A Ukulele or a Round of Drinks? Another Odd Post About Something I Can't Do

I want to buy a ukulele.

A strange desire from one so musically challenged, wouldn't you say?

My relationship with making music has been a patchy one at best. There have been a few highlights: winning a medal as part of a brass quartet at a schools championship and performing 'You'll be in my Heart' as a solo in front of a packed theatre.

Fast forward a decade and a half, and the only connection I have with the sounds of Tarzan is that my singing resembles his swinging wail.

My cornet (read squashed trumpet) has long since been hung up and the recorder was never going to get me any hits on YouTube. So why this desire to buy a uke then? Yes, of course I know the lingo already.

Reflections on Going to Work

To paraphrase an underplayed song: 'I don't like my job...I love it.'

Never one to enthuse too much about anything other than a good defensive midfielder, you might be surprised to read that.

I love my family, I love my girlfriend, I love my friends and, one weekend out of 36, I love my football club - but my job, really? Let me tell you why.

Perspectives on Starting Work

This week is pretty important.

On Wednesday I start my first proper job, and it would be an understatement to say that I am nervous. Having had my traineeship position secured for over a year and a half, I've gone through periods when I've not had to think about it much. Now, with just a couple more sleeps until I slip on my first suit in anger, it's pretty much all I'm thinking about. Getting to sleep hasn't been the easiest of tasks recently.

But if nervous energy is what's keeping me up at night then the equal and opposite feeling of excitement is what is getting me up in the morning. This is what I have been working towards for the last five years and now that it's finally here I can't wait to get started.

Summer 2015 - My First Trip to Whitby

So here it is: my final summer. Ok, so that might be a bit of an exaggeration but after the next month or so my summers will be reduced to whatever time I take off work. Gone now are the four month breaks, the wasted weeks and the comforting thought of starting the same thing all over again in September. The start of my graduate job next month is fast approaching so making the most of this summer is important.

The first big thing that this summer had to hold was a trip away with my girlfriend - our first proper trip away together no less. Our destination was Whitby in England and the four days we spent there were just brilliant.

A New Look for the Blog and a Pipeline Lined with Ideas

Like the new look? Like the new logo?

 

Yesterday's redesign was a long time coming. Not only did the blog itself look tired and old-fashioned, everything associated with it - including its author - was not where it should be. After a good number of hours staring at my laptop, I can say that I am at least moderately happy with how it looks now.

Who's Still Working on His Masterpiece? - My 'Favourite' Song

Back to basics.

The only thing more tiring than doing something is not doing it. If that is true, then I am on my knees from not writing any blog posts. Having now seen off university for the final time and dealt with 'grown up' responsibilities for the time being, I've run out of excuses for not writing. I guess, therefore, it is time to get back up on my feet again.

I've decided to break myself back in softly. Rule #1 for dealing with writer's block is to pick something you love and write about it. I was listening to music earlier; I love music; let's write. The flow was uncontrollable - just.

In my own inimitable style I've actually picked something stupid to write about. I would be doing you a disservice if I gave you the impression that the song I'm going to write about is always my favourite. It is, however, one that always springs to mind when I'm asked to choose.

What is the Best Answer to Any Question? It Depends.

Q: Why do people hit walls?

Maybe because they are angry. Maybe because they are frustrated. Maybe because they are not trying hard enough. Maybe because they are trying too hard.

A: It depends.

That answer is one I have been giving for the last four and a half years of my life - it comes with the territory. When I arrived at university to study law in 2010 I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know if I wanted to be a lawyer or, more importantly, I didn't really know what a lawyer did. Fast forward to today and all that stand between me and my first job as a lawyer are a few exams. 

Scary? Yes. Exciting? Absolutely.

You've Read this Post Before You've Read it: My Valentine's Day and Why I Should Read More

You thought I was gone again, didn't you? You thought 'Martin has said he's going to start blogging again but he won't follow through on it', didn't you? Sorry, I hate people telling me what I'm thinking as well. Nevertheless I'm almost convinced that those thoughts crossed your mind when you read my post a couple of weeks ago - and rightly so.

Anyway I'm here again, even if just to prove a point. There is tonnes to be written about, but I'll limit myself to just a couple of musings tonight. Together those musings should form a ramble, and at my hand that ramble should constitute the ramblings of a twenty-something. If that doesn't fit the brief then I don't know what will.

Spartacus, Other-halves, Lego and Insanity: Why I Write

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

Albert Einstein

My keyboard is cold and the words aren't flowing like they used to. The web page in front of me is a familiar one - homely even - but everything else seems so unfamiliar. It was the Twenty sixth day of August Two thousand and Fourteen (I apologise to those who understand why I've written like that) when I last mustered the motivation, and indeed the confidence, to write a blog post. Now I'm back, I guess the biggest question is this: why? Let me try and answer that question.

Too much has happened over the last five or so months to consign to a single act of blogging, although not enough to claim there's a book to be written. I've therefore decided that instead of clearing my throat with a splurt of dull dear diary drivel, that I'll hit you with the important stuff and try and answer the question set. Exam mode at the ready.