Today’s daily prompt was, “What’s a song lyric that has stuck with you forever?” which, for me, is an impossible question to answer because there are so many. However, I answered by cheating – I chose three songs! Then I remembered two more (songs), but was locked out, so l created my own blog.
I recall being by my friend, Caz, many years ago and she said GB had a new CD of which I was unaware at the time. I purchased it. Like many, I love George Benson, and fell in love with the CD immediately. However, the song that stood out and struck me the most, which I still sing (humm) today is the track, ‘Cell Phone’
I listen to Cell Phone alongside Luther’s ‘Dance with my Father’
Those two songs are incredibly powerful and emotional, especially, for me, more so since I lost my dear Mother!
THREE WEEKS AGO TODAY, I was on the/another idyllic Greek island 🏝️ of Santorini 🇬🇷
We took an early ferry from Heraklion, Crete’s capital. Even in the early hours, the port was mega busy because one could travel to many other islands. Also, it was extremely hot 🥵 The ferry journey was efficient. In and out of the port rapidly. I was impressed.
Like many, I had seen Santorini on television and on social media. However, seeing is believing. You really do feel like you’re in a dreamworld bubble. It is picturesque and has a calmness and therapeutic feel about it. Our tour guide informed us of how lucky we were because normally when the cruise liners are in, there is hardly room to breathe as visitors manoeuvre to take the perfect picture from the perfect spot of which there are many. So Many!
I think it would be fair to say that Oia is arguably the most popular or famous location on the island, followed closely by the capital, Fira, which was visited after lunch. I cannot describe the feeling of lunching in Oia at a restaurant on the edge of the vast Aegean Sea, so I shall just ask the reader to imagine the most beautiful setting you can think of, add your favourite food and drink, add the bluest, clearest, calmest sea possible with the occasional sailing boat passing languidly by. When you have done that, multiply THAT image by a minimum of 10, then you’ll be close – but ONLY close! Say no more!
Recently, I wrote how much I disliked history lessons at school but absolutely love it now. I find that, on occasions, it helps me to make sense of current events and affairs around the world. ‘Have we been here before? What lessons have we or could we have learned?’
Whilst walking around, listening to the excellent tour guide tour and basking in extremely hot temperatures on the largest of the Greek islands outside the mainland, I wondered how far had we humans progressed beyond the obvious, such as technology, medicine etc?
I’m generally an optimist, but here I was standing on the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete, ‘widely considered Europe’s oldest city,’ the, ‘ceremonial and political center of the Minoan civilization and culture,’ and confess that the answer to my thoughts on progression over time didn’t necessarily fill me with joy.
“Strange as it may seem, I believed that once one or two troubles of which I was aware as a child, about which I used to hear on the news were resolved, there would be peace in all ‘four corners’ of the Earth 🌍🌎🌏 I need not say anymore! 🙏🏾”
What’s something you used to believe as a kid that seems ridiculous now?
Strange as it may seem, I believed that once one or two troubles of which I was aware as a child, about which I used to hear on the news were resolved, there would be peace in all ‘four corners’ of the Earth 🌍 🌎🌏 I need not say anymore! 🙏🏾
What do you love now, that you hated when you were younger?
To be blunt, I found history lessons at school boring and irrelevant. The lessons were overly descriptive and bore little to no relevance to current times. Now, I love history and often refer to it in order to make sense of many events occurring in the world today.
HOW TIME FLIES! It seems as though it were only yesterday I was writing from the beautiful Greek island of Kos. This time I am writing from another beautiful Greek island, Crete 🇬🇷 It is hard to imagine why residents of any of the Greek islands would want to travel anywhere else, other than to witness how fortunate they truly are. It’s all here! 🏝️
I have had a heavy week leading to flying ✈️ out and I return to an even heavier time, including commencing a five-day trial concerning alleged unfair dismissal and disability discrimination. So, I thought it take me a while to wind down. It did; immediately upon landing at Heraklion Airport. Perfect response 👌🏾
As I write, I am witnessing the most idyllic of views of the Mediterranean Sea with its accompanying breeze. Bliss!
I have already eaten plenty and sipped a little too much, if there could be such a thing out here. Anyway, a cocktail 🍸 is calling me, and I accept the call, which was met with no resistance.
I know this sounds like a cliche, and in many ways it is. But there is no rule – as far as I am aware – that says a cliche cannot also be true!
Work hard and believe in your own goal. That doesn’t mean that goals can’t change. We are not all politicians, so we can change our minds without being chastised in public for doing so. If your original plan didn’t or doesn’t come to fruition then simply set another. Simple!
Personally, I conditioned myself a long time ago not to let others define me and or dictate what I can and cannot do or achieve. I shall rest that there in fear of embarrassing those who sought to project their low expectations of themselves on to others.
Congratulations Arsenal on winning the Premier League 2025-26. I have often said that, if I had a second team, it would be Arsenal. I have supported Liverpool for almost my entire life, since I was about seven. How I came to support the Reds is a story for another time. Growing up in West London and going to school in Fulham, I spent most Saturdays at football matches from the age of 10. Unless Liverpool was playing in town, my friends and I—mostly Liverpool or Chelsea supporters—would take the number 30 bus to Highbury, the 220 bus to Loftus Road or a gentle stroll to Stamford Bridge. Occasionally, we would go to Craven Cottage.
When I became a quantity surveyor and later a barrister, I restricted my matches solely to seeing Liverpool around the country whenever I could. I love the beautiful game, but as I focussed on building a practice, I rarely went to matches unless one of the teams was Liverpool. For me, it was always Liverpool above all others. That changed when Arsène Wenger arrived and transformed Arsenal and, to some extent, English football. By the 2001–02 season, I was living just around the corner from Clissold Park in N16, north London, also known as Stokey Village!
I recently spoke in Bournemouth, which is ironic because the Gunners effectively clinched the title tonight as Manchester City failed to beat The Cherries to keep the race alive to the final day. I told the story of how I became an Employment Law barrister as opposed to one specialising solely in Construction & Engineering law, which is why I left the world of measuring off architects’ and engineers’ drawings; Bill of Quantities; Valuations; Practical Completions; JCT contracts etc.
After that season—featuring Henry, Seaman, Adams, Campbell, Cole, Vieira, Pirès and Bergkamp, to name just a few—the victory parade was set for Sunday, 12 May 2002, just a short walk from where I lived. My friends, along with around a quarter of a million others, were heading to Highbury. However, I was not! After my first major employment case attracted media attention, another big case led me to Norwich Employment Tribunal. So, in the spirit of professionalism, I packed my blue Toyota Celica and drove to Norfolk to begin a two-week trial. I missed a glorious day in the Highbury sunshine, but this case helped establish me as a specialist in an area of law in which I still practise today.
So, with my own team falling short in this year’s title race, I am happy gracefully to hand the trophy over for a season while we adjust to life without Mo and Andy. We’ll be back, but for now, the hour belongs, rightly, to the Gunners! Congratulations! 🏆
Ryan Clement 