Debra.

Debra is my partner. My better/other half, my significant other, my fiancée.

The one person I put before everyone else, myself included. The person I can talk to, with a little coaxing sometimes.  The person that makes me feel good about myself, regardless of how bad I feel. The person that makes me want to grow and improve myself. She's amazing. Honestly.

Debra, The pregnancy hasn't always been much fun. The sore and battered body, the restless nights, the constant indigestion. But I appreciate all that you're doing for us. I also admire you for putting up with it for so long. I hate to admit it, but I don't think any man could endure pregnancy. 3 weeks into it, and I would want off the ride, and an immediate refund!

All I'm trying to say is thank you for lefty and thanks for being you :D

I love you x

The quest for hats.

I Like hats. Baseball caps, Beanies and Sock hats. My 3 favorites, followed closely by sun hats.

Now I have a baby on the way, I have another excuse to buy hats.

I spent many hours trawling the internet for the perfect infant cranium protector. Alas my efforts were fruitless. Then I remembered I have an ace up my sleeve. One of my sisters happens to be quite the seamstress.

So, those of you that are familiar with The Legend Of Zelda, and like myself are a big fan of the series, you're in for a treat. Call me a nerd or a geek, it matters not to me.

My sister has been entrusted with creating Links hat. Yes that's right, the dashing floppy green hat that's festooned upon one of gamings most enduring frontmen. Only in smaller proportions.

Pictures of said hat will be posted here as soon as I have it. Pictures of Lefty in his hat will be here as soon as he decides it's time to make an appearance.

My partner quite understandably, thinks I'm touched in the head. Yet when I asked if she would willingly dress him in bear suit pajamas, she said she would! So for once she can't argue! Yes! One point for me!

Either way, I wouldn't subject him to the whole green outfit, although I will confess, I was tempted for a short while.

8 weeks to go!

The impending arrival of my sprog, as mentioned before nicknamed Lefty is drawing ever closer.

Although my partner will disagree, it's not that long to go and the closer it gets the more excited I become.

At first, early on in the pregnancy I experienced the fears that I'm quite sure most dads have had. Will I be a good father? Will he like me? Will I cope? Does this mean my life is over? Have I made a terrible mistake?!

Well, at this stage I've had lots of time to think these things over.

Will I be a good father?  I like to think so, sure I'm not going to be perfect,  no parent is. But ill do the best job I can, and that's all I can really ever do.

Will he like me? That's silly, of course he will! I am after all a top chap.

Does this mean my life is over? Hardly. Its just beginning. Its going to be vastly different, challenging, time consuming and exhausting. But on the whole much more interesting than it ever was.

Have I made a terrible mistake? Not at all. I'm actually kind of regretting not doing it sooner, but then I didn't have the amazing person that is my partner in my life.

Exciting things are ahead, and many an hour has been consumed with wandering thoughts about the future. Nothing has swayed me about our decision. I can't wait to meet my son.

What to do?

4 days in and already this blog is taxing me. Its difficult to think of something to write about. But I've committed myself to at least one post a day. Something I plan to stick to.

Maybe I've set the bar too high? Maybe I'm just being my usual defeatest self? Or maybe I really just don't have anything to say today.

That does worry me somewhat. Throughout my childhood. I was that one kid that couldn't shut up. The chatterbox. So me having nothing to say is a scary prospect indeed.

I do waffle though. I can talk endlessly about nothing at all. It's an excellent self defense mechanism against people you'd rather weren't around you. 3 simple steps to get rid of them.

1: talk emphatically about a subject no one cares about. Here are a few ideas if you're stuck. The plight of Peruvian muscle farmers in a sea of political unrest. Why is the wax on Edam red? When it could just as easily be orange. How come no one Morris dances anymore?

2: Minor detail is king. Sometimes you can talk about something interesting, but by adding just a little to much detail, any subject matter can be rendered duller than any of Jordan's t.v. shows.

3: To make a long story short. This technique is a little more advanced. The best examples of the art form can be found in any place where people gather. It is a combination of the first two steps, plus the added ability to drag out aforementioned details.

A man who I worked with, who we'll call Dave, was an unwitting master of this. To give you an example, were someone to ask him what he did at the weekend he would tell them, but make the simplest activity sound like a high precision military manouver. The conversation would go something like this.

