Profound Nonsense

Self Portrait - November 2011

2011-11-10T01:37:00.002Z

I still feel that my self portraits are improving as I take more. They have gradually evolved from black and white on a black background, through to colour on a black background, and then coloured backgrounds for the last couple.

I still need to learn a bit more about lighting, but I'm going to need some more lights for that.

Pumpkin Carving

2011-10-30T18:44:00.001Z

People in the UK generally don't go as crazy as Americans do for halloween. I usually don't get a pumpkin to carve, but thought I would this year. A pretty typical face, but it turned out OK.

Prepare for a change..

2011-10-19T20:37:00.001+01:00

I feel that a redesign around here may be imminent (which, considering it is me saying that, probably means within the next month or so).

If you have suggestions, I'll happily take (and largely ignore) them.

Self Portrait - October 2011

2011-10-17T21:38:00.002+01:00

Thinking I should do a "spooky" portrait for Halloween at the end of the month too. It will depend if I end up dressing up or can be bothered gruesifying myself in photoshop.

Things I have been doing recently

2011-09-20T16:53:00.000+01:00

Well, intentions outlined in my previous post haven't been followed up on very well have they. I also have this strange aversion to writing anything here when I know there has been a long gap. The longer the gap is, the more pressure there is to write something and therefore the less I feel like doing anything about it. Note that this is a common pattern of behaviour and that should you ever wish to get me to do something that continual pressure probably isn't the best way to do it. I'd like to say I have been so busy over the last month or so (ok, nearly two months) that I just haven't had the time to write. That would of course be a lie.

With the deadline to my list of goals ending in the previous post, I have since realised how useful it was as motivation for applying myself to certain tasks. You may have noticed (or not) that there wasn't even a self portrait last month, despite me considering it worthy enough to continue doing after the deadline passed. I'll try and make that a one off (well at least until I make a decision to stop doing it rather than it just lapsing). For reasons of motivation then, I'm going to get my next 101 list completed as soon as I can. With my birthday coming up, it'll be a list that takes me most of the way to 30, which is slightly scary number.

One thing I have been doing with my time recently (apart from applying for jobs and hearing very little back.. but we'll skip that) is working on a website project for a friend. It's the first site based on an ecommerce platform that I have worked on, so I have learned quite a bit along the way. The site itself is for his company, Inox Fasteners, which sells stainless steel fasteners for motorcycles. It may not sound like the most exciting subject matter, but I am pretty happy with how the site has come out visually and functionally. I'll be interested to see if it helps his business (which is the main goal after all). It also gives me a itch to start twiddling around with the template for this blog as well, so I might get stuck into that soon and give things a bit of a refresh.

101 Things in 1001 Days Deadline is Over

2011-07-28T21:37:00.001+01:00

Yep, last night was the deadline date for my 101 Things in 1001 Days List. I have gone over the list and marked off all of the items I managed to complete and those that I failed. I have also left some of the goals marked in orange, as I felt it would be better to highlight them not as abject failures, but as attempts (some more successful than others it has to be said).

Over the next week or two I will be breaking it down and talking about some of the goals in more detail and what I have got out of the whole process. It has certainly been a positive, even if I have come away at the end of it with less than half of the total completed.

By this time next month I should have a new list started, hopefully learning some lessons about goal setting from last time around. Who knew that three years would end up feeling like such a short period of time.

I'm Back!

2011-07-26T22:48:00.002+01:00

I suspect you didn't even notice I was gone, as this fits pretty much into my usual update schedule now. Either way, my internet connection was severed over the weekend due to an engineer (I assume) from the phone company fiddling around and managing to swap our line with someone else's. That meant a different number for a few days and a dead internet connection (it's ADSL and unsurprisingly doesn't work if it isn't plugged into the right place).

It also happens to be less the 24hrs until my list deadline hits. I can't imagine getting a whole lot more done on it in that time, but a bit of rushed flailing might push one or tow goals over the edge.

The boredom of no internet connection for a few days did mean that I got around to watching all three seasons of Arrested Development (which I'd been meaning to do for a while). If you aren't familiar with it, I suggest you schedule some eye ball time and sit and enjoy. You will thank me.

Deer in the Garden

2011-07-21T17:06:00.002+01:00

We have had deer in the garden before, though as it seems rather unlikely people have been surprised when it has been mentioned. Recently the deer in the video above has been a repeat visitor. Maybe it appreciates the vegetable patch in our neighbour's garden.

