Astro Man...

...And other Jimi Hendrix tracks from "First Rays of the New Rising Sun" would seem to be my ideal gym music.  Having conducted a highly un-scientific and random survey of music to drive myself to the edge of physical ruin to, some conclusions have been reached.

 

I have discovered, for instance, that the dreadful radio that they pipe into the gym just makes me want to leave, Iron Maiden (specifically "Live After Death") drowns it out nicely, but is a bit too quick to be conducive to things like being able to walk the next day etc,  Rush's "Hold Your Fire" is an excellent album and nicely paced, but with Rush there is always the risk of odd time signatures and therefore of tying ones legs in knots!

So tonight, I opted for a bit of Jimi - and I think that Mr H's groove is ideal for this gym-bunny...  Well, probably more of a gym-rhino or gym-diplodocus.  

Anyway, James Marshall Hendrix has loomed large in my life for a long time now - being one of the guitarists who really made me want to take up guitar in the first place and has both driven me to try to approach some level of competence or occasionally made me despair of ever making a suitably musical noise out of the damn thing.  He also made me realise that it was possible for weird, tall, frizzy haired dudes could be cool.  (Not that I could ever dream of even being on the same cool scale as Jimi, of course!) 

And more amusingly, a friend who I was briefly in a band with, claimed that I had freaked out his sister, who thought that I was a reincarnation of Jimi sent to haunt her.  Strange girl.  And anyone who has ever heard me play will realise exactly how preposterous a thought that was!  Although, the only famous person that I have been told that I look like where I have actually seen the likeness was Noel Redding of the JHE...  Although I believe that I am about a foot taller than he was.

If there is a point to this interminable ramble, it is that I am glad that music has slotted into this new-found aspect of my life.  If anything other than my friends and family has kept me even borderline sane over the years, it is music.  There are few things in this world that give me an ecstatic rush like the one that I get from hearing the wonderful wail of a guitar being used and abused by a true master of the art - certainly none that I am prepared to share in a blog!  So thank you Jimi for bringing your groove to my bi-weekly torture sessions.

 

Spacewalk In Morningside

There is a famous photograph of the astronaut Ed White, the first American to walk in space, showing him floating above the Earth with a slender cable his only connection to the rest of humanity (or at least the Gemini 4 Capsule).

One morning this week as Christopher and I headed along the road to his nursery, I felt his hand slip into mine - another slender connection to the rest of the world.  Just the feel of his slim hand in my big, clumsy paw made my weary heart leap.  That small connection pulled me from whatever self absorbed thought was on my mind at the time and reminded me of the luck and responsibility that is being a parent.  I have someone to protect, to care for and to nurture.  

The connection doesn't have to be physical - I think of the buzz of happiness that I get when I hear Christopher or Freya's voice or see anything that brings them or any of my friends or family to mind,  Depression can make one terribly insular - either shunning company or feeling alone in a room full of people, so sometimes it takes something like this to remind me of the importance of the connections we have to the ones we love,

So Christopher's hand in mine felt a bit like Ed White's tether to me - vital and lifegiving.  Of course even if one is at the end of one's tether, at least one is still on the tether!

One small step...

Oh well, here we go...  I like faffing about on the Internet, playing about on the computer generally and wittering on endlessly about all sorts of rubbish, so a blog seemed the logical next step...

Today, Freya, Christopher and I went for a walk through Colinton Dell, by the side of the Water of Leith - muddy and a wee bit cold, but it is definitely my favourite part of Edinburgh.  It makes you feel like you're far away from the cares and concerns of the modern world in a beautiful wooded rural idyll - while you are really only a brief bus ride from the centre of the city.

It gave me pause to reflect on that I am actually (a mere 14-ish years since I moved here from Dundee) beginning to quite like living here...  

The past six and a bit of those years have definitely helped, in that time I have moved on from the absolute lowest point of my life to meet and marry my wonderful wife Freya, become a father (to the fabulous Christopher), move house (once), change bands (twice) and change jobs (three times).  

In that time I have also started to come to terms with my own mental health - finally seeking help for what had been a 20 year private(ish) battle with depression.  It's not always great, but some counselling, the anti-ds and the love of my family are all helping me to get things sorted. 

 One of the side effects of my current (prescription) "drug of choice" is that it increases my appetite (which was already fairly "healthy") - as a result I am now the heaviest that I have ever been (not quite twice the skinny 11 stone that I was when I headed off to University but far closer than I am happy with) and have decided to draw a line in the sand, so to speak.  The gloves are off, and the gutties are on!  Freya and I have hit the diet and joined the Cooncil gym (a lot flashier than they were the last time that I ventured into one) and this time we mean it.  

Which brings me back to Colinton - I reckon that if exercise comes in the guise of wandering through a beautiful place like the Dell, then I may actually manage to stick this diet and fitness thing out...