The book of Daniel Thomas Andrew Daly - Chapters 13 - 18
Noahide Videos Bible
The Year 6175 SC
Written on Friday 29 July 6175
I have not been keeping any great records of what I have been doing so far this year, but will try and put down now some of my continuing life story.
In terms of writing I have completed this year so far:
Morning Stars II – most of chapter 12, chapter 13 & 14, finishing the volume.
Lazy Days – the remainder of chapter 1, and chapters 2 to 14, finishing the volume.
The Dark Side of Gloryel
Life on the Edge
Life Goes On
The Dark Saber
Melanie and Daniel 2
A small number of short stories
Currently working on Lucy Potter and the Sprite of Chakola, which I intend to finish before the end of the year.
I have now set ambitious goals and have a great number of works planned for writing in my life. I intend to accomplish as much of a series I call the ‘Circle of Magic’ series, which is a series of 7-Novel sequences, of various Harry Potter related characters, including my own creations. Harry Potter fanfiction is exceedingly popular these days online, and there are heaps of stories out there.
Today, funnily enough, after all the recent posting I have done to various www.fanfiction.net Harry Potter forums, my Weblink http://www.angelfire.com/jkrowlingfanfiction/lucypotter.html is currently the number one webhit on Google for the search term ‘Lucy Potter’. The other day I returned a webhit for the previous day of 176 webhits – a record of mine for one of my websites. Hopefully the future promises even more.
In the last few months most of my time has been spent writing, visiting the Mental Health activity programs in Greenway in Tuggeranong, and using the Internet a heck of a lot down at Greenway. While I can indeed afford to have the internet on at home without any trouble, the reasons I don’t are: Too many virus problems to make it worthwhile personally, 2) liking to actually get out and about a lot, out of the house, and doing things. While I definitely spend a lot more using the internet down at Greenway then I would at home, I would still rather go out to use it. Uploading to the web, though, is not problematic with the constant use of USBs I employ. I have lost a few of them, though. I make sure, now, I have at least a few on hand with all my stuff saved on them. I no longer use the hard drive on my PC to store data, and won’t do that anymore ever, as the hard drives inevitably crash over time, and USB storage will likely last a lot longer and is far more convenient, and you don’t really have to worry about crashes with them. CD Erasables are nowhere near as good as the USB type of storage, too fussy, the disc scratches, and USB and the other types of mini storage devices are the best option now. I visited a working girl in Fyshwick (a prostitute) for sex twice earlier in this year. I am still single, and have never been married, and have no children. I have worked out that for Karaite Noahides, in my own judgement, that the teachings of sexual morality we should adhere to are first and foremost the teaching of Genesis 1 – 11:9, which teaches that a man and a woman normally get together in a marriage situation, but little more than that. However, Leviticus 18 & Leviticus 20 are to be considered, in my judgement. Now, God judged the Canaanites for these practices, but it WAS the promised land to Abraham’s seed, and the Torah talks about the Land getting its rest. I have talked with Jews before, and they talk about the importance of the land of Israel – remember, society often calls it the ‘Holy Land’. Because of this, Canaan was judged IN the holy land for their sexual deviancies, BUT, as it appears to be, outside of the Holy Land for Noahides, the strictness of these judgements does not seem to apply. Israel (In Exodus 19) is called a holy nation – NOT the gentiles. Outside of Israel, as a Karaite Noahide, the strictness of Leviticus 18 & 20 does not appear to apply. We should perhaps be mindful of these passages, but they don’t appear to be obligatory. However, if you really want to please God to the utmost of your life, and serve him, the fullness of his salvation according to the teachings of the book of Isaiah is found in connecting to the people and land of Israel, converting to this full torah religion with circumcision, and offering your sacrifice on the altars in Jerusalem. Messiah is supposed to get the third temple built, so whatever on that issue. I would argue that God’s salvation is