I want to rock your gypsy soul, just like way back in the days of old, then magnificently we will float into the mystic (Van Morrison)

Photo by Kirill Bubochkin on Unsplash

Wie geht's?

What is it about me that I love shedding a skin from time to time?

And what's with all this moving (and shaking) dude?

Gypsy blood (as my closest mates have suggested)?

Was I born a travellin' man (tryin' to make a living and doin' the best I can)?

Is it wanderlust? A restless itch that needs a scratch?

I don't know - it's a puzzler.

It's not genetic, I do know that. My parents stayed in two houses (both in a similar part of one town) all their married life.

Our current move is inspired by a few things: SWMBO's unhappiness with her job and where we live (we needed another paddock so we've had the house up for sale for a while); my love, okay, obsession with English culture; the fact I can transfer within the parent organisation; James Whatley's advice - don't move away from stuff, move towards stuff; and a big part of that is moving to be closer to my family in Bury. 

I think it comes down to few essentials.

One's a belief - that I want to (always) live my life close to the bone and the other's a fact - the world is a whole lot smaller than when my parents were about.

The global village that Marshall McLuhan wrote about is well and truly here. The school I belong to is called OneSchool Global and it has campuses throughout the world: Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, the Carribean, Europe, America and the UK.

It looks the same (uniform, colour schemes) and feels the same (ethos and vision), so I'll be among friends when I take up my new post as Head Teacher of OneSchool Kenley in Surrey, England, later in the year.

Love and peace - Wozza

The boy with the thousand yard stare (Big Country)

Very jelly of cousin Christine, who is back in blighty after her downunder trip to Nu Zild, as she reports on snow and football.

Some advice from Catherine Collautt comes to mind: if your patch is feeling dry or looking blanched to you: try some water.

Grass needs water to grow, to be vibrant and healthy and green. It simply will not amount to much on a diet of entitlement (“It should just be green and awesome”) and neglect (“What, water it again? But I did that last month”). Give it a respectable amount of TLC and you may still find that you don’t want your patch, that perhaps you want somebody else’s; but you will at least find it to be something prettier, greener, and more comfortable to sit on as you figure out how to make your way there.

James Whatley has an interesting alternative take on this: The grass is always greener...if you water it.

Keep that in mind when the opportunity to leap comes along. The best advice I was ever given was: move towards things, not away from things.

I like this!

Love and peace - WNP

Summer, Buddy Holly, the working folly, Good golly, Miss Molly and boats, Hammersmith Palais, the Bolshoi Ballet, Jump back in the alley and nanny goats (Ian Dury)

Photo by Erick Tang on Unsplash

50 Reasons to be cheerful in 2017:

• Looking forward, each week, to James Whatley's Five Things on a Friday 
• Christmas visits from the family (Jade, Adam, Samantha)
• Blacklist binges on Netflix
• Reading my newspaper The Walrus Gumboot - courtesy of Paper.li
• Medium.com stories - usually a few gems with each edition, although the message that I'd exceeded my monthly quota was annoying
• Seeing Jerry Seinfeld with Jade
• Morning feel good quotes for/from the staff at morning briefings
• Vox sentences
• Watching Dunkirk with Jacky
• Thomas Oppong's articles via Medium.com
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi 
• Austin Kleon's newsletter that comes into my inbox regularly
• Lunchtime walks with my coach, Liz
• Paul McCartney on December 16 at Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland
• Lindsay Hope's CD collection will be giving pleasure for a long time to come
• Seth Godin's blog, which comes every day, regularly provides food for thought 
• November trip to Keri Keri for a weekend thanks to the kids
• Dan Rockwell's advice, again every day, has pearls of regular wisdom
• Whatsapp - the vehicle for hilarious fandamily interactions
• Netflix has provided great viewing throughout the year
• The Arsenal victory over Spurs was a tonic in an otherwise forgettable season, again
• Greg Knowles' Seventies Music blog provides a shedload of memories
• Daily writing on my blogs
• Visiting Universal Studios at the start of the year with Samantha
• Regular visits to Real Groovy in Auckland for vinyl 
• Marbeck's Records and JB Hi-Fi are still providing CD fixes
• Messages and videos from Noel Forth via Messenger
• Facebook hilarity from mates Greg Knowles and Kevin Simms
• Driving with Samantha and Jacky from San Francisco to LA along the Pacific coast
• Disneyland with Jacky - the happiest place on earth for us
• IHOP Anaheim and blueberry pancakes
• The view from the top of the Brynderwyn Hills looking towards Whangarei
• Autumn, every year
• Card for my 60th birthday from my staff
• Playing backyard cricket with the kids again
• 366 Days With Wisdom by Venerable Master Hsing Yun
• The Hard Rock Cafes in London and San Francisco
• Finding the new copy of West Bruce and Laing's Whatever Turns You On
• Reading 50 books in the year and fulfilling a goal
• Our new Border Collie, Jerry, and his surviving Parvo
• Seeing Jeanette Thomas at the Macca concert
• The organic Whole Life Cafe in Maungaturoto is a life saver
• Taking the ferry to Russell
• The drive from Russell to Whangarei that takes in the Helena Bay Hill Gallery and Cafe (great, great gardens)
• The spectacular tree outside my ART room
• Seeing Keegan happy and purposeful in China
• The view from our lounge towards the Bryderwyns
• Building the horse yards for Grace and Beetlebaum
• Playing ball chase games with Jerry
• Browsing in Amoeba Records, San Francisco
• Mocha at the Beach Cafe Ruakaka (my cup runneth over - this being #51)

Love and peace and into 2018 we go...Wozza

I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go 'round and 'round (John Lennon)

Outside looking in.

I'm not yet in control of my news feeds and, as for email - don't get me started!

No doubt my job is busier and my lunches are not my own any more. At Woodford I'd grab my peanut butter cruskets and get back to my computer to read medium.com and Vox and all the other news feeds rocking into my email accounts.

Cannae do that in this new job - for one the internet blocks a lot of the links from Walrus Gumboot, James Whatley, medium.com and others. For another it doesn't seem right when a lot of staff want to talk with me at lunch.

And fergetaboutit during the working day - it's full on from 7am until 5.30 each day - no non-contacts fer me.

Then I get home and I'm too cream crackered. I know right - would you like some cheese with that whine Wozza?

So yeah - not yet under control. Which I spose means - not yet into my daily routines. By that I mean, my morning rituals before school. 

I guess I need to hack out a regular time for that and some personal brain sustenance during the day - my goals for Term 2.

Love and peace - Wozza

You blessed a part of me without lying (Embrace)

In a moment of complete serendipity I was listening to this song while I wrote this and posted these photos - the song is the PERFECT accompaniment for my mood right now and for these photos. Have a listen while you read.

 

For some reason I love these images of the empty underground. Yeah, okay, I know - I love London's underground - I always have. Something about being underground, trains, destinations, bustle, body spam, people with purpose that gets me. And, call me weird, but I love the smell down there!

But I digress - I love these empty peaceful underground pictures (thanks to his awesomeness James Whatley for the link):

Go to this link for more http://emptyunderground.com/

Love and peace - Wozza