What brands do you associate with?

I’m a good bit older

Than some who write on here

And remember a time of labels

IN your clothes

and not across your chest.

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Once it was their quality

The fabric and the cut

That said you wore good clothes

Now it’s the name across your chest

And that is all you’ve got.

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Last year we were in Helsinki

A Marrimekko shop

Famous for their fabric

Distinctive well cut clothes

But all folk seemed to go there for

Was branded shopping bags.

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I wish that I could tell you

I never caught the bug

But out on a run you have to wear

The proper branded goods.

ASICS or New Balance

Adidas or Nike

These are now the running Gods

With athletes second place.

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Once your favourite football team

Would proudly wear their crest

Now it is their sponsors name

That’s splashed across their chest.

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Formula 1s ridiculous

Simply covered in brands

Every sponsor wants a slice

Of racing drivers’ clothes.

We are all now bill boards

For others on the make

They don’t rely on quality goods

They just trade off their names.

What could you do more of?

The thing I must do more of

Is to take the odd day off.

Forgive that this is short day

Afraid it’s all I got.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

I wrote about this recently

But here it is again.

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There are people who make things happen
And people things happen to
If you don’t take control of what happens
Then it will just happen to you.

If you don’t want to be a victim
Don’t just let things happen to you
You have to make some choices
And make things happen for you.

If you don’t take charge of what happens
Then good things won’t happen for you.
If you don’t take control of your own life
Then other people will.

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It’s easier to give advice

Than follow it at times

I constantly need to hear this

But following it is hard.

What’s your all-time favorite album?

If you read an earlier post

You’ll know this prompt is cruel

I confessed just days ago

I’m not that musical.

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Then again it’s easier

To choose some tracks

If you have owned so few.

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The one that sticks in memory

Been heard so many times

Didn’t even belong to me

It was a housemate’s choice.

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Two years in Nigeria

I took no tracks with me

My housemate only had a few

We’d often listen to his.

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Unforgettably Tapestry

We’d hear it again and again.

The Earth moves under my feet

As I hear that opening track.

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No one stays one place anymore

We were Far Away

It’s Too Late Baby, far too late

To know quite how that felt.

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Way over Yonder

Young, far from home

When would we be Home Again?

Two years we’d be there.

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It’s Too Late Baby

Far too late, Thankfully

You Have a Friend

And he has musical taste.

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Where You Lead I Will Follow

Learning all these tracks

Will I still love them tomorrow

And listen when I get back?

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Well Tapestry stays in the memory

And I’ve seen her play it live

Carole King is Beautiful

My desert island album

The one that I would choose.

Which topics would you like to be more informed about?

These days if you want to know

You simply look things up

Use common sense to know what’s true

Ignore what’s just made up.

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We’re inundated with bad news

Can know what’s going on.

So if you’re feeling ill informed

That’s mainly down to you.

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And yet I have a knowledge gap

I have to share with you.

I barely know how anything works

Can’t fix it when it’s broke.

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Men are s’posed to know these things

A gift they get from birth

But somehow I’m the one

that missed that gene

And can’t make anything work.

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Some learn from their father

But I’m a soldier’s son

If something broke

We went to the store

And got another one.

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We were always moving

So not much DIY

You don’t make alterations

If you’re not planning to stay.

---

I am really useless

If anything is broke

I have to leave it to my wife

Which makes her really cross.

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I’m getting slightly better

YouTube really helps

But if you have no confidence

It’s scarey doing things.

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I am always frightened

That I will make things worse.

Somehow I have two left hands

No fingers, only thumbs.

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The worst thing with not knowing

Is not knowing you don’t know.

There’s such a lot that I don’t know

I live in ignorance.

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I try to keep up with current affairs,

Culture, Science, the Arts

But sadly it’s domestic affairs

On which I’m least informed.

What would your life be like without music?

In a world where there’s no music

I’ll manage better than most.

It’s incidental to my life

Not key I must confess.

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If you find me listening

I’ll be with someone else.

I seldom listen on my own

I’ll have speech radio on.

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Music might be background

While doing boring tasks

But I’ll switch it off to concentrate

Silence suits me best.

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I don’t take music running

Or listen in the gym

Prefer the thoughts

That are in my head

And concentrate on them.

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Music’s good for parties

Dancing I would miss

I’d need new opportunities

To throw myself around.

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And then of course nostalgia

Reminders of my youth

But mostly that’s the lyrics

I misremember tunes.

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I won’t miss background music

In shops and restaurants

If you’re hard of hearing

It really is a pain.

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Incidental music

really gets my goat.

Suddenly an orchestra!

Where did they come from?

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Sometimes I like singing

And belting out a song

But that can be unpopular

If you can’t hold a tune.

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I’ve never played an instrument

Unless triangle counts?

Once or twice I tried to learn

But really! Not a chance.

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So now you get the picture

I’m not that musical.

Please don’t hate me for it.

It’s just the way I am.

How do you celebrate holidays?

Oh gosh this one is difficult

I‘m not sure what you mean?

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For us to take a ‘holiday’

Means to take a break

Most usually to get away.

‘Vacation’s what you’d say.

---

I’m guessing that your question

Is in American?

Two nations with one language

But don’t use it the same.

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Most often when on ‘holiday’

We like to go abroad

The point is to do different things

To travel and explore.

---

So different kinds of holidays

Beach or cultural tours

A little bit of everything

Trying different food.

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If you’re talking Christmas

That’s quite a different thing

That’s for family gatherings,

Parties, festive meals.

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New Year’s more for adults

And fuelled by alcohol

We’ll stay up for the Midnight Chimes

And sing of Auld Lang Syne.

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Easter it has changed a lot

Become a chocolate thing

The pious will still go to church

But mostly people don’t.

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Easter’s a Bank Holiday

Of these we have a few

People get an extra day

To tag on their weekend.

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Many try to get away

There’s chaos on the roads

Unless you love a traffic jam

It’s best to stay at home.

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Then we have the seasonal things

Guy Fawkes, Halloween

We don’t get a holiday

But celebrate just the same.

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We don’t do Thanksgiving

I hope that isn’t news?

Nor do we have 4th July

We’ll leave that up to you.

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So I tried to do an answer

I hope you’ll understand

I don’t quite get your English

I’m from England.

Write about your most epic baking or cooking fail.

We seldom ever buy bread

We mostly bake our own

If you use a breadmaker

Nothing should go wrong.

Just add the ingredients

Put them in a tin

Following the recipe

You’ll make a perfect loaf.

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First you add a little yeast

Then weigh out the flour

Then measure out the sugar,

Salt and butter (or olive oil).

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Just these few ingredients

And you’re almost done

But disaster will occur

If you miss the final one.

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Don’t forget the water

As I occasionally do!

It‘s all fine for an hour or two

The dough‘s supposed to rest

But when the proper baking starts

You get that fateful smell.

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I can’t describe the outcome

It is an awful powdery mess

And clearing out the outcome

Not an easy task.

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I really recommend them

Means even I can bake

But catering for forgetfulness?

Well what do you expect?