I've been meaning to do a new blog for a while now.
I wish I could blame my lack of activity on a busy, interesting life but the truth is I've had a sense of apathy settle over me thats sapped my will to do anything. This has made me a bit of a shit friend recently as Ireally haven't been bothered with anything, even just keeping in touch with folkand I realise this makes me a bit of ass but I plan to start putting things back to normal.
On top of my house flooding and breaking my arm earlier this year I have now had to give up my get away place up in Glasgow. I know this was a bit of a luxury but I had been planning on being up there full time by now. I couldn't get my work to agree to let me work remotely up there and with all of my travelling for work etc I found I was just sleeping most of the time I was up there and it became a really expensive place to go for a nap.
On top of this I'vehad the pleasure of spending a week in court recently. I wasn't there for myself though.My 15 year old niece niece was prosecuting some bastard that tried to force himself on her when she was 12 andshe'd asked me to be there for her to provide moral support. What was supposed to be a 3 day trial lasted for 5 days and the end result was the jury couldn't agree on verdict so we have to do it all again in 6 months time. Yay :-s
Having to listen to what this guy did and then the bullshit he came up with I ended up spending the week afterwards seriously contemplating the difference between the law and justice and trying to track the fucker down. Not my best moment and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't do anything but I defy anyone to not at least contemplate such thoughts under the same circumstances.
I think its fair to say I've had a bit of a shit year so far but its time I snapped out of the funk I've been in.
I've just booked myself my first visit back to Glasgow for a month and half. I know its not really that long but when you've been going every other week for 2 years and thats been the basis of your social life it feels like its been longer. The plan is to be able to celebrate my birthday up there with my friends and to gether as many people together as possible to go paintballing. Should be a good opportunity to blow off some steam and put off what feels like an inevitable 'Falling Down' moment!
I have also booked my first proper holiday for a couple of years. I had been spending all of my free time up in Glasgow but now thats not possible I've decided to splash out and enjoy a week out in Vegas in October. I couldn't find anyone else in a position to join me so I'll just be going on my own but I fully intend to make the most of it. Theres a bunch of things I've put off doing in the past because I figured you should wait until you can shareexperiences with people but since thats not on the cards on the moment I'm going to enjoy myself as much as possible.
My current plans include getting to see Evil Dead the Musical at Planet Hollywood, I want to take a helicopter ride out to the Grand Canyon despite the idea of flying in a helicopter scaring me silly, I want to try indoor sky diving and I'm sure theres an almost infinite number of other things to make the most of whilst I'm there. If anyone has anything they'd recommend please let me know.
If you made it to the end of this blog I'm sorry its been primarily negative but I hope my next few will be more entertaining.
Take it easy folks.
I wish I could blame my lack of activity on a busy, interesting life but the truth is I've had a sense of apathy settle over me thats sapped my will to do anything. This has made me a bit of a shit friend recently as Ireally haven't been bothered with anything, even just keeping in touch with folkand I realise this makes me a bit of ass but I plan to start putting things back to normal.
On top of my house flooding and breaking my arm earlier this year I have now had to give up my get away place up in Glasgow. I know this was a bit of a luxury but I had been planning on being up there full time by now. I couldn't get my work to agree to let me work remotely up there and with all of my travelling for work etc I found I was just sleeping most of the time I was up there and it became a really expensive place to go for a nap.
On top of this I'vehad the pleasure of spending a week in court recently. I wasn't there for myself though.My 15 year old niece niece was prosecuting some bastard that tried to force himself on her when she was 12 andshe'd asked me to be there for her to provide moral support. What was supposed to be a 3 day trial lasted for 5 days and the end result was the jury couldn't agree on verdict so we have to do it all again in 6 months time. Yay :-s
Having to listen to what this guy did and then the bullshit he came up with I ended up spending the week afterwards seriously contemplating the difference between the law and justice and trying to track the fucker down. Not my best moment and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't do anything but I defy anyone to not at least contemplate such thoughts under the same circumstances.
