End of a Long Road
Friday, 26. December 2008, 15:48:06
It's Boxing Day in Scotland, as it is in many parts of the world. The presents have been opened, Xmas dinner devoured and repackaged for days' worth of meals to come, wines and spirits consumed by the litre, TV watched and families loved.
After months of build-up, it has finally passed for another year, and hopefully the experience of the Grand Day will have been as good for all of you as it was for me.
I was at my parents' home again this year. My father retired so this was an important Xmas for the family, not least because this was one of the few times he's been home to celebrate with; life in the Merchant Navy means long trips abroad at any time of the year for months on end. Him being home is a big deal. We have an Uncle and a couple of Aunts here too, members of our family I rarely get to see, which is nice. One of my brothers didn't make it up, but seemed to have a nice day just him and his girlfriend in his flat in Edinburgh, so I'm not too worried about that.
Personally, I enjoyed the day very much. Work was particularly brutal this year – thanks for the bastard huge order at short notice there, Bulldog – needing lots of energy and concentration to get done, and all at the very last minute, too. Add this to the last-minute present buying and hosting a wee party for some friends and I have to say my energy stores were at their lowest by the time I finally got the bus up to MacDuff, never mind having to then socialise with everyone for a few hours. Energizer Bunny, I am not. But Xmas Day...well, that was a different story.
I got loads of sleep the night before and awoke much as I did in my childhood years – early and full of excitement for the festivities to come! It was a grand day, in every way. Relaxing, fun, exciting...I got some lovely presents. Not least from my beautiful girlfriend who utterly spoiled me. I'll be thanking her properly the next time I see her, oh yes indeed.
Dinner was awesome. Not in the cheapened American meaning of the word, where 'awesome' applies to everything from Hot Dogs to some senseless buffoon hurting himself in an amusing way, but in the classical meaning such as one might feel the awe and grandeur of watching vast living galaxies sparkle and whirl before your eyes, or one of God's miracles in action...or my mother at work in a kitchen. After many years of practice, my blessed progenitor has Xmas dinner down to a fine art. She prepares most things the night before, so all she has to do on the big day is cook it, merely a matter of setting the oven and not letting anything burn. None of us particularly favour the traditional bird for our Xmas meal, generally finding it to be too dry a meat to be really enjoyable, so by way of compensation get to choose from practically every other meat you can find strutting its stuff in a farmyard. This year there was Pork, Beef, Ham, Duck, Lamb and Chicken: good thing none of us are vegetarian! This is accompanied by a bewildering array of vegetables, trimmings and long-time Xmas favourites such as her special festive Chicken Noodle Soup and her glorious, timeless Sherry Trifle. All home-made, of course. None of that shop-bought rubbish for this family, no!
After my Mum's fabulous cooking we settled down for a game of my brand new Trivial Pursuit: Genus Edition. If you've never played TP let me just say there's no such thing as a quick game of it; even with eight people in four teams of two. It took most of the night, and was a blessed relief when it finished. Happily, justice was well served as my parents snatched victory at the least probable moment, claiming their fifth and, by common consent, final slice of pie after a frustrating run of the most appallingly obtuse and difficult questions. However, this was entirely preferable to yet-another round of Mum's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire DVDs, which I shall take great delight in scouring from the Earth with cleansing flame should the opportunity ever arise.
Hmm. I have to go soon. I've just been told we have another brace of board games coming at us so my presence has been specifically requested. Before I disappear for the delights of more dice, questions, improbable rules and familial battles over who goes next it is time to deliver one final piece of news.
Emphasis on the word 'final'.
* * * * * * * * * *
I've been blogging the inside of my head for over three years now, here and previously on two other sites, writing thousands of words which, if collected in one volume, would provide a unique insight into my life and times unparalleled in my history. No-one is claiming this would be the most interesting, gripping or entertaining book ever published, much as I take pride in my particular brands of humour, wit and story-telling abilities, but for myself I am proud of every word I've written be they purely for amusement or soaked in the blood and emotional marinade of my tempestuous heart.
Sadly, the decision has been made to bring an end to my blogging activities. As in, completely. I've run blogs before on other sites and these ended merely to move to another venue, with another snazzy title. This time, however, is the end of all that, for the foreseeable future anyway (I'm loath to say 'forever' for I firmly believe there are no absolutes in this life). This very post, as fun as it has been to write, is therefore my last official post. I intend to remain around for a while – I still enjoy commenting on the blogs of the few friends I've made here. But this means no new material will appear here as of 1st January 2009. Which is kind of a shame as I've some big plans for the New Year, as I did this time last year, but it has become painfully obvious to me that my commitment to this enterprise has dwindled to almost nothing. I had great plans for the Paris trip and the hundreds of pics I took over there but they have singularly failed to materialise and I doubt they ever will at this point.
No, it's time for me to move on. Blogging is fun, and I've met some wonderful people over the years doing it, but it's time to channel my energies into new pastures (he says, mixing metaphors like cheap spirits in a cocktail glass). My last duty, then, is to thank everyone who has ever dropped by and read my self-indulgent ravings, who has ever left a kind word or topical comment, and particularly those who have made this place one of their frequently visited sites and, by extension, one of my favourite sites to return to.
I hope you've all had terrific Festive holidays and I'd like to wish you all the very best of fortune, love and happiness for the coming year. As the old Irish Blessing goes:
Brought to you with a lump in the throat,
Grant xx
After months of build-up, it has finally passed for another year, and hopefully the experience of the Grand Day will have been as good for all of you as it was for me.
