I have two
1. The day my beloved footie team got promoted to the Premiership for the first time (only time I have cried in front of my son)

2. Receiving 'oral relief' from this cracking bit of stuff I used to work with, in my car
(bear trappers hat, Tue 15 Mar 2005, 11:11, Reply)

Not My First, Not My Last...
No exotic locations, offspring or endangered species in this, and long before my first love or my first trip. There have been plenty of moments that I hold dear before and since, but this one is one of my favourites still.

Primary school – I hung about with two lads, Barry and Paul – Barry was the hard one, Paul was the softarse and I was somewhere inbetween. Barry used to give us dead arms and that kind of thing, and Paul used to make a meal of how much it hurt, I realised to satisfy Barry that he needn’t do it again soon. I acquired quite a few bruises on account of my more stoic attitude to that stuff.

One day Barry’s interpersonal style got too much for Paul and myself and we told him to get stuffed. Shortly after we were sitting there on the grass verge surrounding the playground taking the piss out of the girls and I punched him in the arm, whereupon he went into the ‘Ow ow that really hurt’ routine again.

‘Did it really hurt that much?’ I asked,
‘Well… {bashfully} no, not really’
‘You don’t have to do that with me mate’

In reaction to this, Paul smiled at me - there was gratitude and joy in that smile that I had never seen before when people were looking directly at me. It was a beautiful moment, which I appreciated immensely despite being just 9 years old, and still remember fondly now.

Barry jumped us both mere seconds later and the moment was gone. Can’t be too hard on Barry though - he was good fun to hang about with after all, if a little painful sometimes :)

No apologies for length - if you haven't got the attention span to handle more than a couple of sentences then I pity you.
(thatblokeoverthere not quite as much an arsehole as I thought, Tue 15 Mar 2005, 11:10, Reply)

everything feels so beautiful at the mo
but the crash is coming....
(magictorch, Tue 15 Mar 2005, 11:07, Reply)

wonderful times
lots of great memories but this one stuck out. Rowing back to my grandparents boat over a warm calm bay in Greece with a full moon making everything monochrome and beautiful. Them & me pissed as farts gently singing all the way across so as not to wake the other yachties. Magic.
( Lynxkitten, Tue 15 Mar 2005, 10:47, Reply)

Sitting on a bench
in New York's Central Park, reading, listening to a bloke playing a saxophone and watching the autumn leaves swirl around.

Being in a pub in Leicester one afternoon a few days before Christmas with some friends from university, drinking, laughing and then looking out of the window and seeing snowflakes falling.

Watching the city come to life early one morning from Waterloo Bridge, crowds starting to form, people moving everywhere around me. And me just stood there in amazement wondering what choices I'd made in life that had lead me to be here, part of this hustle and bustle. And then realising I was late for work.

This morning, when my girlfriend got up for work, I rolled over to her side of the bed and went back to sleep wrapped up in her faint scent.
( naeonlite, Tue 15 Mar 2005, 10:41, Reply)

fuck your nature and your drugs,
one brilliant experiance I had was walking down a suburban street, that was full of traffic on a summers afternoon. The light and the noises made me feel like I could do anything and i was on top of the world.

I normally only get that when im listening to the begining (just the begining)of REM's best of album.
( willenium Fist bump for verification, Tue 15 Mar 2005, 10:38, Reply)

Happiest day of my life
Had to work this Saturday, but on my way home stopped off at a local newsagents to buy a paper and a bag of sweets. On leaving the shop I noticed there was a selection of videos for the princely sum of 50p each. Amongst them…Ewoks, The Battle for Endor.

I almost cried.

I imagine the experience to be somewhat like witnessing the birth of your first child.
(Sticky-fingers, Tue 15 Mar 2005, 10:37, Reply)

So,so many. What a lucky sausage I am.
These are in no particular order either. Sorry for length, etc….

