I don’t know about you but I have a very Swiss cheese like memory. I can watch a movie or read a book and a few hours later I’ll most probably struggle to tell you much about it. However, tell me some irrelevant fact about something of no interest to man or beast and I’ll more than likely be able to tell you about it in 20 years time…go figure!

No doubt some mumbo-jumbo therapist would tell me there is a hidden reason for me forgetting the plot of a movie I watched 2 hours previously, I prefer to stick to my own theory that it was most probably crap although in saying that, some films I’ve really enjoyed I’ve struggled to recollect. Quite often I’ve gotten three quarters of the way through a film only to realise I’ve seen it before, sometimes I can make it right to the end before realising it and I’m sure sometimes I’ve never even noticed.

I recently started subscribing to the London Review of Books, I’m not too sure why. I like to tell myself it was so that I could keep abreast of new books that were coming out but the reality seems to be that I head straight for the personals section at the back to amuse myself  over the ads that are placed.

I’m very curious to know what the response rate is. I mean how do you reply to ads such as these?

This ad is a rare glimpse into my mind. You are in there, but in my mind you are blonde, no older than 30 and have tentacles instead of human limbs. Comply with just one of these imaginings and win my heart. Male, 39 Box no. 20/08

Allow me to buy you dinner! It’s chicken or fish and one of the conditions is that i get to harp on for three hours about my ex-fiancé who dumped me a week-a fucking week! -before our wedding. but yes, after that I’ll let you have sex with me. Female, 29 Box 19/03

Last night I read Writer’s Writer and Writer’s Writer’s Writer by Julian Barnes. He was reviewing Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary or more accurately he was reviewing the translator’s version, the translator in this case being Lydia Davis. I don’t know about you but I’ve read Madame Bovary only twice in my life. The first time was when I was around 18 or 19 and I loved it, a few years later I decided to re-read it but have to admit it wasn’t such and easy read. I’m not sure why I didn’t enjoy it as much but after reading Julian’s review I’m going to put it down to the translator.

Well, it’s that time of year again. No, not Christmas but the time when I renew my Flickr Pro subscription. Long time readers may recall that last year I ran a little competition in which I gave away some annual Flickr Pro subscriptions and it proved to be quite popular, so much so that when I renewed my subscription this year I decided to get a few more to give away.

I’m not sure when I became so nice but I guess it doesn’t really matter. Chances are, if you’ve stumbled upon this entry after searching for Free Flickr Pro Subscription you don’t really care why I’m giving them away, you just want one and I can’t blame you for that!

How Do I Win the Gift of Flickr Pro?

After much deliberation I’ve decided to keep the format pretty similar to last years. I won’t be judging your artistic endeavours, instead it will be a straight forward random selection process. If you want to win a 12 month Flickr Pro subscription all you have to do is leave a reply at the end of this entry with a link to your Flickr profile. The only reason I ask for your profile is to see that you actually use Flickr and are therefore more likely to make use of the benefits that a Flickr Pro subscription offers.

If you like music, which I do, then there is a good chance you’ll know James Lavelle, the world-renowned producer, label owner and DJ.  It’s possible his name is unfamiliar to you but if I said UNKLE, you might think, Oh yes, that guy from Mo’wax.  Well, James has now added the role of art curator to his CV and if his pop-up exhibition at London’s Haunch of Venison gallery is anything to go by, he’s pretty good at it.

The problem with having an over active, yet lazy, imagination and self is the issue of starting lots of things and finishing none of them due to some almost unachievable attention to detail on how things should be.  OK, that’s quite a long winded way of saying I started lots of blog posts but they’ve all got stuck in Draft limbo because I had a great idea part-way through each blog and started a new blog and then…you can see where this is going can’t you?

So, the end result is I’ve deleted all the drafts as can’t seem to find as much enthusiasm to finish them off as I obviously had when I started them.  This means of course that some topics I really wanted to mention I won’t because I’ve forgotten them.  That’s not to say the topics were not worth remembering, it’s because I naturally have a bad memory I sometimes rely on my blog to remind myself of things I like!

One campaign that I should mention is one being run by Aviva, it’s their Tell Us Your Story campaign.  They are looking for people who’ve gone out of their way to help others, caring souls (their words not mine!) who have answered the needs of an individual, family or local community.  You nominate them online and could win a £1,000 prize for Story of the Week.   Stories are also voted for by the public, with the overall favourite receiving a specially tailored grand prize worth £10,000. And it doesn’t stop there!  For every nomination made Aviva will be donating £1 to the Street to School programme.