The Quiet Time.

Copyright © Mark R Kelly 2025

Since returning to blogging back at the start of the summer, this Christmas period has been the longest I have gone without posting.

Nothing complicated, nothing sinister - plain and simple: I wandered off my path. Home with the two dogs alone for the Christmas / New Year break, I lost all sense of 'oomph'. My get-up-and-go got up and went.

No training, no writing; even online gaming became a bit 'meh'. Worst of all, I broke my no sugar regime. Yes, I hang my head in shame. I ate chocolate. Curiously, it didn't blow my socks off, and it didn't taste like the best thing ever. It only served to make me angry at myself for being so weak-willed. A whole year of breaking the sugar habit, and this Christmas I crumbled.

But you know what? The world didn't come crashing down and it didn't end. Best of all, I wasn't struck down by lightning. God does have a sense of humour after all.

I've sat in front of my pc, full of good intentions of cracking on with chapter 11. It turns into a staring competition between me and the pc monitor. I've yet to win. I swear it smirks each time I rise from my seat and leave the room.

Christmas Eve Thoughts - Not Good.

Copyright © Mark R Kelly 2025

As 2025 begins its weary demise to make way for the new year waiting in the wings to take over and flex in all its glory, this year is not going quietly, and will be remembered for many things, most of which are not going to be fond memories or good ones.

The cold hard truth is that 2025 has been an utter shit-show on so many levels - peace now a rare commodity, rising crime, ongoing loss of life, uncontrolled immigration, soaring prices of food, fuel, huge taxes, mainstream media lies and propaganda, and governments who no longer hide their allegiance to the globalist elites and pushing their agendas.

That is only a few off the top of my head. There is so much more that 2025 will be renowned for in the history records - assuming they aren't purged to order by the elites?

Love.

Copyright © Mark R Kelly 2025

Four letters, one syllable, one word, yet a lifetime of pleasure, pain, joy, sadness, laughter, and tears.

Elusive and mercurial, it has the texture of a dream barely remembered, and can weigh heavier on your heart than anything imaginable.
In turns, it can lift and crush. Move you to song—or tears.

Never found when sought, yet like the wolf hunting its prey in a snow-covered forest, it tracks you down mercilessly when you least expect it, and when you’re least prepared.

Worst is the love felt for another beyond your reach.

Stolen glances, a yearning for their glance in return, a sign that you are seen, acknowledged, and that maybe—by the smallest of chances—that love is returned.

Invisible in Plain View.

Copyright © Mark R Kelly 2025

Invisible in plain view kind of makes sense if you think about it. If truly invisible, you could be in plain sight, just invisible to those present.

This is how I see myself – and I’m sure many others see themselves this way too, though not aware of it. To clarify, at work people see me: my colleagues and the patients. Difficult to miss.

But here is the plain truth – they do not see the true me. They see what I allow; the rest I guard jealously and protectively, something I have nurtured and honed since my early days of junior school. In later life, working in various aspects of security only added more layers to the unseen armour I wear.

As for work colleagues, and by extension, those close enough to be considered friends, they see me with two sets of eyes – one set sees what I want them to see, and the other sees what they want to see: the superimposed personality they presume I am.

The Shark of Cardiff Bay.

Copyright © Mark R Kelly 2025

"Have you ever killed someone?" The gaze accompanying the question was intently scrutinising, laced with the subtle chaos of whatever he'd taken before our arrival. Yet, there still lurked the predatory instinct, a glint, of one used to intimidating others, and enjoying their fear.

I sat on the leather-bound sofa, my instincts screaming to move, to evade and vacate. I didn't answer immediately, but instead returned the gaze and held it. "Not yet," was my answer.

A grin split the black guy's face immediately, white teeth flashing. The sound he made as he laughed put me in mind of a cross between an asthmatic and a hissing snake. Apparently my reply satisfied him, as he began rolling himself a spliff behind the kitchen breakfast bar of his open-plan apartment.

Every so often, he'd look at me from under his brows, eyes locking on me each time. He'd giggle quietly, with a slight shake of his head. My companion stood with his back to us both, babbling on about nothing in particular, making mugs of tea on the far side of the kitchen. Quietly observing it became apparent my companion was familiar with the place - his hands knew exactly where everything was, and not once did he ask the owner how to find the milk, sugar, tea or mugs. Clearly both men had a comfortable rapport - supplier and user.

Short Story Submission Update.

Copyright © Mark R Kelly 2025

Back in October (20th) I posted to announce I was entering my first Short Story Submission.

The platform of choice was Fracturedlit, and part of that process was roughly a three month waiting period in order to find out if your submission had made the cut or not.

