Immeasurable Subtleties

This year I’m redefining moments. I’m returning back to the roots, back to the value the word always had.

To me the best moments cannot be measured with words. You may have noticed some of the top 40 of the past weeks being vague. It’s not because I didn’t want to elaborate, it’s simply because what made it great was something you can’t easily write about. Last weekend was a good example of such a ‘moment’:

My housemate, Sophizzle, and I went climbing and swimming at the sports park. It had been too long since we last did this and it was such a laugh. See, that sentence alone is vague. The best part of the day was when we were on our way home. After rushing around Tesco in a “supermarket sweep” fashion for Sophizzle’s monthly shop, we decided to purchase a trifle for our eating pleasure that evening. On the bus journey back to the house, Sophizzle got worried about the poor trifle. It’s certain disfiguration from the motions of the bus and instability of the items in the weak bag in which it was positioned caused distress to Sophizzle. Her sweet words of comfort to calm the trifle invariably helped it through this difficult time. Without Sophizzle’s TLC the trifle would have been helpless. I, mean while, couldn’t help laugh at the situation. The sheer sight of someone trying to comfort a trifle was hysterical. This is a moment. But the problem is they don’t come across in words very well.

I’ve thought of a few more from the last few weeks:

• Sat in the hotel Jacuzzi, thinking this… is… the… life.
• Being on Skype with Sophie where some technical fault resulted in Sophie having a radically low voice… hilarity ensued… which resulted in more hilarity.
• Telling my workmates about the Bristol Stool Chart… hilarity ensued… for days lol

And there will be many more to come :o)

• Happiness. 9 out of 10
• Tiredness. 4 out of 5 (but Italian coffee helps a lot)
• Free Time. 0 out of 5 (this weekend is gonna be MANIA!)
• Last Meal. Hawaiian pizza
• Song of the day. Howie Day – Collide
• Thought for the day. Buongustaio!
• What I’m Doing Now. Talking on Skype :0)

My Feet Run Out of Ground

I’ve been working in Switzerland. Not as busy this week as I’d expected, but next week is going to be hectic. The calm before the storm…

I got back to Guildford on Friday and was very easily persuaded to go out and party with a load of mates I haven’t seen for a while. Despite having the same shirt as at least four other people, it was a great night…

(I’ve noticed that you haven’t been able to enlarge pictures on the blog recently, that’s basically me failing… but I’ve learnt from my mistakes now…)

On Saturday I got an amazing surprise visit from Will! Great to catch up!

(that’s a photo from my 21st! Bad times it’s been this long…)

Met up with Charlotte in the evening for dinner and some movie-watching, classic nights in are the best!

Then on Sunday Sophie Jones and I went swimming and rock climbing! So another quiet weekend in Guildford…

Back to the Switzer-lands tomorrow… :o)

• Happiness. 9.9 out of 10
• Tiredness. 3 out of 5 (but up at 5:50am tomorrow :S)
• Free Time. 3 out of 5
• Last Meal. Not Chicago town pizza… someone needs to tell drunks not to eat my food :P
• Song of the day. Leona Lewis – Happy
• Thought for the day. Actions speak louder than words…
• What I’m Doing Now. About to watch Precious with Sophie J!

Brief Update

I'm currently in Switzerland again on business, it’s looking like I’ll probably be out here for the next few weeks... but I'll still be back for the weekends :)

I’m hoping to get a new post out soon, but I think I've said a lot in the last two weeks... I’m trying to get back into my life after having a bit of a break recently, I’ve got lots of niggling things I’d like to get done in the next month, so we’ll see how it goes.

