Freddie - The cat who adopted us!

Remembrance Sunday in Leicester 2009

Rememberance Day in Leicester - 2009

A REMEMBRANCE Day ceremony in honour of Leicester’s war dead is due to take place at Victoria Park.

The memorial service and parade will take place on Sunday, November 8, and about 3,000 people are expected to attend to pay their respects.

The event will take place at the park’s war memorial at 10.55am, and will finish at 11.40am with a march past along Peace Walk.

Leicester Lord Mayor Roger Blackmore will lead the procession of local dignitaries, and The Rt Reverend Tim Stevens, Bishop of Leicester, will hold he memorial service.

The Last Post will be played ahead of a two-minute silence to remember the war dead.

Wreaths will be laid at the war memorial, with faith leaders from across the city joining in prayers. Others present will include the Seaforth Highlanders and other representatives of the armed forces, the City of Leicester Singers and the Salvation Army Band.

Visitors should arrive at the war memorial by 10.45am, and parking is available at nearby Granville Road, accessed from London Road. Disabled parking is available at Coach Drive, which is accessed from Victoria Park Road.

Some parking or access restrictions will also be in effect along the parade route, including University Road, Regent Road, De Montfort Street, Granville Road, Victoria Park Road and London Road.

Councillor Blackmore said: “I hope that local people will join me and other dignitaries and veterans to formally pay tribute to those who have given their lives in service to this country.

“It is a great honour for me to be part of this year’s remembrance service and parade, and I would be delighted to see a large crowd at this year’s service.”

Photos to follow after the event...

What it Means - A Microfiction

Do you remember me saying that I did a concept for a book cover design?

The London author who 'commissioned' it loved it, but needed to put it to his publisher. They accepted it! Albeit in an online version at the moment! I even get special credit for the cover design. Read this:

http://sites.google.com/site/smallstoriesproject/news/untitledpost?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

See it online:
http://feedbooks.com/userbook/8210
(feedbooks are used by Amazon stores worldwide, 'Kindle' and other e-readers, so that bit is quite exciting - great exposure!)

You can read the full story of 'What it Means' by going here:

http://sites.google.com/site/smallstoriesproject/what-it-means

Here's a quote from the authors website on the cover design (I go by the username @uselessdesires on Twitter):

"Also of note is that it's my first Feedbooks work to have a cover properly designed. There's no substitute for getting in someone who knows what they are doing. It was created by Ryan Price @uselessdesires who fittingly enjoyed reading the story so knew where I was coming from with it. Many thanks to him for that."

Hope you don't mind me showing off, but I'm quite chuffed!!!

I'm Here

I don't need you to love me,
I don't need you to love.
I got . . .
I got . . .
I got my sister.
I can feel her now,
she may not be here, but she still mine.
I know she still love me.
Got my children.
I can't hold them now,
they may not be here, but they still mine.
I hope they know I still love them.
Got my house.
It still keep the cold out.
Got my chair
when my body can't hold out.
Got my hands
doin' good like they s'pose to,
showin' my heart
to the folks that i'm close to.
Got my eyes.
Though they don't see as far now,
they see more 'bout how things
really are now . . .
I'm gonna take a deep breath.
Gonna hold my head up.
Gonna put my shoulders back,
and look you straight in the eye.
I'm gonna flirt with somebody
when they walk by.
I'm gonna sing out . . .
Sing out.
I believe i have inside of me
everything that i need to live a bountiful life.
With all the love alive in me
I’ll stand as tall as the tallest tree.
And I’m
thankful for everyday that I’m given,
both the easy and hard ones I’m livin'.
But most of all
I’m thankful for
loving who I really am.
I'm beautiful.
Yes, I’m beautiful,
and I’m here.

I Dreamed a Dream

There was a time when men were kind,
And their voices were soft,
And their words inviting.
There was a time when love was blind,
And the world was a song,
And the song was exciting.
There was a time when it all went wrong...

I dreamed a dream in time gone by,
When hope was high and life, worth living.
I dreamed that love would never die,
I dreamed that God would be forgiving.
Then I was young and unafraid,
And dreams were made and used and wasted.
There was no ransom to be paid,
No song unsung, no wine, untasted.

But the tigers come at night,
With their voices soft as thunder,
As they tear your hope apart,
And they turn your dream to shame.

He slept a summer by my side,
He filled my days with endless wonder...
He took my childhood in his stride,
But he was gone when autumn came!

And still I dream he'll come to me,
That we will live the years together,
But there are dreams that cannot be,
And there are storms we cannot weather!

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living,
So different now from what it seemed...
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed..

Sum: The Afterlife?

In the afterlife you relive all your experiences, but this time with the events reshuffled into a new order: all the moments that share a quality are grouped together.

You spend two months driving the street in front of your house, seven months having sex. You sleep for thirty years without opening your eyes. For five months straight you flip through magazines while sitting on a toilet.

You take all your pain at once, all twenty-seven intense hours of it. Bones break, cars crash, skin is cut, babies are born. Once you make it through, it's agony-free for the rest of your afterlife.

But that doesn't mean it's always pleasant. You spend six days clipping your nails. Fifteen months looking for lost items. Eighteen months waiting in line. Two years of boredom: staring out a bus window, sitting in an airport terminal. One year reading books. Your eyes hurt, and you itch, because you can't take a shower until it's your time to take your marathon two-hundred-day shower. Two weeks wondering what happens when you die. One minute realizing your body is falling. Seventy-seven hours of confusion. One hour realizing you've forgotten someone's name. Three weeks realizing you are wrong. Two days lying. Six weeks waiting for a green light. Seven hours vomiting. Fourteen minutes experiencing pure joy. Three months doing laundry. Fifteen hours writing your signature. Two days tying shoelaces. Sixty-seven days of heartbreak. Five weeks driving lost. Three days calculating restaurant tips. Fifty-one days deciding what to wear. Nine days pretending you know what is being talked about. Two weeks counting money. Eighteen days staring into the refrigerator. Thirty-four days longing. Six months watching commercials. Four weeks sitting in thought, wondering if there is something better you could be doing with your time. Three years swallowing food. Five days working buttons and zippers. Four minutes wondering what your life would be like if you reshuffled the order of events. In this part of the afterlife, you imagine something analogous to your Earthly life, and the thought is blissful: a life where episodes are split into tiny swallowable pieces, where moments do not endure, where one experiences the joy of jumping from one event to the next like a child hopping from spot to spot on the burning sand..