AlanGurling.com

  Autumn Monotone I took this photo back in November 2020. Me and the wife were doing one of our walks in the park. That day I decided to bring with me my camera. It's been a while since I used it. I was wondering what to write as my "first blog post" (again). But just like any journey, it all starts with a single step. This is my step. I have a lot to say, and I don't think I have enough time to lay it all out, but I digress. I tried capturing the mood of the day, the state of the weather, the season in full. Mostly, I tried to express what I was feeling that day. I think I was able to do so. To close off this blog post, here's a song that somewhat complements the photo. "Someone I (Don't) Know" Rapture

Photo by  Madi Robson  on  Unsplash As far as I can remember, the word "equality" wasn't used as much as it is now. My teachers, the grown-ups, anyone in my family never mentioned the word or what it means in some other form. Maybe I was just young, and I cared more about other things. "Fairness" on the other hand, it's something that was drilled into my psyche way back to my very first memories: "Alan, you HAVE to share". Being fair is part and parcel the way of leading a good life. The reality is so much different. I sometimes feel like I was lied to. Another factor to consider I suppose, is the location of where I was living. I currently live in London, UK. I've spent a good portion of my teenage and young adult years living in the Philippines. The more I think about it now, it's quite alarming that equality isn't anywhere near as important as it is here in the UK. This is pretty ironic considering the poverty levels in a t

Photo by  Nakita Cheung  on  Unsplash Smartphones are awesome. I was reading this article earlier on The Verge about how an iPhone has essentially replaced so many of the writer's other gadgets. I totally agree. I'd go even one further and say that my smartphone has essentially replaced my wallet. Living in London, my smartphone is my digital assistant. It's essential and central to a lot of the things that I do daily. My current phone is a Samsung Galaxy S7 edge. The phone itself deserves a whole post on its own, and I'll most likely post it on my other blog . So what do I do with my smartphone? On a normal working day: Alarm - Several alarms actually. And I can customise how I "snooze" my way out of bed. Newspaper - I skim through the Breaking News just to be sure that the world didn't end while I was sleeping, or that someone discovered a cure for cancer, or we decided to stop using money and follow Star Trek's lead and focus on being

I have thoughts. Lots of thoughts. I like talking to people, but not all the time. I like seeing, hearing, and listening to people talk about their passions. Communicating with others is important to me. I guess after all, I am a social creature. Writing is a way to immortalise my thoughts in some form. I think too fast. I think about too many things at the same time. I find it hard to focus. Writing helps me focus. Right now I'm focusing on just writing what I think about this particular subject, writing, is about. I like reading other people's thoughts. More so if the person is talking about things that interest me. There are a lot of things that interest me. I like listening to music that isn't radio-friendly. I like taking photographs of sceneries. I like technology and gadgets. I don't like conflict. And there's too many of that in the world right now. I do like discussion though. I like having a friendly debate. I like having my opinion changed with