ALSO seen in the Rainbow Bible, as it calls Noah ‘Perfect’ in his generations, but if you want to really connect to the utmost in your life to God, he might well indeed call you to his people Israel. Remember, in that sense, Karaite Noahide takes you only so far with God. But for people like myself, with a strong sense of my own Noahide family and clan and pride, I don’t suspect I will ever be connecting with the people of Israel in a conversion sense. I don’t want to – don’t need to – and have dug down over a decades roots into Noah, so that is were I will stay – and probably forever, now. Earlier this year I went on a holiday with the Mental Health patrons in our Tuggeranong community, down to Tuross Head, on the east coast of Australia. It was called the ‘Coastal Creators’ holiday, and we did a lot of creative activities. I did some felting, wrote a tiny short story about ‘Ambriel’, a little bit of artwork, and played a lot of cards with some people. I had a wonderful time down there, enjoyed the trip there and back, and it looks like a strong possibility there will be another one held next year. This year the Australian Government put a lot more funding into Mental Health, so things are probably a bit better for me relatively speaking. There is a new drug called ‘Invega’ which will be available (most likely) in injection form soon enough. Apparently it has no side effects, so a substantial amount of the weight I have gained since taking my medication for my Schizophrenia could fall off. I have been told that the weight gain is very marginal for the drug. I have a bit of a stomach because of my medication, but being a lot slimmer would be wonderful. I am anxiously awaiting the new drug, and it might be available within a year for injections. It is already available in tablet form. I have a new case worker for my condition down at Mental Health in Tuggeranong called Ashley. My old case worker, Jan Haskell, has now retired. I got along well with Jan, and miss her somewhat, but Ashley is doing a good job. Adrian Chan, a mental health worker, still picks me up for swimming on Thursdays and chess on Fridays, and I have known him for a while now. We can’t have any friendship outside of his working role, though, and I once wanted him to come to a birthday party of mine, but his work restrictions don’t allow that. I see Robert Preston, my Pentecostal friend, still a fair bit from time to time. We recently went down to ‘Tharwa’ for a drive (near Canberra) which we do occasionally, and I love the country down there. I could retire there if I had the money. I have chatted to Chris White on the phone, who is sort of a Pentecostal Christian, and we have chatted about Christianity versus Noahide faith, and he likes to talk about concepts relating to the Christian book of Revelation – the final book of the New Testament.
My mother is still of reasonably good health, and I continue to live with her and my older brother Matthew here at 29 Merriman Crescent in Macarthur. She continues to go to church each Sunday, and has a lifetime of devotions to God built up. She is a good example to me in this sense. My nieces and nephews are growing up, and have lost a lot of their bratty ways, and I can talk with them in a lot more mature ways and adult conversation almost. They are getting there.
My brother Gregory has recently expressed his desires to return to live in Canberra (he currently lives and works in Perth in Western Australia) and says he might like Lanyon Valley in south-west Tuggeranong to live in. I look forward to this should it occur. I was strongly thinking about going to year 12 at CIT this year, and enrolled, but decided to cancel it in the end. At the current moment, there is more activity in my various websites, and I have committed myself to a lifetimes work of writing to leave as a legacy. So while I currently receive my Government Disability Support Pension, I see no real point in changing plans at this time. Maybe in a few more years, should my health continue to maintain a reasonable level of wellness mentally, I might consider applying for work again. But a few more years, in my own judgement, is still warranted.
There is nothing really on the romance scene – per se – but things seem possible soon enough. Perhaps.
All the best.
Daniel Thomas Andrew Daly
29 July 6175 SC
The End of Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Daniel at 29 Merriman Crescent on Monday the 21st of November 6175 SC (2011 AD/CE).