I think its fair to say I've had a bit of a shit year so far but its time I snapped out of the funk I've been in.
I've just booked myself my first visit back to Glasgow for a month and half. I know its not really that long but when you've been going every other week for 2 years and thats been the basis of your social life it feels like its been longer. The plan is to be able to celebrate my birthday up there with my friends and to gether as many people together as possible to go paintballing. Should be a good opportunity to blow off some steam and put off what feels like an inevitable 'Falling Down' moment!
I have also booked my first proper holiday for a couple of years. I had been spending all of my free time up in Glasgow but now thats not possible I've decided to splash out and enjoy a week out in Vegas in October. I couldn't find anyone else in a position to join me so I'll just be going on my own but I fully intend to make the most of it. Theres a bunch of things I've put off doing in the past because I figured you should wait until you can shareexperiences with people but since thats not on the cards on the moment I'm going to enjoy myself as much as possible.
My current plans include getting to see Evil Dead the Musical at Planet Hollywood, I want to take a helicopter ride out to the Grand Canyon despite the idea of flying in a helicopter scaring me silly, I want to try indoor sky diving and I'm sure theres an almost infinite number of other things to make the most of whilst I'm there. If anyone has anything they'd recommend please let me know.
If you made it to the end of this blog I'm sorry its been primarily negative but I hope my next few will be more entertaining.
Take it easy folks.
Heya folks, hope everyones doing well.
I don't have any one particular thing to talk about at the moment so this is just going to be a quick run down of whats on my mind at the moment.
First of all I want to send a big thank you out to Fuschicho. Not only is she a stunning, awesome lass she's also a cool artist and has helped me flesh out the tattoo idea I've been toying with for some time. Next step is to take it to a tattoo artist in Glasgow and see how much its likely to cost me...
Talking about Glasgow I've come to the conclusion that I have to give up my flat share up there. As much as I love it up there work is keeping me so busy at the moment that the few weekends I get to spend up there I spend most of the time sleeping. When you add in flights there and back and the rent etc it starts to become a very expensive place to sleep. The way I figure it at the moment if I give up the flat I should be able to put £1,000 aside each month which will come in handy for a deposit further down the line.
I went to see Prometheus last weekend for a mates birthday. Its a very pretty film but it left me feeling nothing towards it. I don't think it was a bad film per se but its not something I'd particually want to watch again. I'll avoid spoilers but it felt like it was the second part of a trilogy of films with little context.
Talking of disappointing films Snow White and The Huntsman sucks pretty bad. Its not many films that tend to put me to sleep in the cinema but this one can claim the dubious honor.
There are still plenty of films to look forward to this year but this trailer caught my attention, it appeals to my love of nostalgic computer games...
I think thats all for now, take it easy all.
Steve
I don't have any one particular thing to talk about at the moment so this is just going to be a quick run down of whats on my mind at the moment.
First of all I want to send a big thank you out to Fuschicho. Not only is she a stunning, awesome lass she's also a cool artist and has helped me flesh out the tattoo idea I've been toying with for some time. Next step is to take it to a tattoo artist in Glasgow and see how much its likely to cost me...
Talking about Glasgow I've come to the conclusion that I have to give up my flat share up there. As much as I love it up there work is keeping me so busy at the moment that the few weekends I get to spend up there I spend most of the time sleeping. When you add in flights there and back and the rent etc it starts to become a very expensive place to sleep. The way I figure it at the moment if I give up the flat I should be able to put £1,000 aside each month which will come in handy for a deposit further down the line.
I went to see Prometheus last weekend for a mates birthday. Its a very pretty film but it left me feeling nothing towards it. I don't think it was a bad film per se but its not something I'd particually want to watch again. I'll avoid spoilers but it felt like it was the second part of a trilogy of films with little context.
Talking of disappointing films Snow White and The Huntsman sucks pretty bad. Its not many films that tend to put me to sleep in the cinema but this one can claim the dubious honor.
There are still plenty of films to look forward to this year but this trailer caught my attention, it appeals to my love of nostalgic computer games...
