So I'm being driven down the motorway and a van drives past. The van is some sort of courier for a furniture company.

The address of said firm is '1 Blunder Street, Blackpool'.

I see a variety of problems relating to credibility associated with such a business address.

Nearly as bad as that solicitor whose address is: '6 i-have-no-qualifications Lane, Norfolk'

The phrase goes: "I am just going to jump in the shower"

Jumping in the shower is inefficient. Why not stand in the shower, and wash yourself - that is the point of having a shower, and will allow you to get out in a more time efficient manner.

On the night of the 1st January 2012 I had a weird, almost unbelievable experience. If it had happened a day earlier I would have said it was the strangest thing that happened to me in 2011. It did not however, and as such I have 362 days to top it. My first lucid dream.

So.. you know the film Inception.. turns out it is not entirely fiction. If you want a proper explanation of a lucid dream, take a look here. My simple explanation is: "a dream where you are concious and are aware that it is a dream".

So.. if you have a look on the interwebs, there is a lot of cool information about lucid dreams and dream control. There is loads of stuff about getting yourself into a lucid state such that you can fly or have bad ass sex. The whole lucid aspect meaning that when you wake up you feel like it actually happened, and tend not to forget. Sounds very ridiculous, and if I hadn't experienced it I wouldn't believe it.

So, my lucid dream was not a result of training, but I assume due to a lack of sleep, excessive alcohol consumption over the past days, and general disrespect of my body. I did not enjoy it, it was more of a lucid nightmare. I was in my bed being annoyed by people I had hated years before. There was also a cameo appearance by Alice Holland (I punched you - you were harassing me in my bed and I couldn't move..)

Yeh.. people were annoying me and I couldn't move (see Sleep Paralysis), I kept trying to wake myself up but couldn't (see False Awakenings. Eventually woke up, and as Arthur Mercer can probably tell you it scared the living shit out of me.

I could just post everything i have read since here, but I don't want to. If it is of interest, you can read up on it. Very interesting/scary/weird experience - I never wanted to control my dreams.

Alice bothering me

Two evenings ago, I was looking at river levels and saw that the Swale amongst other things had been dancing around a nice level. Jack said he'd get me down the Swale before Christmas, I was having kayaking withdrawal... I made the proposal.

The next morning Jack called to say it was too low, a no go. I was somewhat relieved. Then Jamie called saying it would go, so we went.

We got to the Swale.. it was low.. we jumped on, got to Rainby and decided it was too dangerous. Now.. Rainby when too low looked horrible.. the 'normal' line was pointed out, and things were put into a little perspective as regards height and consequences on the Swale. In some respects i'm happy it was too low.

We ended up running the upper tees (standard) which was surprisingly good fun. I got down everything, stayed in my boat, and got to experience low force with a tow back. I need to work on my boof.

I learned that taking your time and looking at stuff, back paddling etc is actually really good.. no point rushing and messing it up.

After we got off, the fun really started. I politely made the point that we were getting off in a field full of bulls. Jamie quite rudely informed me that i was wrong as they did not have horns. Turns out bulls do not always have horns.

I was a little behind the others having practised a few rolls. Shouting across the field I jested that the 'cows' were plotting something. Then they started charging. A dramatic few seconds, and a good adrenaline pump saw four grown men run across a field and over a wall, having decided that boats were not suitable 'cover'. The result five angry bulls surrounding a Jackson hero in the middle of a field, with no intention of leaving.

Fast forward twenty minutes, a series of staring competitions, some throw bag handy work, some childish jokes, and a lack of appreciation for the danger of the situation, the boat was recovered, and everyone survived.

It was so surreal it was incredibly amusing. Matt did not believe us when we got back to the car.. Just as well Bryn got photos :) All in all good end to a bad day.. and maybe i won't be so eager to run the Swale so soon.

This Sunday the club headed to the Wharfe for a beginners club trip. I popped along to have a play with my new Werner carbon cranked Sherpas. They work.

So we paddled the Wharfe - the bit with Conniston falls on it. It is reasonably flat with a few bumps, then there is Conniston, and i believe what is called Ghastrills strid.

The beginners were awesome. They all ran the left hand line on Conniston without any problems. I had a play running every line 1,000,000 times and enjoyed a little side surf at the bottom of the right hand drop.

Ghastrills strid was a nice bit/rapid/thing to practice. I took a left hand line, and then did a grade 5 inverse portage to run the right hand line. I didn't run the far right slot.. because.. well.. I pussied out.

At the end a few of us ran Linton Falls. I got out and had a look. It was a lot higher than the last time I'd run it. I ran it 4 times or so.. a few goes on each line. The right hand line was easier IMO. My final attempt of the boof line went a little wrong. I have attached an image of where I ended up. Please note that it was much higher water, and i was being surfed. Please also note everyone except for Raffan had gone back to the car, and he looked more scared by the situation than me.

In general my lines on Linton Falls were good ish on the right hand line, and less than good on the left hand line. There is room for improvement.. mainly technically - actually hitting my lines, but i stayed in my boats although I rolled after the bottom drop at least a few times.

Good day in all. The freshers were awesome, my paddles were nice. Bon !

Our group was: Harry; Big Rob; Charley; Jack; Jamie; Tom (me)

Wednesday. 8am. The chapel.

Wednesday. 8:15am. The road (with all the correct kit).

After an insanely early start, we headed to the lakes. The night before rumors of everything being in spate were heard. We had intended to run the Mint and Sprint, but overnight they had dropped off. We changed to plan B - the Clough from as high up as there was water. On arrival we were bitterly disappointed. The Clough was down as was the Rawthey.

