Terry Freelander

This is my first ever foray into blogging and, despite being a bit of a technophile, I am still getting to grips with the best way to structure and present my blogs. I expect I will be taking a three pronged approach; the first being a series of random socio-philosophical comments based on the half baked ideas that I come up with, whilst in the car, on the way to work; the second being a series of more spiritual explorations based on the half baked ideas that I come up with, whilst in the car, on the way to work and finally a collection of strategies, theories and anecdotes about teaching mostly based on the half baked ideas that I come up with, whilst in the car, on the way to work.

Undoubtedly, there will be a lot of cross over between all three.

I am a 37 year old, happily married father of one beautiful little girl. I have been teaching English in the same, Outer London, secondary school (now an Academy) for 11 years and, before that, I was a Graphic Designer.

I tend to go through peaks and troughs of keeping myself relatively more fit and healthy than the average enthusiast and then gorging on fast food and alcohol until none of my clothes fit me. With regard to the former, I tend to favour sports where I am learning/developing a useful skill. I have studied various martial arts but most notably, Tai Chi (yes it is a martial art) and Wing Chun; spending at least 10 years between the two. I also enjoy kayaking, cycling and running.

Being an unashamedly complete 'Star Wars Geek' has had a profound effect on my general outlook on life by instigating and encouraging my pursuit of spiritual knowledge and understanding. It has also influenced my taste in literature, film and most other artistic endeavours. I am a massive fan of the fantasy genre but I will save bibliographies and the like for other blogs.

Facts, quotes and statistical data bore me for the most part but I am not averse to making use of them where necessary. Nevertheless, I'll apologise up front for the fact that most of writing will be opinionated, emotive and anecdotal and I'll leave most of the fact gathering and quoting to those of you that have the patience for it (hoping - of course - that some of you find my ideas worthy of comment or debate).

That'll do for now.

I hope you find blogs, at least, entertaining if not inspirational and motivational.

Cheers. :)