Results matching “messenger”

The scribbling here on Youthblog has always been a mix of Youth Ministry and a personal blog (with a huge overlap given that youth work/ministry is the lens through which I often observe my life) and I sometime wonder about what the balance should be. So far it seems to have lurched along retaining some sort of coherence, at least this is my conclusion given that some readers are friends who are not connected with youth work, some readers connect only in the arena of youth work and some people are either both (or have come to be). Furthermore, all of these groups and sub groups seem to happily continue to read the blog from time to time via a Feed or 'actually' visiting

That was a bit of a pre-amble, I was thinking aloud about the fact this is a purely personal entry and the place of this.

It's been my birthday in the last few days and the same day saw my dad dying. (The same day in fact that Dad's mum (my Nan) died many years ago on my 18th Birthday). I now find myself to be 43 and a newly become orphan. As well as mourning my dad I am also feeling that loss of connection to the past quite profoundly.

Charles Macdonald
1931 - 2010
The man I was proud to call Dad

For my birthday each year during the life of the blog I've added to a kind of semi-random autobiographical 'snap-shots of life' list . It feels a little self-indulgent but hey there are bigger blog-offenders out there. You'll find '43' in the extended entry if you wish to look.

Shalom

Famously, the meaning of life according to the 'Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy' is '42' (This non-sensical answer, it turns out, is because no-one has really understood the question. Further work reveals the question itself to be, rather unhelpfully, 'What's 9x6?" It then turns out that you cannot simultaneously know the answer and the question? Genius).

Anyway, I am now at the Adams-esque significant age of 42, an age where appropriately enough the questions seem more important than the answers, and I'm more aware of how much I don't know, rather than the how much more, presumambly, I now do! Still, I think I'm liking being 42 and have not yet been assailed by a mid-life crisis ... even though statistically I am probably more than overdue for said sports-car-buying-or- equivalent angst.

For the last few years on each birthday, I've been adding to an autobiographical list (for reasons that I cannot remember.) I guess at my age it would be out of character to defy an established tradition, so I've added one more:

For overly-wordy quiz lovers everywhere, identify the Carol or Christmas song title:

1. Move hitherwards, the entire assembly of those who are steadfast.
2. Ecstasy towards the terrestrial sphere.
3. Hush, the celestial messengers produce harmonious sounds.
4. Creator, cool it, you kooky cats.
5. O sanctified ebony atmosphere.
6. The thing manifested itself at the onset of a transparent day.
7. Embellish the interior passageways.
8. Tintinnabulation of vacillating pendulums in inverted metallic resonant cups.
9. Hey, minuscule urban area south of Jerusalem.
10. Nocturnal time span of unbroken quietness.
11. Us, the autocratic troika
12. The primary carol.
13. Natal celebration devoid of colour, as in a hallucinatory phenomenon for me.
14. Valentino, the roseate proboscis wapiti.
15. Diminutive masculine master of skin-covered percussionist cylinders.
16. O nativity conifer.
17. During the time ovine caretakers supervised their charges past midnight.
18. What offspring abides thus?
19. Removed in a bovine feeding trough.
20. Expectation of arrival at a populated area by mythical, masculine, perennial gift-giver.
21. Fantastical vista during the season of Mother Nature's dormancy.
22. Proceed to declare something upon a specific geographical Alpine formation.
23. Obese personification fabricated of compressed spheres of minute crystals.
24. Jovial Yuletide desired for the second person singular or plural by us.
25. Thoracic-Squirrel diet being barbecued

Blogging is not without its rewards! As well as once been given a free cup of coffee at a conference on the basis of being 'the Youthblog bloke' I also occasionally (very occasionally) get sent free books. In reality though there's no such thing as a free paperback as in return for said freebie, I have to pen some sort of review.

So, 'The Messenger' by Paul Kercal arrived on my door mat last week and a quirky book is it too.

