Alex Laybourne's Blog, page 73

Adaptation

Great movie, nothing to do with this post.

Sorry Nick, your a great actor, and fucking nuts, but not today.

It may sound strange, but if past experience is anything to go by, my productivity is likely to go up with a new baby in the house. Why, because if I get him on an 11pm or even midnight last bottle schedule, it gives me some extra hours with which to write.

I’m not sure if it will go exactly the same this time, but I do look forward to giving it a good try. I would love to get this novel sorted out before the end of the month. or as close to it as possible.

That being said,my old ways are no longer going to apply, not for the forseeable future at least. I am going to have to adapt, something I usually have a difficulty with. But when it comes to the kids, I seem to find a way to transition that doesn’t make me feel as though I am out of my normal routine. It is quite remarkable.

Writing for the time being is going to be more a case of grabbing at it sentence by sentence. A paragraph here and sentence there. Hopefully I will be able to hit in the region of 1k – 1500 a day. We will see.

I am interested to see the impact a 4th child will have on us. I remember the jump of going from one to two was almost nothing, but then from two to three was a big change that we all needed to get used to. Now, I am tempted to think that 3-4 is the same as 1-2, and until now, the whole day he has been home, things have gone easily. Damon doesn’t cry, he sleeps and is a happy chap when awake. Even in the night, he didn’t cry for food. I’m sure that will change thought haha.

Being able to adapt or at least think on your feet with children around is a key part of the process, and with that quite well mastered I am sure this new stage of the family journey will be a fun one.

Review: Zombie Day Care

Zombie Day Care by Craig Halloran

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The story starts off a little absurd, Zombies can be subdued my Mountain Dew. It then jumps forward to a time where zombie children are kept in maximum security ‘day care’ centers where a team work to find a cure.

The tale is rather uneven, and jumps around a bit. The character that started it all is simply removed with no further effect on others until the final page, and even then it is nothing more than a side point in an attempt to round things off. Where the main storyline comes from is rather unclear.

The story itself is well written, and moves forward at a good pace. There are several points that are simply introduced with no explanation or background. The issues that are raised are never expanded upon but rather repeated in a different word order. Still, it is easy enough to pick up the general tone and understand who is who.

The biggest flaw were the two pages dedicated to the zombie. Written from a zombies perspective, they were unclear, and never used. Two, page long chapters were written like this, but then stopped. They were never broached again or used to any effect. I understand what the author was trying to do, but ultimately a little more effort would have been appreciated.

There was very little action in the novel, and in theory could quite possibly have been removed altogether. With the merest of modification to a few scenes they were not really important.

The read explains that he understand the concept is odd, and this in someway counteracts the absurdity. It was intentional.

The story was 37,000 and a fun easy read. If you are looking for something a bit different, then this is it. I would certainly be interested in reading other work by the author. With a little bit of polishing, and some refining of story development, the makings are there for something very promising indeed.

I picked this up for free from amazon, and would happily pay to read more work.

View all my reviews

Worth The Wait

After a long wait, yesterday was finally the day. My son Damon Dexter Laybourne was born. He was two weeks early, and the labor was induced because my wife had developed High Blood pressure and was showing signs of pre-eclampsia.

The labor was quick, only three hours in total, but it was not without the odd fright. The whole process went smoothly, but it was soon noticed that the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck. This was quickly clamped and cut by the doctors, sending a shower of blood across the room. The baby was delivered soon after, but was clearly sluggish and not overly responsible. He was quickly whisked away, with me in tow to a small room beside the labor suite where we were joined by about 12 running doctors. In the end only three actually appeared to do anything, and after just a few minutes on the oxygen mask, the heart rate was back up from the 60 bpm it had been and into the normal range. The color returned to the tiny body and things began to look up. He even made a very clear case for his disapproval of the situation.

With baby in tow we returned to the delivery room where my wife was being prepped to go to the OR to have the placenta removed as it was stuck. This was done under general anaesthetic but noninvasive. They simple needed to have her asleep so they could ‘manouever’ the placenta out. 

