A need to read and brain food

There is this feeling which has come over me. Like I am spending too much time watching TV and as though TV really isn't doing anything for my brain. It's like my brain is now turning into mash potato probably without milk or butter added in or even a sprinkling of chives which would at least make the thing a little more exotic. The feeling is a need to read, to feed my brain rather than the passiveness of viewing a movie or TV program. It's a little like the feeling of having forgotten a lot of stuff, all the education stuff which was crammed inside has leaked out, a bit like a hole in a bucket. To the extent I'm getting to feel like I don't know a much about anything at all, just at some point I did know something and more than just a little bit. Statistics for example. I used to know lots about statistical tests and statistics but now it's like most of it has gone and I would like to brush up on it again, try and remember what it is I've forgotten. Hence the need for brain food, which is what the reading is all about. Something has got to go in and be thought about, not just anything, something the little cogs can grab hold of and start moving round in circles, in varying circles and speeds.  Watching TED lectures on Youtube helps, but it's passive, by the time I've watched one I've then forgotten what it was which was so important and it didn't seem so inspiring. It's the brain thing, the leaks could be more pronounced with the less effort it takes to take something in. Whereas reading is slow and there is more time for thought, more time to take it in and so the leaks are slower. I got a leaky brain it's all there is to it, what goes in eventually leaks out. I'm surprised I still remember my name.

As part of the regular trips I take on Eastcoast mainline I get points for every pound spent.  It's a kind of club, the more I spend the more points and then in exchange the points can be used for perks. For example for 100 points I get wifi for a day free. Although it's not really free because I had to spend money to get the points in the first place. There is a selection of other items I can get but there's not a whole boat load. So getting a lot of points doesn't mean I could go and get a weekly shop, which is a shame because I do like food. So I spent a few points a couple of months back and it was for a book. The book is: Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.  I heard of Kahneman he was half of a duo of psychologists who developed models of decision making or thinking. I'd read a few of their papers and articles in books so going for Kahneman's book was right up my street. Except the think has been sat on my desk for a few weeks, dressed up with nowhere to go. It is a sexy little number however when it comes to brain food. I want to devour it and jump into it and to do so means picking the thing up and reading it. Hence the very real need to read, but it is more basic, I just need brain food and something is not hitting the spot. Like the sausage and chips I had this evening, the chips were of an awful quality and the sausage was too hot and greasy and not cooked properly in the middle. Damn I must be a walking heart attack.  Maybe the brain food will help and perhaps some fish, because I hear fish is good for the neurons of the brain as well.

So it is, today I began reading a few pages of Kahneman's book, his sidekick was Amos Tversky they were the ones who come up with the theory of heuristics.  Not all common sense is actual common sense and it is quite misleading. It's all about decision biases, or partly about decision biases, the rest is probably statistics. I should get a pen out, paper, calculator, old text book and see if I can do some of the basic stuff again. Or even program a spreadsheet which is very possible, with enough know how, at the  moment though with all the brain leaks I got it will be a struggle finding a pencil. I should get up early tomorrow morning say about 5 a.m. and just do some brain working and eat toast with fish on it, and a cup of tea. I got some mackerel fillets with cracked black pepper they might do the job all I have to do is find the calculator, eraser, oh, and a pencil. There I go. Inspiration at last all it has to do is wake me up at 5 a.m. in the morning, I'd rather it not keep me awake with insomnia which is altogether a completely different story.

Walking and thinking about happiness

It's Sunday and the clocks went back sometime very early this morning. So it will mean come 3 p.m. ish the sky gets darker.  But if this is anything to gauge autumn by then it will be pretty mild.  I went out for the usual Sunday morning walk, because I very much needed to get out and walk. On account of being fatter than I was a week ago.  Although the decision to go out might have turned the other way, I might very well of decided not to go out, on account of the clouds. Lots of cloud cover, not quite ominous but enough to possibly sway the feeble hearted and non committed. Today though I was committed and so about 9:30 a.m was out the front door and doing my Sunday thing. Walking. Air is such an important thing, especially if you need to breath. I needed to breath and it was great, I don't know why but there seemed to be more cars on the road this Sunday, generally they don't always hit the roads so quickly, but this Sunday there certainly was a lot more than normal. I guess the people in the cars needed to get out as well, except they were not doing the exercise and breathing part, it's much easier pressing peddles than taking steps.