Work colleague: Morning Dave, get up to anything exciting this weekend?

Dave: Yes actually. I first awoke at precisely 6am, to do my usual weekly shop. First things first, I filled the kettle and waited for it to boil and then made myself a cup of tea. I remember the tea was particulalry hot as I burnt my tongue. Once I drank my tea, I went out if the house and got into my car. I drove along the road at approximately 40 miles an hour and was surprised that my usual journey of ten minutes took just over twelve! Imagine that, two whole extra minutes. Which is annoying because I had made sure I had enough petrol for a ten minute commute and this put my whole fuel system out of kilter....

Work colleague: Ummm well ok Dave I've got to ummn...bye Dave.

Dave: Did I show you the photographs of my new refrigerator?

The man was a genius. Only I don't think it was intentional.

Get up but no go.

So, I've been discussing this blog with a few people. The general feeling conveyed to me by most, is that it's a good idea.

I have one issue with myself though, that has been the bane of my existence for as long as I can remember. I can never motivate myself to carry out anything I want to do. I've had pipe dreams a plenty.

I think my partner said it best when I spoke to her about it last night. "You have get up, but no go"

I can't argue with that. It's been said to me on plenty of occasions. By friends, family, work colleagues. But this time I think things may finally be different. All because of an unborn foetus affectionately nicknamed Lefty.

I have realised my motivation doesn't happen because there are no consequences should I not follow through. This time I have a reason and a motivation. I want to set an example.

I want lefty to realise that you really can do anything if you put your time and effort into it.

It may sound like I've done nothing with my life. I've done things, but not things anyone would consider useful shall we say.

One of my favourite past times is producing music. I know my way around most music production software suites. I can reproduce music I've heard on the fly, or write my own from scratch. But that's all I've ever done with it. Its always been for my own satisfaction. If I had followed through when I first was introduced to production, I could by now be a significant player in any number of ways in the music industry. Again, get up, but no go.

So for the time being this blog will be my new pipe dream, only this time I will stick with it, and I will see it through to the end. Which will be either my own eventual demise, or the internet imploding under huge amounts of political, social and legal pressure (that's a topic for another day).

Crows.

Have you ever sat and watched crows?

They fascinate me. I understand them to be very intelligent. They've been studied by a whole myriad of people.

Putting their nut crushing and impromptu tool making skills to one side. I think there's a lot more going on with crows, than those that observe them suspect.

I think that crows are so intelligent, they've quickly worked out that it's best to keep quiet on the matter.

They've probably realised that the moment they open their beaks, they would be coerced into getting jobs and paying taxes.

That being said, the weird person that I am, I kind of like that idea.

Parliament discussing equal rights in the work place for our corvine friends. Televisual debates about the anti social behaviour of young crows harassing the public at large for scraps of food. Pressure groups fighting for the freedom to establish a nest in any tree they see fit, without planning permission I might add!

Yes, the world would be a much more interesting place. Although I would be a little jealous. Who can say they got fed up with their job to the point where they landed a peck right in the eye of the boss, crapped on his shoulder and flew out of the window?

Nothing to see here, move along....

I created this blog a little over two years ago. At the time I thought this would be a good idea. Something creative I could use as an outlet. At the same time something to share with the online masses. A thing to entertain people with.

After a few days of endlessly plumbing the depths of my constantly wandering mind. I came to the realisation that I simply have nothing to talk about.

No bizarre illnesses, no strange line of work, no family links to celebrities or notorious criminals. I'm certainly not an inventor, or a great mind with thoughts and ideas that can benefit human kind.

I'm just a regular man.

As I was sat on the train, traveling to my regular job, I started to think. Ok, so my life isn't that exciting. But it's not totally devoid of interest.

In nine weeks time I will be a father!

Before my partner became pregnant, I underestimated just how much this event can change your whole outlook on life, and also how much it alters the reasoning behind many if not most of your decisions. It's for this reason I have decided once again to start to keep a record of the random thoughts that pop into my head.

Maybe no one will read this, but then at this point I can't say I'm overly bothered by this. I just have the urge to document anything that pops into my head. One reason for this is because I would like my son to read it. I'm not the best at elaborating my thoughts aloud. So writing things down seems like the most logical thing to do.

I hope this will give him some insight into his old mans mind.

Anyway, that's enough waffling for now. Have to start my regular job.
How exciting!