Those Bastards!

An extraordinary day today! I set off to work with a real spring in my step, and full of confidence that I was going to spend a happy day, and that nothing – nothing – would bring me down. Then something happened – admittedly something bad – that caused me to stumble in my confidence and despite my best intentions, my spirits plummeted. I had intended to go out this evening, to watch all or part of 'Hatch Abroad' which is going on in the very street where I live, and Broad Street - the street where I spend most of my social time. As an example of what's going on, read this:

"The evening starts and ends at the Nottingham Arts Theatre (actually on George Street, where I live). International playboys 'Reckless Sleepers' were ensuring our smooth departure to Hatch: Abroad as The Pilots. At the other end of the night, the grand finale will be provided by Annette Foster, in the fascinating and unsettling guise of Marlene Dandy, and topped off with a crash, a bang and an ooh-la-la by 'The Polka-Dot Can-Can Troupe'. In between those points in time, the length of Broad Street is something to dive into. Running from north to south, the first port of call is the Lord Roberts. Here in the basement Daniel Hunt is presenting a two-man exploration of what it means to cross borders and enter new territories, while Rachel Parry is extending an invitation to be intimate with a woman, an outsider, a stranger."

That's only a small part of it – there's loads more going on with dozens of other performance events across the dozen or so arts venues that surround my apartment block. How lucky I am, to be living amidst such eclectic delights! And even though all I have to do to enjoy it all is roll out of the door to be amidst the thick of it all, I feel so dis-spirited by today's events, that I simply can't be bothered. My apartment, with all its mundanity, seems a better place to be, somehow.

This feeling is a big disappointment to me. I've been reading about how our lives are shaped by our thoughts and emotions, and so I really wanted to shape something uplifting and special. Instead, I can only manage to shape a rather flat, hardened turd – and that isn't right at all! It's all very well for these self-motivation gurus to encourage us to control our own perceptions, but what are we supposed to do when confronted by a bunch of real cunts (as I was) during our normal working day? Woah! It was meant to be that by sheer positive thinking, I wouldn't even be faced with any negative experiences at all today. Well, that's a load of bollocks because, even though I was dancing around the office in the very best of moods today, there seemed to have been some darker forces that had decided they were stronger than that.

Oh well, tomorrow may be better. I'll just remember that old adage - and one that surely, should be one of the best ever maxims to live by (if only we could keep it up): "Don't Let The Bastards Grind You Down".

And the best thing about all of this is? Well, no matter how grotty things might seem right now, at least I have the power to change them. Imagine being a nineteenth-century factory worker with no hope? Oh yes, I'm one lucky adult male, all right.