Before she left however, and with one final attempt at natural removal, there was a pop and suddenly the suite was covered in blood, the floor, walls and cupboard units were splattered. The doctors were unfazed by this and said it was not dangerous. They mopped up and took her away. An hour or so later, when she returned, everything was fine.

I spoke to the doctors again while my wife was gone, and they seemed to be very keen on stressing how everything with my wife was not urgent, and rather standard procedure.

Both mother and Baby have had to stay in the hospital over night, at least one night, if not two. Depending on how my wife’s iron levels are today.

Before the birth, we were undecided on a middle name for the baby, and had as good as decided that Damon as a single name was just as good. However, with the bloody circumstances surrounding his arrival, I feel it was a sign from the gods, that Dexter was supposed to be his middle name.

He was born at 12:16 and weighted 3630gr or 8lbs (UK). Out of all 4 kids, he is the smallest by some 400 grams but caused the most problems by far. Happily, everything is now good, and I am looking forward to getting him home.

Review: Casablanca, My Heart

Casablanca, My Heart by Hannah Warren

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A stunning, richly written novel that goes above and beyond the standard Romance fare.

Romance novels are not normally my thing, but I was taken aback and completely engrossed in Casablanca, My Heart, from the very first page.

The story is told from two perspectives, which I found to be a nice touch, and the story flowed nicely to the point where the characters re-unite.

Th story moves at a brisk pace, and while it jumps back and forth in time, this is never confusing, and the transitions are well executed. The mix of characters is rich and each one is brought to life with a perfect detail that allows the reader enough space to afford them to make their own mental image without changing said characters too much.

Throughout the novel, the background characters are brought to life, and detract from the title characters, in a positive light. By lightening the load from these two central sets of shoulders, the story develops on a deeper level, and becomes an all together invigorating and realistic experience to read.

Casablanca, My Heart is the debut novel, and certainly introduces the world to a very promising writer.

Being someone who not only lives in Holland and has walked the areas the book is set it, I also grew up in the very place in England that the Heroine turns to for her chance at revival. It made the story even more personal still, but have no qualms, if you are not familiar with the area, the book will remain just as good.

View all my reviews

Off My Game

A week ago today, I lost my car keys. Damned things cannot be found anywhere.

It is strange how one such thing can impact your life and so many ways, and send out spinning off into a world you hardly recognize with absolutely no control.

Not only is the cost of a new key somewhat astronomical (250 Euro) but it takes two days to get done, and could only be ordered in person, which meant I had to wait all week and only got to report it yesterday.

In the mean time, I am being driven into work by a colleague, and have no more control over my life.

I am a passenger in his car just as much as I have been made a passenger in my own existence. I like doing things my way, according to my schedule. It doesn’t feel right that I am on longer doing this.

I leave for work at 06.50 arrive at 07.30 and leave at 16.00 on the dot. This guy picks me up at 07.45 and works until he feels like going home. Or so last week would seem. Twice is was almost 18.00 before we left and 19:00 before I was home. Just in time to put the kids to bed.

I just sit in the car, drifting along the highway no more able to contribute than if I can control the cars that zoom around us. Now, I am not a nervous passenger, but it just doesn’t feel right to not be doing anything. Not to mention, what is my role? Am I there to provide conversation, to sit silently and enjoy the odd daydream that comes my way. I just don’t know.

Don’t get me wrong, I am very grateful for the lift each morning, but I just can’t ever feel comfortable not having a set time for things. If I’m gonna work late, I am ok with that, but I need to know a time I am working til, then I can plan, adjust, not just ok let’s go…. oh wait… ok, let’s go… wait! It just makes me feel on edge.

Not to mention that despite travelling on the same route as I normally would do, he takes different exits and ‘shortcuts’ that I don’t and that too just doesn’t sit properly with me. I like to do things in order, in a set way.  I’m not saying my entire week is ruined, but I certainly notice the disruption more than I would have hoped to.

Is this just one of my many idiosyncratic issues, or are other people completely thrown of kilter when something changes around them like this?

 

 

The Great Facebook Like Debate

Sometimes, a grand title is what you really need.

