A Basic Lack of Understanding - Another Comment on Relationships

If someone was to ask me (which they undoubtedly will in light of this post) why I have been writing about relationships in my blog recently more than anything else then I'm not sure what I would say. I'm not authority on the subject but I am fascinated by it as can be seen from yesterday's post and one of the first posts of ROATSomething, 'A Look at Love'. In writing those two pieces (whether they make sense or not) I have opened the proverbial can of worms and, as previously predicted by yours truly, many more words are there to be written. Think of what I write about this topic as me thinking out loud in a noisy room full of more learned and experienced people than myself; you might want to occasionally listen or even engage but a lot of it will be me rambling - again the title of this blog pays for itself. Today's comment comes from a shortcoming of my own which I have elaborated on in my head and turned into something of an argument. Some will like it but most won't - at least not the guys anyway.

A Truth About Love and Relationships

You know that feeling when you read something and you think 'yes, I couldn't agree more with that'? I read quite a lot of stuff, both fiction and non-fiction, and only occasionally do I come across a sentence, a passage or a chapter that says something more to me than what is actually written on the page. This happened to me when I was reading a sample of a Kindle book last week. I'm going to one of the Edinburgh International Book Festival events next weekend with my Dad; the event being an interview with Alain De Botton who is a writer and philosopher from Switzerland. It wasn't something we originally looked at going to (everything we did was sold out by the time my 'place in the queue' eventually got to the front) but the tickets fell to us from a family member who can no longer make it - funny how some of the best things 'fall' to you.

A Hopeful Return to the Basics

So with the finish line of the Olympics 2012 before us, it's about time that I found myself back on the blogging boat again. I've spent a lot of words on this blog in the past saying just how much I enjoy writing and, in particular, how much I enjoy writing my blog. That being said, I've actually enjoyed a brief hiatus from Ramblings of a Twenty-Something for one reason or another. 

First and foremost I've really enjoyed the last 2 weeks of sport on the TV and that is what I've been spending most of my time doing. Secondly (and I'm not sure why this is the case) I've enjoyed not having to thing about topics to write about - a break from the pressure that I put on myself to come up with good content. And that last note is third and final reason why I don't feel that guilty having not written for a while: I don't feel like I've written well for a long time. Looking back at my last 5 posts, there have only been a couple that I've come away with that satisfied feeling of having written what I what I wanted to. For those of you that click on my posts whatever the weather, you might have noticed this as well and for that I apologise. You might remember that I wrote about wanting to boost my readership through writing in quantity and with quality but neither of those things have come to fruition - time to pick things up I guess.

The Real Spine-Tingling Sensation

The sheer volume of things that I could have written about in this last week is almost as big as the Chinese medal haul at the half way point in the Olympics. The thing is that I've spent all of the last 9 days watching sport on TV therefore I've found very little time for anything else. The greatest irony of the Olympics so far for me in fact has been that I feel inspired to go out and run and cycle, yet I've been sitting down for about 90% of the last week. I've missed nothing though and there is plenty of time for inspiration to carry me outside when the Olympics come to a sorry close next week.

As I said, there has been a lot for me to write about this week, with last night's excellence in the Olympic Stadium in London being the pinnacle of an awesome week of sport. I watched every heat and final in the swimming, I've not missed a single important rowing race, I've lapped up the cycling and I've enjoyed learning about so many sports that I knew little (or nothing) about this time last week. Veined through all of that has been something that I've heard people talk about but never actually felt myself - in fact I thought that it was just a turn of phrase. Everyone has claimed to felt tingles in their spine at some point in their life and I can now state that well over 10 events this week have done that to me. Whether it be the outburst of emotion from a British athlete or the national anthem, I've never witnessed so many moments that I've felt such pride, awe, inspiration etc.

Yes, that's right, I said that hearing the national anthem sent shivers down my spine - I wasn't just going to wash over that point. I've said it in a couple of Facebook statuses: I've felt very British this year and never more than that during these Olympics. I won't get into Scottish independence discussion here but if it does come to fruition then we'll lose those moments because they won't be ours anymore. Scottish athletes have done well (Andy Murray you beauty!) but last night Jessica Ennis, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah did something beautiful for the whole of Great Britain, not just Scotland.