I have 2 posts I really want to write in the upcoming weeks (basically when I get round to writing them): 1) My degree and what’s wrong with it… and 2) Accommodation post! a look back and a look ahead…

• Happiness. 7 out of 10
• Tiredness. 4 out of 5
• Free Time. 3 out of 5
• Last Meal. Pizza (of course!)
• Song of the day. Paolo Nutini – These Streets
• Thought for the day. Work is going to be busy next week :S
• What I’m Doing Now. relaxing in the hotel lobby and getting annoyed with my course for, once again, failing at delivering any educational value. How can you advertise the Media Engineering Degree at University of Surrey as being IET accredited when it isn’t recognised as accredited by the IET!

No Socks Days

this post was written on Sunday 9th January

Some of the long-time readers of this blog may know about the “no socks phenomenon”. No socks days are those days that are so relaxing that you don’t even need socks. This weekend was one of those. It’s very rare I have a weekend doing nothing, so I took the chance to work on my cork wall, which due to the recent cold spell had decided to take a trip to the floor :( but it has now been restored to it’s former glory!

I spent the rest of the weekend working on a couple of websites I try to manage in my spare time (I can almost say ‘spare time’ with a straight face..)

I’ve found a few hilarious YouTube videos I want to share with you lovely people. Think of it as a late Christmas present…

For the technology enthusiasts out there.

I showed this to my sister at Christmas, and… well this emoticon sums it up nicely :O

You next babysitter will be “Rastaman Vibration”

I’m still yet to watch this without crying with laughter

Inception meets barbershop quartet. BRRRAAAAMMM!!

For more YouTube goodness, check out the YouTube Favourites section to the right of this page, all of these videos have been on there at some point. Or follow me on YouTube :)

• Happiness. 7 out of 10
• Tiredness. 0 out of 5 (but my body clock will need to adjust to Swiss time on Tuesday :P)
• Free Time. 4 out of 5 (ahhhhhh!)
• Last Meal. Sausage and bacon sandwich
• Song of the day. Paolo Nutini – New Shoes
• Thought for the day. A new poem :) called These Four Walls
• What I’m Doing Now. wearing socks… the floor’s just too cold!

Crack the Whip

This post was written on Wednesday 5th January

My first day back at work after Christmas was very welcoming. As much as I appreciated the Christmas break more this year because I didn’t have the Summer break I’m used to, going back to work was bizarrely cursive. It was great to see my work mates again and get stuck back into doing work I enjoy. I’ll admit that I did check up on the office a few times during the Christmas break (only about once a day) to see if anything was new. I was left quite disappointed when I realised that there was, in fact, nothing new, because everyone was on holiday. In just 6 months at work I can see how as you get older you really do end up living effectively two lives…

I’ve come up with a few new years resolutions:

1. The first is to go inter-railing. I see this summer as my last summer as a free man. By next summer I will have graduated (fingers crossed) and be looking for a job. And then once you’re in a job, that’s it mate. Say goodbye to taking months off to “find yourself” and “see the world”. That’s what university is for. If you leave university without knowing who you are, well it’s too late! Ok, so I may be being a bit melodramatic, but there’s an ounce of truth in there. The matter of the fact is that this summer is the last time I’ll get to take a month or more off to travel for some time. And while I’ve got the money, no wife, no kids or a mortgage, it’s got to happen!
2. Second is to exercise more. Do more climbing, running, weights and stuff. This is pretty much the most obvious new years resolution you can have, but hey, I have wool and go baaaaaa.
3. And finally be true to myself. I know it sounds stupid, but I don’t want to be someone I’m not. I’ve spend a long time in the past not being happy with who I am, and in the last year or two I’ve realised that that’s rubbish. I like who I am, and I don’t ever want to be someone I’m not. Don’t be pressured into doing something that’s against who you are, and don’t give up striving who you want to be. That’s what 2011 is all about for me.

• Happiness. 9 out of 10
• Tiredness. 1 out of 5
• Free Time. 4.5 out of 5
• Last Meal. Rice. It’s all I could find :S
• Song of the day. Paolo Nutini – Loving You
• Thought for the day. “Got alot of love to give - but trust is a must n i'm tight like the grinch with it; don't take it personal, i expect to be let down so prepare for the hurt n all. If ya real, you can see thru tha skills - and recognise that the child in me still feels. are you worth it? its not about being perfect, just catch when i fall and i'll always return it.” -  Thanks Baz :)
• What I’m Doing Now. Clearing my head after a long first day at work.

