A happy-go-lucky English rambler dude goes to New Zealand for a year. Here he interfaces with some of those he left behind and details his nefarious activities. Or summat.
Recently clicked on MP3s - 7th June 2005 The Lucksmiths - Warmer Corners
Jens Lekman - When i said i wanted to be your dog
The Trashcan Sinatras - Weightlifting
Teenage Fanclub - Man Made
Laura Veirs - Carbon Glacier
The Decemberists - Picaresque
The Eels - Blinking Lights
Sunday, February 16, 2003
Is it just me, or does everyone find that their life is just one long backlog of things to do?
Not being the best in the world at prioritising tasks either, i constantly find myself starting one job, and then halfway through realising i've got something else to do that's more important, leaving the first job, starting something else, and then doing the same with that job 10 minutes later.
Hence, as i type, i'm surrounded by half compiled cd's, half written letters, un-ironed clothes and un-watched Tour de France videos (When can you squeeze in 3.5 hours of cycling action these days?). I suppose everyone has the same amount of crap to deal with these days, and quite possibly just as much crap as people have had to deal with from the dawn of time, so i shouldn't moan. And come to think of it, i still had huge backlogs of stuff i wanted to do, even when i didn't have a job and was loafing around on beaches in Hawaii all day. Hmmmmm.
I really should start following the trusty MoSCoW methodology that we learnt in our OO lectures. Do what you Must do first, then what you Should do, then what you Could do and finally what you Want to do. Or alterntatively, i could just keep bumbling along in my tried and tested hapless style :o)
The one thing i think i have been making a reasonably good job of lately is my running. If you didn't already know, (and judging from the fact that Cat & Clare have arranged an engagement party on March 1st, some people don't) i'm doing my first half marathon on March 2nd. I managed a very hilly 12mile run last weekend, so i should be able to cope with the flatter 13miles round the Silverstone formula 1 track. Though i'm definitely not taking it lightly, as those 12 miles, we're possibly the 12 hardest things i've ever done in my life. By the end i was pulling a fairly grim looking grimace, and passers by did seem to be slightly concerned for me, though perhaps they were just worried about getting out of the way of the streams of sweat, snot and spit i was regularly expelling.
I've also finally got round to having a go with with the local (Birstall) running club, they seem like a pretty friendly bunch, and i managed to keep up with the slow group without any problems, so the running part of my ego was suitably boosted. On Monday i'm going to see how i get on with the middle speed group, so it may soon come back down to earth with a bump. (The high speed group looked like a bunch of Ron-Hill clad gazelles, one of whom was off on a 20-mile training run the next day, so i'm giving them a wide berth for now!).
Well, as it's a very rare sunny Sunday afternoon, i really should get out for another run i suppose. Or hang on, should i finish my letter to uncle Allen in Canada? What about all the ironing?? Oh, no all the washing up!?!? Aagh, i've not been to see Grandad all week too!! There's that Lucksmiths compilation CD to do for Tom too, not to mention the three books i'm halfway through reading. Bugger! and that website to do for Bill. Oooh! And the '89 tour video with the closest ever finish to watch NNNGAH! *Brain implodes*
4:45 pm Friday, February 14, 2003
How gay am i? I've just got completely choked up watching Mark Fowler's final scene in Eastenders, where he tells his Mum he's dying of AIDS and then rides off into the sunset (Rainy night actually - come on, this is Eastenders after all). Sad i know, but it was surprisingly moving. Maybe i'm just tired and emotional after my first run with the Local Running Club :oS
Anyway i would write more, but BBC 3 is showing the next episode right after the last one, so i'm off to watch that right now. How will Pauline cope? Will Ricky run off with Nat? Will Doris run off with Jim? Will someone finally kill Ian Beale? I'll let you know.... (Apologies to anyone in NZ for whom i've just ruined the plot for the next 6 months, duh)
9:50 pm Thursday, February 13, 2003
You may have guessed from the lack of excited posts about snowboarding, that sadly we didn't get snowed into Pas for another week. Although we did have to take a massive detour through Spain, so we got to see a bit more of the beautiful Pyrenees (Very NZ-esque), as well as some extremely Jean de Florette style villages when we finally made it back into France.
The bus journey began at 5am so it literally had quite a dreamy atmosphere to it, enhanced still further by listening to the wonderful new Charles Aznavour cd i bought in Andorra. The new Interpol and Beth Gibbons albums were very good too, but i thought Charles suited the trip slightly better.
Until i work out how to get the my photos off Dad's digital camera (Has anyone got a spare PS2 to serial lead?) here are a couple of pics taken by my Glaswegian snowboarding comrade Graham.
Psyching ourselves up for another blitz down the Nursery slope
Alison, Rob and me after having just heli-boarded off the peak in the background. Ahem
Woo!Woo!Woo! Snow = fun
And as you can see from my effortless stylishness, i have finally dispelled the myth that Red and Green don't go together. Hurrah!