Well, I can say right now, as of December 15th 2025, my submission did not make the cut. As gutted as I am, I shouldn't be surprised. The wealth of writing talent out there in the big, wide world is phenomenal. I'm just not one of them.

Onwards and upwards. I have a second, longer piece in the pipeline for submission. This time the piece is dark fantasy, something I wrote back in 2011. Now comes the task of scouring the right platforms with which to aim my story at.

Chapter 11 - Kicking Arse.

Copyright © Mark R Kelly 2025

My arse has been getting a good kicking, and in many ways, left me feeling battered and bruised - metaphorically. And the individual responsible? Chapter 11 of the novel I'm working on. Five pages in, and already it feels like I'm trying to grip a slithering eel, all the while making sure I'm not bitten.

I'll hold my hands up and admit, it's my fault. Not much of a planner, as the majority of what I write flies straight off the top of my head, pumped out by my imagination.

Already I'm aware I have wires crossed regarding certain plot tags, locations and character traits. And that's the 'kicking' I'm receiving. Basically, I'm being taught a valuable lesson in the writing process as a whole. It's as if I've been trying to scratch my nose with my elbow, and someone ambles up, takes my hand and places it to my nose.

Duh.

Upcoming Blog Name Change – Notification Post

Copyright © Mark R Kelly 2025

Over time, Life in the Blogoverse has evolved — not by grand design, but by wandering where the writing naturally wanted to go.

Because of that (and after a bit of thought, coffee, and mild overthinking), the blog will soon be changing its name to:

                       The Last Hearth and Haven

The change is planned for 24th December 2025.

When it happens, to return to the blog you will need to use the follow change of address (URL):  

                 thelasthearthandhaven.blogspot.com

Plenty will stay the same — why fix what isn't broken.

The writing will remain personal and curious. There will still be exploration, humour, and the odd raised eyebrow. Music outros will still set the mood for your listening pleasure, and my unique visual thumbnails will continue to do their own distinctive thing. This isn’t a retreat into slippers and silence — it’s simply a better name for what this place has already become.

And My Next Post Will Be...?

Copyright © Mark R Kelly 2025

For my next proper post I thought it would be interesting to throw the post topic out to you, the reader.

So you now have the opportunity to request your favourite blog post topic - it could be anecdotal, fitness, online gaming, poetry, film, short story... the choice is yours by request. 

Should no request be forthcoming, then I'll go with my gut and post something dredged up from the depths of my mind.

That's it for tonight, all that's left for me to do is drop in a musical selection for your listening pleasure.

Here's a classic song by Sam & Dave - "Soul Man" (Extended Remix). Enjoy.

Five Months In... Still No 'Hello'?

Copyright © Mark R Kelly 2025

I returned to my blog back in August of this year. There was intention behind it - some redressing, the proverbial lick of paint here and there, and the deliberate donning of my pen name. A new coat in which to traverse the blogoverse. It was time to familiarise myself with the feel of it, and like anything new, it needed to be broken in gently for comfort, and in the process, time to hang my given name on the coat rack - something I addressed on Friday 4th December's post.

Five months in, and visitors to my blogoverse have been few, but I'm glad to report, steady - of which, I'm ever so grateful. At least now I know my blog is out there and discoverable, and not wallowing in the digital doldrums.

Switching names, both the blog and my own was a calculated risk... but it felt right. At least to me. Inadvertent traffic has dropped to almost nothing. Gone are the days of crawlers, bots and random accidental searches, inflated the viewing numbers into the hundreds.

Training Day.

Looking over past posts it became apparent I hadn't posted a training routine for a while, so time I corrected my slight overlook.

A few things to bear in mind with regards to my sessions - I put them together to accommodate my age, body-type, training ability and pre-existing injuries and limitations (as in an abundance of procrastination - amazing how much house work you can suddenly become enthusiastic when it's training day).

The following session, as with all past training sessions I've posted, are by no means written in stone - I'm not that bloody old - but seriously, if you fancy having a go, feel free to tweak, change and/or rearrange to suit. The insanely fit among you might even scoff at my session and blow it away as a 'warm up' routine. Should that be the case, good on you.

It goes without saying, a form of warm-up has taken place prior to the session below. But we all have our own ways of warming up, hence my omitting mine.

"Trash Islands": The Truth Behind the Pacific Ocean's Growing Garbage Patch.

A REVISITED POST FROM JULY 2013.

Today I felt I needed to post on a topic I touched upon back in 2013, which sadly didn't seem to get much traction. It's a topic that once looked into, does one of two things: rocks you to the core and drives a person to do something positive, or turns you away, either through sheer shock, disgust and disbelief - sadly, some folks choose a third route of action/reaction - to bury their heads and pretend the issue does not exist.

