30 Before I’m Thirty (Books)

I’m going to be thirty in just over 2 years and at this moment in time I’m OK with that (how I feel about it in 10 minuets is up for debate) but one of the things that I realised is that there are a fair few things I still want to accomplish whilst the career and social goals are somewhat out of my control things like films I want to see, albums I want to listen to and books I want to read are very much in my control, especially as I have 25 months to accomplish it. Here is a list of the books that I would like to have read by the time I’m thirty.

A Princess of Mars- Edgar Rice Burroughs 

War and Peace- Leo Tolstoy 

Ulysses- James Joyce 

The Iliad- Homer

Journey To The Centre of the Earth- Jules Verne 

Frank Sinatra Has A Cold- Gay Talese 

Three Men In A Boat (To Say Nothing Of The Dog)- Jerome K Jerome

The Time Machine- H.G Wells

Lolita- Vladimir Nabokov

Animal Farm- George Orwell

The Last Of The Mohicans – James Fenimore Cooper

The Man Who Would Be King- Rudyard Kipling 

Treasure Island- Robert Louis Stevenson 

Stardust- Neil Gaiman

A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court- Mark Twain

Adrian Mole: The Prostate Years- Sue Townsend 

The Fight-Norman Mailer 

The Turn Of The Screw-Henry James

The Stand- Stephen King

Notes Of A Dirty Old Man- Charles Bukowski 

Silmarillion- J.R.R Tolkein 

Idylls Of The King- Alfred Tennyson

Confessions of an English Opium Eater-Thomas de Quincey

Little Women- Louisa May Alcott 

A Little History Of The World- E.H Gombrich 

The Mysterious Affair At Styles- Agatha Christie 

Who Censored Roger Rabbit- Gary K Wolf

Zen And The Art Of Motor Cycle Maintenance-  Robert M. Pirsig

The Day Of The Triffids- John Wyndham 

Winds of Winter- George R.R. Martin (Because surely this’ll be finished before the TV series)

How many of these do you think I’ll get done before July 21st 2019?

 

 

 

 

Candlelit Vigil

Today I attended the candlelit vigil in memory of the lives lost at both the Grenfell Tower Fire and the recent terror attacks in London and Manchester.

As you can imagine it was a sombre occasion, but its things like this that bring communities together and shows that we have more that unites us than divides us.

There were some moving words from the our local MP Nick Thomas Symonds and from my darling fiance the Mayor of Torfaen as well some wonderful music performed by the choir Soul’d As Seen. As a councillor and especially as Mayors consort it is nice to be a part of all these things that show the positive side of a community.

I’m Feeling Lazy

I am sans child for an evening so I’m going to eat a lot of junk and watch some bad TV.

Will This Be The Last Time?…

…I don’t know

Will this be the last time I beg of writing a blog citing surgical discomfort as the reason?…I don’t know. But its today’s excuse.

Still Recovering

I’m still recovering from surgery and probably should have taken it a bit easier, as I feel wiped out and have developed a cough/ cold just to add insult to injury. And I can’t take it easy til at least Tuesday.

Armed Forces Day

Today was the armed forces day celebrations of Cwmbran Community Council,  I attended in a dual capacity as both Mayors consort and as a community councillor.

Cllr Alan Jones (TCBC), Cllr Stuart Ashley (TCBC CCC), Cllr Anthony Bird (CCC), Her Worship The Mayor of Torfaen Jessica Powell (TCBC) and The Mini Mayor Of Torfaen Marianna Bird

It was a lovely service and a beautiful day, and thankfully it was over pretty quickly, because the sun was really beating down fiercely, and wearing a suit and the chains of office was a little too much.

It certainly was the perfect day to pay tribute to the men and women who make up our armed forces and as always the Salvation Army band and the reverend leading the service were both superb and it was nice to see children from the local schools not just in attendance but leading the national anthems. Cwmbran Community Council always puts on a good event (I’m not just saying that as a member of Cwmbran Community Council) and the council’s officers had done an amazing job organising this flag raising ceremony, it was also a pleasure to see so many councillors both from Cwmbran Community Council and from Torfaen County Borough Council.  And as always I consider it a privilege to attend as the representative for Northville.

Still Suffering

My balls are massively swollen and bruised, they look like two overripe plums, so I’m not blogging today.

Operation

I had an operation today, I’m in a fair amount of post operative discomfort, so I’m not going to do much in the way of anything for a few days.

Fathers Day

Today is fathers day in the UK and Marianna got me the greatest gift of all, a free afternoon in which I can do whatever I want away from the shackles of parenthood.  Here’s a collection of photographs from Marianna’s life and that special Daddy Daughter bond that we share.

Chains of Office

As the Mayoral duties are a good excuse to get out to family events, its only right that I take Marianna with me, the appointed mini mayor of Torfaen, so to that end, so she doesn’t feel left out, I had some chains of office made for her:

And yes she will be wearing them to any civic function that she is taken to.