Believe me when I say we have a difficult time ahead of us. But if we are to be prepared for it, we must first shed our fear of it. I stand here, before you now, truthfully unafraid. Why? Because I believe something you do not? No, I stand here without fear because I remember. I remember that I am here not because of the path that lies before me but because of the path that lies behind me.

– Morpheus, The Matrix Reloaded

It has been just over two months since I graced these pages with a blog post. Which is shocking considering that I gave this site a makeover this year after 2 years of kicking out thoughts and observations. So what happened?

A lot!

Everything has changed to some degree this year and all of it has been deeply personal. It has forced me to re-evaluate almost every aspect of my life, which has also turned into a ‘fight or flight’ response in some cases. The illness of a very close relative for instance has challenged my perceptions regarding relationships and what I should be valuing. I have never believed that people have the capacity to really change, instead I think I may simply be choosing a different path, one that is not so clear. One that may ultimately lead to me failing on an epic scale. Though it is the happiness that I have found lately that has reinvigorated this old man and redrawn the maps of what is possible. Now I navigate by a sky with a new sun, a new night of stars.

‘The Dead Poet‘ has been extremely busy after a long break. There are currently several other works in the process of being polished before they are released onto the unsuspecting. He has been torn between a setting moon and rising sun. Standing between both and not knowing if he should be weeping or shouting for joy. This is his current torment. Victor seems to be sitting on the sidelines waiting to play with whatever is left this time, content to step through and around without actually having to be there. Though he would like to remind readers that his “On Remembering Father” and “Death of a Poet” both won awards and were published this year! Do not worry, that was not a smile you saw him make, just a crack in his soul…

Facebook has really sucked up too much of my time of late, it has become my primary source of sharing news and discussing emerging events. Hence my lack of blogging. This is both good and bad. Good because I get to share with friends what is on my mind or what I have found of interest. Bad because it is just a snapshot and rarely a discussion. So if I apply a little discipline I should be gracing these pages much more often once again with updates of interest to me and hopefully you.

Motorcycling wise my Buell Ulysses XB12XT is still going through some updates and a few problems! These will be covered in future posts with pictures and reports of what went on. Nothing life threatening, though one could have been if left unnoticed. Not to worry, all safe now.

Ubuntu! Well needless to say I have updated all my machines to the latest release, 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope and keeping a very close eye on the developments regarding Octobers forthcoming release of 9.10 Karmic Koala. I am using the desktop and netbook remix versions of Jaunty and loving them. Extremely stable and no problems worth mentioning. Though there are some issues regarding the use of Skype and Ubuntu’s now default sound manager Pulse Audio. Though 9.10 should certainly fix that…more news to come!

This years big trip will be coming from the US of A, with trips to Washington DC, New York City and Boston all planned. Other destinations are likely to be added but they will be decided once there. Very excited about this and my Flickr page will probably be crammed with photos from the trip come the end of the summer. So watch this space…

Of course I have the Annual Across Ireland to take part in on the weekend of August 29th/30th. It is the runs 10th Anniversary and an especially big party is being planned for all those taking part on the evening we are in Galway. So if you are interested, follow the link to their website and help make a difference by raising money for the Make A Wish foundation. Every cent helps!

On top of all that I am busy with university work over the next few weeks too. A 10,000 word project to write and polish effectively over the next 4 weeks. The joy and fun of it! Well, actually, I do really enjoy it. Next year will be my final year of my degree in International Relations. After that? After events this year I have broadened my horizons. A career over the pond or the opportunity to continue study there would be most welcome. I have a busy academic year ahead trying to figure that one out.

There has been some sadness of late too. Hopefully this will be something I will be able to fix or at least apply some karma to. I was supposed to be a dreamcatcher, I know…

So with all that is before me I must go and start living it so that I may return to these pages and write words once again.

What’s my name?

Peace, B Wild & keep the rubber side down