Lego Aeroplanes Pt1

I've dreamt of being many things since I was a kid. I dreamt of being a fighter pilot so bad it hurt, that Top Gun VHS had plenty of static on it by the time it was done (it was a 'never tape over' video in the cupboard when you were looking for a fresh tape to record 'The Late Show'). I was attracted to the idea of being weightless and free in the sky. I used to draw aeroplanes until there was nothing left in the HB pencil (yeah- in your face 2B!), that transitioned into other modes of transport such as trucks. For some time I wanted to own a transport company like 'Scotts of Mt. Gambier' or 'Linfox', it was the visions of the open road and wind coming through your window at 110 that allowed me to lose focus in my eyes and day dream- until my brother reminded me that actually requires you to be a truck driver for many years beforehand. Then there were the standards: musician, cricketer and a designer at Lego. Every Saturday morning crouched in front of the TV watching cartoons, building empires block by block and creating a world that only my yellow headed friends and I knew the history to.
Then somewhere along the way 'dreams' turn into 'goals' and 'day dreaming' turned into 'time wasting'. Suddenly you have to be a big kid and then from no where "BAM!"- you're a grown up so 'dreaming' has become something that little kids do and your day now ends in 'KPI'. You have to create 'goals' and then quietly over time your 'Top Gun' idea flies away, the truck drives off into the sunset and your lego friends are sitting in the town you built wondering if you are ever coming back? And that's cool. We all get it. Life happens. Bills to pay, materialistic possessions to acquire and futures to think about. But we never forget our dreams, they aren't always the same as what they used to be, they have evolved, grown with us, still in the back of our mind, still there whispering in our ears as we speak out loud about our goals. Sometimes they get covered up in the back of the shed next to the cricket bat and lego set until one day you can't even remember if you still have them or what they even look like. It's a tough thing to go looking for them again and it's even tougher to tell someone thats what your looking for. "What are you doing out there in the shed?- Oh nothing, just looking for something"
So how do we recognise our dreams if we have forgotten them? How do we distinguish dreams from goals? I think you know when you verbalise them. Say them out loud or even just with your conscious and what ever comes out easily is a dream and and whatever breeds "buts", "although's" or completion dates is a goal. Dreams are spoken and goals are sighed. You can't put a time limit or a monetary value on them and your reasons for them are kept in the only possession you can take with you- your heart. Some dreams are meant to be put to an end by your brother and some are meant to be there in the background, and it's only you who decides which ones are worth holding on to and which to tape over.
And to my yellow headed friends, I'm sorry I'll be back soon, I just had to see a man about a dog and got a little lost.

Change the world by walking backwards.

A few days ago I went for a walk, crazy I know. I put on sneakers (for sneaking) and everything. It's always a big process before I leave the house because shore line fashion is everything and I need to leave quickly to avoid an uncomfortable conversation with the neighbours about gardening or where I'm from in Scotland. So as I quickly exit the driveway I walk straight forward- blinkers on to evade a potential conversation and more importantly so I don't have to see the the large pots I said I'd paint for my landlord a month ago. What? I've been busy filling my days with avoiding stuff!
Hitting the shoreline I'm in full motion. Tunes are cranking in my ears, swagger is set to 'cool but kind' and always on the lookout to tuck the tummy in if a girl walks past. A little way in to the trip there was some peaceful literature written on the concrete that read "fuck serbs", must be an anti-establishmentarian protesting the suburbs or something. These slogans appear from time to time in chalk  on the pavement and as I stepped sideways past the phrase I wondered if their was a local dispute in the making and if there is anything being done about it but I quickly forgot as a change of album was needed on the iPod. I hate when you're struggling to find that one album to go with your mood. Mood: Walking and looking 'cool but kind'. Music: Hardcore with positive undertones. Either way if the track doesn't hit me it's all too easy to change it.
Returning home I was sprung! The neighbour was out watering the garden. I've been in this situation before and it's best just to look in a rush if you want to make it in by night fall. But, she always has a way of sucking you in, it feels like she never draws breath so you don't get a chance to say you have to to go. My walk in the door always ends up being a walk backwards politely nodding and thinking "look lady I don't know what the annual rainfall of Glasgow is and I'm about to miss sports-centre" Maybe next time I'll stop for a proper chat and learn a bit more about her and the neighbourhood from through her eyes.
Now everyone can walk forward, sideways and backwards but the most common form of walking is away. Making a difference that contributes to positive social or environmental change is an evolutionary process that at some point requires one to stay motionless to listen, engage and reflect. It's your right to walk away from matters that may upset you but educating yourself is the single most important thing you can do to contribute to change. Looking up from the pavement to acknowledge the stranger coming toward you, seeing how your neighbour lives and watching the 30 second world news segment in the ad break of sports-centre stimulates questions of relevance and contribution to society. Not everyone is meant to be on the front line, but given change is evolutionary by educating oneself on the way others live and how the way you live directly or indirectly impacts their lives and vice versa will lead to positive change. By moving forward with an open mind, learning and passing your new knowledge on can make an immeasurable difference. You don't have to take to the streets, it can be as easy as the next time your sitting at the dinner table, simply mention what you saw on the news that challenged you and then you can politely change the topic back to taxes and Beiber. This simple act may go unnoticed but it may also falls upon the ears of someone who can again pass it on or make a hands on difference. Making a difference is everyone's responsibility. For society to move forward we need to take a minute, remove the blinkers, stop side stepping and educate ourselves. It can be done as simply as walking backwards to the fridge as you watch the World News segment instead of just changing the channel and walking away.

Dear you?

Dear Scenesters, hipsters, fashionistas, the couple who wear matching anything, drivers who stop for pedestrians in the middle of the road, those who can't drive in the wet, you- the guy who cut the line at the coffee shop ("yeah mate we all saw you"), the douche who let the rubbish fall out of the bin then kept walking like nothing happened, the guy who wears a contemporary fashion sailing 'outfit' but has clearly never seen the open sea's, occupy wall street movement supporters (if your'e 'sparing' the time to read this blog your'e already part of the problem (and so am I for having the time to write it) (and what's the problem? well thats subjective)) those who wear too much hair product (including 'surf hair'), the guy who calls the police every time someone is having fun in the street, the person that goes for a jog once a week for 20 minutes that wears 'skins' head to toe (you're a close relative of all fat cyclists who spent too much money on a bicycle that's used 4 times a year), enthusiastic fans of soccer, Queensland and Collingwood supporters, parking attendants, the stranger that doesn't acknowledge that there is someone else on the the footpath("move an equal distance to what I am dickhead"), footy club mentality, VL commodore drivers, petrol heads who have a sticker of a little kid urinating on an automobile manufacturer's name, stickers of stick figure families with their pets, the prick who walks away from their dog shitting in the park, happy meal toys, the asshole who think's its 'cool' to increase the volume of pop music at inappropriate hours of the morning, old mate who thinks no one can see him 'perving' through dark sunglasses, the moron who looks at the Mc Donald's menu on the perspex backing whilst standing at the order station like it's your first time (even my nana knew what was on there and she lived to her late 70's), Kyle Sandilands, water sprinklers that spray onto bitumen or concrete, people that keep checking their smart phones while talking to you (your'e not extra important- your'e just a wanker), rude people who wear sunglasses inside, gits who chew with their mouth open, jerks who leave gum on the bottom of a table, the owner of the brand 'tarocash' and people who wash their car more than they watch what they eat,

Piss Off!

Kind regards,
Everyone.

P.S, please share your peeve... I know you've got one.