99 Red Balloons Richard Branson VW Beetle (my Dad and I both had one at the same time) The Masters the 7th at Pebble Beach Minestrone Soup Double Cream Wizzard Rag, Tag and Bobtail (I used to get so scared that one of them would get lost :-S) Postman Pat the Old Man of Hoy the National Trust Badminton Horse Trials Hickstead Billy Connolly Parkinson James Bond Sean Connery the Isle of Skye Norse Mythology The Blue Danube snooker Torville & Dean Bolero package holidays Woolworth’s Motown IBM AS/400

 

How many is that ?

I hope she’s a good listener…. this may take some time…

Does anybody have any more suggestions ?

SocialVibe: Is it any good ?

Well the simple answer is “I don’t know… yet”.

The principle seems like a good idea, raising money for charitable causes just by adding a widget badge to the right sidebar of my blog, but at the moment I’m not even sure I have the thing set up properly !

I would have liked to be able to support Headway through this, but they aren’t yet on the list of organisations that are supported in this way, so I’ve selected the World Wildlife Fund because the animals “out there” can’t help themselves against the damage that we humans are doing to the planet.  The WWF is raising funds through this to raise awareness that we need to reduce our carbon emissions to help protect the animals.

If you would like to help WWF just by following a link and viewing a trailer for “Three Rivers” on CBS, then please do “click away”.  I don’t think you have to part with any cash yourself along the way, at least I hope you don’t, (confirmed) although I’m sure they will be very grateful for any donation you may be inspired to make !

Will maybe add my own follow-up comments on this as I find out more.

(Edited 09.09.20)

Dad would have been 100 today

Friday 21st August 2009 would have been Pop’s 100th birthday.

I don’t know what he would have done by way of celebration.  No doubt it would have been something that no centenarian should have been doing.

For his 89th birthday my then partner and I gave him a flying lesson (the first time he had ever been off the ground).  He was trying to decide whether to go again for his 90th, or maybe try wing-walking instead !  Unfortunately he never got the opportunity.

So who was he ?…

“Auld Lang Syne” is not Chinese !

Nor, for that matter, is “Herge’s Adventures of Tin-Tin”.

These little nuggets of information may not appear earth-shattering to you, but they did come as quite a surprise to Amanda.

“How ?”, you might ask…

Ok, so I’ve been working on other things

Haven’t posted for a while on here because I’ve been working on my other blog, the one that explains about my head injury.

Click on the link above if you’re into the “real” me and the reasons why an intelligent guy in his early 50’s suddenly becomes confused, disorientated, has no sense of time, and can be too “off this planet” to be able to cope with day-to-day living.

On the other hand, if you couldn’t give two monkeys about that and just want to gaze at more pictures of my beautiful wife… watch this space

“Look at your wife” (2) … The official wedding pictures

Well Amanda had a good day on Thursday… not only did the Official Wedding Photos arrive, but she got her new visa too. Yes, A full 2 year, multiple entry visa which gives her the freedom to come and go as she pleases.

Anyway, now you can see why I was so starry-eyed that day ….

My beautiful Amanda with her new husband

My beautiful little wife

Hello you ! .... Kiss ?

This is Amanda's favourite picture

Words fail me

Beautiful and happy

All pictures copyright A&TH

Winter sky

Off-blue, off-grey, off-white… the colourist has laid out an unmistakeable winter sky.

Clouds: Blending yet separated, defined yet merging, static yet fluid, focussed yet blurred, the palette used in ways of wonder and mystery.

Behind me the sky is more monotone, more threatening.

This evening it will rain.

(c) TNH 2009

More wedding pics

Okay, so here are some more pictures of us on, or around, our wedding day.

The two of us at an office dinner	Getting ready to go in	Getting the paperwork done
Saluting the flag	Yes, Mr & Mrs !	Double Happy - Job done

The official photographers have said that they will need around 50 days to get the proper pictures ready.

I dread to think how much “air-brushing” they need to do of me …

“Look at your wife.”

Nervous moments

Double-checking

It's time for the rings

The photographer spoke in a monotone voice the whole time, and yet with a certainty that was apparent even though I could not understand a word that he said, except on the occasional times when he broke into his limited English. 

 

As the sessions continued I became more used to what was required of me, and gradually his utterances of “Sir” and a hand gesture became easier to understand.  He smiled and said “Oh yes!” more often.

 

All the while his assistant busied himself with the task of positioning us, our hands and our clothes. His favourite expression seemed to be “Okay, Sir, take a break” whenever my involvement in a sitting was complete.

 

Sometimes there was a degree of confusion but, on the whole, things went fairly smoothly. 

 

Amanda acted as translator for us, passing on the instructions from the pair of them, and the instruction I enjoyed hearing from her the most was “Look at your wife”.

 

 

I looked at the beautiful face so close to mine. 

 

I looked into the eyes of my Amanda who was radiant as I had never seen her before.

 

 

She was happy, delighted, and delightful. 

 

I looked into the eyes of my beautiful Amanda and wondered how life could ever be better than this.

 

Amanda in her 'Wedding Dress'

Give me a proper blogging site

I originally began blogging on one of the FriendFinder dating sites.  I had never understood before what it was that people saw in blogging, but I had a look one day just out of curiosity and there seemed to be some happy, friendly people chatting about all and sundry so I thought I’d give it a try.  From that, and my new-found need for more facilities, came my eventual expansion onto WordPress.

I have a profile on FaceBook but I rarely (if ever) go there because I don’t like it, and I’m not on BeBo, MySpace or any of those “youngster’s” sites.

So why am I writing this post ? …