Share it with the world

It's been about three weeks or so since I last posted something on here. Without looking at the individual dates of each of my entries, that could well be one of the biggest gaps I've had between entries. I just think that if I don't have anything that I deem worth putting down into a blog, there's no point writing something just for the sake of it. I'd like to think that what I write here has some sort of meaning and importance...

Earlier in the week, one of the people I follow on Twitter (@LOSTBUDWEISER) mentioned that he was thinking of starting a blog, but thought that it wouldn't be worthwhile. Having just looked it up, his exacts words were "Thinking of starting a blog, but then I realise, who the fuck am I to write a blog". That got me thinking a little bit. It got me thinking about this blog, what I've wanted to get from it, what I have got from it and where things can go.

But that tweet stood out to me, and I felt it was worth a reply. So I told him that he's someone who has something to write. Everyone has a life story, views, thoughts and opinions on the world. If you feel you have something that's worth sharing with the world...share it. Whether you have a readership of just one or two people, or you end up with thousands of people reading what you're writing about, it's worth sharing. For me, it's a good way of writing something down and getting some level of creativity. My memory is shocking enough anyway, so to some extent, this serves as a way of me being able to go back and read through various events. I can go back and read about my time at the Grand Prix last year, the Berlin trip in December or even just time with friends. So for me, that's useful. Then there are times when I'm not writing about my life and I'm writing about something a bit more personal. That's not just for my own purpose and instead, it can be for other people to get to know the inner me a bit better.

His reply to my tweet was pretty positive, and hopefully that means he'll go ahead and start to write something. It might not be regular, it could be once a month or so, but having that creative outlet is important if it's something you want.

I look at what some people I follow on Twitter have managed to achieve, and I'm pretty amazed and impressed. There are guys like Mick (@PostalPoet) who started his own podcast, Postal Poet Podcasts. It started with him asking his boss questions that people were putting to him on Twitter. He would record the conversations and upload them to the internet for people to listen to and enjoy. After that, he went in two directions: Going Postal (featuring Pastor Joe, a character he created) and Keep Making Noise (a more serious podcast with interviews and some really good discussion). This is something that, as far as I can see, has been built up from nothing aside from having the desire to put something out into the world...and it works. He's putting out some fantastic stuff and keeps going from strength to strength. I usually throw him some sort of comment with each episode because I feel that he more than deserves it.

If anything, I guess it shows to me that if I ever get around to starting my own podcast (an idea I've been toying with for a while but never actually getting around to committing to), I can do it and provided I can make something interesting, it's something that can give something useful.

I have got some of my own creativity going on at the moment. In the last two weeks or so, I've been a bit busy with my writing, and it's been serving me pretty well.

Remember in the last entry how I mentioned I was toying with the idea of starting a motorsport blog of sorts? Well, I think I've pretty much decided against doing that for the time being. I had a look around and there are so many people doing them that I'd be lost in the shuffle. Everyone has a blog, everyone writes about the races and every little bit of news...and to be honest, that's not what I'd want to do anyway.

So I've taken a bit of a different approach. I stumbled across PureF1 on Twitter (@PureF1DotCom) after one of their writers included one of my tweets in their blog. So after looking around at it, seeing that it's a website with articles written by fans, for fans...I decided I could try and write some stuff on there. Fast forward to today and I've got three articles up there at the moment. While there are articles that cover the weekend's F1 action on-track, I'm trying to cover a different approach to the sport. So instead, I'm doing what I'd like to think are more magazine style pieces looking at deeper aspects of the sport. I did my first piece about Michael Schumacher and whether he should continue competing into 2013, my second on how pole position is still important despite more exciting racing than ever before, and my most recent piece about the teams at the back of the grid and their continued struggle in search of their first point.

I've got a couple of other ideas for pieces, though one might require a bit of luck in trying to get some sort of discussion with someone to help me out and get some more knowledgeable opinions. With a month to go until the next race in Belgium, I'll hopefully get two or three more pieces written in that time.

I've also been writing a string of stories. They're not quite epic novels and if anything, they're just short children's stories. I've been making them up for quite a while, but prior to a few weeks ago, I hadn't ever bothered to write them down. I then found myself writing one out for a bit of a joke, and then I've scribbled a few more down after making them up. There's no real reason for doing this...it's just nice to write down my silly stories. Maybe I'll do something with them once I've got a steady collection. I might just post stories on here. Let's just get there first.

