little bits of everything

I've been thinking about buying the domain paulmorriss.com and setting up a website for a while. I had a bit of money for my birthday that would cover it. I was hesitant though, because it was a bit like work, as well as being a bit fun too. What tipped me over the edge was when our old family page hosted by freeserve.co.uk, now Orange, got deleted because I hadn't dialled up in a while. Normally when this happens I reactivate it, but it was such a long time they'd deleted it. So I went and set up paulmorriss.com . One of the choices was which hosting company to use. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on it, as I wasn't going to spend a lot of time on it, and I found a company that let me pay for a tiny amount of webspace at a reasonable rate - asmallorange - "silly name, serious hosting". So now I've got my own home on the internet. It needs a bit of decorating though.

My todo list says "do nothing" I'm scheduling some spontaneity I'm diarising some dallying I'm planning some pleasure My time will be down My outcomes are enjoyment My KPIs are ice-creams and sandcastles The silicon will be on the beach The chips will have salt and vinegar on them

Roadside apple tree sheds its fruit in front of cars vegetarian roadkill It would be a proper haiku if I used the word "vegetable" in the last line, but I think "vegetarian" is better.

When I told someone I liked Terry Pratchett they said that they didn't like funny stories. That made me think. Although his books are sprinkled with humour, they aren't silly. He writes about a very well thought through and consistent universe, which happens to be a bit like ours and also a bit different. He writes about deep things, and has great plots. Yes, they are funny, but to call them funny is missing the point a bit. Here's my review of his book Wintersmith . This is supposed to be a children's book. I suppose his non children's books are supposed to be for adults. However I see no reason why discerning readers of all ages wouldn't love any of this books. This one is about a teenager, which is probably why it's classified as a children's book. As always, I am amazed by his inventiveness and treatment of deep things. In this case it is about witches and how the seasons work and what happens when the two get tangled up. It has its funny moments, bu...

So the nominations are out. I am pleased to see I Am Kloot in there. I first heard them on the Radio 2 evening show a few weeks ago. Northern Lights sounded like an old song from the 60s, but also quite fresh. I didn't remember the name of the band, but a mention of the fact that they were something to do with Elbow, maybe produced by Guy Garvey helped me track them down later. I never bother trying to track stuff down, so it must have been good. Another comment to make is on the resurgence of folk. It puzzled me a few years ago when Joss Stone became famous singing blues I wondered if it was the music, or the artist that made her successful, as blues doesn't often feature in the charts. I wonder the same thing with Mumford and Sons.

I'm not sure if anyone's particularly interested in sites that use my photos without permission, however this is a good a place to store them as any. http://www.mint.com/blog/investing/5-things-to-consider-when-investing-in-green/ uses http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulmorriss/4528191886/ . Update: They say "We actually view the blog as a “non-commercial” initiative – it’s a personal-finance advice/ consumer advocacy publication. Whenever an individual author has a problem with their photo appearing on the blog, we are happy to remove it." Hmmm. Not sure I agree. Anyway, they removed it.