With the prevalent rise of waste, not only on land, but more worryingly, in our oceans, and private water companies within the UK not fulfilling their water treatment directives, and flushing more, and more raw sewage into our waterways, I thought now would be a time to revisit this post, and hopefully remind folks what a terrible thing we've done, and continue to do, against our planet, our oceans and Mother Nature.

If this does move you to do something, then talk to people, discuss, bring attention to this ongoing issue, maybe even show them this posting.

"If I Could Tell You" - by W. H. Auden.

 As I write this, it's already getting dark outside, and the rain has been a persistent, steady downfall, its sound ever present in the background - an ideal setting for this beautifully narrated poem.

I stumbled across this late last night whilst browsing YouTube for music for future posts. I couldn't resist but to hit play - I'm so glad I did.

The narrator, Tom O'Bedlam - an alias, I've found out - has a wonderfully rich, warm, and textured voice that carries you along effortlessly. Fantastically soothing, with a dash of melancholy. Coupled with the hauntingly beautiful music by Jóhann Jóhannsson, entitled: 'Flight From The City', is wonderfully sublime, and so fitting.

Before I go further, I have to add: All Rights Reserved by the channel creator: John Cogs.

Clicking on any of the highlighted names will take you to those respective YouTube channels.

Now sit back, put your headphones on, hit play, close your eyes and enjoy the journey.

From Mark Kelly to Tom Raillin: Why I Blog Under a Pen Name.

Copyright © Mark R Kelly 2025

It's 23:50hrs and I'm sat here tapping away at my keyboard in an effort to rationalise - and in some respects, remind myself - as to why I chose to post on my blog under the pen name of 'Tom Raillin'.

Why do this? Primarily to remind myself it's my way of escaping the 'clone zone' on the internet - in terms of my birth name, 'Mark Kelly'. I also feel anyone arriving on my blog, be it intentionally (bless you for doing so), or accidentally (Please stay! I beg of you! Stay! - only pulling your leg.), deserve an explanation. Relax, I'm not laying low from any Law Enforcement or other Government body - but in today's social media climate within the UK, you never know?

So, back to my 'name clones' - below is a short list of the most popular 'Mark Kelly's' as revealed by the wonderful ChatGPT at my request. Hopefully this will highlight my dilemma:

Guild Wars Reforged: A Visual and Audio Refresh for the Beloved Original Classic.

Copyright © Mark R Kelly 2025

So here I am, swearing, spitting and wanting to punch my monitor in utter frustration, just like a Gen Z's little brat child throwing a tantrum down a supermarket aisle filled with biscuits and sweets. Why?

People constantly typing and referring to the Guild Wars MMORPG as, “GW1”!? There is no such thing, you lunatics. Allow me to clarify.

Guild Wars was and IS the ORIGINAL game. Never touted as the first in a series or a sequel, and it certainly wasn’t meant to be suffixed with a ‘1’ — just as humans were never meant to declare redundant/useless pronouns in emails or on name tags.

GWs versus GWs2 — simple as that. Yet here we are, with people slapping a “1” on it like it clarifies something. It doesn’t. The second game, even though it lacked GvG (Guild vs Guild — the very reason the original was called Guild Wars), was suffixed with ‘2’ purely as lazy marketing: ride the success of the original without confusing the MMO crowd by giving it a unique name.

And it’s not just games — films, books, music, originals never needed a tacked-on “1.” Try it yourself: say your favourite classic movies, albums, or novels out loud with a “1” added, and you’ll hear how ridiculous it sounds. If you played the original, you know. If you didn’t… the original is still the original. It never needed a number.

Shadows, Silhouettes and Lights

 

Copyright © Mark R Kelly 2025

As we wander through the years of our life there comes a time when your brain pauses. Questions slowly permeate to the surface of things never thought previously.

Existential concepts rise from their chair making their presence felt, whilst preconceptions, who had hogged the limelight for such a long time, now look nervously about before sitting down quietly.

Could it be considered an awakening? Possibly. Insecurity? Doubtful. Or is it just the veil slipping from your eyes exposing the view of the world around you, and of those moving through it - allowing a peek as to what it all means o you and the path upon which you've been blindly treading?

In my case I feel I view people more clearly now. Those of my past and those of my present. Those whom I have loved and lost, those incidentals passing through on their own trajectory as it crosses my own, and gone just as quickly. Or those who introduce themselves and settle down, whom you get to know, and over time meander to a different path, gradually fading from view. And the ones who stay.