Having driven around for a ridiculous length of time we headed to the Leven which being fed from Windermere had retained its level. Having never run the river, once again... I was apprehensive :)It was a nice run, at a nice level which (once again) for me was slightly spoiled by my lack of confidence. I portaged backbarrow falls because it looked pretty intimidating, and I was definitely not in the zone. Although i stayed in my boat, my lines weren't as good as they should have been.. but meh.. shit happens.. one day.

We got off the Leven at 2pm, legged it to the Kent, ran the shuttle, and were on the water by 3.15pm. By 3.40pm we were off the water. The first time i ran the Kent i was led down touching cloth, inspecting everything for months. The second time I lead but we inspected everything. This time we read and ran in 25 minutes. Boss.

Apart from the 5+ hours on the road, the petrol catastrophe on the return leg, and the early start,the day was pretty good. Lets just say it could have been worse :)

I'm not really sure where to go with my kayaking at the moment because this confidence/uber fear is less than ideal..

Over the weekend, I headed up to Scotland with a few good friends. Here begun my first Scottish paddling adventure...

I'd heard a lot about the white water in Scotland and was really looking forward to paddling the Etive. That is not to say that I was not *insert expletive here* myself.

We based ourselves out near Aberfeldy (where we were fortunate enough to be able to stay in a friends cottage - Thanks Beth !)

On the first day I paddled the Upper Lyon, and the Upper Braan. At the start of the day I was pretty aprehensive as to what the other - significantly better- paddlers had in store for me. The day involved a variety of drops, some nice sticky holes, and some technical boulder dodging. Although challenging, and damn scary, it was amazing to get out at the end of the day having kept my head dry with the associated massive sense of achievement.

On the Sunday we spent the morning on the Falloch. The aforementioned better paddlers did the falls of falloch - 30ft of beautiful fall. I felt that I could have run the falls on a good day, but given that I was not 100% and that I have the rest of my life ahead of me I skipped this one. We ran the start of the Falloch, but it was lower than expected and as such we decided to cut our losses and run the Orchy.

We ran the Kinglass, a tributary of the Orchy, and then carried on down the middle section. After the first rapid I was reminded of the Racecourse section of the Ubaye in the french Alps. I then realised that it was the racecourse and more - high volume, massive holes, lots of fun. Did not quite manage to keep my head dry, but stayed in my boat, and ran some pretty impressive rapids. At this point in the weekend 'buzzing' is not a suitable adjective to describe how I was feeling. Scouting one of the rapids on the Orchy I felt more scared than I ever have before. As Beth M said, "This is why we kayak".

The third day ticked the adventure box. Having not been sure of water levels there was no definitive plan. We ended up running the tilt after a six kilometre walk in - my first ever real walk in. Again, aprehensive would be an understatement. My feelings were then emphasized after a pin on one of the first drops led to my deck imploding and we swimming. Fortunately it was probably the safest place on the river to swim, but it did not do the world of good for my paddling. Over the rest of the river my mind was not focussed, but although some of my lines were less than good, and i did take a couple of rolls, I did survive the rest of the river. There was one particular incident with a hole in a constriction. I thought that I had punched through said hole, but when I felt the back of my boat being pulled back my gut wrenched. Fast forward ten minutes and I was being pulled out of a nicely placed eddy with a throwline attached to my boat, nearly in tears. Once again, thanks a lot Beth H :P. The tilt, by all accounts is an awesome river - i'd love to run it again in slightly higher water - beat my demons and all that.

The best thing about the weekend was the approach to boating. So many times I've been led down rivers by better paddlers, not understanding what I am doing and why. This weekend I had to look after myself. On some occasions (some of) the others were just as scared as I was. I learned a lot about reading rivers, and got a lot of practice reading and running. It was an opportunity to man up and do some real boating, and I am really glad that I did it.

From a boating point of view, the weekend was amazing. The final day stopped me from getting cocky, and showed me exactly what I need to work on. From a confidence point of view, I have a lot more, and have a little more faith in my ability. I'll continue to push myself, and hopefully have many more amazing paddling experiences.

Thanks a lot guys !

Is it worth doing something if you do not aim to be the best at it? You may never realise the ambition, but a 'be the best' attitude towards life is good motivation to say the least.

I was browsing the web, and thought I'd post some brilliant quotes I found. Quotes like these motivate me. Maybe they will motivate you.

"I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate." - George Burns

"Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else." - Les Brown

In the long run, men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, though they should fail immediately, they had better aim at something high. - Henry David Thoreau

…by stretching yourself beyond your perceived level of confidence you accelerate your development of competence. - Tony Buzan

Today, having not done much productive in terms of academic work this year, I decided to get on with my dissertation research outline.

The domain name industry is one of those hidden gems - not much is known about it outside the industry, and there is not much literature relating to it. This is somewhat shocking given the prominence of the internet in the modern day. I have sought to rectify this.

In two and a half hours I have managed to piece together an outline of my intentions - essentially an analysis of domain name valuation from a qualitative angle.

I don't want to spoil the fun, but look out for updates on this blog, and rest assured that it will be published here when complete.

On Sunday I was manipulated into driving on a beginners/freshers trip with the club to the middle tees.

Having never run the middle tees I was somewhat intrigued, and as it was a nice enough day it seemed like a great opportunity to get a little more practice in.

I was put in charge of leading two freshers down, and I feel as though I met the challenge pretty well. No-one complained at least, and there was only one swim during the day.

On a personal level, my lines were not great. Definitely not up to par. I definitely need to work on my on the water river reading, because although i stayed upright, I doubt that would have been the case on anything more gnarly.

The only other problem was the fact that my ankles got destroyed in my boat because of my excessively rigid palm gradient boots. I need to sort that.. take the foam block out or something. I'll go do that now...

None the less, pretty good day, and the car banter was top notch. I wouldn't have done anything more productive at home, and I got to practice my surfing..