AndrewF23's Profile | Typepad

This is AndrewF23's Typepad Profile.

Join Typepad and start following AndrewF23's activity

Join Now!

Already a member? Sign In

AndrewF23

I'm a fundraiser, writer and hospital governor. I have two children, G and A.

Interests: sailing, learning, reading, writing, family, swimming, eating, talking, touching, watching films and decent tv. "do i contradict myself? very well then i contradict myself. i am large. i contain multitudes".

Recent Activity

As this annus horribilis draws to its close, I find myself reflecting on the meaning of achievement. Since moving down to Wiltshire seven years ago, my career focus has changed. The move was for the kids, for schools, for space.... Continue reading

Posted Dec 29, 2010 at Live your potential

1

I've not written here for a long time and my absence has been commented upon. It's been a strange few weeks. I've felt a real loss of purpose and direction. I've been feeling as if I have little to say... Continue reading

Posted Dec 23, 2010 at Live your potential

1

My car died last week. I'd just dropped off my son at the car share and was returning home to take my daughter to school when the gearbox failed. Utterly. Five miles from home and no way to get back.... Continue reading

Posted Nov 15, 2010 at Live your potential

1

Exposing myself

I've been in the public eye and ear today and it's stirred up my memories. First was a radio interview on BBC Wiltshire this morning and then a talk to 150 sixth form girls at a school in Oxford. The... Continue reading

Posted Nov 9, 2010 at Live your potential

1

Testing, testing

I've just started the last and most intense phase of my rowing training. I have to row three days a week for the next eight weeks. And when I'm not rowing, I have to be leg conditioning with FES for... Continue reading

Posted Oct 29, 2010 at Live your potential

0

Yes Richard - head office a good idea. Go straight to the top I say. Same Difference - thank you! And thanks for the link from your blog Andrew - exactly. Then again, adopting a cat from a rescue home seems to involve a lot more hurdles...

Commented Oct 15, 2010 on No cat for you: you're disabled at Live your potential

I am reporting them Kelvin, and I've now named to shame them. And good idea about the headquarters Andy - will do and will post any updates.

Commented Oct 13, 2010 on No cat for you: you're disabled at Live your potential

No cat for you: you're disabled

I used to have three cats in my old house. I miss them. I miss the company of a purring animal sitting on my lap. And the kids would like a pet here. All good reasons to get a cat... Continue reading

Posted Oct 13, 2010 at Live your potential

9

No cat for you: you're disabled

I used to have three cats in my old house. I miss them. I miss the company of a purring animal sitting on my lap. And the kids would like a pet here. All good reasons to get a cat... Continue reading

Posted Oct 13, 2010 at Live your potential

9

I enjoy sailing because it's a sport where you're on a more or less equal level with others: the fact that I'm in a wheelchair makes little difference. I love the freedom of the wind, the endless horizons, the silence.... Continue reading

Posted Oct 4, 2010 at Live your potential

0

Disabled rights and wrongs

I was complaining to a friend the other day about women using accessible toilets when there were queues for the ladies. "Why shouldn't they use them?" she asked. "Why shouldn't you have to queue?" Hmmm. Interesting question. It got me... Continue reading

Posted Sep 26, 2010 at Live your potential

2

Disability and disadvantage

I've been invited to a series of RADAR Leadership days. The first took place last Tuesday. Whilst I consider myself a leader already, I thought it would be a good chance to network and make new contacts. It was. It's... Continue reading

Posted Sep 21, 2010 at Live your potential

0

Speaking up about disability

Just back from my first talk for Inspirational Speakers for Schools to a group of sixth formers down in Poole. The title was "A disability awareness workshop" but with two hours to fill (and after discussions with the head of... Continue reading

Posted Sep 10, 2010 at Live your potential

0

Pain and its purpose

I hate pain. I hate the way my back feels as if it's being roasted by a fire. I hate the way pain saps my energy and focus. It's not as if it's telling me anything useful. That I'm tired?... Continue reading

Posted Sep 1, 2010 at Live your potential

1

I've just returned from two days of sailing. I feel as if I've been away for a week. I lose all sense of time when I'm on water. Time stops. It becomes meaningless. Perhaps it's to do with the endless... Continue reading

Posted Aug 21, 2010 at Live your potential

1

First, thank you for a vintage year. It would be impossible to choose a favourite moment. Psycho Killer on massed ukuleles? An acoustic Too Drunk To Fuck with the audience counted in ("un, deux, trois") for the shouted chorus of... Continue reading

Posted Aug 10, 2010 at Live your potential

0

Racing a thing of beauty

I've spent the last two days in Cowes, sailing a boat of extraordinary beauty and speed. When you enter the world of disability, design is generally left behind. You join a world of monochrome and straight lines, of function without... Continue reading

Posted Aug 3, 2010 at Live your potential

0

Take your pain away

My son has just had braces fitted to his teeth and he's in a lot of pain. Constant pain that no amount of paracetemol will ease. Pain that leaves him weak and colourless and short-tempered. I wish I could take... Continue reading

Posted Jul 22, 2010 at Live your potential

0

Crisis of identity

We are defined by our work. Where is our definition without it? Looking back on the four years since my accident, I've come a long way. And one of the biggest changes has been how I view work: that it... Continue reading

Posted Jul 17, 2010 at Live your potential

0

Invasions of privacy

"So how did you end up in a wheelchair?" I'm a pretty open person. I'm happy to talk about all kinds of personal issues. Perhaps that's why I get asked about my accident so often. But there's something about this... Continue reading

Posted Jul 13, 2010 at Live your potential

1

Last night, another attack of spontaneity. I drove to Marlborough in search of music, knowing that the Jazz Festival was on. No idea about access. No idea about tickets. No idea about the programme. What's to stop me? When I... Continue reading

Posted Jul 10, 2010 at Live your potential

0

On this day four years ago I was fighting for my life in the intensive care unit at Salisbury Hospital. Today, I have been rejoicing in living life when I could so easily not be here. How things change. Seized... Continue reading

Posted Jul 4, 2010 at Live your potential

1

Creativity and adaptation

I've been invited to join Inspirational Speakers for Schools to talk about disability. I was put in touch with the founder, Lon Kwantes, after my Jelly moment a couple of weeks ago and I'm excited by the wide ranging programme... Continue reading

Posted Jul 2, 2010 at Live your potential

1

It's extraordinary to watch someone rediscovering their body after years of paralysis. Last Friday, I saw a man brought to tears by finding something that he thought he'd lost. I was in a yoga workshop being led by Matthew Sanford,... Continue reading

Posted Jun 30, 2010 at Live your potential

0

I've been finding new ways of breaking down isolation. It's too easy to spend days alone, particularly when the effort of getting out is disincentive enough. Often after spinal cord injury, people will become homeworkers (or simply home-livers). It's not... Continue reading

Posted Jun 23, 2010 at Live your potential

1

More...

Subscribe to AndrewF23’s Recent Activity