Read All About It

Have you watched or read the news recently? TV, Internet, Newspapers, Social Media…read all about it. In case you haven’t, let me give an overview. It just so happens that plane incidents, terrorism, mass murders, protests, wars, suicide bombers, match-fixers are all the rage in 2014.

When I was 12-years-old until the age of 16, I was a paperboy. Big sis did the afternoon round, I did the morning round. I was paid £5.20 for getting out of bed at 5.40am six days a week and an extra £3 for Sundays. I could sleep in on Sunday though, that was a 7am gig, but the papers were quadruple the size. The scars on my right shoulder are a testament to that. Strangely enough, there’s a significant correlation between people who read the Observer with its 27 supplements, and their houses having the smallest letterboxes known to mankind.

I was a speedy and reliable paperboy…..aside from the knee injury I picked up from football when my dad drove me round the round for a month, and the morning after the night I thought I would blow my hard earned cash on a two-for-one chocolate cake deal from Jack Fulton’s and demolished them in my bedroom unbeknown to my mum– subsequently redecorating my bedroom walls.

I loved nothing more than to sort the papers, fly around Crossgates on my BMX (failing tragically to jump curbs that could not be jumped) and read the papers. I started on page 3 (come on, I was a spotty teen boy, it’s what they do), moved to the back pages for the real sport, and then glanced at the front to see what was going on in the world. It usually wasn’t great, so the sport took prominence in my reading.

Fast forward twenty years (shit, I’m old), and I’ve grown out of page 3, still read the sport, but the front pages interest me less. In fact, I do not really read newspapers any more, and haven’t for years. I’ll go as far as saying they will not even exist in 5-10 years’ time. I watch the news, or log on to bbc.co.uk, and all I see is misery and unhappiness. It is grim, grim beyond belief. There are some days when I have a hectic life, a bit of travel and I don’t get the chance to read the news. I am not missing anything much.

After I have scoured my usual websites, I’ll have a look on Facebook. News of the people within my inner circle is of more interest to me much of the time than the Six O’Clock News. The only reason I am on Facebook is to connect and keep in touch with people I wouldn’t usually connect with on a regular basis without it. There are so many school friends, uni friends, former work colleagues, friends, even some family that are on there, and I can keep up to speed on their lives, and them on mine. There are pros and cons to the likes of Facebook, but there is nothing I enjoy more than to read about those people. I want to hear about theirr happiness, achievements, memorable moments. I’m less keen on the Big Brother chat, the whingeing about having a bad day, the bitching, the vague messages that cry out for the question ‘what’s wrong darling’.

This last week, I’ve read about amazing educational achievements, seen pictures of ridiculously cute new-borns and some not so-new-borns, shared birthday fun with people, supported a Man Utd fan in his jovial abuse of Liverpool, organised a couple of catch-ups with people who live 4000km or more away from me, seen fabulous holiday pics, read about all the parents whose kids are moving on to big school (time flies)….I could go on. I’ve enjoyed reading and seeing it all. It has far more influence and feeling on me and my life than the Six O’Clock News which is frankly miserable. That is not meant to trivialise or ignore what is going on in the world right now, but everybody needs some positivity in their lives.

So, I’m calling it now. I want to hear about your positive happy stories. I won’t judge, I won’t think you’re showing off, or being a jackass. I’ll skim over the trivial whinging stuff. If I want to suffer a bit of misery and downtime, I’ll start reading the papers and watching the news again. It’s the positive stuff that gives me my energy, and I’ll always read all about that.

Weighing on the Mind

I find very random motivations to write blog posts. They are largely sparked by emotions, thoughts, or events. I cannot claim to have any deep reasoning behind this blog other than to avoid nibbling on my own arm. It is that time again when my favourite Mexican and I are embarking on yet another weight loss bet. It actually started back in January when we both came back from breaks in the Americas having clearly over-enjoyed the food and drink on offer. The challenge was to lose 11kg/24.2lbs by May 1st – around 1kg per week.

Armed with a fantastic Christmas gift from my girl, a Nike+ Sport Watch, I have gotten back into my running. I had never really gotten out of it even in the States, but it had certainly dropped off somewhat. I already had a GPS watch, but the Nike one is attached to a fantastic Nike website which has all kinds of information, training programmes and schedules. As many folks will have noted, it has been mentioned by one or two of you, you may have seen my Facebook updates whenever I run. I suspect that may be highly annoying to some people, and I am not one for usually updating my status feeding you the very latest updates on the Esteva/Burns household. However, this one is slightly different. When I am running, I have it in the back of my mind, just when I am about to stop, of just how bad or weak my effort will look to so many people if I stop at that point. So I keep running. Inadvertently, and perhaps annoying at times, it does the job. If it annoys you, I am sorry – you have permission to de-friend me!

So, with around three weeks left, we both need to lose another 4kg each….slightly behind schedule but doable. In contrast to the last one we did, I have still been drinking alcohol at times and been eating reasonably normally – I have just increased the amount of exercise, and cut out the garbage food. With 4kg in 3 weeks, it is time to cut the alcohol and decrease the portions now.

Hence the blog. I cannot quite describe how hungry I am right now but typing is preventing me from chewing on my fingers at the very least. If I thought my fingers weighed 4kg, I could be tempted. I suspect the next twenty days are going to be pretty miserable but I am determined to hit the mark this time when we weigh in however brutal it is going to be. It did get me randomly thinking at what point do we stop worrying about what we eat and drink if it makes us happy? Skinny and starvation of the nation is not really for me. With a head the size of mine, a puny body is never going to work. That said, I know I would not be happy if I piled the weight on neither. As with so much in life, I guess it is finding the right balance. Maybe when I’m 70 I’ll ditch it and just have a house full of crisps and bathe or shower myself daily in Boddingtons. But for now, the mission continues.