Category Archives: Death

Something Fishy

I mentioned once that I had let slip to Longsufferinggirlfriendoftheblogbeth that “I didn’t solely come back from [stroke-y] death because I had to see her one more time. I wanted to see her one more time, and tell her that everything was going to be OK.”

And that that was a a lie, solely to the extent I didn’t think I was going to survive.

I read something last week that, had I known it at the time, would have meant I could have delivered the message with a clear conscience. Continue reading Something Fishy

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Bonus Post: Orchestral Manoeuvres

Hey, folks! This bonus post comes from nerdbaitband.com. I can’t tell you how proud I am to be associated with this piece of magic….

“So, all six legs of the collective were in the same room last week. And we thought, “Since we’re all together, why not get in a full orchestra to fill out the emotional finalé of The Treacherous Brain?”

The Professor wasn’t sure we could get the kettle drums past the couch, but when we moved the brass onto the deck, the acoustics worked out remarkably well.

Hear for yourselves:

Get your hankies out. I don’t think Ricky’s gonna get through this one….”

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Search Engine Optimization

Mrs Stroke Bloke just walked in and asked what I was up to. It probably looked like I was idly eying a Joan Didion essay on self-respect. But I was hard at work. Honest. I’d already read articles on A Formula For Happiness, Why Some People Dislike Everything and Seven Thoughts That Are Bad For You.

— I gotta tell you: I’m going for something big here, but I think my reach is going to exceed my grasp on this one.

— Why not just do something goofy?

Whaddya mean, goofy?

Continue reading Search Engine Optimization

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The Stroke Bloke AKA

I remember sitting with my pal, John, on the sofa here in my parents’ house on the morning of 31 August, 1997. Well, I couldn’t have told you the exact date — I had to look that up. But, it was the end of a short visit to Scotland, so we had made a point of having the sort of good night that occasions a good breakfast. Nevertheless, it began to percolate through from the radio in the kitchen that something newsworthy was going on. A Mercedes had smashed into the 13th pillar of the Alma tunnel in Paris, and Henri Paul, Dodi Al Fayed and Diana, Princess of Wales, had each died.

The Waleses in happier times

Continue reading The Stroke Bloke AKA

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Minor Arcana, or EnlighteNmenT

In the aftermath of my stroke (remember that?), I’ve found myself increasingly wedded to a positive outlook on the world. I suppose that’s a natural result of a near-death experience. By that, of course, I mean the experience of nearly dying rather than an umbrella term under which Ian Wiki groups  “detachment from the body, feelings of levitation, total serenity, security, warmth, the experience of absolute dissolution, and the presence of a light.”

The light at the end of the tunnel…
(darksideofthecatalogue.wordpress.com)

Continue reading Minor Arcana, or EnlighteNmenT

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A Meditation In Three Parts

1. Glasgow Zen

At the end of Monday’s post, I wondered why it was that the generosity of spirit that Sandy McCall Smith demonstrated at his recent Book Festival appearance . . .

It gave [Bertie] a warm feeling to be protecting his friend from whatever it was that frightened him – whether it was Campbells, or the dark, or things that had no name. And it was not surprising, perhaps, that he should feel it – this little boy who felt things so deeply; for we all feel that about our friends; we all feel that about those around whom we might put an arm.

… before stealthily sliding the claw hammer from his rucksack….

Continue reading A Meditation In Three Parts

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