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A General Life Update (with Photos)

By Amazon, Books & Authors, Friends & Family, Life, TechnologyNo Comments
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My first batch of 13 paperback copies. They have all been signed and sent out to people.. More have been ordered.

This is a general life update. As most of you will be aware my new book Mental Health Wisdom has been released. It was due to be released in May, but was moved forward due to the way Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing Works. I realised that it is also available on Amazon internationally. You can learn more here here.

The whole process of writing, editing and publishing the book has been a huge learning curve. It’s awesome to see my own work in print. I feel really happy and very proud of myself.

I’ve managed to get my book on Goodreads. I’ve reached out to some bloggers who have agreed to review my book. I now need to get some reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.

As I spent the end of last year and the beginning of this year working on my book, I’ve used the time since to catch up with family and friends. I’ve met with my mum and she’s shared her excitement about going to Thailand and Cambodia. My brother Shaun and his girlfriend are adding to our family. My brother Neil and his fiancee are excited about a move.

My friend Kay has shared her experiences from a recent trip to Australia. A family I’m close to (they have all but practically adopted me!) have shared stories of their children and grandchildren. My friend Sye shared that he has passed his theory driving test.

There’s been so much going on for the people that I love and it’s all positive. It is wonderful to hear.

My iPhone 6 Plus had fingerprints on the camera that no amount of lens cleaning would remove. The battery was beginning to die. This is the second iPhone I’ve had in two years and I really look after my stuff. So I decided to upgrade to the Samsung Galaxy S10+:

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Samsung Galaxy S10+ SmartPhone.

This phone is superb. The only annoyance is that often the fingerprint scanner doesn’t recognise my fingers. Here are some features on the phone:

  • A massive screen.
  • A long-lasting battery and fast charging.
  • Three camera lenses on the back and two on the front.
  • A sensor that can detect you heart rate, the oxygen saturation in your tissue and levels of stress.
  • It was quick and easy to transfer my data (contacts, photos, music, calendars) from my iPhone to the S10+. In fact Samsung has an app that does it all for you.
  • The settings make the phone highly customisable. You can download full themes, or just wallpapers and icons.
  • All Apps available on iPhones are available in either the Google Play Store or Galaxy Store.
  • It has plenty of RAM.
  • A huge amount of storage, the amount customisation on order. It can also be extended by Micro SD.
  • It can be wirelessly charged and can be used to wirelessly charge other devices.
  • Has a headphone jack.
  • Dual speakers that are really loud.
  • Affordable accessories made by third parties.
  • The list could go on.

I’ve planned and booked my annual leave off work until the end of January. I am in the process of make plans for my time off.

After-Life-Ricky-Gervais

After Life by Ricky Gervais is on Netflix and a must watch.

I’ve been enjoying Star Trek Discovery on Netflix. I also watched After Life written by and staring Ricky Gervais.

After Life is a must watch. It’s about a man (Gervais) whose wife dies due to cancer. It is about how he deals with the loss and gets on the path to contentedness.

After Life is funny, pulls at your heart strings and is overall brilliant. The ending felt rushed, but the reasons for this are understandable.

Here’s a trailer:

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Finally, I’ve recently had feedback from a 360° online anonymised questionnaire as part of a Leadership Programme at work. This questionnaire was sent to a wide range of people that I work with. I don’t discuss work on my blog. But I will say that it was hugely positive, with only a few minor areas for improvement. This affirms my beliefs that I am good at my job and perform well.

Blog soon,

Antony

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Did You Know? (Part 3 – Geography)

By The Web2 Comments
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Did You Know?

This is the third in a series of Did You Know? blog posts. Each blog post gives ten fascinating facts on a particular topic. In part 1 the topic was science. In part 2 the topic was history.

Today, I give you ten facts about Geography:

1. Africa is the only continent that is in all 4 hemispheres: North, South, East and West.

2. Canada has half of all natural lakes in the world.

3. At 8, 848 metres (29, 029 feet), Mount Everest is the world’s highest mountain.

4. Out of the highest 25 peaks in the world, 19 are in the Himalayas.

5. Every continent has a city called Rome, apart from Antartica.

6. The Antartica ice cap has 29m cubic kilometres of ice and represents 90% of all the ice on the planet.

7. Australia is wider than the moon.

8. The UK has over 100 small islands around it.

9. The Dead Sea is made up of 33.7% salt, an unusually high concentration, and it is this that allows people to easily float due to natural buoyancy.

10. Russia is the largest country in the world covering an area of 17,075,400 square kilometres.

Write soon,

Antony

References
Mental Floss – 11 Weird and Wacky Geography Facts
Scoop Whoop – 18 Interesting Geographical Facts You Probably Had No Idea About
Live Science – Mount Everest: World’s Highest Mountain
Cool Antarctica – Antarctica Facts
Fun Facts About the Antarctic

Travel + Leisure – 12 geography facts that will blow your mind
ThoughtCo. – Geography of England
Twisted Sifter – 10 Things You Didn’t Know About the Dead Sea
Friendly Local Guides – 17 Interesting Facts about Russian Geography

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Book Review: Handling Edna The Unauthorised Biography by Barry Humphries

By Amazon, Books & Authors, History, ReviewsNo Comments
handling-edna-barry-humphries-book-cover Barry Humphries has been with Edna Everage since the very beginning. In Handling Edna: The Unauthorised Biography by Barry Humphries he describes how they met, and the adventure she’s dragged him along for ever since.

Before the book even begins there is a “Note to the Reader” eluding to the fact that some people have come to believe that Barry Humphries and Dame Edna are essentially the same person. Humphries writes that he hopes to shed some light on where this belief came from, so that the reader can make their own decision about what they believe.

The first chapter starts in Moonee Ponds, Australia and describes how Barry and Edna met. Humphries writes in the first person, and throughout the book uses description to indicate the decade and location of events he describes.

Each chapter gives an entertaining and fascinating insight into Barry’s life and career (or lack of), Edna and her family’s life and careers, her rise to stardom (and Barry’s lack of understanding as to why) and the problems that it brought her – all in a chronological order.

A few highlights (in no particular order) include Barry being the warm up act for Dame Edna – for various shows; Edna’s time in Hollywood; Barry’s stint in hospital with alcoholism and Edna being his only visitor; Barry’s love life; Barry’s impersonation of Edna on two occasions – the first for his benefit and the second trying to help her; Edna’s poor mental health – in particular in relation to the death of Norm (her husband).

As the chapters go on, towards the end of the book you start to get a fictional feel to the book especially in the final few chapters. Earlier in the book Barry is handed a letter for Edna by Madge. Madge instructs Barry to only give the letter to Edna when she dies. In the final chapter Madge finally dies in hospital. Barry remembers the letter and it reveals that Edna’s missing daughter Lois was taken by Madge in a moment of madness (which explains why Madge tolerated Edna over the decades). Madge writes that she gave Lois to some old friends to raise as their own, with Lois calling her Auntie Madge. In the hospital, the nurse turns out to be called Lois and is upset as her Auntie Madge has just died.

Having read the book do I believe that Barry Humphries and Edna Everage are the same person? Yes I think they are the same person, but that only makes Humphries even cleverer. The factual parts about Barry’s life are interesting to read, but the fiction about Edna is even more interesting. It not only makes the book very entertaining, but it gives an insight into the psyche of Humphries.

The book was a brilliant read, and as you’d expect from a bibliography it has several glossy photo pages throughout the book. You can buy Handling Edna: The Unauthorised Biography by Barry Humphries on Amazon.

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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