In a quick life update: I fly to Hamburg at the end of August having booked my plane ticket earlier in the week. It's all rather real now. There are still one or two things that need to be sorted out, but I don't know how much I can do about those for the time being. Time is ticking, but it means that every passing day gets me one closer to my next destination.

Home sweet home

Well, I've moved out of Leeds and most likely won't be back there until September 2013. Still seems a bit weird when I think about that properly...I spent a good chunk of last summer up in Leeds, and that option to 'escape' Liverpool for a week or two and go back up to Leeds isn't really viable this year. Of course, it wasn't ever really escaping. I'd go back up to Leeds to see some friends, or to try and sort some stuff out with various aspects of uni and uni-related life. But this summer, we've all scattered back to our homes. Some of us are already in Germany, some of us are heading out there in the very near future and some of us have still got a while to go before we embark on our year abroad. Thinking that I won't be back there for over a year is a bit of a strange thing to get my head around...I'm just refusing to accept that once I do that, it'll be my final year at university.

Moving out of Leeds wasn't too painful. I do own far too much crap though...I was amazed at how many boxes and bags I managed to fill with various bits and pieces that I've somehow accumulated over the last two years or so. Even with that, I still managed to leave all of my kitchen stuff in the house after simply forgetting to get it while moving out. It wasn't my plan to leave it...I had a very good set of scales in my drawer and some cake tins that I used which are either lost forever or now in Rachel's possession (which may well mean they're lost forever anyway) which was a bit annoying. No idea what has happened with my pots and pans. I sort of don't care...since the contract on that house ran out last Saturday, they're not my problem any more.

I had a realisation of sorts the other day, and (surprise surprise) it's a thought that I'm going to share with you. If things had gone to plan and not drastically changed as they did in May, I'd be in Austria right now. Now that is a bit of a strange thought to get my head around. If I hadn't lost the job with Adrivo, I would have flown out to Graz on Monday morning, I'd be living there and looking forward to starting work this coming Monday (9th). To some extent, I'm still beating myself up about that since I was really looking forward to it and getting a chance to get my foot in the door with a job in motorsport would have been a bit of a dream and potentially a great opportunity. I mean, I was never really thinking I'd be able to get a job in that. It's only really dreams where you can mix your hobbies/passions and a career. Very few get to do that.

I guess I'll just have to find another way in.

Still, that was then and this is now. Instead of being in Austria, I'm back in Liverpool for summer, not that there's anything wrong with that. I was back in Yorkshire last weekend with Beatlife for the Hebden Bridge Handmade Parade, which had been delayed a week after torrential rain led to flooding in the area. That parade is always one of my favourite gigs of the year and they put so much work and effort into making it a success, it's a real community thing with people of all ages taking part and making some frankly brilliant costumes. The weather just about held off for most of the day, though there were one or two rain showers during the static performances and it was a really good day. We got some good feedback from people about that which is always nice, and it was my first Beatlife gig since last summer so it was nice to play again. I just about managed to remember everything...and if I didn't then as the sole primeira, it wouldn't have mattered since I could just act like I knew what I was doing and keep on playing.

I'm toying with the idea of starting up another blog, I'm just weighing up the pros and cons of it before I jump in there because if I make the commitment, I feel it's only right that I stick with it. As I mentioned earlier in the blog, I still want to work in motorsport in some capacity and was having a few discussions with various people about this, talking about writing more stuff, trying to make some connections within the motorsport world and seeing if I can make something happen from my side. Essentially, a new blog would be a motorsport-style thing, not giving news or race reviews since there are other websites and established pages that can do that far better than I could, but instead focusing on opinion pieces. I've already got a few ideas for pieces that I'd like to write...so even if I don't make a different blog, I might just write them up on here. That might be easier. (I really shouldn't have a conversation with myself on here, it makes me look insane.)

I need to sort my bike out in the next few days...check the tyres and brakes, give it a bit of a clean and get out on the road again. It's been a while since I was cycling around and it'd be good to get back out there. Having been used to walking everywhere in Leeds, it seems strange not walking everywhere in Liverpool, though I'm finding myself going out of the house most days for a bit of a walk, even if it's just a half hour walk and coming back with a newspaper to do some crosswords.

To be honest, life is pretty good at the moment. I'm not doing too badly.

Peace and love to everyone, thanks for continuing to read these entries. Apologies for my rambling nature at times...but that's just who I am.