Being there when both my boys were born.
Seeing my Mum burst into tears when she held her latest grandson (almost 3 weeks ago).
Walking with my new wife between tables of all our friends and family to a moleste round of applause and cheers at our wedding.
Watching said new wife run round the top of the Eiffel Tower like a 7 year old on our honeymoon and seeing her cry with excitement at the Moulin Rouge show later.
The indescribable feeling of just having bungee jumped off Victoria Falls bridge.
Sunsets with bloody marys and spliffs at Railay beach, Thailand.
Being shown a red nose drinking water well installed by Comic Relief in Malawi by a proud little girl who held my hand and said thank you.
Seeing all the amazing places I’ve been for the first time.
Driving round the US with my brother when we were teenagers.
My mate Garfy taking my brother and me out for a pint and a laugh when our Dad died.
Realising after eight months or so of living in Spain that I could understand what they were saying on the radio.
Dozing off in a hut on a Mexican beach listening to the sea crashing on the beach with my wife (before she was my wife).
Losing my virginity to our French student (felt like I could do anything at all afterwards!)
Getting a “world’s best teacher” certificate for my birthday from my 10 year old class in Spain.
Anytime I eat rare steak or grilled squid, or drink really good Rioja.
Slurring through my best man’s speech last year in Austria.
Dazza & Kazza being top mates and looking after me the other night.
Being asked to be a Godfather.
Sitting with mountain gorillas and swimming with dolphins in the same year.
Any time at all I’ve been snorkelling.
Walking aimlessly round London town.
Rockpooling and playing with insects as a kid.
Sitting in the sun with mates and cold beers with the BBQ sizzling away.
Being into a really good book.
Listening to the beginning of “Round Here” by Counting Crows (that song gets me every time).
Playing bass in a band to a massive crowd outside on a balmy summers evening.
People really loving pictures I’ve painted for them.
The rush when a plane takes off.
Getting on the “best” page after a QOTW has closed!

Cheers, cheers, thanks a lot.
( BobbyParadise, Tue 15 Mar 2005, 10:31, Reply)

Emerging from my totally smashed up car,
total silence everywhere, and nothing around me apart from a couple of cows who occupied the field I ended up in, as I realised that I was alive.

The feeling only lasted 30 seconds or so as an angry farmer came out asking what the hell happenned.
( cuntmuffin, Tue 15 Mar 2005, 10:27, Reply)

I have 4
the births of my 4 daughters.

(even though the last 2 were 1 minute apart, I still count it as 2)

It is the most beautiful moment in a person's life, becoming a parent.

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING CAN COMPARE.
(peewee13, Tue 15 Mar 2005, 10:14, Reply)

At a most difficult and challenging time in my life
Spending 15 hours in the truely delightful company of an elegant, articulate, beautiful, and unique young woman. Just before parting, we walked along the Thames in open countryside in the not-so-early-morning to the sounds of the water gurgling, birds singing, and trees rustling.

This confirmed to me that happiness is worth fighting for whatever the obstacles and however long or hard the fight.

"Never give up, never surrender"
(rob3rt, Tue 15 Mar 2005, 10:07, Reply)

this is mine
It was about five years ago after the worst heartbreak I've ever known. I'd felt so unwanted and so alone for so long. I drove to the top of a hill and watched a thunder and lightning storm. It was beautiful. It was raining hard. I turned off the engine and the radio. I listened to the storm. I thought for a long time about a lot of things. I realized something I'd never thought of before. I am alone. I've always been alone. I always will be. Even if all my friends move away, or if they stay, or if I find my one true love and am perfectly happy... I'll be alone.

There's a sense of that which will never go away. I'm the only person who knows me. It's not a bad thing, but a peaceful thing. The weight that this realization hit me with was so powerful that I couldn't do anything but cry. I got out of my car and sat on the bonnet in the rain. I had mixed thoughts about why I was crying. After that, things have been different.
(Just Pip, Tue 15 Mar 2005, 10:04, Reply)

Yay to Tom64 moving to Canada
I moved to Calgary for a year and loved it.
Want to move back with a few years for good.
( MagicallyInept Bored Sig., Tue 15 Mar 2005, 9:22, Reply)

Finally confirming
After 2 years in wait, t'was all finally confirmed that we were 110% emigrating to Canada. And guess what, its nothin short of fantastic! On the way home from college (I got told by phone) sttin on the bus, the sun comin through the clouds I was listenin to Green Day - Good Riddance (Time of your life) and had the cd player on repeat.
(Tom64, Tue 15 Mar 2005, 9:17, Reply)

