Winter is a peculiar season.

Lots to love and hate.

Hate the:

- Gale force winds that strips your body of all its warmth.

- Rain that leaves you soaking wet in a bus with a strange smell of dampness invading your nostrils.

- Darkness in the morning, darkness in the evening. Darkness all around.

- Heavy clothing that feels more like lead rather than a warm comforting blanket of security.

Love the:

- The sound of rain tapping on the window pain

- Sofa sessions with a hot chocolate, a nice woollen sweater/cardi whilst watching the trees sway outside the window.

- Time out to read because the weather is too violent to venture out.

- Snuggling up with your loved one, a movie, and yummy munchies to snack on

- A Sunday Roast that fills the rooms with both warmth and fragrance…mmmm

And like the other three seasons, Winter has its own ace card up its sleeve – SNOW.

Last years winter was delightful! Beautiful soft blankets of snow which blanketed the countryside of Oxfordshire and made last years winter shine above all other seasons.

Let’s hope this winter’s gale force winds and heavy rain will turn into tender snow fall and beautiful fields of perfect untouched snowfields.

Bring on the snowman, bring out the snow sleigh, Please mother nature, put on your snow dress!

Sometimes impulse should win

Few weeks back, Babes and I had ventured to Birmingham Book Festival. I had subscribed to a writing workshop and following the Bath Children’s literature Festival, I was excited to be infused with knowledge.

Babes and I went window shopping with our Friend Science M to past the time. Along that journey, I found myself charmed by a blazer in a high street retail store.

I dismissed my desire to purchase the item – do I need it? No.

But then, luxury items are never necessities, they’re sustenance. It fills us with a sense of pleasure and strangely, with pleasure comes guilt.

I must say, a ‘Zoolander’ moment appeared in my mind – yes, I felt good when I wore it. And yes, I wanted it.

All the more reason not to buy it.

Luckily, Science M received a call from his bro - Super R – and we made our escape to the Bullring to enjoy lunch.

After our fast food hit, my friends and Babes accompanied me to South Birmingham College. I left them for my workshop and for those short few hours, I forgot all about the grey woollen blazer.

Not long after leaving the workshop I found myself debating over a choice: flamboyant capitalism or thrifty communism. Pushing capitalism aside, i focused on spending the last few hours enjoying the company of friends.

As Babes and I left Birmingham, Science M and his Bro, Super R I felt none the wiser from my act of being thrifty.

As the title suggest, it didn’t take long for me to capitulate to my desires.

Do I feel bad? No – because during the time that I was without, I came to the realisation that it is what I want and my impulse/instincts were spot on. In the end, if you really want it - you're going to buy it.

There’s nothing wrong with earning what you want.

The land of the Cones and Signs.

This really doesn't do it justice

Motorways have many lanes, but drivers often find themselves only using one lane for long sections of the journey.

Why? Simple: Cones and Signs.

Driving in England is a unique experience. It is the only country I know where the number of cones and signs on the motorway much the number of vehicles that infest the roads.

I can understand the British government's obsession with health and safety but I cannot help but feel that the measures they have implemented actually make driving more of a hazard.

Traffic jams is an inconvenient truth on any road. The extra cones and signs sadly add to this inconvenience.

Sections are closed off for several miles but areas that are actually "worked on" are never longer than several hundred yards.

Miles of cones block off roads which have signs stating “work ahead” but no workers are to be found.

And what’s with the information overload?

It is as though the government wants to micro-manage how we drive on the road. All this communication simply turns the guidance into a distraction and frustration.

Feel off? go shop

If we all had one of these, would we be any happier?

So there I was, staring at the screen ready to press “Confirm” only to stop and ask myself – do I need it?

It’s strange how we grow into buying "comfort" as opposed to possibly establishing "comforting" relationships which do not require a credit card admission. I look around my apartment - it’s cluttered with things that Babes and I acquired over the years. And the clutter continues to grow.

I feel guilty because I have already spent over £100 buying things I don’t need such as computer games that I use to keep myself distracted from the everyday things such as work, work and work! ICT is the new TV and “consumerism” is literally on the tip of my fingers.

The problem is I’ve contracted the terrible feeling that certain items I currently own can be updated. My computer is dying, it has no side case and is over 5 years old – in the "Techno" world, that’s pretty much ancient.

The CD and DVD collection can always be expanded. Now that we have Blu-ray, I can’t help but look for cheap deals on movies I already own in DVD format.

Sound Systems – for all those hi-fidelity nuts, it’s a terrible road to travel down. Once started, the system you own will forever be “inadequate”.

When I look at Babes' bag, shoe and clothing collection, I can only conclude that her shopping habits are fueled by the same illogical conclusions that validate my shopping urges: Update!

There’s always something newer, better, brighter.

And I feel bad, simply because buying seems so selfish. Unless you’re buying for someone else, but who in their right mind purchases things that they can’t use?

Shopping certainly has changed and the cogs of the economy have become easier to turn. Now shops are literally in the homes. I still find it peculiar to shop on-line.

In Australia people still go out to shop. I’ve never been keen on the whole “day” shopping experience, rather spend the day chilling in a café or be out and about exploring the world. When I’m at home, I can relax and I guess that’s the trap. Internet shopping allows me to purchase in my own comfort.

Shopping has been amalgamated with relaxing at home.

If you’re not careful, you can pretty much relax yourself to an empty bank account.

a blog is not like a scrap book

We live in a world where transferable skills are portrayed as an everyday fact of life. One would assume that an English teacher would at least find blogging an easy domain to transfer into.

Alas, this is not the case.

Blogging is more then just “pen to paper”. In the age of technology, hyper communication which evolves quicker than nature can keep up with. I now feel the full force of the word “generation gap” and I’ve only just entered my thirties.

What vexes me more is my inability to accept the standard templates (which are provided). My life would be a lot easier if I simply chose, clicked, saved and wrote.

Instead I make a concerted effort to dive into the world of HTML. I want to impart a sense of myself into the blog. They say a picture speaks a thousand words. I didn’t realise in the world of blogging, it took a thousand words to “insert” the picture.

I’ve come to realise that Blogging is not just words, it’s not just a different form of publication. It’s a space that I have limited access to. I am confined by the space that the drop down icons and templates provide me. Unlike a notebook where I can draw and add what ever I like that springs from my mind; a blog is a page with a delicate temperament.

A blog requires more than imagination alone. It requires Photoshop, Illustrator, a website to upload images, correct HTML coding for minor adjustments. How naive of me to believe my friend when he said "Chris, you only need words".

Forgive me if my blog lacks imagination. It’s just that I lack the current skills to make it anything more than a template.