I was at my parents' home again this year. My father retired so this was an important Xmas for the family, not least because this was one of the few times he's been home to celebrate with; life in the Merchant Navy means long trips abroad at any time of the year for months on end. Him being home is a big deal. We have an Uncle and a couple of Aunts here too, members of our family I rarely get to see, which is nice. One of my brothers didn't make it up, but seemed to have a nice day just him and his girlfriend in his flat in Edinburgh, so I'm not too worried about that.
Personally, I enjoyed the day very much. Work was particularly brutal this year – thanks for the bastard huge order at short notice there, Bulldog – needing lots of energy and concentration to get done, and all at the very last minute, too. Add this to the last-minute present buying and hosting a wee party for some friends and I have to say my energy stores were at their lowest by the time I finally got the bus up to MacDuff, never mind having to then socialise with everyone for a few hours. Energizer Bunny, I am not. But Xmas Day...well, that was a different story.
I got loads of sleep the night before and awoke much as I did in my childhood years – early and full of excitement for the festivities to come! It was a grand day, in every way. Relaxing, fun, exciting...I got some lovely presents. Not least from my beautiful girlfriend who utterly spoiled me. I'll be thanking her properly the next time I see her, oh yes indeed.
Dinner was awesome. Not in the cheapened American meaning of the word, where 'awesome' applies to everything from Hot Dogs to some senseless buffoon hurting himself in an amusing way, but in the classical meaning such as one might feel the awe and grandeur of watching vast living galaxies sparkle and whirl before your eyes, or one of God's miracles in action...or my mother at work in a kitchen. After many years of practice, my blessed progenitor has Xmas dinner down to a fine art. She prepares most things the night before, so all she has to do on the big day is cook it, merely a matter of setting the oven and not letting anything burn. None of us particularly favour the traditional bird for our Xmas meal, generally finding it to be too dry a meat to be really enjoyable, so by way of compensation get to choose from practically every other meat you can find strutting its stuff in a farmyard. This year there was Pork, Beef, Ham, Duck, Lamb and Chicken: good thing none of us are vegetarian! This is accompanied by a bewildering array of vegetables, trimmings and long-time Xmas favourites such as her special festive Chicken Noodle Soup and her glorious, timeless Sherry Trifle. All home-made, of course. None of that shop-bought rubbish for this family, no!
After my Mum's fabulous cooking we settled down for a game of my brand new Trivial Pursuit: Genus Edition. If you've never played TP let me just say there's no such thing as a quick game of it; even with eight people in four teams of two. It took most of the night, and was a blessed relief when it finished. Happily, justice was well served as my parents snatched victory at the least probable moment, claiming their fifth and, by common consent, final slice of pie after a frustrating run of the most appallingly obtuse and difficult questions. However, this was entirely preferable to yet-another round of Mum's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire DVDs, which I shall take great delight in scouring from the Earth with cleansing flame should the opportunity ever arise.
Hmm. I have to go soon. I've just been told we have another brace of board games coming at us so my presence has been specifically requested. Before I disappear for the delights of more dice, questions, improbable rules and familial battles over who goes next it is time to deliver one final piece of news.
Emphasis on the word 'final'.
* * * * * * * * * *
I've been blogging the inside of my head for over three years now, here and previously on two other sites, writing thousands of words which, if collected in one volume, would provide a unique insight into my life and times unparalleled in my history. No-one is claiming this would be the most interesting, gripping or entertaining book ever published, much as I take pride in my particular brands of humour, wit and story-telling abilities, but for myself I am proud of every word I've written be they purely for amusement or soaked in the blood and emotional marinade of my tempestuous heart.
Sadly, the decision has been made to bring an end to my blogging activities. As in, completely. I've run blogs before on other sites and these ended merely to move to another venue, with another snazzy title. This time, however, is the end of all that, for the foreseeable future anyway (I'm loath to say 'forever' for I firmly believe there are no absolutes in this life). This very post, as fun as it has been to write, is therefore my last official post. I intend to remain around for a while – I still enjoy commenting on the blogs of the few friends I've made here. But this means no new material will appear here as of 1st January 2009. Which is kind of a shame as I've some big plans for the New Year, as I did this time last year, but it has become painfully obvious to me that my commitment to this enterprise has dwindled to almost nothing. I had great plans for the Paris trip and the hundreds of pics I took over there but they have singularly failed to materialise and I doubt they ever will at this point.
No, it's time for me to move on. Blogging is fun, and I've met some wonderful people over the years doing it, but it's time to channel my energies into new pastures (he says, mixing metaphors like cheap spirits in a cocktail glass). My last duty, then, is to thank everyone who has ever dropped by and read my self-indulgent ravings, who has ever left a kind word or topical comment, and particularly those who have made this place one of their frequently visited sites and, by extension, one of my favourite sites to return to.
I hope you've all had terrific Festive holidays and I'd like to wish you all the very best of fortune, love and happiness for the coming year. As the old Irish Blessing goes:
May the best you've ever seen be the worst you'll ever see.
Brought to you with a lump in the throat,
Grant xx
WIDGETIZE
kirstycat # 26. December 2008, 16:06
That is sad news indeed, I will miss you on myopera!
I wish you lots of luck and happiness with whatever you have planned for the coming year though
Happy new year Grant!
GrantTLC # 27. December 2008, 08:45
Still, there's no danger we'll lose touch, eh? We'll always have Facebook...
Here's looking at you, kid.
GoldBug # 7. January 2009, 13:47
galadriel # 18. January 2009, 14:45
Well, I guess I haven't been around here that much. It takes a lot of energy and effort to blog...and at the moment, I'm too lazy to blog here...
Well, good luck with everything Grant. Your blog was always fun to read and thanks for all the comments on my blog
LadyArtane # 5. February 2009, 03:58