30 01 2017

Good Day,

If you have found this blog, then you have stumbled upon one of my personal bucket list goals … to have my own Blog.

As to how many people will read it, and what impact it may have, who is to say?  What I can promise you, is in these words, you will find an account of my voyages through life, narrated by me, with my own brand of sarcastic and witty comments.

The subject matter will be rich and varied … injected with my own personal sense of humor, which is really British in outlook (scathing, sarcastic, hurtful at times … inappropriate to be sure – but always following this mantra – “If you cannot laugh at yourself, you cannot laugh at other people”).

Disclaimer

NOTHING in this blog will EVER be apologized for!  Remember, I have the right to my opinions and freedom of speech!  If you find something I have written or commented on offends you, or something you believe in, then MOVE ALONG.  Just because I have said it, and I believe in it, does not mean that you have to do the same, or EVEN continue reading anything I post.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH DOES NOT GIVE ME ANY MYSTICAL POWERS TO MAKE YOU READ IT AND BELIEVE MY POINT OF VIEW.

A bit about me…

My full name is James Anthony Fitzpatrick …

I was born in 1980 – the 80’s, of course being the very best decade, even though I was not a teenager through them.

I have messed around with various courses, qualifications, and jobs … as well as some unorthodox and interesting hobbies.

What has brought me to this point in my life was simple … at some point in time … one has to grow up.

You can fight it all you want … that is why you still see mid-thirties and upwards in bars and clubs when they should be at home (more on this for later) but life will extract this price from you … one way or another.

In 2013 was the final goodbye, goodbye to the party lifestyle … it was a slow departure, the last thing to go was the smoking (cigarettes, of course).  By this time I did not drink anymore as I had no buddies to drink with … and then I watched the kilograms pack on … until at the ripe ‘OLD’ age of 34 … I was done – tired of life and ready to give up.

I was ready to keel over and die.  I was exhausted everywhere I went … miserable and ratty due to needing to sleep all the time.

It is safe to say I was stagnant and stagnating.

Then, what tipped the scales was … I had gained so much weight … I started snoring.  I had always had a ‘sinus’ type snore due to snot and/ or mucus build up, but deep throated guttural snoring I had never had.  Being woken up every 5 minutes by a ratty wife who can’t sleep at the best of times (She can hear a moth fart at 300 meters) was simply enough.  I decided to try some stuff and lose some weight so I could get a good night’s sleep.

The whole story is actually another blog entry, but that is what started it all.

I changed the way I eat, and this snowballed into an all-encompassing lifestyle change that made me the man I am today.

The highlights were…

• I lost nearly 30kg over a course of 9 months.
• Loads of other ailments, aches, pains and problems (including chronic sinusitis I had suffered from since I was a kid) all cleared up.
• I embraced boxing fitness for a new-found hobby.
• Changed my mental mindset to a ‘Fighter’s Mentality – more on this in yet another Blog post.
• During all this time, I was retrenched from the family business – so somehow I kept my mental ‘cool’.
• Managed a renovation of a massive old palatial home in Bedfordview, Johannesburg, South Africa.
• And started a business called ‘Acacia Grove Guest House’ based here located in Bedfordview, Johannesburg, South Africa.

In this blog, I hope to share some interesting articles with you – from some interesting Banting recipe’s (High Fat, Low Carbohydrate) to some interesting boxing tips I have picked up … to relationship advice … to my view on world politics … to tips and tricks I picked up on how to run a small (and hopefully) successful guesthouse.

Any comments or suggestions can always be emailed to me – contact details are on this site, or posted on this space below.

I will Endeavour to respond to each one – time permitting of course.

Until next week,

Here’s to Adventure.

James “Picasso” Fitzpatrick