My name is Richard. In blogs I use my childhood nickname: Hud (old English short-form for Rich-hud, I guess). I live in the UK in North Hertfordshire.

My life is a messy amalgam of: motorcycles (goes with eating and breathing); walking and camping (real life); mountains (alternative to religion); fiction (escapism); travel books (dreaming and planning); writing (self-torture); posting on the web (ego satisfaction); friends (friends); socialist politics (keeping my adrenalin levels up); anthropology (keeping my adrenalin levels up) classical music (anchoring my sanity); rockabilly (setting it free again); and wondering where I belong in all this. This blog will be a messy amalgam of the same.

I'm in my late 60s and beginning to find some interesting ways of making up for a well-spent youth.

What do I believe in? That's a question. Certainty makes me gobby at times. Doubt makes me squishy at the knees. Somewhere, between the two, there must be a rock to stand on?

Maybe not.

Certainties [on a 1-10 scale]: I'm an atheist [10/10]; a socialist [9/10]; and a believer in the proposition that motorcycling is good for you [9/10]. I believe in the importance of human life [10/10] but am convinced that doctors are seriously bad for your health [8/10]. I also believe it is entirely OK to be mushy and sentimental about dogs [8/10].

Doubts: Lots - except where the existence, opinions and career of 'god' are concerned. The nuns at school tried very hard, but the deity never made much sense to me, even as a kid. Most of my beliefs trouble me with doubts, but the non-existence of 'god' isn't one of these.