FRIDAY 2nd OCTOBER 2015 07:50 BST

Read my book - ENLIGHTENMENT FOR ORDINARY FOLK
 
Also available - EMOTIONAL MANAGEMENT FOR ORDINARY FOLK
 
WISDOM, HUMOUR, AND LOTS OF OTHER INTERESTING STUFF CAN BE FOUND ON MY PINTEREST PAGE and FACEBOOK PAGE
TO FIND OUT WHAT I DO, CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE

1. ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
2nd October 1971
ROD STEWART ACHIEVES HIS FIRST TRANSATLANTIC #1
Maggie May becomes the best-selling single in both the UK and US for Rod Stewart as part of The Faces.

Rod Stewart first tasted success as part of the Jeff Beck Group, his most famous contribution being ROCK MY PLIMSOUL. In 1970 he and guitarist Ronnie Wood left Beck's band to join forces with Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan and Kenny Jones of the recently broken-up Small Faces to form The Faces. The First album, FIRST STEP (released on record company insistence as by the Small Faces in the US) was a minor success, but it was this whimsical folk-rock song that catapulted the band to the big time.

The song is based on the true story of how Stewart lost his virginity at 16, when he sneaked with some friends into the 1961 Beaulieu Jazz Festival via a sewage overflow pipe. At one of the beer tents he was approached and subsequently seduced by a much older woman. 

It was originally released as a B-Side to the song Reason To Believe, but radio stations started paying the catchier B-Side and it became an instant hit.  Stewart "borrowed" the title from a traditional Liverpool folk song about a prostitute, a part of which was recorded by John Lennon on the Beatles "Let It Be" album

The Faces carried on as a band until 1975 when Stewart went fully solo.

2. TODAY IN MY LIFE
Blogging
Meditation
Me Time 
Shift 1 of the Weekend Job
Missus Time

Twitter Followers = 2,019 (up 2)
Non-followed eliminated = 0
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Unfollowers eliminated = 1
@EastonMusicTeam
New Followers followed back =0
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Spammers not followed back = 3
@DrPeiKang, @KranSports +1 untraced

3. TODAY'S SELF-OBSERVATION

Returning to the Weekend Job I have some trepidation as I have a new enemy, who I shall name "Bitch Colleague" - she's been there longer than I have and I still don't know her name! She's never moved in my circles, so I don't expect too many encounters. I am also perversely relishing the thought of defending myself.

Where I part company with most of my spiritually-orientated contemporaries is that I do not see negative energy as "the enemy" but a natural part of existence, that can be useful in self-defence and motivation. I enjoy the power-rush when I wield it, and my life has been considerably easier since I embraced it.

It is of course only for use on predators and aggressors - it is undeniably the wrong force to employ around loved ones. There can be a dilemma when a loved one is also a threat - a very confusing and upsetting experience. I have had two experiences of this - Missus at the height of her illness and Daughter. In such an experience, ultimately there can only be two possible outcomes - they change or you let go. 

In the case of Missus, she improved and is now eminently manageable. With her having nothing but love for me, wielding negative energy is completely inappropriate. With Daughter, this Summer saw the final snapping point. Daughter has no hesitation whatsoever in wielding negative energy in my direction, and her complete absence of any empathy or openness finally killed off the hope that kept me vulnerable. I finally and completely let her go and was consequently freed to take up the cudgel of negative energy to defend my borders. I have since felt much better!

I learned an important lesson - that hope is not always a good thing - it can hold you back from letting go and moving on. Hope sometimes must be killed. I now save up all my lovin' for the ones who are loving me and the critics and aggressors can expect the full wrath of my inner darkness. Life is now clearer, simpler, and easier.

4. TODAY'S QUESTION FOR YOU
Do you have the vigilance and weapons ready for predators and aggressors?

5. TODAY'S WEATHER IN BRADFORD
Dry and sunny all day, clear skies after dusk, negligible wind
Max Temp = 15 degC at 4pm
Min Temp = 7 degC at 8am
Sunrise at 07:10
Sunset at 18:42
Moon: 

Weathertrack: An anticyclone over the North Sea will keep Britain dry and calm

Air Pressure: 1029 millibars and falling

6. TODAY'S ONELINER

When you think about it, Batman was rather lazy about naming all his stuff :D

7. NOW THAT'S FUNNY!

QI: The 5,732 provisions affecting the enclave of Baarle Hertog...

8. TRIVIA

The Inuit cleaned themselves in steam baths made by urinating on hot rocks in enclosed tents. In parts of India and East Africa where water is scarce or polluted, people still bathe in cow urine.

9. ZEN WISDOM

Friendly greetings serve as an opening to heart-to-heart exchange from which we can set out onto the great ocean of friendship.