Other highlights? Well watching Michael Phelps this week in his final Olympics has been truly awesome - it always is - and the whole swimming competition has been really exciting. I've really enjoyed watching the Brits compete in the Judo - pure emotion flowing from them all. The stories coming out of the rowing have really caught my attention and have produced some great TV moments - I think that was where my first 'spine-tingler' came from. The last one that I will mention (because I could write a book on the last week) is the action from the velodrome. Watching Team GB win and break a world-record pretty much every time they got on the track in the first few days has been fantastic and that, mixed with Bradley Wiggins' success during the week, has made me think about dusting down the old bike in the coming days - or at least when the Olympics is over!

Thanks for reading and I hope to comment on the Olympics some more in the coming days when I find a gap in the coverage - it'll be hard but I'll try my best.

Marti

The Olympic Dream

I'm one of those people that will sit down and watch pretty much any type of sport on the TV, possibly with the exception of cricket. Imagine, therefore, what I have been doing for the last two days. That's right, you got it in one, I've been watching the Olympics for the whole time. To be exact, I watched about 12 hours yesterday and I've been watching it on and off today since about 9am until now. I've taken time out of my busy schedule to write this post in fact - you lucky people! The "Olympic Dream" that titles this post is nothing to do with medals or 'taking part' but instead it is the dream that is the Olympic fortnight for sports fans such as myself. The 24 HD channels that the BBC have dedicated to the Olympics have been used to their full effect - and then some.

Green Fingers the Answer to Idle Thumbs?

The summer months usually mean a whole bunch of changes to our daily lives. For me it meant no more lectures, no more exams, having more free time, being able to play more football etc. It should also have meant better weather but that has yet to materialise here in not-so-sunny Scotland. All that being said there has been one thing that seems to have defined my summer. I've attempted to find something to keep myself occupied, whether that be a job, work experience, a 'project' or anything along those lines. In all respects I've come up short and I've only really got myself to blame. As a result of all that I've also found myself moping and moaning a lot more - not a great change for the summer months. I might have found the answer though: the garden.

The John Terry Saga

John Terry: Captain Fantastic

As a law student (albeit a Scots law student) and an ardent Chelsea fan, you might have thought that I would have had a conflict of interests as John Terry's trial at Westminster Mags unfolded last week. I saw the Youtube video (as apparently did everyone in the world) and saw the same words being uttered as everyone else. As it happens, my situation (the potential conflict of interests) meant that I've spent the last few months defending John Terry from both points of view. Firstly my law student mind saw me defend him from the point of view of the 'innocent until proven guilty' stance. People don't like to hear that argument but it's one that I will stick to because it's the right argument in a society such as ours. My Chelsea supporter's mind was telling me that I had to defend him because I like him as a player and as a captain of the team that I'm a fan of. The latter, as you can well imagine, was not as strong a standpoint.

The Art of Language: My Love for the Work of Cormac McCarthy

Just when you think you know the rules, something or somebody comes along and changes everything. The use of language is thought to be a universal thing with the same rules applying across the board to everyone that sets out to use it. When those rules are 'broken', there is said to be an error that must be fixed to ensure that the rules are followed to the letter - excuse any puns in this piece by the way. I thought all of the above was true until I started to read Cormac McCarthy's books. McCarthy was a favourite of my Papa's and he introduced me to him through the much acclaimed book-come-film, 'The Road'. At that point I was thundering through crime, comedy and action like there was no tomorrow but when I put down 'The Road' for the last time my view of reading, and of the English language, was changed forever.

A Pure Scottish Mindset

So Andy Murray was beaten by one of the greatest Tennis players, no sorry, one of the greatest sportsmen in history - what of it? That is not the issue here though really. The issue is whether is was the Brit Murray that was beaten or the Scot Murray that lost. Time and again this argument about the negativity of the Scottish psyche comes to the fore and sadly I noticed Facebook was littered with such discussion after the final yesterday. The thing that bears the bug for me above all is that such accusations (although hurtful) are probably true. As much as I tried to fight it throughout yesterday's match, I was unable to fend off the demon that haunted the final with the air that Murray just wasn't going to win. Even with the first set under his belt and a break in the second I just knew. I'm Scottish after all, but should that matter?

Looking for a Break-Through

Do you like the new logo? I sat down a couple of mornings ago with only Microsoft Word and Paint for company and tried my best to come up with something that didn't look as though it was drawn by a 5 year old. I might have succeeded in fulfilling that rather flimsy specification but whether I've come up with a new identity for my blog is another issue completely. You might have gathered that this blog is something that I'm very proud of and every time I looked at the original logo (which has been there for the 4 month life of this thing) I felt that it didn't say that I wanted it to say. In fact the logo is just one item on a list of things in my head that often make me feel less than satisfied with this page. In short, I'm looking for the next step but I'm not sure what or where that is.