Yesterday was my 39th birthday. One more year until my 40th. Now, I have reached my conclusion that the Rainbow Bible II will be now combined into the Rainbow Bible I, and that I will have it published by Copyqik printers here in Canberra very shortly. There will be NO further Rainbow Bibles published by Haven Noahide Fellowship. I feel I have addressed the issues sufficiently enough as is. If you are curious about an issue from a Karaite Noahide perspective, ultimately, in the end, go purchase a copy of the Jewish Bible – (the Tanakh – and I recommend the JPS Tanakh 1985 edition, but any decent version will do, Jewish, Christian or otherwise) – and then work out the issues for yourself. Part of the core principle of Karaite Judaism is the importance of the individual doing the work for themselves. On judgement day, your pastor is not going to be able to defend your life after all. I want, in this final chapter, make some final judgements for the Karaite Noahide community. Firstly, the key set of scriptures we utilize in Haven Noahide Fellowship, now, are:
The Tanakh – The 24 Books of the Hebrew Bible – for the Wise and the Unwise
The Pseudepigrapha – the 70 Books of Wisdom for the wise
These comprise the 94 books composed by Ezra and the other workers inspired by God in the tradition of 2 Esdras.
Haven views the 70 books of the Pseudepigrapha as Scripture, authoritative, and the Word of God. It is viewed that Ezra and his compatriots compiled all the writings of the Torah, the histories, the prophecies, and the psalms and wisdom and so on, put it all together, and produced the 24 books. They were the ultimate editors and compilers of the finished biblical product. We strongly recommend Richard Elliott Friedman’s book ‘Who Wrote the Bible’ to see many good ideas for how the Torah (first 5 books) may have been ultimately produced, yet we would view the final redactive stages of all 24 books as a work of the Ezran community described in 2 Esdras.
2 Esdras describes how the ‘70’ books in the Pseudepigrapha were formed and inspired by God. It gives a description. We of Haven find this satisfactory.
Now, our interpretation of the four beasts of Daniel 7, which is also a beast described in 2 Esdras, is that Beast 1 was Babylon, Beast 2 was Media-Persia, Beast 3 was Greece & Beast 4 was the Roman-European beast, with the ultimate 11th Antichrist Horn represented by the Nazis and Adolph Hitler. The beast persecuted the ‘Saint’s’ (Israel) who just after WWII concluded took possession of the ancient Kingdom of Israel, as the chapter describes they will. We of Haven see Noah himself as part of this community of Israel, as Abraham also is likewise. Those who are OBSERVANT amongst the children of Noah and the children of Abraham according to Noah’s covenant and Abraham’s covenant, also take there place in the community of Israel as members of the three covenants of God and God’s Holy Kingdom. We of Haven believe that God desires Parents honoured, as the commandments teach, and thus the observant Abrahamic community deserves greater honour than Israel in the Everlasting Kingdom of Daniel chapter 7, but the Noahide Community, which is older still than the Abrahamic community, deserves the greatest honour. Honour your father and mother, as the scriptures rightly teach.
On other issues:
We regard the Talmudic Noahides as important. We agree with the death penalty for murder, but NOT for any other others of the 7 laws. We think the 7 laws concept is a good idea, a good approach, and we approve of Talmudic Noahides if they want to follow this way of life. We argue it is NOT historical back to Noah, but we agree that Rabbinic Judaism likes the ideas of the 7 laws of Noah concept, and agree they have something of a commission (according to Deuteronomy) to make judgements for Israel, so Talmudic Noahides can listen to their judgements IF THEY VOLUNTARILY WANT TO. We recommend the 30 laws and the 66 laws of Talmudic Noahidism as the established viewpoints, and think they are a good idea for the Talmudic Noahides to follow and abide by. They are ok.
Now, for Karaite Noahides.
We think Fornication, Lesbianism & Prostitution are OK. The 30 & 66 laws do not forbid these for Noahides, and nor does scripture.
Haven now teaches GRADES for Salvation.
GRADE 1 – Mastering Genesis 1 – 11:9.
