Category Archives: Update

Update

Weekend of awesome

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Done so many wonderful things this weekend with wonderful people at the 10th annual coast party Damian hosts. A few brief highlights (in no particular order):

Spent time talking, singing, dancing and hanging out with some of the loveliest people in the world (the whole wide world)
Drove a Porsche
Ran 12 miles
Tried ‘rock’ fish (Huss, a white fish)
Threw actual rocks at other rocks
Contributed to the construction of a giant sand village (chief Architect: Nicky. Chief Engineer: Pob)
Got bowled out in one ball in a game of beach cricket, sulked
Swum in indoor and outdoor pools
BBQ-ed
DJ-ed for 3 hours
Danced for 3-4 hours
Told many embarrassing story about ‘Banana Oops’ Damian
Got styled as Bowie (check out my current FB profile pic)
Acted out all the moves to ‘I’m on a boat’
Ate fresh apples off a tree
Lost a sprint race
Won a push-up challenge
Failed to ignite a grass-filled moat/trench defence at midnight on Saturday
Learned how to play an exceedingly complex board game designed to halt the rise of Cthulu (Arkham Horror, I think)
Was impressed by Serena’s mad poetry skills.
Failed to play any poker due to an inadvertently early bedtime
Failed to go to bed till morning due to an advertently late bedtime
Referenced FoTC at every possible occasion
Tried to take some good pictures with my recently acquired Nikon D-80 (need to work out depth of field).
Discovered I actually like marmite. Never thought I did.

Amazing weekend. Massive props to all involved. Big up yourselves.

Update

Surrender? Never!?

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There are times when subscribers to this blog start to think that I’m an exemplar of the typical blogger – checking in every few months to post, apologising for not posting, or just logging into upgrade WordPress.

Sorry…

At the moment, I feel I have good excuses, and it is unusually busy, so when normality ensues it’ll bring blogging with it. I’m not hanging up the bloghat just yet…

My excuses (this time):

Planning wedding parties (one here, one in KL)

Losing weight (down 15kg so far, target is 21, although I may extend that to 27kg longer term)

Learning Danish – many of Amanda’s family are Danish and am (reasonably) determined to at least have a few phrases for the speech

Learning to drive (again) – Passed my Malaysian license in 2002, working on the UK one now that I have more need to drive. Test on 18th September. I’m not optimistic but am working hard on it nonetheless.

Trying to do 100 push-ups in a single set. Up to 52. Also starting the analogous 200 sit-up programme and am two weeks into the couch to 5k programme.

Busy at work. As ever. Also editing and slowly evangelising a blogging project I got going a few months ago.

I’m sure there’s more, but that’ll do as a starter for 10. What’s your excuse?

Personal, Update

I’m back, baby

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It’s a much noted truth that personal blogs go for months without updates, and when the update comes its usually an apology for not posting. And then months pass…

Truth be told, whilst life has been busy, I have been blogging… just not here. I’m currently writing on another blog, named for my agency’s first office, with a bunch of colleagues on a selection of topics – it is not a work blog as such, more an external thought space for us and good practice for my colleagues and I at diving into the world of social media we spend so much time talking to our clients about.

The subject material (from me, at least) is not vastly dissimilar to what I write about here, so you should find me there, although I’ll probably end up cross posting some of the posts at least over here. Especially now I’ve upgraded to the shiny WordPress 2.8 and installed this luscious new theme for you all (what do you mean, you read me on RSS? Look how pretty it all is!)

Anyway, I’m over on Chivalry House every now and then. Check it out.

Personal, Update, Work

Q1 review

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It’s been an astonishingly busy three months, both at work and at home, and that’s my excuse for crapness. Sorry!

At work, I’ve been working to support a big client event, a major trade show, an uber launch (that had me sit across the virtual table from about 10 CEOs from major tech companies), learning about alternative fuels, talking about Twitter too much, publicising the changing world of work for a major UK media group, and much much more.

At home, I’ve been wedding planning, booking a venue and a date, negotiating with the churches, thinking about colour schemes (ok, not very much here), writing to travel companies, making guest lists, failing to organise an engagement party, finishing the renovations (the Streetview pic of my house is completely misleading now), and trying to maintain some kind of fitness regimen. Oh, and I went to NYC for a weekend with some Airmiles that were due to expire to visit Damo.

Phew. I’m tired just thinking about it. But sorry – will no doubt try to pick up something resembling normal service in the weeks ahead.

Personal, Update

…we’re engaged!

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Is the excited email/phone call we’ve been making (on my part, in a haphazard and therefore probably ineffectual manner) as we share the good news of our betrothal. Am happy beyond sense, and will probably stop grinning at some point, but I wouldn’t bet on it happening soon.