I think thats all for now, take it easy all.
Steve
My last blog didn't work out so well, the pics I tried to attachcame out far too large and at most you could see a quarter of each of them :-s
I really used to enjoy photography, espeacially doing pics at night where you can play with light to enhance the image.
At one point I was toying with the idea of trying to make some money from my photography but I don't think the pics I like taking are the most commercially viable. My brother used to joke that my pics where post card images which I think he meant as an insult but I took as a compliment.
Over the last year or 2 I haven't really had any time to take any pics and I need to change that. I always planned on travelling the world and taking pictures of things like the Eifel Tower, the Collesium in Rome, the Statue of Liberty, the Sphynx, Sydney Harbour, the Grand Canyon etc. I know theres plenty of great images of all of them out there but I wanted to be able to point to each picture and know that I had been there and have a story to go along with it.
I've been going through my pictures recently and here are some of my favourites:
A rose in Princess Street Gardens in Edinburgh after a brief shower...
A random street light along the South Bank of the Thames in London through some tree branches...
Some flowers by the side of a cage in London Zoo...
The Tower of London...
Big Ben with traffic streaking past...
St Pauls Cathedral and the Millenium Bridge...
Edinburgh Castle from Princess Street Gardens...
The London Eye at night with a twist...
The Houses of Parliament from across the Thames...
The London Eye...
Tower Bridge at night with a boat passing through it...
Hopefully I'll have some new pics to share over the next year or so as I get back into my photography.
One thing that looking through all of my old pics did make me smile was looking back at all of the pics of me over the last few years. I've never been one to stick with a look and run with it but the people I work with seem to find it funny. Dying the front bit of my hair red was a risk working in an office but it had some benefits in that it helped me get talking to more people. I tried growing my hair and later had to cut it all off to get a promotion at work. Looking back at these images I don't think of any of them as being 'my look' and I'm sure I'll have many more over the next few years.
Steve
I really used to enjoy photography, espeacially doing pics at night where you can play with light to enhance the image.
At one point I was toying with the idea of trying to make some money from my photography but I don't think the pics I like taking are the most commercially viable. My brother used to joke that my pics where post card images which I think he meant as an insult but I took as a compliment.
Over the last year or 2 I haven't really had any time to take any pics and I need to change that. I always planned on travelling the world and taking pictures of things like the Eifel Tower, the Collesium in Rome, the Statue of Liberty, the Sphynx, Sydney Harbour, the Grand Canyon etc. I know theres plenty of great images of all of them out there but I wanted to be able to point to each picture and know that I had been there and have a story to go along with it.
I've been going through my pictures recently and here are some of my favourites:
A rose in Princess Street Gardens in Edinburgh after a brief shower...
A random street light along the South Bank of the Thames in London through some tree branches...
Some flowers by the side of a cage in London Zoo...
The Tower of London...
Big Ben with traffic streaking past...
St Pauls Cathedral and the Millenium Bridge...
Edinburgh Castle from Princess Street Gardens...
The London Eye at night with a twist...
The Houses of Parliament from across the Thames...
The London Eye...
Tower Bridge at night with a boat passing through it...
Hopefully I'll have some new pics to share over the next year or so as I get back into my photography.
One thing that looking through all of my old pics did make me smile was looking back at all of the pics of me over the last few years. I've never been one to stick with a look and run with it but the people I work with seem to find it funny. Dying the front bit of my hair red was a risk working in an office but it had some benefits in that it helped me get talking to more people. I tried growing my hair and later had to cut it all off to get a promotion at work. Looking back at these images I don't think of any of them as being 'my look' and I'm sure I'll have many more over the next few years.
Steve
Heya folks,I hope everyones well.
After a good weekend up in Glasgow catching up with friends I've been left in a pretty positive mood.
I've had a tendency over the lastyear or so to let work take over too much of my life and have decided its time to start claiming it back!
It's all to easy to focus on the negative things in live but if I take a step back and look at the big picture things are pretty good.