Putters & Leavers

This post was written on Tuesday 4th January

I went to write a list of 100 lessons I’ve learnt in 2010, but then I realised something. There is really only one lesson I learnt in 2010 that actually matters…

The lesson I learnt is to not take life too seriously. I had some bad experiences in 2010, but being able to laugh about them stops them affecting you as much. The quicker you can realise that what is done is done, the sooner you can get on with enjoying life.

I watched a fantastic comedian on Live At The Apollo the other day, Jon Richardson. And what he said was that there are 2 types of people in the world: Putters, and Leavers.

Putters are perfectionists. They know where they put their keys and they are tidy people. Leavers, however, are too busy enjoying life to care about where they leave things.

5m50s is Putters & Leavers – (video link updated)

No question I used to be a putter. Before I went to university and even within my first year I kept my room tidy, planned occasions, and generally kept track of my life. But recently I’ve become more of a leaver. I’m still a putter at heart, but I don’t have the time to be the perfectionist I once was with my life.

I realised that spending time with people, meeting people and spending time with friends was far more valuable in the long term than fussing about if I’d defragmented my hard drive recently. Perfection is short-lived in life, you can clean your room, sure, but is spending 2 hours cleaning your room to the n^th degree better than taking 20 minutes to put stuff away as you get ready to go out? Especially when you know that in a week it’ll need tidying again. Life is short. Spend it with people and do new things, you’ll thank yourself in the long run.

I think it all depends on how much time you can really dedicate yourself to something before it’s better spent on something else. And maybe by not taking life too seriously you’ll be able to dedicate your time to more things and then you’ll be enjoying life more.

Maybe everyone is a putter and a leaver to a certain extent, it just depends how you handle mistakes that defines you. And if you take life too seriously, you won’t handle the mistakes as well. Am I on the right lines?

• Happiness. 8 out of 10
• Tiredness. 1 out of 5
• Free Time. 3 out of 5
• Last Meal. Toast
• Song of the day. Paolo Nutini – Last Request
• Thought for the day. Do the things you will regret, because life isn't made by maybe, could have's or might be's. We only regret the chances we didn't take to listen to the person we might have been.
• What I’m Doing Now. Cleaning my room, ironically!

What’s 2011 All About?

This post was written on Tuesday 4th January

2010 was a fantastic year. And as always I’m going to maintain that live is not about where you go, or things you see, but the people and the experiences you have along the way. Every single one of my top 40 moments of last year was great because of people, and that’s what will make 2011 too. But you can’t just sit inside and wait for people to turn up! Here’s the vague plan in my head of how 2011 is shaping up:

• January. More working in Switzerland
• February. Going to KoKo club in London to see Mr Scruff, and Becky comes to London
• March. Giving up chocolate for lent (well, trying). Grand Prix season starts :)
• April. Seeing The King Blues at KoKo. Another boat trip?
• May. Nothing yet
• June. End of tenancy at my current abode
• July. Contracted to finish at Sony
• August. Start of Inter-rail trip
• September. End of inter-rail trip
• October. Back at university
• November. Nothing yet
• December. Christmas (because some things don’t change)

I’ll talk about the inter-rail trip in another post, but that’s the chorus in a nutshell. I’ve never meant what I’m about to say with such passion: “BRING IT ON!”

• Happiness. 9 out of 10
• Tiredness. 0 out of 5
• Free Time. 3 out of 5
• Last Meal. Chicken Tikka Masala from the pub
• Song of the day. Ellie Goulding - Your Song 
• Thought for the day. 2010 was good, but 2011 will be better
• What I’m Doing Now. Looking at the amazing curtains now in my room to block out the noise from the living room next door. Thank you dad!