GRADE 2 – The Above, with the addition of Leviticus 18, Leviticus 20 and Deuteronomy 18: 9-12
GRADE 3 – The Above, with the Remainder of the 30 & 66 Laws of the ‘7 Laws of Noah’ system
GRADE 4 – The Above with various chosen Torah Laws of your own choice
GRADE 5 – Complete observance of Torah, with the exceptions of No Passover celebration (Only For Full Converts)
Over and Out
DD
21/11/6175 SC
Chapter Fifteen
(Written Saturday 12th of January 6177 SC - 12th of January 2013)
It has been a year and two months since I last wrote an autobiography entry. That is enough time for some new information. I am currently reformatting the Rainbow Bible (even as I write this today), and there are now 7 Rainbow Bibles, 1 for each of the 7 Divine Fellowships. The Kingdom of Noah Torah which runs through the Rainbown Bibles should not be taken too seriously by anyone, as there is a lot of tongue in cheek in it, but it is meant to be thought provoking and attempting to elucidate interesting ideas which may or may not be ultimately true. I wouldn't personally call it scripture, but there is hopefully a point to all of it, even if just for general reading. There are potentially many 'Curios' within it.
I am now 40 years old, still single with no children. Life hasn't changed a great deal in the last year. Julia Gillard is still the current Prime Minister, and I prefer her to the opposition leader. I hope Labour win the next Australian Fedreal Election. Barack Obama was re-elected, which was the best decision as far as I was concerned. I have recently been praying a lot, and 'Parity' amongst some of the world's major currencies has been one of my petitions to God. I have also been praying for the success of my Rugby League team 'The Bulldogs' as well as for Great Britain's success at future Olympics, as I am patriotic towards Great Britain, where I was born.
Recently there was discussion between Marcus Chuan Chi Chin and myself about possibly sharing his unit in Mawson, but that has been put off because of his financial concerns. So I am still here at 29 Merriman Crescent. I am still regularly involved with MHT group activities, and Amanda Caldwell and Brett Love are two of my newer friends in the group. I still am a 'big boy' of quite a few kilos, and am just over 6 foot tall. In 2012 I visited Fyshwick prostitutes about half a dozen times. By the looks of my personal morals I am committed to the Sex laws of Leviticus 18 & 20, which Canaan was judged for, but not Leviticus 19, for which Canaan wasn't judged, which includes the law forbidding making your daughter a prostitute. So by the looks of it in my walk with God he is allowing me to fornicate with prostitutes if I wish to. This is legal for Karaite Noahides. I DO use a condom every time, though, beacause that is the law in the ACT.
I visited Wagga Wagga in 2012, staying in a pub overnight, but couldn't get any sleep that night. My mother visited England again in 2012 with my sister Brigid. My brother Matthew is now working at Big W in Woden. We had Christmas at Sue Gray's place in upper Macarthur in 2012. The food was good. I helped move her washing machine downstairs.
I read the complete written Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers& Deuteronomy) in one day once in early 2012. Towards the end of 2012 I started praying a great deal every day and that hasn't let down yet. I have a host of written prayers I recite quite a lot. I am hoping God answers them all.
My 40th Birthday party had a number of familiar faces from recent parties, including: Marcus CCC, Rebecca Hill, Tony Beer, Brett Love, Amanda Caldwell, Chris White and Robert Preston. We ate pizza and watched Adele live at Albert Hall on DVD. I began smoking in 2012 mid year, and I enjoy Port Royal tobacco with papers i roll, without filters. Other filtered cigarettes in packets I don't like much anymore. Mainly Port Royal. I prayed the numbered psalms equivalent to my year of age for future birthdays in 2012. So, as an example, I read out Psalm 41 for a blessing upon my 41st birthday party coming up. I also sent Greg half a dozen birthday cards for the last half a dozen of his birthdays. An idea of mine is to send new friends birthday cards for every year of their life backwards bact to their first birthday once you know them well. It is a 'Kindness' thing people could do for fun and love. Its never too late to send someone a birthday card for a birthday of theirs you had missed sometime later on in life. Better late than never.
