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Antony

Blackpool Part 1: Sealife Centre

By Happiness & Joy, Love & Relationships, NatureNo Comments
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Bob – The Fish

At the weekend Boyfriend-A and I went to Blackpool. We had pre-booked tickets to the Sealife Centre and Madame Tussauds. In this post I’ll write about the Sealife Centre.

The Sealife Centre was alive with all sorts of marine life in its well-stocked tanks. Boyfriend-A and I wondered around leisurely, starting with seeing shark eggs and recently born baby sharks (click any image for full size photo):

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Breeding: Shark Eggs

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Breeding: Shark Eggs

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Breeding: Newly Born Sharks

The many tanks often included rays as well as starfish:

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One of the Tanks

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Rays-A-Plenty: There were many rays

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Camouflage Fish

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A starfish

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Mr Ray showing off his sharp teeth

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Mr Ray 2

We saw ‘The Big Daddy,’ a giant crab that is so big he has an entry in the Guinness World Records Book.

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‘The Big Daddy’ – A Giant Crab

We watched delicate small seahorses:

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A Seahorse

And these jellyfish under neon colour-changing light:

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Neon Jellyfish 1

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Neon Jellyfish 2

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Neon Jellyfish 3

Many of the fish I tried to photograph moved too quickly for the camera. This included dory (from Finding Nemo) look-a-likes.

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Trying to snap Dory, they are too quick.

We saw mean-looking paranha fish. I’m sure they were eyeing me up as a meal:

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Mean-looking Piranhas 1

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Mean-looking Piranhas 2

Then we moved on to the sharks:

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Shark Nursery: Breeding sign

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Shark Nursery: A baby shark

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Sharks: An adult having a lie down

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Sharks: A vegetarian shark

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Sharks: Another shark (side on)

We had a great time. Then we head to Madame Tussaunds, which I will write about and share pictures in my next blog post.

Write soon,

Antony



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Happy Belated Litha & More Rivington Photos

By Adventures, Happiness & Joy, Inspiration, Life, Love & Relationships, Nature, PaganismNo Comments

Happy Belated Litha (see Pagan Festivals)!

Boyfriend-A and I took a spontaneous outing to Rivington on Friday. It happened to be Litha, which is the longest day of the year. It was bright, warm and the perfect evening to explore Rivington. We spent quality time together and I also took the opportunity to appreciate nature.

I have previously blogged about Rivington and included plenty of photos. But I felt compelled to take some more photos of this beautiful place on Friday. So here are some of those photos (click on any image for full size):

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Boyfriend-A Looking at the view

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Rivington Ruins 1

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Rivington Ruins 2

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The Pond 1

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The Pond 2

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Rivington: A Gorgeous View

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Rivington: Another View

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Pigeon Tower Information Board

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Pigeon Tower

I hope you all had a equally fantastic Litha.

Blog soon,

Antony



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Import: How to Score a Second Date

By Journalism, Love & RelationshipsNo Comments

So you’ve met this man, you really like him and you want to score yourself a second date. Well you’re going to have to impress him.

Here are some ways to impress a man:

On the first date, let’s start with common curtsy: be on time. He’s not going to be impressed if you’re half an hour late because you were doing your hair or choosing what to wear. Leave yourself enough time to get ready and travel to the venue of the date.

Make an effort with your appearance. Looking smart will impress a man far more than looking like you fell out of a skip. Make sure what you wear is appropriate to the venue of your first date. So there’s no need to wear a suit if you’re going to the cinema, but still make an effort to look your best.

When your date arrives give him a genuine complement. We all like receiving a complement, especially if we’ve made a particular effort to look good. So your date will like this and you are likely to be rewarded by a smile and positive regard.

Be confident, but not arrogant or cocky. Watch what you say and do. Are you talking about yourself negatively? What does your body language say about you? You need to like yourself and show that you do, before you can expect your date to appreciate, like and fall for you. Remember: you are wonderful and unique. There’s no one else in the world that’s you.

While we’re talking about body language, keep your eyes off other guys. Looking at other men will tell you’re date that your not interested in him. Your date should be your focus, so keep your attention focused on him and show this by making regular eye contact.

Don’t forget that you’re on a date. It’s supposed to be fun, so have fun, smile often and make him laugh.

In conversation, you should talk about 50% of the time and listen 50% of the time. Ask your date open questions to discover his interests and passions. Keep conversation light. Avoid emotive topics such as: ex-boyfriends and politics.

Always be honest with you date. Trust is built on honesty. If your not honest and things go well, sooner or later he’s going to find out. This doesn’t mean you have to tell him your deepest and darkest secrets on the first date. Save intimate secrets for later on when the relationship has developed. It’s OK to tell him you don’t want do discuss certain subjects until you get to know him better.

Being yourself is perhaps the most important advice in this article. Don’t try to be something you’re not. It’s exhausting and won’t lead to you being happy. Any gay man who has tried to play it straight will know this.

Have no expectations about how the date will go or what will happen. That way you wont disappointed if the spark isn’t there or you don’t get on. But you will be pleasantly surprised if things go well. There are no rules, so just do what feels right.

Published by: The Gay UK on Friday 13th June 2014.



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My Writing Process for The Good Teen

By CreativityNo Comments
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The Good Teen Plot Line

I recently self-published The Good Teen, a modern-day telling of The Good Samaritan parable, with a hint of magic. I want to tell you a bit about my writing process for this short story.

The idea came from my childhood. Being brought up as a Christian we were told the The Good Samaritan parable. It’s a story that has stayed with me and one that I wanted to retell with my own twist. So I wrote/drew out the plot on flipchart (Left: My flipchart for The Good Teen, click on image for full size).

I like to develop my ideas, plots, sub-plots, settings, characters, pacing and description on flipchart as it’s faster than typing and allows me more creative freedom. The creative freedom to draw pictures, arrows and anything else I want to.

I originally decided to publish The Good Teen as a christmas story for my readers. Hoping to start an annual tradition. But then I saw a call for submission on the BBC Writers Room website for the BBC Radio4 Opening Lines programme and decided to write, edit and submit The Good Teen.

I had already written a To Do List for The Good Teen (below) and changed the timescales to meet the submission deadline.

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The Good Teen To Do List

The editing process, as always, was maddening. I had to cut to the word count limit, which meant some scenes were either cut, not written or combined.

Unfortunately, The Good Teen was not long listed by the BBC. So I decided to self-publish it online. You can download The Good Teen on it’s page. It’s a free download, with a Twitter Tweet or Facebook Like in exchange for the download link.

Write soon,

Antony



I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


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