Norman Ralph

There has been a couple of incidents of people posting some quite interesting self analysis pieces on Facebook, which can be found here and here (You may have to have a Facebook account or be friends with people in question to view links).

My first reaction was to put these posts down to late night musings and a touch of emo behaviour that is particularly noticeable in the two individuals in question. I would even go so far as to dismiss them. However, on deeper contemplationa and a second reading I came to a different conclusion. There is an element of honesty here that is raw – I imagine that neither piece really outlines the true fears and hopes of the authors but there is definitelyan insight into something worth seeing. Both of the writers are close to me in some way and so there will always be something personal to see in these kind of pieces but I think there is something more here, a more basic human need. At the moment, the exact nature of that need eludes me, but these pieces – after initially falling into the crappy Facebook notes category – have touched me in a way I really wasn’t expecting.

I don’t know if it is the end of era type emotions that come with this time of year, especially as there definitely is going to be an end of an era when most of my university friends graduate and head off into the world of whatever they choose to do, or whether it is the general aging process that I seem to be feeling more and more these days but there is definitely a cloud of self analysis around a lot of people at the moment and I think it might end up being an important thing.

I have spent most of my day finally getting to grips with some of the finer points of my website. I have been getting under the bonnet of cPanel and some of the advanced features that entails. I finally think I have worked everything out and now know enough about the workings of it all that I shouldn’t need to pester Kieran every five minutes!

Learning how things work brings such an enormous sense of satisfaction that I genuinely cannot understand people’s attitude of well if it works it works and if it doesn’t it doesn’t. I think that people who think like that are missing out on so much of life and its wonders. It is one of the main points I will take away from my university experience – we are expected to have that desire, that need to understand what we do and why we do it and how that impacts on our lives.

I think today’s experience has led me to want to carry on learning about web development and how I can go about improving this site and maybe making more.

As Chris mentioned here, Si has finally joined the ranks of the bloggers. Check him out here, it is good to see that the last few members of the circle are succumbing to the lure of the blogosphere.

Only Sarann, MC and B left now!

The Christmas festivities are over, the New Year hangovers have subsided and 2008 is nearly a week old. This seems like the perfect opportunity to take a look back at 2007 and the people, events and ideas that made it.

Christmas and New Year are always a time for reflection and nostalgia and this year was no different. My family was all together for the first time in a while, including some of the new additions. I had an enjoyable time with several highlights – firstly, I caught up with some old friends and relived some of those moments from my youth that I miss. I also had a good time Christmas Day as I actually felt part of the family for the first time in many years. The end of December was also a good time for me, I spent it with Liz and her family and really felt accepted.

Anyway, back to my review of the year.

January
January was an interesting month, fisrt it saw the blossoming of a new friendship, one that would lead to something quite special – although i didn’t know that at the time of course. This month saw the final plans for the new academic year’s housing plans and all the arguments that surrounded that decision. This is probably the time that I cemented my friendship with a number of people whom I now consider my closest allies.

January’s exam period was hard for me, not just for the obvious reasons, but because it saw the dawning in my mind that I had lost my passion in Materials Engineering, that the course was no longer the inspiration I required. I began to toy with the idea of leaving university, or at least changing course.

February
I don’t remember much of February apart from starting at McDonald’s and buying a new car. I also went to Langdale in the Lake District with my mum.

March
March was an interesting month, I saw Barenaked Ladies in concert in Leeds which was amazing, visited Sarann in the Lakes and most importantly I started this blog.

April
Now here is the definition of a rollercoaster ride. I reached some of the lowest points of my life but also touched some of the highest highs. I ran Rationalist Week, spent a week in a self-destructive spiral of drinking, partying and depression, I met a girl and fell in love.

May
May was a busy month. Liz and my relationship went from strength to strength, went to see Soweto Kinch and The Who live in concert and Blackpool won in the League One play-offs and got themselves promoted to the Championship.

June
Festivals were the order of the day/month for June. I went to Sunrise and Farmyard Party to work in a chip van with Sarann. I had a great time but it meant not seeing Liz for a lot of the month – the first real test for our relationship. I think we ended up stronger than ever! Chris ended up in hospital with a serious bout of appendicitis and I spent a lot of time helping Matt sort out his car.