That will do for now
The end of chapter fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
16th July 6177 SC / 2013 CE
Been a quiet day at home. Been a quiet last few months really. Sort of settled down to simply living with my schizophrenic condition and accepting that it is what I have to deal with for now in life. Would really like to work a regular job and contribute to society in that way, but my occasional impulsive thinking, which can get quite excitable at times, is still too much of a problem to be able to contribute a calming persona for any workforce I would want to join. So I will stick with my books for now, writing out the Angels saga, and hopefully something will come of that in time.
Played scrabble today with mum - we didn't score. Did a lot of internet surfing. Not much else. It took all night and all morning to upload an Introduction to Karaite Noahide Faith video to youtube. Came out well, though. I am 40, still single, never married, no kids. Life's ok. Could be better. Could be worse. I am looking forward to 60 when I can claim my superannuation payout. Might travel the world, especially to the UK, but who knows.
Life's good.
Daniel
17th of July 6177 SC / 2013 CE
Bloody hell - I haven't had a ciggie in nearly 2 weeks. I go cold turkey in between packs these days to watch my health somewhat. I buy 30g or 50g packs of tobacco and roll them mysef. I don't like smoking the pre-made ones (tailies, as they call them), because they usually taste a bit fowl to me, and I hate filters. Centrelink payday in the morning, and I'll get a taxi down to BP Chisholm to buy some ciggies, probably a couple of pies, and some drink. Might buy some magazines also, and I will look at the DVDs and CDs to see if there is anything I want. Pay comes in around 2 to 4 in the morning, and I check to see its in with phone banking, but will now use the internet banking since the internet came on at home recently. Greg chose TPG (which I had used previously). They are a decent ISP.
Later same day
Another quiet day today. Slept a lot. Meatcake for dinner. Internet surfing as usual. Uploaded 'The Wyvvern and the Warlock' and 'The Belzandramanian' and 'The Hand of Eternity' vols 1 & 3, the concise versions of each of these fanfic works, to fanfiction.net and the two Lord of the Rings ones to the Lord of the Rings fanfiction website in the last 24 hours. The webhits for these fanfics are already decent. At the moment I have no prescribed writing projects that I am working on particularly, but I am probably going to tinker around with Morning Stars 3 a bit more (which has a concise version called Morning Stars: Raphael, on the website, but I plan on finishing it off now as a novel akin to Morning Stars and Morning Stars II.) Apart from that I have to continue on in general with the current book, 'The Divine Mysteries: Kelly' until it reaches a minimum of about 50,000 words or so. Its at about 30,000 words at the moment. It will continue on, like all 3 Divine mystery works so far, as being an anthology of short stories collection. There are 7 divine mystery works planned. Lucy Potter novellas 6 & 7 still need to be finished, and they are on my mind also, as well as the unfinished fanfiction works.
Daniel
30th of July 6177 SC
Went bowling today. Did a lot of work overnight on my websites. Put on some graphics. Made a fundamental decision recently to include some Public Domain documents as part of the Canons for the Seven Divine Fellowships. Believe I have God’s approval for this. The texts are oldish, now, and were written in a time of greater innocence and purity of character. I call them scripture. I am putting them in the Bibles of the 7DF. These are meant to be Karaite Noahide Bibles. I treat them as Scripture. I am choosy in what I am putting in, and they have to have merit, worth and decency and interest associated with them. The Spirit tells me God spoke out rather quickly the earlier writings of the Rainbow Bibles in heaven to the Archangel Michael and others. God has made them his word by speaking them. It’s true as well. The sarcastic bits raised an eyebrow, but were passed. They are Scripture now. These writings did not all originate in a divine sense. God has affirmed them, though. Having another birthday party again this year. Applied for a grant which may allow me to advertise my books website on local TV here in Canberra. Hope I get it. Finished the First Chronicles of the Children of Destiny just the other day. Have just started the Second Chronicles of the Children of Destiny. It is planned on being the same length – about a million and a half words. Later on, when it is finished, after a long rest, the ‘Last Chronicles of the Children of Destiny’ will arise. Daniel is the key character in the First Chronicles. In the Second Chronicles it will be ‘Job’. In the Last Chronicles it will be ‘Noah’. I have canonized the writings now as Scripture for the 7DF, progressing from Pseudepigrapha. The definition does not imply historicity of the writings. They are obviously fictive.
