mike hawkins

Increasingly, as I get older, things are either black or white.  The things, and people I like are

important - the rest can go to hell. All in all I am ever more intolerant of that which I consider to be wrong or stupid and the list of matters that fall into these categories appears to be growing daily.

On the flip side, my passion and allegiance to the activities I enjoy, and the people, who I regard as having quality, has intensified. Tempering this is the fact that my criteria for defining 'quality' have become greatly more stringent so effectively I like fewer people - but more. I suppose that this is a product of age, experience and disappointment.

I was an optimist when younger, and assumed that those around me held the same set of values that I did (I hasten to add I am not saying my values were right), and that they were sincere, honest and...well...nice. Stupidly naive it transpires. Why bother to write this down? I think just to try and work out, why life seems to become more frustrating as I get older - when I was firmly convinced that the opposite would be the case -