A compromise

Following my previous post concerning a letter that I almost sent to my local newspaper, I found that I couldn’t let the matter rest. The reason I did not send the letter was because my wife felt that it may upset some of our friends who happen to be Christians and she did not want my name to be included. I in turn did not want to submit the letter anonymously because I have always felt that if you have something to say, you should have the balls to put your name to it. I am not inherently anti-religious, quite the opposite in fact. Whilst not being religious myself, I think that in a democracy everyone should have the right to follow their beliefs and express their views however distasteful they may be. That is the very essence of freedom of speech and long may it live.
On balance though, I was forced to concede that the original draft of the letter was perhaps a tad long, coming in at over twice the recommended word count. I realised that I could remove most of the anti-religious rant without losing anything of the sense of my main argument. After all, my main beef is that an important political issue is being clouded by religious rhetoric that has no place at the debating table. To include too much anti-religious diatribe would make me a hypocrite.
I redrafted the letter and my wife, bless her, was happy for me to submit it, name and all. I have sent it off this morning. The debate has been going on for a while now, with most interested parties having had their say, so I do not expect much feedback. If I do receive any emails I will of course post them, but for now I consider honour to have been satisfied and a line drawn under the subject. I will of course post the outcome of the States debate, but quite when that will be I don’t know.
I have posted the text of the revised letter here for anyone who cares.

Censored

In Guernsey, the island on which I live, there is currently a debate raging in our local paper concerning the homosexual age of consent. Currently it stands at 18 while the heterosexual age of consent is 16. This strikes me as wholly unnacceptable and I decided to write a letter myself. However, I ran the first draft by my wife and she urged me not to send it becasue she felt that it would upset some of our friends who happen to be christians. Not wanting to have a row about it, I decided against my better judgement to refrain from sending it. Instead, I've posted it on my Ramblings blog. I'd welcome your comments.

What a Dick

Instead of hunting quail, wouldn't it be better for Dick Cheney to hunt Dan Quail? Just a thought.

Also, check this out. 'Tis quite amusing.

False advertising

I have just eaten a bowl of Kelloggs Crunchy Nut Cornflakes. Imagine my surprise when I dicovered that, on this occasion, one bowl was enough. Does anyone think that I have recourse to sue?

Next blog

It's past my bedtime and I have just clicked "Next blog" at the top of the page a few times. Man alive! There are some serious fucking pockets of humanity out there. Makes one scared to step out the door.

Good night.

A simple observation

Every time a mobile phone text message is sent, an angel gets sucked inside a jet engine.

How well do you know Goatboy?

Take My Quiz - on - QuizYourFriends.com!

An unprecedented occurance

Well well well. For the first time ever I appear to be following through with all the big talk of fullfilling my New Years resolution. As a fellow once said, I have tickled The Muses tits and she has decided to produce. I'm telling you folks, this thing almost has a life of it's own, new ideas every other minute. I'm even having to carry round paper and pen when I'm out and about, so that I can jot everything down, lest I forget. I've never had to do that before.
I have started to get down a fairly decent back story to draw from, a pleasing plot outline and a few interesting characters. Still having trouble with the main protagonist though, but patience my boy, it'll come, it'll come.
If anyone reading this has any experience of writing and would like to offer some words of encouragement and/or advice, please feel free to post.
My brother appears to be having readers block at the moment. He is due to come over for a visit in a few days, hopefully by then I'll have something worthwhile to show him and maybe it'll renew his interest in the written word.
Oh well, better get some sleep in. Good night my fellows. Speak to you soon.

Happy New Year

As is customary at the dawn of a new twelve month, my New Years resolution is to finish my novel. Although he doesn't know it, my brother provided the impetus for this endeavour.
I recently posted a very short story on my Ramblings blog, and he told me that he looked forward to reading the rest of it! Little did he know that what I had posted was all there was, and indeed all that I ever intended there to be. However, I have taken his comments and run with them, and I now have the basis for a much longer story that I hope will one day become a novel. Wish me luck and watch this space...

Oh well

Oh well, all over for another year. Here's some pictures of The Joe on Christmas morning.