The End of Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
25th of February 6178 SC (25th of February 2014 CE). I didn't mention it in the previous chapter, but my older brother Matthew died in March last year. He was 43 years old. We got along well in our very youth, but as the years passed not so much. As much as I hate to say it, if old Matt inherits the world to come, I honestly feel the time apart between us will be the best medicine to what had become an awkward relationship. Today it is just me and my mum living here at 29 Merriman Crescent. Greg moved over to Canberra just after Matt died, not really to live here, but to try and find work and move his family over. He didn't have any luck, though, and returned to Perth last month. Greg's family has been back and forth between Perth and Canberra a bit now, because he doesn't really fit in the Perth scene, but his wife Christie is from there. Its a persisting problem. Hopefully he will resolve the issue in time. My older sister is Brigid, still married to a farmer, David, although they are separated. They have 3 kids, Madalene, Jayden and Georgia, which feature in the Lucy Smith/Lucy Potter novellas in my writings. My younger sister is Jacinta, married to Alan Bradley, and they live in Cooma East now, 100kms south of Canberra. They have 3 children, Ronan, Amelia & Rachel. Greg and Christie have one boy, James.
I haven't married yet, and am still single with no children at 41. The spirit whispers to me and suggests not until 60, when I can claim my superannuation payout and buy a small flat (probably in Cooma) will he settle me down for marriage. He wants me settled permanently in one place before he builds up my life, so he tells me. God is probably wise on this in the end.
Since the 'Kelly' story, I have gone on and written more of the 'Moonflower City' stories, as well as writing the 'Eternal World' saga, which is at the end of the Angels saga. At the moment I am on a hiatus from writing again, and don't know if I will write again for quite some time. I don't really get feedback for my work from fans at all, even though the webhits are pretty consistent each day, so I know the stories are being read quite a bit. I seem to be writing popular enough stories, but nobody seems bothered much with going any further with them apart from casual reading, and I am not sure if there is much real interest in Karaite Noahide faith yet, anyway. Perhaps one day.
I am still involved with group activities in the Mental Health community, and often go swimming thursdays with the group and do the friday lunch group. It keeps me busy and gives me a social life I guess. You see new faces from time to time, but the Friday lunch group is male dominated to a huge degree. Hardly any female presence at all, which can be a little frustrating. Still, what you gonna do, huh?
My 41st birthday party was again here at Macarthur, and the turnout included Tony Beer, Rachel Hill, Paul McMahon, Robert Preston, Sean Pedditt, Chris White, Isaac Lane and myself. Similar to the previous year, and it was a good and happy occasion. We followed it up somewhat with a 'Risk' night on Australia Day Holiday night, when Paul and Sean showed up and we played Halo Risk. There is another night planned for the Canberra Day Holiday evening, and we plan on doing it each public holiday, except from the Easter and Christmas celebrations. Just a blokes night a few times each year – I'll probably try and make it into a tradition.
I have been a karaite noahide since 1999 (or a Noahide since 1999, becoming a Karaite noahide sometime in 1999 or perhaps 2000 – can't remember for sure). This faith will never change now, I am settled in it, and will generally promote it to all who are willing to listen over the remaining years of my life. I believe it represent God's covenant and God's truth, and am happy to share this faith with others.
So, presently, not a great deal on the horizon, and I keep myself busy with the regular things of life, a lot of internetting, and working on developing my CD collection for the main part for the next while.
Life is good though – can't complain – and that's about it for now.