I may live at home with my dad and brother but this is by choice and not neccesity, someone needs to keep an eye on them both. I also have a room up in Glasgow I rent from a friend so I have somewhere to get away to andtend to spend as much free time up there as I can. Its a bit odd having a job down south and a social live up north but at some point I'd like to move up there perminantly and I'm happy making the most of the airmiles I'm racking up flying back and forth all the time.
My job is not the most exciting possible but it does pay me enough to lead the life I enjoy which is all you can really ask for and I know I'm lucky to be able to do this in the current environment. I get to travel a fair amount around europe with the occaisional trip to the US but most of the time all I get to see is the airport, office and which ever hotel I'm staying in. I've been to Amsterdam 4 times in the last 6 months and I've not made it in to the city proper yet but I am going to be finding time to make the most of these trips going forward.
I've made a promise to myself to start doing things I enjoy more this year. This will include looking in to having a go at archery for the first time in too many years, breaking out my paintball gear and finding some time to get back out and taking photo's again.
When I first got my DSLR I was going out and about all the time taking pics and working onmy photography. I tended to keep to landscapes and cityscapes being a relatively shy person myself and really enjoyed taking night time pictures. I got a lot of praise from people that knew me and liked my pics and I've done several of them up as canvas prints etc for friends and family.
They may not be amazing but I like them and I look forward to having more pics like these to fill my future house/flat...
My goal was to be able to have enough pics to fill my own house once I finally settle down in one place of all the cool places I've been. I need to get back to that and start to plan where and when I want to go.
I still need to work on my social life a bit and I am going to be reaching out to some old friends I haven't seen for a while over the next couple of months.
All in all I feel good at the moment and I'm looking forward to what the future holds.
Take it easy,
Steve
After a good weekend up in Glasgow catching up with friends I've been left in a pretty positive mood.
I've had a tendency over the lastyear or so to let work take over too much of my life and have decided its time to start claiming it back!
It's all to easy to focus on the negative things in live but if I take a step back and look at the big picture things are pretty good.
I may live at home with my dad and brother but this is by choice and not neccesity, someone needs to keep an eye on them both. I also have a room up in Glasgow I rent from a friend so I have somewhere to get away to andtend to spend as much free time up there as I can. Its a bit odd having a job down south and a social live up north but at some point I'd like to move up there perminantly and I'm happy making the most of the airmiles I'm racking up flying back and forth all the time.
My job is not the most exciting possible but it does pay me enough to lead the life I enjoy which is all you can really ask for and I know I'm lucky to be able to do this in the current environment. I get to travel a fair amount around europe with the occaisional trip to the US but most of the time all I get to see is the airport, office and which ever hotel I'm staying in. I've been to Amsterdam 4 times in the last 6 months and I've not made it in to the city proper yet but I am going to be finding time to make the most of these trips going forward.
I've made a promise to myself to start doing things I enjoy more this year. This will include looking in to having a go at archery for the first time in too many years, breaking out my paintball gear and finding some time to get back out and taking photo's again.
When I first got my DSLR I was going out and about all the time taking pics and working onmy photography. I tended to keep to landscapes and cityscapes being a relatively shy person myself and really enjoyed taking night time pictures. I got a lot of praise from people that knew me and liked my pics and I've done several of them up as canvas prints etc for friends and family.
They may not be amazing but I like them and I look forward to having more pics like these to fill my future house/flat...
My goal was to be able to have enough pics to fill my own house once I finally settle down in one place of all the cool places I've been. I need to get back to that and start to plan where and when I want to go.
I still need to work on my social life a bit and I am going to be reaching out to some old friends I haven't seen for a while over the next couple of months.
All in all I feel good at the moment and I'm looking forward to what the future holds.
Take it easy,
Steve
Heya folks.
As I mentioned in my last blog I don't have any tattoo's but I've been wanting one for a while now. A fear of needles used to put me off but talking to a lot of friends that have them I know thats not really an issue.
A while ago I did a sketch of a rough idea I had for a celtic cross on my upper left arm whilst travelling back from Glasgow. I always wanted to work on it but work got on top of me and I suck at drawing..