July
July was quite boring compared to the surrounding months.I went to Workhouse in Wales, had minor computing issues and moved in with my new housemates – Sarann, Michelle, B and Chris.

August
Always a quiet month, with uni still a month away and the excitement of breaking up long since faded away. I spent most of the month taking stock and seeing what was what in my life. I did go to Solfest, however, which was definitely a personal highlight of the year!

September
I made only seven blog posts in September, which gives a good indication of how little I did. I did start a new course at university though and turned twenty-three – which also explains the lack of blogging! The combination of Fresher’s week and birthday celebrations will do that to a man.

October
A difficult month for me. A lot of things happened in my private life that left me somewhat adrift. I did get a new computer though, which is always nice!

November
November saw things pick up a bit with the A-Soc London trip, Atheist Week and the discovery of the Lancashire Hotpots! London was worth all the effort that I put into it, it turned out better than anyone had predicted and nothing really bad happened. Liz and I went from strength to strength and I even managed to find time to do some uni work!

December
A month of WoW and family. Not a lot to report on really, except what is already included at the top of this post. It was a good festive period all in all. I think it set me up for 2008 quite nicely.

This is just an interim post to keep those of you who are interested in this kind of thing up to date on my general comings and goings.

We had our first CompSoc committee meeting yesterday and things went pretty smoothly. With a bit of luck and a lot of effort I seriosuly think we can pull this off. A-Soc prep is not going so well, we are having pen issues and general lack of time issues. I am sure, however, that we will nail it!

Today was Michelle’s belated birthday party and it was fun. Just the ticket to take everybodies mind off the new academic year starting in less than a week. Lots of cake and chocolate and mayhem are the ingredients to a party of this nature – our theme was kiddies’ party so jelly and ice cream, pass the parcel and such things. A real treat and a fitting way to welcome Michelle back to England.

The rest of the week is going to be taken up by tidying up from today and preparing for the weekend. My housemates and I are throwing a massive party for my twenty-third birthday and to make sure our house is fully warmed up ready for the year ahead.

In support of Chris’ recent post, I am going to try and increase the pinging to other blog sites and try to make sure that we can maximise cross-circle blogging!

I’ve just finished reading a blog post on moderation and anti-fundamentalism and it got me thinking about a number of things. Firstly, is the age old question of fundamentalism. Is it wrong to believe something so strongly that you pursue it with all your might, literally in some cases? I still cannot make up my mind, my fellow A-Soc member Chris Worfolk says that moderation in religion is wrong, a cop out even in his article “The problem With Religious Moderates”. I am not entirely convinced by his arguments, I like to think that there is room even within the most deep set of principles for self censorship and the need to balance your convictions against the freedom of those around you. It is important as a religious commentator that balance is given to all arguments. It is fine blasting non-fundamentalists for failing at their religion as long as you continue that crusade against all non-fundamentalists in every walk of life. Every conviction out there can be followed fundamentally. If fundamentalism was to be applauded then shouldn’t we all be members of the BNP or the Communist Party? Extremism is not the same as fundamentalism, I think it is important that is clarified, but all fundamentalists are extremists in the modern sense.

I like the idea of fundamentalism, I think it allows an easy life. The rules and thought processes are simple. you just follow the guidelines set down by your conviction be it religion, racism, anti-semetism or just that all meals must be eaten at the dinner table! However, there is no flexibility in it, which is the crux of the issue for me. We need flexibility. We need to be able to say “wait a minute?”. There must be room for criticism, for question, for reason.

As an atheist I am often barraged with the question, “But, isn’t Atheism a religion?”. I am often forced to concede that certain aspects of the atheists beliefs can be construed as religious. Especially with idealogies such as Buddhism and Humanism. I, however, an neither of the above. I am an atheist. I have no reason to believe ina god or gods, so I don’t. Is it, therefore, possible for me to be a fundamentalist atheist? I am sure that there are many out there who would say that some of my actions within A-Soc and in public could be cinstrued as fundamental. I am not known for my lack of convictions. However, as a rational thinker I require flexibility. None of my convictions are set in stone. This would pique the author of the initial article as he suggests that weak convictions are a curse on society. it would also cause some concern for my esteemed colleague, Chris, as he maintains his convisitons as the bedrock of his motivation to pursue his goals for A-Soc World Domination!

