9 votes

Danecdotes: Reminiscences and Reflections Concerning a Largely Wasted Life

3 comments

  1. [3]
    xk3
    Link
    157 pages

    This book tells part of the story of my life in a succession of anecdotes, or ‘Danecdotes,’ as a friend called them. It generally focuses on the unusual and thereby offers material for reflection. I often include some more or less philosophical reflections within the anecdotes; and such reflections often raise further questions too. The book may be considered as a contribution to ‘the philosophy of everyday life.’ The anecdotes are autobiographical and are presented in approximately chronological order.

    The topics covered include growing up in the old Notting Hill slums (long since demolished), attendance (and non-attendance) at a comprehensive school in Shepherd's Bush, cohabitation, working in a rough pub in Notting Hill, my life as an aggressive drunk, beer festivals, my on-off academic career, work as a management consultant, workplace bullying, my career as a management accountant, excelling under pressure, fall into depression, anxiety and bruxism, attempts to regain sanity, and philosophical reflections on life, work, management, morals, politics, metaphysics, God, and how to discover oneself. The pdf is available for free download from my Academia page. The paperback is available from Amazon at cost-price.

    157 pages

    2 votes
    1. [2]
      elcuello
      Link Parent
      So this is you?

      So this is you?

      2 votes
      1. xk3
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        No, sorry from the last chapter: I'm pretty sure the author is now dead. edit: yes 1955-2021 https://ourkarlpopper.net/danny-frederick/

        No, sorry

        from the last chapter:

        According to my oncologist, I will die some time between December 2020 and June 2021. My main concerns now are to tie up loose ends and to try to ensure that I make the most of the time that I have left. Writing another book is out of the question: it takes a year to write a book plus all the time required to sort out the publishing. I might manage another article; but even that will be difficult because cancer does not only subtract from one's time, it also fills one's remaining time with all sorts of coping activities.
        Thanks to cancer, pain is now my almost constant companion. I am consuming painkillers on an industrial scale (okay, I exaggerate a little). As a consequence, I am often sleepy and therefore unfit for much. Further, cancer leaves one more vulnerable to all sorts of other ailments. Since late August 2020 I have been laid up with deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. I inject blood-thinner into my abdomen twice a day and I must spend as much time as possible with my legs horizontal. The two radical operations that I have had mean that sitting with legs horizontal is extremely uncomfortable and usually painful; so I have to lie down in bed. There is not much that one can do if one is lying in bed most of the day. I have a lap-top (as well as my desk-top), so I can go online. I can also read. But being sleepy, due to the painkillers, and lying in bed means that I often drop off to sleep. Further, the pain makes it difficult to concentrate, so even reading a novel is difficult. Part of the pain comes from lying in bed. The major operations I have had mean that it is painful for me to lie on my back, so I have to lie on one side or the other. But lying on my sides most of the day causes pain in my hips.

        I'm pretty sure the author is now dead.

        edit: yes 1955-2021 https://ourkarlpopper.net/danny-frederick/

        5 votes