Fraser Island, Queensland coast.
For anyone that's not been, it's an unspoiled island of outstanding natural beauty, with huge stretches of beach, thick rainforests and amazing lakes all on an island made entirely out of sand. There were five groups of people (we'd all hired 4*4 toyotas from the same hostel) and my group managed to stay with two of the others and on the first afternoon we all ended up standing on a big cliff edge (called Indian Head) watching whales breach in the distance. I noticed a lovely American girl, in one of the other groups, as she climbed out on to a particularly dangerous part of the cliff! Later on, she introduced herself and then everyone got pissed! The next day, we swam in the freshwater lakes and drove further round the island, and that night (after everyone had finaly gone to bed) she and I kissed (for some time) by the campfire. Then I got to hold her as she went rigid in fright at the dingo that had appeared a few feet away. The next day, our first stop was Lake McKenzie, a huge, rich blue lake with pure white shores, surrounded by trees. Here I swam right accross the lake (I briefly considered the idea that I may drown but then thought if I was going to die, I may as well die in the most beautiful place on Earth and on returning to the beach I spent some time quietly getting an eyeful of her in her bikini.
Later on that night, we had to return to the mainland and all stayed at the hostel in Hervey Bay. We met again in the bar and one thing lead to another and we ended up out on the amazing long beach, for moonlight romance. One of my favorite memories, of the whole occaision, was watching her write her name in the sand with the tip of her left toe, her beautiful bare brown leg stretched out. I still have a piece of coral I picked up from that spot.
For about a year and a half, up until this point, I'd been working in a grey factory, in Cornwall. I had been feeling as though the world had forgotten me and life was rushing past me in a blur. It went on until I had what I belive was a semi breakdown and returned to Australia (I'd left twenty years before)with some family help. It was meeting that amazing girl and having that time that put me back into the game and made me realise that I had to change my life. Less than six months later, I'm now enjoying a uni course at NIDA (National Institute of Drama Australia) and on full course of actually surviving life. I owe it to her, and wish that she hadn't had to return to the states and dearly hope to see her again one day.
( The Togaboy The world will end on, Tue 15 Mar 2005, 9:03, Reply)

ewww mine makes me all mushy inside
I was in Kauai on vacation about 5 years ago. Lemme paint a picture of this place for you. The water is unbelievably clear and blue, how water should be. Red is the color of the dirt, all plant life is green and lush. Mountains are so tall they kiss the clouds. As you can imagine, every picture I snapped was unreal. I was miles away from all things that pissed me off. Honestly every single moment I spent on that island was beautiful. However the most beautiful memory is of me and my Dad. He loved motorcycles so we rented a Harley and spent 3 hours riding around the island. Hawaii doesn't require you to wear helmets so we were free of all restraints. I was with my favorite person in the world, trusting him entirely to keep me safe on the ride. The best part was when we rode through a rainstorm for a few minutes. The rain drops zapped my legs, kinda stung. But I felt completely connected with the Universe. I felt surrounded by God (I'm not a particularly religious person either) and love. Riding through those aesthetically delicious juicy hills I realized how thankful I am to experience life. Almost as if the rainstorm represented the bad parts of life (corny but you had to be there!). I'm thankful to be around for even those times. This moment is even more precious to me as my father passed a few months after that trip. I'll savor it forever.
(luckylucky, Tue 15 Mar 2005, 6:02, Reply)

.
I was stood there, pissing away when the sun came from behind a cloud and through the window, the twirling stream of fluid caught the suns light and in a bizarre prism effect sent a beatiful spectrum of colour all over the wall next to the toilet.

It was beautiful, hypnotically so. I only realised how captivated I was when I pissed on my feet.
( Muns, Tue 15 Mar 2005, 4:14, Reply)

Sleep Dirt, by Zappa.


I rest my case.
(Corn Dog, Tue 15 Mar 2005, 2:57, Reply)

"i love you"
being said after half an hour of lying in the semi-darkness with my (sadly now ex-) girlfriend in sweet silence. she said that and my heart nearly burst. to top it off, it was christmas day. wasnt gonna reply to this one but im glad i did as i feel all warm inside now. thank you b3ta
( manolith hooray for me, Tue 15 Mar 2005, 0:45, Reply)

That Solar eclipse in 1999
I was in Cornwall, had phoned in sick while sitting on a cliff overlooking the sea, in one of my first uses of a mobile phone. It was perfectly quiet there, apart from the wind, and the lapping of the water.

Yes, the sky was cloudy, and the sun could not be seen clearly. However, from this vantage-point, I could see a great expanse of sea to my right and the water of Porthkerris Bay below me, and a large strip of green land behind the bay and to my left.

When the shadow came, it shot across the clouds from right to left, the light level dropped and dropped. When it seemed that it was night, the waters of the bay a very strange deep-blue, the whole darkened land behind the bay suddenly erupted into a mass of sparkles - I hadn't realised, as I was almost alone, that every few metres of the land I could see had a few eclipse-watchers on it, too far away to notice. There really were many thousands of people there, and it was the flashing of their cameras that I could see. It was a truly beautiful, unique, unexpected, and very big effect to witness.

