Adam Bird - My Personal Blog

Stephanie and I both knew that 2010 would be a defining year for us both. Our marriage in September was to be the crowning event of a year that would see me reach my milestone 30 th birthday, and more importantly, the year England finally won the world cup! However, life has a funny habit of throwing the unexpected and providing you with challenges you were not ready to face. Last week, Stephanie and I both handed our notices into our respective employers informing them of our decisions to seek employment elsewhere.   Whilst both had different motives for our job changes the timings of which were more coincidental than planned. In fact, we have joked since that we must be the first couple in history to hand notices in on the same day and not have won the lottery! Stephanie had heard of a position within the foster agency my Mum and Dad are working for and applied for the role more out of hope and curiosity than wanton desire. Working for Sainsbury’s for twelve years had dampe...

My Facebook status read this morning "iPad or iPooed? Feel it's more of a nice to have, rather than a must have..." and have since felt a certain need to elaborate. Firstly, just what the hell am I talking about? Well, if you don't know already, Apple have launched a new product, named the iPad, which prior to yesterday's announcement was the stuff of online legend, myth and unfathomable hype. Paddy Power even ran a book so you could bet upon the new devices name. The iPad, in short is a new, larger iPod touch, incorporating all of the features you would expect with the iPod touch, including being able to run most, if not all of the applications from the iTunes store, play music, store photos, browse the web and use the very useful mapping application. It's video playback mode has been enhanced meaning that you can play HD video content upon the device as well as a new(ish) application which allows you to download and read e-books, as you would a normal b...

I am writing this letter to you from the future, as in late 2009 a couple of books were released containing a collection of letters by celebrities and other people dated to their 16 year old self’s. Other bloggers like us have latched onto the "trend" and thus now I find myself following suit and writing to myself, albeit my 13 year old junior. Firstly, I ought to really apologise. Using a word like "bloggers" and offering no explanation. The thing is, if I did, I would have to explain the internet and websites and social media and tell you about your own website, how it came about and I know you better than that. Rather than me tell you all about it, I leave you with a tantalising glimpse of the future. It's not all Star Wars and Terminator (not yet), but you'll like it. Relish it, learn it, understand it, make a name for yourself In fact, whether this reaches you on your 16th birthday, or if your back from Kavos yet (by the way, throwing up on buy on...

Having spent two amazing weeks back in 2007 in the tropical paradise of Cozumel to celebrate John and Nadine’s wedding, Stephanie and I made the conscious decision to forego any holiday since then in an attempt to put all our financial resources into next year’s wedding. Eventually however, there comes a time when enough is enough, and a week in the sun is needed! With reckless abandon, we headed to the travel agents and booked a week’s stay at the Holiday Village in Sarigerme, Turkey, an All Inclusive resort with pools and slides aplenty for Oliver to run riot. Turkey also had the added benefit of amazing October weather and a currency that has a great exchange rate against the pound. Research is always the key, and in this case, we did some extensive research into the Holiday Village and many of the trip advisor reports were very complimentary. However, there was a darker side, a continuous mention of illness, food poisoning, pool closures due to “deposits” left floating upon ...

Twenty years ago, before having my heart broken by long haired permed blokes with dodgy moustache's, prior to a realisation that a nation's infamy was due to atrocities carried out many years earlier at the control of one of history's most notorious figures. I sat watching various news reports, that, whilst kaleidoscopic in recollection left memories in my mind. Those images were unprecedented at the time, showing scenes of joy, peaceful anarchy, violentless destruction, witnessing at the age of nine probably my earliest memories of "current affairs". Scenes that were of course those of the Berlin wall coming down, East meeting West, end of the Cold War, things that to a nine year old were politically insignificant, but visually powerful enough to understand a certain importance and to remember many years later. So when Will emailed asking if anyone fancied keeping him company on his brothers stag weekend, two days in Berlin, it was an opportunity...

Early autumn is seemingly a great time for hot literature releases, with Roger Ellory's "The Anniversary Man", being followed by Dan Brown's highly anticipated "The Lost Symbol" and the final instalment of Stieg Larssons Millennium Trilogy, "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest". I pre-ordered all three a while ago via Amazon and was attempting to save all of them for our week in Turkey next month. However, this weekend, sandwiched either side of the holy matrimony and alcohol infused celebration that was Carly and Reaso's wedding, I spent some time in a much darker place, New York, in the presence of a man named Ray Irving as he liaised with John Costello, a survived victim of a serial killer known as "The Hammer of God" murderer. A place which I don't think would have been suited to the tranquillity and warmth of an Aegean odyssey. I have eulogised over the works of Roger Ellory previously within the confines of this ...

Everyone knows how special a wedding day is, and in the past few years Stephanie, Oliver and I have witnessed several of our close friends and family enjoying their own, unique occasions and we have felt privileged to be a part of each and everyone. This weekend, barely a month since Stephanie was “Maid of Honour” at her sister’s wedding; she resumes the nuptial role once more for her best friend Carly, whom shall marry my fellow Gillingham supporting fanatic Andrew in becoming Mr and Mrs Reason! Stephanie and Carly have been friends since school and have grown up together, shared those first tentative steps into their teenage years, sharing the growing pains and first experiences that teenage and early adult lives brings, the first boyfriends, the first kisses, the first time drunk and first holidays abroad on their own. I am guessing, purely from my own imagination, but I can imagine the two of them as young girls sitting in a pink bedroom, with fluffy teddy dolls and picture...

Life is for living and taking in experiences when you get the opportunity. With the opening of cheap flight routes to mainland Europe I have been fortunate to have previously enjoyed weekends of 'carnage' in Tallinn and Budapest, both of which still live long in the memories. Now that my good friend, fondly known as Reaso begins to count down the days of his pending marriage to Carly, I was given the opportunity to help celebrate his last weekend of freedom in the Dutch capital of Amsterdam. At first, I wasn't particularly enthused with the idea, after all Amsterdam is famously known for it's relaxed attitude to recreational drugs and apparent 'seediness' of it's sexual tourism, both of which slightly daunted me and I can honestly say held not much in the way of mass appeal. However, Amsterdam surprised me, the two things that seemed daunting before we arrived, it became clear that reputations clearly stand for nothing and you shouldn't always b...