Now, I don't live in the middle of a forest, as you can see from the map below. The house is roughly where the blue dot is.

How To: Understanding Snot

2011-07-14T04:28:00.001+01:00

I was in the shower just now, which provided a good opportunity to blow my nose. Unlike out in public, where not using a tissue would be frowned upon (and would also result in a condition I'll call "snot-palm"), in the shower any blockages that are cleared can be immediately washed away with sweet sweet running water. Steam and water also provide a handy loosening agent for any encrusted boogers.

Whether blowing into a tissue, your hand, or the face of a passer-by, snot can come in a variety of forms. This guide attempts to cover the commonly occurring types and what they could mean for you / your nose (note: if you are actually concerned by the appearance of your snot, this guide will not help you. Please consult a suitable health professional).

Soft and Green

This is the commonest type of snot, which everyone will be familiar with. When you look down into your tissue after blowing this is likely what you will see.

Appearance:
As the title suggests, shades of green will be predominant here and consistency will generally be soft and gooey. Slight variation may occur, along with possible flecks of booger.

What it means:
Everything is normal and your nose hole environment is within standard operating conditions. Large quantities may indicate the onset (or tail-end) of a cold.

White and Sticky

We've likely all be here too. Your nose probably feels backed up and snot production appears to be in overdrive.

Appearance:
Much lighter than the green and soft regular snot, and much harder to blow out due to the sticky consistency. It can often appear white or translucent.

What it means:
Your nose has turned into a war zone. The lighter colour probably means your snot is packed with white cells, which are attempting to fight off some nasty bacteria. You probably feel like shit and hopefully have a stockpile of tissues close at hand. Either that or your partner has bad (or very good depending) aim.

Dry and Flaky

You have probably noticed that the inside of your nose is a little itchy and upon closer investigation you have a case of the "dry and flakies".

Appearance:
Colouration will likely be pretty normal, but consistency will be decidedly dry and hard and will likely break into smaller flakes readily. If you want to smuggle snot into food as a "dressing" then this type will probably arouse the least suspicion from the (deserving, I'm sure) victim.

What it means:
It is likely that you are dehydrated, maybe you had too much to drink last night and are hungover (yep, that's dehydration at work too). Clear out the flakes and any areas of associated "nose concrete" as best as you can. Oh, and get yourself a glass of water or two.

Black and/or Red

You may or may not have had a nose bleed recently, but either way there is something going on up there.

Appearance:
There are a few variations that can fall into this category. You may notice streaks of red along with your usual snot output or maybe even a lovely gooey red blood clot. Either that or hard, almost black chunks that can often impede air flow.

What it means:
There can be a number of explanations here. You can have recently been hit in the face for being an annoying twat. Maybe you have an expensive coke (white and powdery, rather than dark and fizzy) habit, or maybe you just like shoving your finger up your nose holes far too often. Your options are therefore either to stop pissing people off so much that they resort to physical violence, cut down on the white stuff or just stop picking so much.

In the event that none of those is the cause and you happen to have weak blood vessels in your nose, then I feel for you.

"Brain Juice"

Appearance:
Long and stringy, and can often lead to watery eyes upon extraction.

What it means:
Every so often, your brain builds up excess fluid, and the easiest way for it to "relieve" itself is through the nasal cavity. That feeling you get when a particularly long and stringy gloop finds its way out occurs because it is actaully detaching itself from the brain's surface. Be careful if this happens when you are out shopping, as it can leave you more open to persuasion. Resist!

I hope you have found this guide to snot helpful. It is certainly not an exhaustive list and should in no way be taken seriously.

Self Portrait - July 2011

2011-07-07T20:01:00.001+01:00

I started taking a monthly self portrait back in October 2008. Nearly three years on I have now successfully completed my goal (though I will go on taking portraits in the future). To mark the completion I have moved away from my usually black background to a shade of light blue.

46. Plant a Tree

2011-07-07T01:02:00.001+01:00

Planting a tree is a list item I could have completed at pretty much any time (being one of the easier tasks). I finally got around to it last Saturday, when I panted a Monkey Puzzle sapling that we have had sat in a pot in the garden for a while now. The Monkey Puzzle is a very old species of tree and therefore looks a little odd. It is very prickly.