I walked up through the woods and as I did so kicked up dried crispy brown paper like leaves. It's almost the same feeling you get when walking on fresh snow. Not the same but similar. At one point I wondered should a 50 something man be walking and kicking his feet through autumnal leaves? Nobody was about so it didn't matter and then if there were people about it still wouldn't matter. I wore my yellow t-shirt which has a big iconic smiley face on it. The simple text like smiley face but not text. I felt happy this morning, infectiously happy, how weird it might of been to have seen me, the happy fellow out on a walk. Sparkling said told me in a conversation this evening she found herself reading up on happiness and found it was to do with social contact and family.  Mind I think this can be true it can also be true family or social contact can make you unhappy. But having a walk, well, I can't think of having a Sunday walk not making me feel exhilarated and happy.  I love them. Except as winter grows on they may likely become colder, wetter or not at all if it's just too dreary outside.

I been catching up on some old youtube video's of a group called Shaft, one of the members I used to know but he passed away earlier this year.  He was called Trevor.  He was a really nice person to know and although in most of the videos he momentarily is seen there is more opportunity to see him in the song Kiki Riri Boom, he has a smile and it looks like was having a lot of fun in Miami where the vid was shot.  He is probably one of the most famous people I know, given I don't know that many people at all. I thought as I listened to the music and the happy dancing that what better a way can a person be remembered than bringing happiness and having a great smile.  This reminds me of a quote:

"Be the change that you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Ghandi

I want to be more happy and I want people to be attracted to this same happiness and for it to infect them and make them happy as well. Unfortunately it is not something I currently get from most of the people around me, most of which seem to be depressives.  I think they could all do with an inoculation of the happiness drug.  Free of course. A smile and laughter can go a long way to lighting up stressful situations as well.  Although Ghandi probably had something else in mind when he said these words, possibly along the lines of forgiveness and love. The same measure you could attribute to have been preached successfully by Nelson Mandela. Who I might add also had a wonderful smile and attracted much warmth from many people.

If there is a secret to happiness it is probably all in the mind and attitude plays a big part.  Damn it is deep stuff but it always takes itself very lightly.

My maiden treasure hunt with a metal detector

Sparkling had got me a metal detector for my birthday, which may have been an insight on her behalf as I was going through a patch of watching metal detecting on vids on youtube. They are without doubt compulsive viewing, especially as one man likes to find German military paraphernalia in Germany, bombs included.  So about a month had passed and now Sparkling has a batch of batteries which will fit it as well and we head out to a local park which is based around a reservoir. The thing is when looking for treasure there is always the hope of coming across a big haul of gold and valuable stuff, even a really old coin would be good, it could be worth a few bob. It's this desire to become rich from doing relatively little, in the back of our minds I think most people have this thought.  Maybe it's why so many people still by lottery tickets.  The thing is though, what you want and the reality of what you get are complete opposites.  This happened to be the result of our maiden treasure hunt as well.

Firstly I had to work out how to use the detector and try to understand what was the difference between the two metal types known as ferrous and non-ferrous metals. For the little needle on the detector bounces along two different scales, depending if a metal is one of these types.  It was easy to find out that ferrous means something made from an iron. In my mind then a non ferrous metal meant finding riches.  I worked out how to set the detector at zero and the discrimination by tuning it, then with Wellington boots a two litre bottle of water and a small gardening fork we set off. Even Sparkling had her nice fur lined Wellies fished out of the cupboard.

The treasure hunt was on, I moved the detector backwards and forwards hovering it and scraping it over the soil.  With ear buds plugged in I listened and occasionally it would buzz or go silent.  The first item we found was a 2 pence coin, the second was a metal non-ferrous tent peg, the third a bit of old wire, the fourth another 2 pence coin, the fifth was an old decaying pot handle, the sixth a button the seventh a rusty bent and broken hand saw and the last two items were non ferrous crushed larger cans.  So in a matter of about two hours we'd made a grand profit of 4 pence.  So regardless of the very small treasure haul what I did find out was the detector actually worked. It could find stuff and I had been a successful detective in this respect although an unsuccessful treasure hunter. Now had we actually found something even if it was minor league valuable then it would of been interesting.

As it was I enjoyed the experience and it was nice for once to have got outside and done something with Sparkling, but one thing for sure, the well trodden paths of park land don't have much in the way of gold at all.