Release of newly updated Books
I have republished, edited and updated my memoirs, under a new title:
Happiness Is a Way Of Living: How I Escaped the Straitjacket of Serious Mental Illness, My Story
It is available as a paperback in full colour, printed on premium white paper to allow for the best reproduction of the B&W and Colour photographs. For those who would like to read it on their phones, tablets or computers, they will still be able to enjoy good reproductions,…..
I submitted the second edition of this book to my publishers last week. It will have photographs, a new cover and will be selling at a more reasonable price. I’ll be announcing the date it is available, on this blog as well as in the social media. Thank you for your patience. The book has many humorous stories as well as its dramatic and serious side.
9. I blushed, trying to hide my face
Silently he showed me a tiny room with a fridge and two power outlets. I plugged my SatNav in, covered it from harm and left to pass the time with Carol and Vũ. While I had been busy organising the SatNav, they had brought in their food, also offering it towards the meals which the Monastery provides free of charge to the lay public. As it was still officially wintertime…..
7. She had assignments to complete
Suddenly the alarm sounded! I was shocked. Had time passed so rapidly? It seemed. The instant the alarm sounded, Carol woke, got up, dressed, switched it off. As if in another world, a dream world, a fantasy world, still in a daze over the comforting night we had spent together holding hands, it took me several minutes, to come round, to realise I wasn’t alone at home, to realise I was wearing…..
6. We both drifted off into a sound, relaxing, dreamlike sleep
Soon it would be Christmas 2014. Sometime earlier in the year, I had started to attend the All Saint’s Anglican Church in Derby Road, here in Eastleigh. A new young pastor who had trained at Cambridge University gave the sermon. His oration was eloquent. I left impressed. I returned the next Sunday.
Christmas celebration services were planned. I invited my Asian friends to attend these with me……
4. The most beautiful eyes I have ever seen
One day while on the bus to the University I started a conversation with a Chinese man, Ken, after noticing an unusual electronic gadget on his iPhone. He asked me if I knew where he could buy flowers for his young lady friend, Frances, the pianist who was going to perform that afternoon. At our destination, the University Highfield Interchange, we alighted from the bus in search of a…..
3. Gradually we drew closer
Soon after meeting Carol, she entered a music competition organised by, and for all, the Chinese students at the University. The initial rounds took place in a very large lecture theatre on campus, however, the final round was scheduled to take place at the large Odeon cinema complex in the city, in a private function room. I think there were over 200 contestants, whittled down to a short list of ten by the…..
2. We only had the opportunity to see one another
On the bus home, Carol used WeChat to link up by video with her parents in their apartment in Shanghai. Later she told me her mother was concerned because, at the age of 23, she still had no boyfriend. All her other friends of similar age back in China were already married and had started their families. I laughed, saying that she was still young. My advice would be that…..
My family and my British friends
I met Cathleen, who became my best friend at the band which we regularly attend. I was strongly attracted to her. This worried me when she told me she had a partner. However, my worry turned to relief after she disclosed that her partner was a girl, not a bloke! Our sense of humour was similar, whenever we were together there would be laughter. We were both loud, often getting odd looks from our…..
Saturday 18th July 2015
Last night I was eating a large supper with Hiển, when my music theory teacher, Roger Hansford, phoned me with the news that I’d passed my grade 6 music theory exam. The pass mark is 66%, I achieved 70%, he was pleased, although I had hoped to get more, at least a merit, i.e., over 80%. A merit would have meant double the points I’ll need for my application to enter University one day.
…..
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