Daniel Thomas Andrew Daly, Tuesday 25th of February 6178 SC (25th of February 2014 CE)
Chapter Eighteen
Written Friday 14th of March 6178 SC (Friday 14th of March 2014 CE/AD).
I lived in Cooma in 2001 for a few months around the time of the 911 incident of the twin towers. I had rented a flat on Baron street, not far from Coffees pub, and the flat was a duplex with a fellow called Adrian Knight (from memory) who lived in the other flat. He was a bit of an ocker Aussie male, and we chatted a couple of times. I remember, once, reading my bible out the back and his kids were there with him. I was reading it and they asked what I was reading. I told them the bible. One of the boys asked what it was about, and I was lost for words for a few moments, not sure how to answer, but the other one said it was God's book of rules or something like that. In some ways, that was the innocence of Cooma. South of Canberra, 100kms or thereabouts, its a quiet town, called the Gateway to the Snowy Mountains, and has maintained a population of around 8000 for a number of years since I was young, but in recent times seems to be developing somewhat. St Pats school is in Cooma, and I have good memories of that school, even thought I didn't get along great with the kids. Andrew Pighins was a good friend in Primary School, and I went to his house a number of times after school and we did stuff. He punched up on me a bit in science class later on in high school, but I hope I still have good thoughts towards Andrew. He was a bit of a fighter, but a heck of a lot of the Cooma lads in those days – perhaps born from savage 70s bands like AC DC and Rose Tattoo and other mentalities of the ocker Aussie male – were fighters. They were tough kids. I have found, in my years in Canberra since 1990, a far more genteel environment, and the kids a lot softer. When I was doing my primary school degree (which I never finished) from Australian Catholic University in the early 2000s, I did some of my In school teachers aid experience at Curtin Primary school in the Woden district of Canberra. I had illusions from childhood about what Catholic kids were like – I was wrong. These kids didn't have half the mockery and attitude of the kids I grew up with. They were a lot kinder and easier to get along with and more caring. But, I have surmised, it is more perhaps a Canberra thing – the public service town – or a big city thing. Cooma was a country town with tough kids who lived the country lifestyle, and drank beer as they got older. It wasn't an environment totally amenable to the more passive and gentle of God's children. Heck, I handled it well enough in the end, and even ran with a group of my own friends from, mostly, the Public school system, as I have talked about previously. We were into a lot of metal, and it toughened me up a bit, but there were still exasperating encounters with the Cooma youth my age. It wasn't always easy. But St Pats, these days, when I look back, I remember the feelings and spirit of the school and its environs, and its really special to me now, those memories, and those corridors and classrooms and playgrounds are part of my life. The teachers were always ok at St Pats, and I have very good memories of them. Even strict sister Ann from Year 6 who, now, I would probably get along with very well, because I love spiritual things. I was an altar boy with Andrew Pighins for a while, and rang the bell and did those things. 16 years, every Sunday, since birth, I was at a Catholic Church Mass, first in Berridale and later on in Cooma, but I look back now and think of those solemn priestly ways and hymns and creeds, and they are still part of the fabric of my being. I didn't have a God fixation as a kid. Religion was never a big deal, but I was a believer in God and I did pray a little bit. I stole rampantly from mum's purse, and always felt guilt, and even later stealing from Woolies with kids from St Pats, and a bit with my gang, but even though I felt that guilt, the connection, which I probably should have known, that this was sin – it never really connected with me. I never really gave much thought at all to the idea, even when caught stealing from Woolies and having to confess my sins to Father Barry Cotter in the St Pats Confessional. It never connected. I never really understood I was doing wrong. That changed, though, from about 20, when I started trying to be 'Perfect' and started amending my ways in life, despite the huge depression which had settled in by then. In the book of Joshua, those children under 20 still got to come into the promised land, when those above them who had accompanied Moses never got to, apart from Joshua and Caleb – because they had a different spirit. Perhaps 20 is