Politics, bees and the innocence of childhood!

A strange week has passed, with the world passing by in its own peculiar way.  The British general election turned up a result that nobody was in the least bit surprised by, and whilst this particular election was the first since 1997 to stir up some interest in my skeptical attitude towards all things involving British politics, nevertheless the boredom with it all is back.  I thank god that British elections only run for about a month, whilst the American elections for president last around 18 months or so.  As for the hung parliament that resulted from the 'I prefer to sit on the fence, than actually do something radical' British electorate, and consequently no political party ended up with a majority, that could form a government, well the British have ended up with exactly the very things they complained about.  I find it unsurprising that the British character remains stuck in its world of serfdom and servility.

Anyway, enough of the politics and on to more pleasing news!  I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have visited this blog, over the past month I've seen an increase of over 300% in visitors, which I find amazing and somewhat humbling.  This in turn has led to more people downloading the free sample of my book, 'Nick & Jenny', along with a small increase in those who've bought a copy.  And on top of that, more people have begun to look at my webpage for 'English Support Services', which has seen visitor traffic increase by 800%.  Of course I can't rest on my laurels, as it were, and so the hard, but pleasurable, work continues apace.  So, again, a very BIG THANK YOU for all your support in making my 'dreams' come true.

Whilst I'm on the subject of my novel, 'Nick & Jenny' I've been asked about the paperback version of the book.  All I can say at the moment is that it will be published in paperback form in the future, but that's sometime off as I've another novel, 'Danny's Navel Adventure' due to be published in June/July time, in addition to other projects I'm working on, which doesn't leave me with the time to do everything I'd like.

One of the big pluses' of this week is that I've finally started working on my film about the trip to the USA during Dec. '09 to Jan. '10.  The downside to it all was my realisation that I'd taken more film and photos than I'd thought, and there's going to be lots left out of the final film, which at this early stage is running at 35 minutes long with a long way to go before it's finished.  The good thing is that the beginning and end of the film is almost done, in terms of film content and titles, but the music tracks have to be added and I'm still arguing with myself about whether I should add a voice over; the worry is that the voice will start to argue with me.

Finally, after spending far too long locked up in the hovel, I decided to escape.  Well it was a very pleasant late afternoon, or appeared to be.  Walking to my intended destination, the local graveyard, where I wanted to contemplate my navel and do some wildlife filming, the cheerful fluffy bits above my head became more threatening.  As I was in my normal mood of cheery glee and endless useless thoughts, I ignored the brewing storm.  Fifteen minutes later I'm sheltering under a tree, but fortunately I discovered a bees nest in the surrounding earth.  Not one to give up a missed opportunity, and the dense foliage of the tree protecting me and my camcorder, I set the camera up on the sturdy tripod.  I was totally engrossed in watching the few bees enter the entrance to the nest, they clearly far more intelligent than I due to them going home and I staying put.  After ten minutes or so the rain eased off enough for people to start wandering through the park, and a young girl, she must have been about seven or so, heavily blessed with the joys of innocent ignorance and driven by unending amounts of childish curiosity, inched her way ever closer to me.  Clearly, a raving lunatic of decaying years, wearing an open necked shirt and wearing a cord jacket, pointing his camcorder at some spot of muck was too much for her.  In her delightfully charming way, she slipped slightly on the damp grass above the nest and to steady herself placed her foot, heavily, on the nest entrance.  All I could do was smile and pack up as no further filming was possible.  The moral of the story is that whilst a bee is a fascinating insect to watch, it's hard to compare with the innocence of childhood and a child's uncanny ability to screw up an adult pleasure with the slip of a foot.