Everyone’s been asking how it happened. Here’s the story:

In the lead-up to our second anniversary, having long decided that Amanda was the girl for me, I went ring shopping. When my spirit was crushed by my own utter cluelessness, the crowds and then the price-tags on New Bond Street, I asked Sarah to help me shop and, with her help, the following Saturday I managed to track down the appropriate token (the ‘rock’, as it were, is yet to be purchased and I knew in advance that Amanda wanted to be involved).

On the evening of our anniversary, I asked Amanda to get home early as she could and to dress up warm. We dashed out and I got us a cab to an undisclosed location. (Well, obviously I disclosed it to the cabbie or it would have been an expensive and frustrating taxi ride!)… which was Primrose Hill, the location of our first ever date. We strolled up the hill, shivering with cold and delight at the amazing view of the city the summit affords, thankful for clear skies and dry weather.

“I think my feet are getting a little wet,” I said, romantically, knowing that at some point I would be dropping to one knee. Amanda threw some appropriately dismissive insult in my direction but nonetheless we moved to the tarmac-clad viewing point. There, after some further moments admiring the view, each others’ eyes (awww…) and fumbling in my pocket for the Georg Jensen ring case, I reminisced about the fact that two years previously I’d lacked the courage to ask her for a kiss, but this time I had a more important question…

And the rest, as they say, is history. Oh, she said yes, obviously (after a pause for shock – I’ve finally managed to catch the girl who identifies her birthday present by the folds in the wrapping paper by surprise!). I’m looking forward to keep trying to surprise her for the rest of our lives together.

For the curious; I didn’t ask her family for permission — I’d thought to but had guessed (correctly) that Amanda would want to be the one to relay the news.

Update

Silence…

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…caused by broken router in additional to the usual busy-ness. Now reconnected (on everything but my brother’s irritating MacBook, which is having Wifi issues), but normal activity will not resume for a little while as have even more busy-ness this weekend, and have started with the new gym membership, so life is more than usually hectic… Sorry. Be back soon.

Update

Self-pity doesn’t burn calories

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(no, this isn’t the seven songs meme I owe on. That’ll come. Be patient my child.).

I’ve spent most of the last week in bed, in pain cause by a bunch of malignant viruses (and I believe this is the technical term for what they were doing) running up and down the length of my body setting off miniature shotguns with precise aim and intent. These nefarious negligible entities kept my eating very, very modest — my most attentive readers will remember that I have been attempting in some way to reduce my weight and improve my fitness — but, I’ve discovered, despite not really eating for a week Wii Fit tells me I’ve only lost about one pound. One pound!

This is going to take approximately forever, even once my activity consists of more than lying around, groaning melodramatically occasionally to impress the empty room, feeling sorry for myself and making occasional trips to Boots and The Doctor to obtain more magical pharmaceuticals*.

Ah well. Onwards and upwards. Hopefully be well enough for squash next week, and am back to work on Monday too so calorific burn rates will doubtless shoot through the roof.

*For reference: anti-nausea medication == awesome. Industrial grade cough mixture == awesome. Nurofen == magic. Rehydration sachets == taste of ground up dirt.

Books, Gaming, Update

Lotsa reading and some Wii

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I’m not even going to apologise, this time, for my latest bout of ignoring this blog. It’s been busy. Let’s leave it at that. Slap me in person, if you like.

I’ve spent my down time doing fun things – reading through the back catalogue of Robert Charles Wilson (following the excellent recommendations of Tom and Simon via Twitter), as well as the new Alistair Reynolds, the Sebastian Darke childrens’ books, the new Iain M Banks, and will soon be starting the Mike Carey (of Lucifer and Constantine fame) novels. I’ve got to this place where self-indulgence involves reading mountains of sci-fi and fantasy and its significantly healthier than pigging out on McDonalds so I’m running with it.

Have also been playing more of the new ‘Fire Emblem’ game on Wii than I’d like. This is a mediocre version of the brilliant GBA game that takes absolutely no advantage of the Wii control scheme and seems to have been scripted by a monkey prone to bouts of hysteria. The plot just keeps extending itself in explicable turns in order to cope with the fact that the game needs more missions to have justified its sticker price.

More excitingly, Wii Fit arrived last Monday and I’ve used it about 6 times, gaining some impressive and some not-so-impressive scores. It’s all part of my motivation to get fit, which has also seen me play squash for the first time in four years (admittedly only for 10 minutes, but, y’know…). Wii Fit also entertained about a dozen friends at the first BBQ of the season this weekend (mmm, chickan).

So, I’m busy, and I’m doing interesting things, and if you’d like to know what I’m up to find me on Twitter and Facebook as that’s where my social media output is going for the moment (book reviews on Visual Bookshelf, movie reviews on Flixster, random observations on life on Twitter).

Share and enjoy, people. Share and enjoy.