Tag: pleasure

Thessaloniki

Hamar WilliamsLeave a comment

Ah Greece how much I enjoy your company. It turns out my hermit life at the edge of a boat yard in Preveza is not representative of my usual time here. When with friends it wouldn’t be a crazy statement to suggest there is nowhere better. I’m probably thinking all this at this level of joy because I’ve just been off for ‘lunch’ and that means eating and drinking and beginning at 4pm. While there may be elements of Greek life I struggle with – usually anything outside of the pleasure factor – this is one of my favourite things in the world. The food is usually simple but good quality and that really is the secret. The beer doesn’t have the depth that we have back home but it’s usually hot and the beer refreshes so it is perfect. The wine would be the same. It really is good to catch up with old friends. It makes it hard to leave but maybe being able to leave and then come back is the secret I’ve missed all this time.

It’s a nice place Thessaloniki. Greece’s second city with a population a fifth of the capital and equal the Birmingham’s, it doesn’t feel like a city in the way either of those do. More relaxed, and while there are hectic spots you can escape them. Athens always felt constant, although maybe I just didn’t look hard enough. Last night I wandered around the streets a little, had a beer on the street and realised I was still doing the same thing I was doing when I was twenty-four. Ten years later drinking on the street still has its pleasures but there are moments I feel a little old for it. That is probably because I am a little old for it. Still it’s always good to know I can.

I’m going out for a beer now with some folk from my hostel. I am still twenty-four staying in youth hostel dorms yes. My friend who acts his age has gone back with the family to do father things. There are elements I envy about such a life but there are still many I enjoy about mine. Being able to go out for a beer is certainly one of them. So that’s what I shall do.

The Simple Joys Of A Spreadsheet

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I’ve just spent the last two hours making a spreadsheet of pizzas we’re selling. Not the most exciting two hours of my life but there was certainly something satisfying about it. In truth I’m not entirely sure what was satisfying about it but I feel satisfied so it must be something. Perhaps it was the sense of accomplishment at completing a task, thats usually what gives me that feeling. It is is hard to deny though, and perhaps even harder to admit, that there was something pleasurable about looking at all those numbers on the page in order and lined up. The organised spreadsheet took on some kind of mystique before my eyes. The days of searching of creativity and havoc are seemingly behind me as I revel in the joys of ordered filing systems. What kind of monster have I become.

My Dads an accountant. I’m not, and I have no intention of ever being so. This isn’t the beginning of a heartwarming story which ends with him adding ‘& Son’ to the business. I have a GCSE in maths, just, and while I can count and do my times tables most other things seem to be beyond me. I was trying to learn computer coding recently and I realised with horror that I might need some basic maths skills. That certainly put a dent in my aspirations. I even found myself looking online for some maths courses I could do but lets be honest I’ve probably done enough courses in my life, it might just be time for a good book, a pad and a pen. The old fashioned way.

This daily writing thing can be a challenge sometimes. I wanted to share my pleasure in a spreadsheet victory but clearly it’s not worth four hundred plus words. Beyond dissecting the whole process, which I seem to be doing on writing this piece, there doesn’t seem to be a great deal more to talk about on it. Perhaps this is some kind of writing lesson; either learn how to stretch a piece out like I have done with every university essay I’ve ever written, become a better writer and therefore easily write some funny piece taking the piss out of myself and spreadsheets or just don’t choose to write about bloody spreadsheets in the first place. There is something to be said for the last two. Well it’s all part of the learning experience after all. I’m currently living beside the sea so maybe tomorrow I can write a detailed piece on how to dry sand. That’s probably on par. And that’s now over four hundred words. My essay writing skills coming to the fore once more.

Just Sit Down And Read

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It is very important not to speak on behalf of others. To say people do this or people do that, we like to imagine these things because we have recognised others acting in specific ways. In reality it is a two-fold mistake because if we do recognise these actions in others then we are generalising, and we are unaware that we recognise these behaviours because they are most likely things we recognise in others from ourselves. This is an over simplification and I suspect is just an example of one or two things, which I am then using to make sweeping statements in the very same way I derided others for above. The point of that incredibly long winded intro though was not to highlight that I clearly still don’t grasp the importance of only having a small word count, but to lead into making my own sweeping statements generally, using my understanding of myself to justify them.

I have spent much time reading today as I never went to work and I feel pretty pleased with myself. I have been suffering, as I mentioned in the past, from a form of readers block. Not only have I struggled to sit down and read, to do this intensely enough to focus on a book long enough to avoid forgetting about it has been impossible. Add to that the fact I have even gone against everything I previously believed and viewed the whole art of reading as a pointless endeavour, it is not too much of a stretch to say it has been a weird time recently. There have been periods in my life when I haven’t read much at all and others in which I can’t put a book down, one after another. Why that is is unclear but having been someone who has moved around a lot and spent a few weeks to a few months in different surroundings it is safe to say our environment plays a huge role in what we choose to do as a hobby.

There have been many moments in life when I have been frustrated by this constant chopping and changing of interests. Recently for example I have been frustrated with myself. There have been plenty of moments when I’ve killed time drifting from one piece of nonsense to another online. I should be frustrated because it is a waste of our finite time, but perhaps it’s also necessary to help us enjoy and appreciate the more important moments. The point I’ve been working up to from the beginning though is that it may just be okay to in this instance read loads and then not at all because as long as we’re always doing something, we will be doing what we enjoy. If I were to force myself to read and not do whatever that other productive thing is I would see reading as a chore and an ordeal. While I don’t deny there will always be a little effort required to find the discipline to sit down and do things that require thought, even if we really enjoy them, there must always be enjoyment in them or for me it defeats the point. It was good to read today, I found the time and I enjoyed myself. I read for the pure pleasure.

To link in with what now feels like a rather pointless first paragraph, I am making wild assumptions that everyone is just like me. They frustrate themselves when they are not doing the things they think they want to do, that they feel they should be doing. Instead they’re doing other things but perhaps not quite as intensely as they would be if they weren’t constantly imagining they should be reading. There was a point to the first paragraph although I now pretty much disagree with my own sentiment from it as I’m aware that not everyone does what I have just described. I will however leave it in so that the thought process from A to B can be clear for all to see. It appears it is okay to change your mind. What you say once need not be your belief forever more.