They can live for a long time (hundreds of years) and potentially grow quite slowly. Maybe I can come back in fifty years (assuming I'm still around) and see how it is getting on.

Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Band @ Shepherd's Bush Empire

2011-07-02T18:06:00.001+01:00

I'm happy to say that I have now completed goal number 42 on my 101 Things List - Go to at least 5 live music gigs a year. Not only that, but I finished it on a high point, with one of the best performances of the lot (if not the best). A band packed full of talented musicians who really enjoyed themselves on stage. The venue certainly isn't the best I have been to and the crowd seemed unusually tall (it is rare that I have to shuffle around to get a good view), but that didn't detract from the experience too much.

With less than a month to go until my list deadline, it is nice to get another thing crossed off. It is looking like it may be tough even getting to halfway on the total now, but I'll see what I can do to boost the number over the next few weeks.

Self Portrait - June 2011

2011-06-30T23:52:00.002+01:00

On the late side this month, but still made it.

I was away, now I am back

2011-06-26T23:53:00.003+01:00

I failed to mention I would be away didn't I.

I spent last week down near the coast in Devon with the immediate family (minus one sister who couldn't make it due to work commitments).

I had a good time and there will be pictures on here shortly (or you can check out the flickr stuff on the right on this here blog if you want to see them sooner).

Normal blogging service will be resumed in due course.

Amazingly I returned to less than one hundred emails in my inbox. A week without internet was refreshing in some ways but difficult in others.

Feeding Time

2011-06-15T01:28:00.020+01:00

I set up the DSLR on a tripod today in an attempt to get some pictures of the birds that come to the feeder in the garden. This didn't turn out too well and I ended up getting a few pictures of birds flying away, but nothing where you can really tell what kind of bird it is. After the hour or so that I spent sitting with my laptop (which is my remote trigger) I came away disappointed.

Yep, lots of photos like this.

A new approach was needed.

I thought I might have a bit more success recording a bit of video, so I grabbed my point and shoot and pointed it at the bird feeder. I took about twenty minutes of video in total, which I then edited down to the bits where something is actually happening.

You can see a few of the visitors now, rather than just their backsides. I think the goldfinch (with the red face) took a look at the camera and decided it didn't fancy hanging around.

I have started recording my weight

2011-06-10T02:26:00.002+01:00

There it is for the past three days (unless you are reading this later, in which case replace three with whatever number is correct). Oh yes, that is of course in pounds (note that I am also 6' 3").

I'm not really trying to lose or gain weight, but I will be interested to see how much it fluctuates (I love that word by the way). Generally I consider my weight to be very steady, but maybe I will be proved wrong?

Nom nom nom

2011-06-04T17:08:00.000+01:00

The robins have been enjoying the mealworms I have been putting out. I haven't taken my bird pictures so far this year, so I'll be staking out the garden with my laptop and camera attached by a long cable (so I can hide).

I think I have seen fledgling birds for pretty much all of the species that frequent our garden now, with the notable exception of the goldfinches. I'm sure those will come soon enough.

Fleet Foxes @ Hammersmith Apollo

2011-06-02T22:31:00.018+01:00

Another gig, another blurry photo. I may be tempted to take my 'proper' camera to a gig one of these days, where my 50mm f1.8 might do a better job of capturing some light without having to keep the shutter open so long.

Fleet Foxes at the Hammersmith Apollo last night was my fourteenth gig from a required fifteen to achieve my list goal (that's at least five gigs a year). I will complete the fifteen on the 29th when I go to see The Derek Trucks Band, which I am also really looking forward to.

How were Fleet Foxes live?

I'd say they were a solid 4/5. I'm sure they would work better in a smaller venue, but they managed to fill the room admirably most of the time.

The Quest for Fitness (Again)

2011-05-29T23:05:00.031+01:00

If you have been reading this blog for a while (I consider you special if you have by the way) then you may remember me devising a workout plan as part of my goal to get a bit fitter. It turns out that May 2009 was a good two years ago now (who would have thought it!) and in the time between then and now my efforts in this area have been sporadic at best. Yep, my goals of running full, or even half marathons is basically dead in the water at this point. Oh the shame!

All is not lost though, and having a plan that has worked before (at least I considered it a success) means that I have something to fall back on. If I follow that for another six weeks (starting now), then I should be at least a little fitter by the time the deadline for my list goals comes around at the end of July.

