Category Archives: Something to Think About

‘Sideways’

Posted on 14 March 2016 by

Way back in early 2005, one of the first movies I saw at the cinema that year was the American comedy-drama Sideways, adapted from the novel by Rex Pickett. Sideways is about two friends in their early 40s, Miles (Paul … Continue reading →

Posted in Happiness, Having a Laugh, Inspiration, Pain, Something to Think About, Travel | Leave a comment

2015: A Life Odyssey (Part 4)

Posted on 22 December 2015 by

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 May Monday, 11 May, 2015. My job hunt began… …and included one application that was rejected only two hours after I had submitted it. * Despite that very sudden setback, during the next few … Continue reading →

Posted in Action, Anger, Confidence, Fear, Hope, Inspiration, Life Challenges, Life Strategies, Resilience, Something to Think About | Leave a comment

Kodokushi

Posted on 3 July 2015 by

Back in August 2011 I posted ‘All the lone people’, which had been inspired by a sad discovery not far from my home the month before – the 2003 death of Natalie Wood, which had gone unnoticed for eight years. … Continue reading →

Posted in Life Challenges, Pain, Something to Think About | Leave a comment

2015: A Life Odyssey (Part 2)

Posted on 9 March 2015 by

Part 1 As I described in Part 1, I was made redundant from the job that I had had since 3 December 2000. But in several ways, my job had gone back further. First, I had been outsourced to my … Continue reading →

Posted in Action, Hope, Inspiration, Life Challenges, Life Strategies, My Story, Something to Think About | 2 Comments

Poor Man, Rich Man: Bankruptcy – Year Four

Posted on 21 February 2015 by

Year One Year Two Year Three Last weekend saw Valentine’s Day, which to me has other significance. Four years ago on 14 February 2011, I was declared voluntarily bankrupt by the Australian Government. So how was my fourth year living … Continue reading →

Posted in Anger, Hope, Inspiration, Life Challenges, My Story, Something to Think About | Leave a comment

Mid-Life Crisis (Part 1)

Posted on 19 January 2015 by

In 2006, English travel writer Mike Carter spent six months motorcycling almost 20,000 miles around Europe. His 2008 book Uneasy Rider: Travels Through A Mid-Life Crisis is his amusing and thought-provoking account of that experience. What prompted Carter to undertake … Continue reading →

Posted in Anger, Fear, Life Challenges, My Story, Pain, Something to Think About | Leave a comment

The lost series of Black and Blue Man

Posted on 6 September 2014 by

I’ve been posting here at Black and Blue Man for just over four years now. Overall, it’s been a very rewarding experience. Not only has it given me an outlet for writing, and allowed me to review important stages in … Continue reading →

Posted in My Story, Something to Think About | Leave a comment

Amazing Journey: Mike McIntyre’s ‘The Kindness Of Strangers: Penniless Across America’

Posted on 24 May 2014 by

In 1994, 37-year-old journalist Mike McIntyre had a good life in San Francisco – except for one major problem: If I were told I was going to die today, I’d have to say I never took a gamble. I played … Continue reading →

Posted in Inspiration, My Story, Reading, Something to Think About, Travel | 2 Comments

The Lego castle in the forest at dusk

Posted on 17 March 2014 by

Hundreds of years ago during my childhood in the 1970s and early 1980s, two of my favourite toys were Lego and die-cast metal cars. Although there were several brands of cars, everyone referred to them generically as ‘Matchbox cars’ (after … Continue reading →

Posted in Happiness, Inspiration, My Story, Something to Think About | Leave a comment

‘Natalie Wood: The woman Sydney forgot’

Posted on 5 February 2014 by

Back in August 2011 I posted ‘All the lone people’, which had been inspired by a sad discovery not far from my home the month before – the 2003 death of Natalie Wood, which had gone unnoticed for eight years. … Continue reading →

Posted in Something to Think About | Leave a comment