The other day, a friend of my wife’s shared a link on Facebook to one of these joke images. It was about children singing a song, and had different text for different problems; autism, dyslexia, ADHD etc. In short, both my wife and I found it neither funny nor in good taste.

I have a son with autism, but that was not the reason. The words were just offensive, they were not making fun at the problem, but rather the people with it, and for me, there is a big difference there.

When my wife read this, she left a comment saying that she didn’t find it very funny. This then sparked a rather intense round of comments from said friend, and then her husband who was outraged that his wife was being attacked on Facebook. Suddenly, a string of others arrived, proclaiming how funny they thought it, advocating freedom of choice, and personal opinions.

However, it would seem that is only if you agree with the post.

This got me thinking about Facebook as a whole. You have the Like button, this can be used to show appreciation of a post, but when it comes to comments, I am strongly starting to believe that people think these can only be used to praise posts. Which is wrong!

I see a lot of people, and hear a lot of people around me talking about how people leave comments saying they disagree with a certain post, or status etc. The dangers of a real conversation sparking up seem to be a genuine threat to these people. Perhaps Facebook should introduce a few new icons to their arsenal, to show people that life isn’t always about agreeing with one another, and that friendships and relationships can be strengthened and even formed via disagreements and differences of opinion.

I am lucky, I am part of a wonderful community on Facebook, filled with writers and other artists. The support is unwavering and genuine conversations on topics not only allowed, but encouraged. But what about the every-day users. Those looking to play games, chat with old classmates and relatives etc.

I guess my question is, is Facebook in danger of becoming like too much of the real world already. Filled with people saying nice things to one another and smiling, agreeing with everything being said around them for the sake of convenience and avoiding any form of confrontation or discussion? I hope not, as someone who rather enjoys rocking the boat from time to time, I firmly believe in the power of a good discussion, in all walks of life.

What about you?

Abstraction

I am

Shall we wander the world …

in search ourselves. Together forever, friends, family, enemies and lovers, bonded  by

LIFE

The Nationality Debate

It is election time around the world, or so it would seem. Facebook and Twitter feeds are being inundated with Political statements and home-made smear campaigns. Friendships are being torn apart because of which party one is plumping for.

In light of this fact, I have decided that today should be my turn, and so, I am going to write a post about.. Sports.

I understand the importance of politics, but choose not to discuss them.

I have noticed a trend in sports, especially in Tennis which would make it seem that a certain player’s nationality is not set in stone, but rather based upon his performance.

First of all it was with the Canadian…. um… English… Canadian Born… British… Canadian born British Greg Rusedski  and now seems to have been passed on to the British… Scottish… British…. Scottish, now very much British Andy Murray

It bothers me that we seem to be so fickle as a society, that we now start basing a person’s nationality on the level of their success.

When Rusedski was winning matches, the papers always called him British, then when he lost and was involved in the doping issue, he was Canadian Born in all newspaper articles. The same for Andy, since Monday, he is firmly British in the eyes of the media, but I will stake a bet that the next time he suffers a shock defeat, he will be back to being Scottish (Nothing against Scottish people of course).

Is this an English thing, or have you noticed this trend in your own media?

Never Give Up!

If there is one thing I believe in, it is in perseverance.  We may have days or times where we feel like crap, and need to vent, we release all the pent-up feelings we have, and that is fine, but the key to it, is to just take a knee, dust yourself off and keep on going.

However bad things get, however low it seems everything around you has sunk, it is never the end. Not unless you let it be., so let’s all stand up, shake off the past and charge into the future kicking, screaming, and achieving what it is that we desire most of all.

The Week Ahead

I didn’t get a post written yesterday, and for the simple reason that my day was possibly one of the worst days of my life, that capped off a terrible weekend and a period of bad luck that has seen me question a great many things.

A good night sleep and a good laugh later I am much more philosophical about things. I am british after all, it takes more than a few kidney punches from life to keep me down.

Basically my plan this week is to write when I can, and try not to lose my sanity.

My work travel arrangements have been complicated by my loss of car keys and I am now faced with I believe a three-hour round trip commute that I am not really looking forward to.

I have too many things to try to work out and sort through to set goals any more detailed than that.

Please forgive me.