I'm also well aware that I have been neglecting my blog again since I managed to fail my goal of posting every couple of days. I would say expect me to try and achieve that again (even though I won't be able to tick it off), but you can more than likely expect my next post to slip to about a week from now. It'll either be that or single short paragraphs (which is better than nothing, is it not?).

Now I'm off to wash my self down with lime scented shower gel. Mmmmm... lime.

Roses

2011-05-26T03:09:00.011+01:00

The roses in our garden are a bit early this year, what with the warm and dry spring we have had here in the UK. At the moment they all seem to be out together, making taking a walk from the house down a sloping path to the bottom a pleasurable experience.

Here are just a few of the ten I took photos of recently.

The last purple-red Italian rose has a particularly fine scent. Flowers that look pretty but don't smell of anything don't really interest me much. Catching a lingering smell on a warm summer evening is far more intriguing.

Ah flowers.. the crutch of the amateur photographer.

Self Portrait - May 2011

2011-05-15T18:01:00.000+01:00

Remembered to wear a contrasting colour again this month. Not bad considering I nearly always take these portraits very late at night.

Tits in the Garden

2011-05-14T20:15:00.005+01:00

The birds that visit our garden have been busy recently. The Blue Tits in particular. They spend most of the day flying to and from their nest (which appears to be at the side of the house somewhere if their trajectory is anything to go by). To make things a bit easier for them, and to make sure their chicks are nice and fat and healthy, I have been putting out mealworms for them.

They are efficient collectors once they realise there is food there for them, with the male and female doing relays back and forth. Fortunately I have plenty of mealworms from the breeding I have been doing, though most are still quite a bit off full size.

I'll probably try and get some nice close up video in the next few days, as it should be reasonably easy to set the camera up somewhere hidden (or at least not obvious).

Some more 101 List Failures

2011-05-04T23:10:00.050+01:00

A couple of months ago I analysed a few of the goals I have failed to achieve on my 101 Things in 1001 Days List. With roughly three months left until my deadline on July 27th it is time to add add a few more to the "not going to happen" pile.

So here we go.

2. Visit Japan

3. Go to the Fuji Rock Festival

I'm going to talk about both of these goals together, as they are essentially linked. Both are goals I am disappointed to be striking off as failures. I still very much want to visit Japan, though my financial situation means that probably isn't going to happen any time soon. The Fuji Rock Lineup is looking pretty good again this year too (OK, maybe not Coldplay but there are plenty of great acts on that list).

I imagine both of these will make it onto the next version of the list (oh yes, there will be another one!).

45. Go to Bestival (again)

This is one that likely won't make it onto the list next time around. I'm obviously not going to achieve this one as Bestival is in September (after my deadline) and I haven't already done it. Not too bothered about not completing this one really.

So that's three more fails, and hopefully there won't be a whole lot more. Until the deadline date when I have to do an overall and final assessment of course. I am bracing for the shit to hit the fan then. In a way I'm doing some damage limitation by pre-empting some of those.

How Much Music!?

2011-04-26T22:30:00.000+01:00

While a lot of my 101 Things List may be going slowly (or not at all in some cases), I have been trying to keep on top of my Album List recently. As with my last post about taking a portrait of myself every month, this is one list item that I haven't had much trouble with, despite it seeming like a pretty daunting task.

An album a week might not sound like too big of an undertaking, I mean that only means I have to find what, 45mins (about average) a week to listen to something new. I can even do it while doing other stuff. Yet it has been 128 weeks in a row that I have managed to do that now though, and the number of albums on the list is greater than that due to random spurts of listening to lots of new music. Again, I have got a lot of out it (I love music after all).

If you haven't had a browse through the list then go and do it now! I'd say that I would recommend at least giving a listen to something like 90% of what is on there (that's not many duds). When I look back at the completed list after my deadline date has passed I might even let myself be a bit proud.

Now if only I could say that for some of my other goals...

There is still time!

Self Portrait - April 2011

2011-04-20T01:21:00.001+01:00

I'm still enjoying taking a portrait every month, it is one of the list items I am really getting a lot out of I think. Partly because I learn a bit more about taking the photo and setting it up each time and also because I will have something to look back on once I am done. It is for that reason that I am planning to continue my monthly portraits after my list deadline is up.

You can check back on all of the portraits I have taken so far, or see the larger versions in my flickr set.