Tunes on Tuesday ~ top of the pops
hello guys and gals
Back when I was a kid there was a TV show called Top of the Pops. You were nobody if you weren’t on there. Noted pedophiles who were on TOTP include Jimmy Savile and Rolf Haris. Liked one, didn’t like the other.
So from that era. Or a bit later.
Canned Heat.
I owned a mini.
I dated a girl who wore a mini and platforms.
she was older, and married.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
1275 A series
Monochrome Monday ~ Winter 1962 – 1963
when I was a kid it was a trek to go to the toilet across the yard
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
the sea froze
Scenes on Sunday ~ Blue
warm, warm Californian desert
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
cold, cold North Sea
Songs on Saturday ~ YMCA
I am not certain that real men are;
supposed to read Cosmopolitan
This video is so camp, and the song was such a dance favourite back when I used to go dancing. Like being able to play billiards, being able to follow along to this dance is the sign of a misspent youth.
Just because one likes the Village People doesn’t mean that you’re metrosexual.
But, FFS never tell anyone that you’re metrosexual.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
She would fit into a gay band
Songs on Saturday ~ Bad Woman
some women do wrong just because of the buzz
This Beth Hart song reminds me of a couple of women I used to know very well indeed. They would steal, gamble, drink, and be amorous just for the buzz it gave them. For all I know they still do. There was no harm in any of it.
Women like that are fun.
But you will probably get burned.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
at least it’s only wine
this time anyway
gin is worse
Day 333
not everyone is insane but some are depressed
I’m not howling at the moon
I thought that I was going crazy. I was struggling to get out of bed in the morning, to keep myself and the garret clean, to find any interest in anything at all. I believed that being in solitary confinement for almost a year had given me a bad case of lockdown depression ~ the whole world is grey and meaningless kind of depression. The absence of feelings that leads to substance abuse and self harm.
The doctors don’t think that’s the case. It turns out that there is something physically wrong with me. It seems that I am sick in body, but not in mind and spirit. And, somehow that’s good. A physical illness can be treated and cured more easily and more effectively than can a mental illness.
The snag is that thus far nobody has any idea what’s wrong with me. Yesterday I had another physical and another lot of blood taken for testing. Next Friday I’m going for an MRI scan. The doctors will find out what I’m suffering from, and what kind of treatment is appropriate ~ it’s just that it’s taking a little while. But at least I’m getting all the tests they think I need.
What I know so far is that I’m not suffering from anxiety and depression ~ which is good. And, after yesterday I know that my blood pressure is fine, without medication.
So, for now, I will just get on with Life as best as I can.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
I need to eat healthy stuff
like this
Food on Friday ~ Soup
only the pure in heart can make a good soup
In many parts of England and the USA it’s cold, dark, and miserable. At times like these I believe that we all need comfort food, and what better than a nourishing, warming, interesting soup?
And, if you are pure in heart, then you can make a decent soup over an open fire, if you have to. Better still would be an unfashionable wood burning stove. The people of Texas will tell you that relying on electricity is not always a good idea, nor mains gas either. BTW, never, ever use petrol, (gasoline) to start a fire ~ not if you want to go on living.
First up this week, from Chungah at Damn Delicious we have this Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup. You know what? If you don’t have a slow cooker, then get one. At this time of year it will be a brilliant investment.
Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
Tiffany at Creme de la Crumb has a recipe for Easy Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup. Tuscany is one of my favourite places in the entire world.
Easy Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup
Holly at Spend with Pennies has a wonderful looking recipe for Chicken Corn Chowder with Bacon; how very American! This really is a meal in a bowl.
Chicken Corn Chowder with Bacon
Dana the Minimalist Baker has a collection; Healthy Winter Recipes for Cold People, and from that I’ve chosen to feature her very easy, very healthy, gluten free, one pot, Curried Potato and Lentil Soup, (with kale).
Curried Potato and Lentil Soup
Meanwhile, Jessica at How Sweet Eats offers us 20 of Her Favorite Soup Recipes for Winter; from which I give you this Easy Lemon Chicken Soup. OK it’s the second lemon chicken recipe this week but they are very different.
Easy Lemon Chicken Soup
Finally for this week Country Living has a collection of 55+ Extra Comforting Soups and Stews to Warm You Up on Chilly Winter Nights. How about this Broccoli and Cheddar Cheese Soup for something very different?
Broccoli and Cheddar Cheese Soup
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
they even get snow in Arizona
I know, I was there
Digging Deep
when things get bad it takes everything you’ve got
keep on keeping on
It’s now the 332 day of lockdown, and this morning it took a lot of determination just to get out of bed and get moving. I could say that I wasn’t feeling so good, but that wouldn’t be true, today it’s all in my mind. If you haven’t suffered the agony of strict self-isolation for almost a year, then you don’t know how I was feeling at 04:00 this morning. Kind of lethargic and depressed, with a touch of meaningless thrown in.
As a matter of fact, lockdown is completely meaningless. All this destruction of the very fabric of modern society is doing is to make politicians and health officials feel better about the myriad of public inquiries they are going to face when all this is eventually over.
So, how do I get through this mess?
- set small goals for each day
- if that’s too difficult set small goals for the next hour
- keep as fit and healthy as possible
- eat regular, high quality meals
- stay away from booze, drugs, candy….
- read something challenging every day
What I really want to do is get out of the garret and go somewhere warm and sunny ~ but taking a vacation is illegal here. I want to see my friends, but that’s also illegal here. In fact having any pleasure at all is just about illegal here.
So, I will look of the bright side, and do the best I can.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
every door is locked
Self-Control
if you learn self-control, you can master anything
waste in a wasteland
It’s Lent, which is all about abstinence and self-control. There doesn’t seem to be much self-discipline, self-control, or mastering difficult challenges about in the world today. Rather there seems to be a lot of neglect, waste, and self-indulgence. It’s waste of human life in a wasteland.
Addictions such as alcoholism, gambling, smoking, drug-taking, eating disorders, infidelity, and inappropriate casual sex seem to be rife ~ even among our senior politicians and bureaucrats, who are supposed to set an example to we ‘ordinary people in the street’, suffering the miseries of lockdown. I myself have had a drinking problem, but I am pleased to say that I haven’t touched a drop since Christmas. (There are none so self-righteous as a reformed addict.)
I am happy to tell you that I have learned self-discipline, self-control, and how to master difficult challenges. It wasn’t easy, but I am getting there.
All we have to learn is how to say ‘No’, especially to ourselves.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
hanging around in bars is not an indication of self-control
Lent 2021 ~ 17th February to 3rd of April
nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring
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Lent is a time for abstinence, for giving up something that’s important to you. In my case I have given up on something that used to be important, and I will stay away from toxic relationships all through Lent and beyond.
The other two things I am giving up are alcohol and candy. For one thing booze is definitely not good for me, and neither is too much sugar. People who suddenly become sober tend to eat a lot of candy to make up for the sugar they’re not getting in booze. I have been scoffing quite a lot of candy this year.
So the three things I am giving up for Lent, and beyond are:
- Dysfunctional and toxic relationships.
- Alcohol in all its forms. (I have not had an alcoholic drink since Christmas 2020)
- Candy, chocolate, and what we English call sweets.
Instead of all that I am going to work hard at being fitter and healthier.
Please wish me luck.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
women who drink to excess are no longer a part of my life.