Anyway, I hope some of you enjoyed this little discussion and I welcome your comments on the issue!

Just a quick post to highlight Michelle’s new Dream Journal. Well worth a read, especially if you like reading, discussing and analysing dreams. Also, not a bad way to see what goes on in peoples psyches.

After several weeks offline due to holiday, work, festivals and moving house (well room….) I am finally back online, although only temporarily at the moment. I am currently using a makeshift internet connection until our house network is up and running, so I cannot vouch for the regularity of my posts for the foreseeable future. I will do my best to ensure that I try to keep you all up to date on the comings and goings currently making my life about as hectic as it has been in several years!

Firslty, I am currently working ten to eleven hour days for a framing company selling certificate frames to graduates at Leeds University. Good money but hard work! I had to pass up on the last two festivals I was supposed to be working due to a) a better offer and b) the feeling that the work I was doing was going very unappreciated to say the least!

Basically, my life is good. I have a fantastic girlfriend, amazing housemates, quality friends and a bank balance in the black! Not a lot else for me to say at the moment. I am sure that my future posts will include some of the details I have skipped over, but then again they might not. Requests on a postcard please.

My blogging has been a little sporadic recently, not just that, but it has also been a little disjointed. I apologise for this but I have good reason. Things have been going on that couldn’t be openly blogged about and I have been a very busy chap indeed with one thing and another.

Firstly, it is official (because Facebook says so) that Liz and I are going out. We have been for a few days now but unfortunately circumstances dictated a certain amount of discretion. people needed telling in the right order. The right people know, so now the world can know.

There is a story to be told about how this happened and came about but it is not to be shared here, memories are still too fresh and people involved do not deserve to be hurt. Today is the beginning of something beautiful.

I took liz home on Sunday and met her parents and brother. We also ended up meeting Ed and heading to the pub. It is quite a nice little pub and you cannot go wrong with 40p games of pool! Had a cup of tea with Liz then headed home. I hate leaving her.

Monday saw me start fulfilling my duties as A-Soc secretary and also meant getting fed by Sarann. Sarann is an excellent cook and made a delicous sausage casserole followed by rice pudding. The pub followed, which wasn’t the best experience all round. A few demons surfaced and they took some sorting out, I ended up crashing at B’s.

Met MC and went to the cricket this morning, watched the Second XI game. I left about 2pm and headed to uni for a faith and cultural assembly meeting – which was postponed without notice (well everyone but me and Chris got notice). We then had an A-Soc committee meeting followed by a general meeting, Was quite a good meeting and we got lots sorted out. Just need to write the minutes up now…..

Liverpool beat Chelsea!

Whilst I have been recovering froma bout of the flu I have been catching up on some of the other blogs I subscribe to. After reading Kieran’s post on the Guardian’s article on the blogosphere, which basically says that blogging is fast heading towards the realm of a virtual boxing ring, filled with point-scoring alpha males, I felt the familiar surge of rage and burning desire to defend something that I love.

I have not been blogging long, in fact I am a relative newbie compared to many of the more established weblogs out there, but I feel a part of the community of bloggers (the blogosphere) all the same. Since going ‘live’ at normanralph.com I have been the subject of ridicule from a number of sources. These include the general public who see blogging as the last realm of the geek – a view that would anger and offend many bloggers – as well as close friends who seem to see blogging as a passing fad. Both of these views are bad enough, but usually they can be put down to at best ignorance and at worst jealousy. This latest attack from a nationally accepted broadsheet paper is something different. Whilst I normally put the offings from the Manchester based newspaper down to left-wing, nimby style journalism, I am not naive enough to belive that some people will sit up and take notice to this article. I think that it is this negative media coverage that is more likely to discourage potential bloggers than the views of the people that I have spoken to.

Blogging provides so many opportunities for so many people. From the technical minded that want somewhere to offer support and advice on all things tech. It provides an excellent platform for many businesses to discuss their development side and offer up-to-date feedback to their customers and investors. It also provides people like me a ‘soapbox’ from which to shout our many opinions!

Keep blogging!