The sparkling land lasted for the whole two-minutes or so of the totality, ended with the sudden panicking of the many gulls, who belately realised something odd was up when the second line swept across the sky, this time a line of advancing sunlight.

I spent the next few weeks telling everyone that my journey from London had not been wasted, despite the clouds. - That was tiring, but thanks for the chance to tell the story again. I might see other eclipses, but I don't think I will ever see those sparkles again.
(brainburger, Tue 15 Mar 2005, 0:24, Reply)

Mirror mirror...
Lake District, early April about 7 years ago; drag my hung-over ass past the two piles of vomit in the tent doorway at 7:00am to piss.

Stop dead in awe of the natural beauty surrounding me; absolute silence, snow covered mountains and there, as though Jesus himself had popped down from heaven to command it, was Ulswater - absoultely motionless. Not a ripple. Reflecting everything perfectly.

After a couple minutes, I turn to tell my mate to come and see - but he was out the tent, grinning at me holding two rather nice spliffs.

We stood in silence looking at the scene, toking away - doing that dumb nodding thing that stoners do.

Magic.
(tinpixel, Tue 15 Mar 2005, 0:08, Reply)

Right now
I'm listening to the acoustic version of If I Am, by 9 Days. It's lovely, download it. Reading all these posts is just beautiful with it as background music. I have shitloads of work to do, but I don't care. I still have various drugs in my system, and I'm about to go off and have a nicely packed joint before I go to sleep. Tomorrow I'll be sad because this is over.

Edit: The joint ruined it. My bastard mate didn't tell me how packed it was. Nearly threw up. Oh well.
( Detrius521, Mon 14 Mar 2005, 23:48, Reply)

Love you guys! *sniff*
Right now, reading all these moments, listening to Grace by Jeff Buckley. The world is a wonderful place really.
(Lilac Fish, Mon 14 Mar 2005, 22:43, Reply)

A long time ago in the middle ages and in Hertfordshire . . .
. . . when I was a kid, we went for a walk on a spring day - I must have been all of 5 years old. We went to a woodland and as usual I had buggered off on my own and gone exploring. They had to come and find me as I was so entranced by the place I found; the sunlight shining through the leaves creating greeny yellow beams of glowing light, illuminating an unbroken carpet of bluebells growing there. I was sat on a fallen tree covered with flat toadstools waiting for the fairies to come out and play. It was utterly magical.
(Bus Turd, Mon 14 Mar 2005, 22:41, Reply)

ball bag
those long, long, lonely nights trying to master the technique of licking your own balls.

no joy

back pain the next day.

.....and self loathing.

beautiful.
(bovrilboy, Mon 14 Mar 2005, 22:24, Reply)

Not in any order 4
On the maid of the mist ferry floating into the maw of the Niagra Falls. You don't know how big it is until you are at the bottom of it. Its like being in the spin cycle of a very large washing machine. there is no up, down left or right only a massive white-noise of water. Humans are very small indeed
(spacemonkee77, Mon 14 Mar 2005, 22:22, Reply)

Just today
I watched my 9 year old son play his first game of football for the school team. They won one-nil and he set up the goal. He cannot sleep tonight because he is so happy. I just want to cry thinking about it. Life does not get any better, believe me!
(george_w_anker, Mon 14 Mar 2005, 22:18, Reply)

Cottonwood leaves
I used to sit by my favorite river for hours, sometimes fishing, sometimes not and contemplate the deeper meanings and missions of life. Why are we here? What are we supposed to accomplish in our time? How does it all work? Why does it all work?

One day I was caught by the sound of the breeze in the leaves of a small group of cottonwood trees. Cottonwood leaves make a certain sound in the wind that no other tree makes. Even the slightest breeze brings forth a symphony of rustling that exists nowhere else. I would know that sound anywhere.

I was held speechless, hypnotized in wonder at the sound. For all my musings and questionings and "having it all figured out," it never would have occured to me to have a cottonwood tree make a different sound than any other tree. And this had been so millions of years before I or anyone else was there to notice it. Had I designed the universe, it would not have been so. I'm simply not that clever.

It's not about me. It never has been.
( setimret likes his metaphors mixed, not stirred, Mon 14 Mar 2005, 21:47, Reply)

ummmm...probably
lying flat on my back at the top of Glastonbury Tor at 4am after having no sleep for 3 days...complete with hippies and assorted drugs...
(P-nut Obsessive Compulsive Green Day Disorder..., Mon 14 Mar 2005, 21:41, Reply)