something of an age of accountability. Whatever else, when I get to 20 my morality started showing up at last. No, you would never have called me a sinner kid, though. I was passive at school, and never really fought much, and I had respect for my teachers and fellow students most of the time, although I was a little bit cheeky occasionally (pulling Zosia Pitrowskis hair in year 3 because I liked her, only to be reprimanded by Mrs Jones, for example). No, we were friendly kids, our little gang in my late teens. We were 'Bad Boys' because we were into metal, but we were kind and affectionate. We were ok. Hell a lot of the time for the parents raising us, but we had good hearts. Looking back, I have felt for years now we were doing wrong, but our hearts probably weren't trying to. We were just being cool and living for the rush of it all. I think a song by Iron Maiden – weekend warriors – sums a lot up of my Impulsive sins of youth. But I was bloody alive, I can tell you that much, and life had an intensity from about 1987 onwards for those few years. My first girlfriend, of sorts, was Louise Roseman, who I kissed once, but was really nervous about all of that. She was a cutie, but when we came to Canberra in 1990 I never saw her again. It had been Berridale for the 1970s, which really had been a classic 'Golden youth' which people often talk about. It really had been for me as well, as I had very responsible parents, and I look back in great happiness at that time. I remember the doll mum made for us kids – I love my mum so much these days, and even dreamed about that doll once. All things considered, My youth certainly had its challenges, but I wouldn't exchange it. I don't regret any of it, because it was all learning experiences, and it all worked out well enough in the end. For the most part.
Today, though, time has moved on. I'm 41, currently taking Green Coffee Bean extract to lose weight, because they rave on about it, and it seems to be working well enough so far. I am a lot more content, now, especially since last year, which was the biggest praying experience of my life, the whole year. God assures me I will reap from my prayers in years ahead. I have a positive attitude, still, and am happy with life. It's good enough, ok. Its good enough. Sure, things could be better, but after all the shit I have been through in it, things could be a heck of a lot worse. I'm still one of the lucky ones, I think, in the end. Still blessed.
I'm still collecting a lot of CDs, comics and other things. Working on completing lists of albums from various artists. I have a pretty big collection again, now, and the final bits of my destructive tendencies seem to have finally disappeared. I have made deliberate decisions to stop doing that, and have prayed a bit for stability in life, and it seems to be working. Things are going ok in many ways with my Schizophrenic condition now. Of course, now it is just me and mum here at home, but its good, cause we usually get along quite well and talk with each other quite freely. We get along. Its good now. She is off to the UK, yet again, soon, again with my sister Brigid, and this time my nephew Jayden is going off with them. They will be gone for 3 weeks very soon, and I have asked for a 'Baker' family shield, which is my mum's maiden name, and a mug from Hull, were I was born. Oh, Hull City Tigers, my soccer team, are in the semi finals of the FA Cup. And they have a realistic chance of making the final. Finger's crossed.
The writing goes on as usual, and I have a fairly extensive 'Angels Saga' written now. The Lucy Potter books are mostly finished, and my daily webhits for my books website are consistent and of good numbers. One of these days – hopefully someday soon – self publishing and selling the things on the website might become a realistic option. Let's hope so.
I went swimming at Lake Tuggeranong pool again yesterday, with the little group which Adrian Chan takes along, and I had quit it for a while, but am now back into it. Life seems, for the most part, to steadily go on. Just that, really. Life goes on. Had a risk night on Monday this week, were I played Halo Risk with 3 other guys from my Mental Health group, Paul, Jarrod and Richard, and it was a lot of fun. We have agreed to meet up each Public Holiday, barring the Christmas and Easter celebrations each year, to have these risk nights. We have had 2 so far, and they have been great. Another tradition, perhaps, like my recent spate of birthday gatherings, which hopefully will last as well.
Yeh, life's good. Could be better. Hopefully the girl of my dreams is just around the corner, but till then I'll survive.
Bye for now. Danny.
Daniel Thomas Andrew Daly
Canberra, Friday 14th of March, 6178 SC