Whenever two people meet, there are really six people present.

Whenever two people meet, there are really six people present. There is each man as he sees himself, each man as the other person sees him, and each man as he really is.

(I'm determined that I will manage to get the correct number in every post title. Don't ask me why. I seriously fear I might fail. But this quote seemed rather apt.)

So, because I'm lazing on the sofa today, I thought I'd do a slightly difficult (technically, not emotionally) post today.


Desert Wanderer said... 
 If you were to make a mix tape for John, what would be on it?

And I couldn't just list tracks and then leave you to try to find them. So I'm going to try to use all my technical (lack of) expertise and put videos up. I hope this works.

There could be hundreds more. This is just a taste.

A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer.

 

 Small Hobbit said..

 

 

How about who your biking heroes are and why? 

 

There are current riders I like. Guy Martin, Valentino Rossi - Marco Simoncelli, until he died tragically a couple of weeks ago. And many more, for different reasons.

But when I was young, and for many many reasons, my hero was Joey Dunlop.

He was an amazing rider - he won three hat-tricks at the Isle of Man TT and I don't think there were many years he didn't win at least one race.

Sadly he died racing, in an accident in 2000. Gone but not forgotten - the most succesful rider at the TT now gets awarded the 'Joey Dunlop Cup'. 50,000 people showed up to his funeral. Bikers from all over the world, people from his home town, friends, colleagues, fans - everyone.

But he wasn't just a rider. He also worked tirelessly for charity. He never mentioned it, and ensured his trips all happened on the off-season for racing. He used his team truck for his bikes to drive to Bosnia or Romania, taking food and supplies, and helped Romanian orphanages. He said he was more proud of his charirty work than his racing, despite almost no one knowing he did it.

In 1986 he got an MBE for his services to racing. In 1996 he got an OBE for his charity work.

 

An amazing man.

 

There you go. As always, feel free to ask more questions. Comments help the nightshift go faster... (apologies if I disappear like I did last night. Those damn criminals demanding my time).

For the foreigners...

An incidental post for a picture.

As I'm here, thought those of you who aren't here might like an iconic London-by-night pcture.

Left-Right, The London Eye, or whatever it's called now, Palace of Westminster (The Houses of Parliament), the clock tower (Big Ben), and the Thames.

Note the lack of people we were looking for.

May the fourth be with you.

(Yes, I'm struggling with my numbered titles.)

So, this may not make as much sense as it ought to, because it's a hard question and I've only had one cup of coffee since waking up.

Desert Wanderer wanted to know something I'm unexpectedly grateful for.

Which...wow. Big question. i hope I've understood it correctly...maybe I'm just 'grateful', rather than 'unexpectedly grateful'. I dont know...anyway.

What immediately springs to mind is 'everything my life is right now'. But that's not very helpful.

I think you all know well enough how grateful I am to John and the boys, so I thought I'd cast slightly further afield.

Im grateful for my sister, Nicky. I don't quite know how to put it, but...if I was her, I'm not sure I'd be as supportive of me as she is.

I can virtually hear the rattle of her keyboard as she starts disagreeing with me...

We were a bit of a team growing up, but, being the oldest (and being a boy) I tended to be 'in charge' a lot. And I can see how some siblings wouldn't like that much. It's no secret Danny and I never exactly got on. It's hard enough being told what to do by your parents, let alone by your older brother.

I made a lot of mistakes, I made a lot of stupid decisions, I didn't know what I was doing most of the time, and in the end I left all that for her to deal with and ran away to London.

And still, despite all that, she's been the most supportive of me that you could ever wish for.

Even when times with Bryan were bad and I basically cut myself off from her - and everyone else - because I didn't want them to see what I had become, even then, she was there for me, and when we finally parted, she didn't say a word about what a shit I'd been to her, she was just still there for me.

So I didn't expect her to do any of that for me...and I'm very very grateful that she did. And that she gets on so well with John, and all of that. She's a fantastic sister.

Third time. Lucky.

Right, a couple today.

Do I intend to go to Pride with John and the boys again - Yes. Provided they're happy to, I would love to. I do have certain reservations about a lot of gay culture, and a lot of how gay culture is perceived. (for instance, I've never been 'proud' to be gay any more than any of you are proud to be straight, sexual, asexual, bi, or whatever you are. It's not a choice, it's not like other things I've worked hard to acheive and am therefore proud of. It's just how I am. I am, however, happy to honour the fight that people have fought to get us to a point where, whilst not universally accepted, being gay is no longer the issue it once was. Things are changing for the better, year on year.) and it's amazing to be able to walk the streets holding my boyfriend's hand, with the boys, and no one to even spare us a glance. Don't think there's any other day of the year we can do that.

And now, onto 'John's most endearing quality'.

Thought about this one a lot. He's got a lot of endearing qualities.

But the one I've picked to come out tops is that he cares. He cares about the important things. He cares about the people in his life. He cares about me, the boys, all of you. He cares about people he meets at the school gates, the security, the neighbours, people he sees in the street, my team, people on the news...the list could go on.

Sometimes I worry he cares too much. How can one person have that capacity? But he does. And I don't think he even realises it.

I don't want to compare him to Bryan - there really is no comparison to be had - but after the crash, when I was in hospital, he showed up, saw me, sat with me, found out about how I was doing, checked on Sally, and finally got me out of there to take care of at home.

Time before that, when I was in hospital after a bike crash, Bryan showed up in the evening, took my bank card, said there was no point me leaving hospital until I was capable of looking after myself and buggered off.

No, I don't know what I was doing with him either.

Anyway, there you go. Comments, questions, suggestions on a post card. Or in comments.

Seconds out

Right. Calliope, your turn.

What is your dream holiday destination. (possibly paraphrased - I only just looked at it and have already forgotten).

This is a hard question! I'm assuming money and time is no problem, so...

At first I thought of a lovely tropical island. I do like the sun, I love swimming in the sea, and would love to go somewhere where the water was crystal clear and there were reefs and fish and wildlife to look at.

But I also love snow when it's proper big fluffy snow you can have fun in, rather than try to battle to work through. So somewhere cold and beautiful would be good too...or somewhere really insanely desolate. I'd love to go to the arctic or antarctic. Not to trek anywhere too extreme, but just to see the place - maybe stand on top of the world.


I haven't really been to many places in the world. Europe a bit, Italy a lot, and odd other places but it would be nice to go places with someone, and I imagine visiting new places with the boys would be quite amazing, because the way they see the world is so different anyway.

Reading through those I've realised that my dream holiday essentially is beautiful desolation. I'd like the people I love to be there, and no one else. Ha. Cant imagine anything worse than somewhere crowded with people - especially other tourists. Obviously locals would be allowed to stay...

At first I was afraid...

Right. Well, at least I wasn't met with a stony silence on my requests post. Not that I ever worried about such a thing...

In answer to, er, Nameless's(?) question, you can just ask a question once and I'll try to remember/check back. But equally, don't feel like you're nagging if you want to ask again because you think I've forgotten. Right?

So today, because it's topical, I thought I'd go with:

Lupe said...

In the spirit of Halloween and All Saint's Day and Día de muertos, what about a scary story? Something weird or could-be supernatural that's happened to you? :D Have you ever been inside a haunted house? Have you ever seen a ghost or something that could be a ghost? :3 Or maybe a local tale from your home town? :D Please? *v*