Oh dear, I'm right in trouble now

Actually, that was an expression of Lulu's. Sam had another description of this email.
As one of the religiously challenged, or faith impaired as referred to below, I think this is meant to either make me shit my pants, or inspire me to sainthood. Actually, as a cheerful atheist, I think I am curious why one would pass on a threat like the one below - something unlucky if I don't respond. Ah well, here's to my unlucky event!
Pip pip
Colin

If God brings you to it he'll bring you through it.............
Read this...I mean REALLY read this

(I think this is the fire of hell, in which I might be destined to burn)

This is without a doubt one of the nicest good luck forwards I have received.. Hope it works for you -- and me!
You have 6 minutes

There's some mighty fine advice in these words, even if you're not superstitious. This has been sent To you for good luck from the Anthony Robbins organization. It has been sent around the world ten times so Far.

Do not keep this message.

This must leave your hands in 6 MINUTES. Otherwise you will get a very unpleasant surprise. This is true, even if you are not superstitious, agnostic, or otherwise faith impaired.


ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

TWO . Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

THREE. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

FOUR . When you say, 'I love you ,' mean it.

FIVE. When you say, 'I'm sorry,' look the person in the eye.

SIX. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

SEVEN. Believe in love at first sight.

EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone's dream. People who don't have dreams don't have much.

NINE . Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.

TEN. . In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.

ELEVEN . Don't judge people by their relatives.

TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly.

THIRTEEN . When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, 'Why do you want to know?'

FOURTEEN . Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.


FIFTEEN. Say 'bless you' when you hear someone sneeze.


SIXTEEN. When you lose, don't lose the lesson !

SEVENTEEN . Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and responsibility for all your actions.

EIGHTEEN. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship..

NINETEEN. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.


TWENTY-ONE. Spend some time alone.


Now, here's the FUN part!
Send this to at least 5 people and your life will improve. 1-4 people: Your life will improve slightly.
5-9 people: Your life will improve to your liking.
9-14 people: You will have at least 5 surprises in the next 3 weeks

15 and above: Your life will improve drastically and everything you ever dreamed of will begin to take shape.

A true friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart. Do not keep this message

Is this real love?

Reflections on Robert Saint-Loup

He was not afraid to make fun of my weaknesses—which he had discerned with an acuteness that made her smile—but as she herself would have done, lovingly, at the same time extolling my good qualities with a warmth, an impulsive freedom that shewed no sign of the reserve, the coldness by means of which young men of his age are apt to suppose that they give themselves importance. And he shewed in forestalling every discomfort, however slight, in covering my legs if the day had turned cold without my noticing it, in arranging (without telling me) to stay later with me in the evening if he thought that I was depressed or felt unwell, a vigilance which, from the point of view of my health, for which a more hardening discipline would perhaps have been better, my grandmother found almost excessive, though as a proof of his affection for myself she was deeply touched by it.

Reflection on human nature

Undoubtedly, it is not common sense that is “the commonest thing in the world”; but human kindness. In the most distant, the most desolate ends of the earth, we marvel to see it blossom of its own accord, as in a remote valley a poppy like the poppies in the world beyond, poppies which it has never seen as it has never known aught but the wind that, now and again, stirring the folds of its scarlet cloak, disturbs its solitude. Even if this human kindness, paralysed by self-interest, is not exercised, it exists none the less, and whenever any inconstant egoist does not restrain its action, when, for example, he is reading a novel or a newspaper, it will bud, blossom, grow, even in the heart of him who, cold-blooded in real life, has retained a tender heart, as a lover of fiction, for the weak, the righteous and the persecuted.

First siting of Robert

He strode rapidly across the hotel, seeming to be in pursuit of his monocle, which kept darting away in front of him like a butterfly.

A look at local life, with the Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph

So funny I had to blog it. Not the accident, that isn't funny, nor the cup of tea for the driver, but the fact that a reporter actually sat and wrote this.

Binman thrown 20ft in collision with car

Binman hit by car

A binman hit by a car while working in a street in Great Addington was thrown 20ft across the road and landed in a hedge.
The air ambulance was called to treat the council worker, who was hit while doing his rounds in Rushwell Close, Great Addington, at about 10.25am on Thursday.

The extent of the man's injuries are not known, but witnesses say he was still conscious at the scene.

George Hall, who is retired and lives in Cranford Road, said: "It was about 10.25am and we were in our front garden.

"I heard a loud bang and I saw the car hit the binman.

"It twisted him around and he went over the bonnet and cartwheeled through the air.

"He must have flown about 20 feet, diagonally across the road and landed in my hedge.

"He is a nice man. I hope he will be okay."

Mr Hall's wife Mary said the binman was lucky not to land on the concrete pavement.

She said: "His head went in the hedge, or he would have been in a much worse condition.

"The driver of the car was terrified and kept asking if she had killed him.

"I told her he was groaning a lot so he must be alive. Someone called an ambulance, and then the air ambulance was called out.

"I took the driver inside and gave her a cup of tea because she was so shaken up."

Neighbour Linda Nicholson said the street was blocked off and the air ambulance landed in a field across the road.

She said: "The dustbin lorry had to be moved so they could get out of the gate.
"After the man was taken to hospital the police came and measured the road."
Northamptonshire Police could not give any more details on the incident.

Bewdley Carnival 2008

A pretty girl at the seaside

Our friend the narrator has been out riding with Mme. de Villeparisis, around the villages of Balbec:

As to the pretty girls who went past, from the day on which I had first known that their cheeks could be kissed, I had become curious about their souls. And the universe had appeared to me more interesting.

Me and a bike

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james-in-a-motor.jpg

james-in-a-motor.jpg
Originally uploaded by Colin Billett

He's got a bloody BMW now, y'know.

engagement-square.jpg

engagement-square.jpg
Originally uploaded by Colin Billett

Me and the gal have decided to get wed.