The book is aimed at 11-16 year olds and is written entirely as chat room or messenger stylee txt conversations between five friends and subsequently, the mysterious 'messenger' character of the title.

As a medium this is fascinating. Given that tween guys are renowned non readers, I can see the attraction of exploring different forms of visual type. At the same time though this style of msn txt is a medium utilized for conversation not for regular writing/reading. I wondered whether it would be appropriate, for comparable example, to give morse code operators - books that were rendered completely in dots and dashes.

The above is not a criticism, merely musing. But given that, the first experiment on readability was to give it to the tweenager who lives in the room next to our stairs. She will read anything that isn't bolted down or breathing but I knew she wouldn't finish it if it was, in her mind, annoying. Anyway, she read the book straight through ......... commented on the issues being 'spot on' and although it was, she said, 'confusing at times' her opinion was that it was good!

I have also read it cover to cover and actually it was a bit like watching a Shakespeare play, i.e at first the language is confusing and annoying but you quickly adapt and then virtually don't notice. Having said that though, when two conversations were happening simultaneously it was a bit draining as they were both there on the page fully formed, rather than unfolding in the way they would if these were two online conversations. But then hey, I'm not anywhere near the 11-16 age range the book is aimed at :-) LOL

Anyway, how do I review a book that's not really aimed at me? I reckon it's an interesting device and a story that tweens would enjoy, I wondered whether the Christ figure, 'Messenger' should have appeared a bit earlier in the book, but I do think it's a fascinating idea. I think the book is fun, a great experiment and well rendered. (I was worried that it would be a cringey facsimile of teen txt spk but felt it was on the mark). I thought the teenage humour and angst came across extremely well. I'm not sure it would work for 16 year olds ( I would put the age range more at 11-14/15) but I'll try and get some older teen reaction to it.

Overall: My tweenage daughter liked it ...... and hey, I did too!
L8rs ;-)

I devoured yet another mountaineering book at the weekend, but what a read: A Slender Thread by Stephen Venables, Inspiring stuff even if it does mean I'm turning into an armchair mountaineer. The next book on my to read list is Sex, Sushi & Salvation which arrived last week from the States for me to review (free book, good plan). I also need to be reading a pile of M.A stuff but more often than not I get sidelined by other books that represent my 1001 other interests, doh! My daughter went to the library twice this weekend .... that's my girl!

"I would be the most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves" Anna Quindlen

Hang on, I remember now why I started this post. I've just turned 41 so need to update my numeric biography. It's a bit self indulgent but I find it fun to try and reflect on who I am in a series of snapshots.

I'm 40 today (which I find surprising)! It's been quite a laugh at work as there is much teasing going on relating to my demi-octogenarian status, and if that wasn't enough to tease me about there is much mirth about my mugshot in the Oxford Mail plugging the LOVE LIFE LIVE LENT campaign. LOL. (Piccy shows off the grey hairs well eh?)

For the last couple of years I've done a '38' and '39' things about me list as a piece of self indulgent reflection. I've updated and increased it to '40!'

Last year on my 38th Birthday I wrote a list of things that were part of what makes me, me (if you see what I mean). It was actually a really interesting excercise (for me) and I've since used this with young people (their lists NOT mine) in helping them to look at some of the unique things about them. Anyhow as it's my birthday today I reckoned it was due an update .....

The revised list with the new entry is below. Shalom and Birthday Cake :-)

Well today is my thirty eighth birthday, weird but cool! I'm very happy about being thirty eight although vaguely surprised, I'm still fairly cool and doing a job that I love, making a difference to young people! (I've now been involved with young people's work for twenty years!) I'm also happy because I got a bottle of Talisker, THE finest Single malt whisky on the entire planet! As a kind of reflective piece I wrote Thirty eight things about me, an idea I nicked from La Petite Anglais which is a blog I regularly read. If for any bizarre reason you wish to dip into my cathartic, surprised middle-aged self defining musings then click on further reading!