Since there are so many artistic people on here with or without tats I figured you'd be the best people to ask for advise and if anyone's willing to help me work on this I'd really appreciate it.
Heres the original sketch I did...
The idea behind it is that the 4 pieces of the cross represents the various parts of my life. The ring represents my friends and family holding me together. Noli Me Tangere is my family motto, the stylised tribal dragon design is from a tie a friend gave me about 12 years ago.
The basis for the celtic cross was taken from something I'd seen online and saved for future reference.
I wasn't sure how to change the celtic pattern to fit the changed shape of the cross but I'm hoping theres a way to fit it in.
I want to stick to black ink and shading to flesh the image out and I think it might need something behind the cross to help it blend in with my arm better, perhaps like the one I found here...
If anyone has any feedback or advise please let me know, it'll be much appreciated.
Take it easy.
Steve
As I mentioned in my last blog I don't have any tattoo's but I've been wanting one for a while now. A fear of needles used to put me off but talking to a lot of friends that have them I know thats not really an issue.
A while ago I did a sketch of a rough idea I had for a celtic cross on my upper left arm whilst travelling back from Glasgow. I always wanted to work on it but work got on top of me and I suck at drawing..
Since there are so many artistic people on here with or without tats I figured you'd be the best people to ask for advise and if anyone's willing to help me work on this I'd really appreciate it.
Heres the original sketch I did...
The idea behind it is that the 4 pieces of the cross represents the various parts of my life. The ring represents my friends and family holding me together. Noli Me Tangere is my family motto, the stylised tribal dragon design is from a tie a friend gave me about 12 years ago.
The basis for the celtic cross was taken from something I'd seen online and saved for future reference.
I wasn't sure how to change the celtic pattern to fit the changed shape of the cross but I'm hoping theres a way to fit it in.
I want to stick to black ink and shading to flesh the image out and I think it might need something behind the cross to help it blend in with my arm better, perhaps like the one I found here...
If anyone has any feedback or advise please let me know, it'll be much appreciated.
Take it easy.
Steve
It's taken a while but things feel like they're starting to get back to normal after the flood and broken arm. The insurance company has paid out on all of the claims and I have almost full use of my arm again.
The last 2 weekends have been good after a stag party in Nottingham and catching up with a friend in Cardiff. Works been hectic but as long as they continue to pay me enough to live the life I want I'd be stupid to complain about it.
I've caught quite a few films over the last few weeks. Cabin in the Woods is a great take on horror films and well worth a look if thats your type of thing.Its not what you might expect butI can't say much without spoiling the film. The Avengers is out almost everywhere apart from the US and is probably the film I've been most looking forward to the most. Again I won't spoil anything for anyone but if you like the Marvel films you'll love this and I'm left wanting to see Joss Whedon do a Hulk film with Mark Ruffalo. Battleship and Wrath of the Titans are both films I'd skip, good enough if you have time to kill and nothing better to do but if I didn't have an unlimited cinema pass I wouldn't have wasted money on them.
The next couple of weeks are looking to be pretty busy but in a good way. I fly up to Glasgow for a long weekend on Wednesday and look forward to catching up with everyone there and the weekend after is my nephews 18th birthday. It feels weird that he wants me to take him out clubbing at some point but its cool he looks up to me for that kind of thing.
I've been spending a lot of time recently thinking about getting my first tattoo. A fear of needles has always held me back but I've always wanted to get one. I figure now would be as good a time as any and I can use it to mark a fresh start in my life. My problem is that I'm not very artistic when it comes to sketching something. I have a good idea of what I want but I need to find an artist that can flesh it out and make it that little bit better. If anyone's good at sketching or could recommend someone please let me know.
Take it easy folks.
Steve
The last 2 weekends have been good after a stag party in Nottingham and catching up with a friend in Cardiff. Works been hectic but as long as they continue to pay me enough to live the life I want I'd be stupid to complain about it.
I've caught quite a few films over the last few weeks. Cabin in the Woods is a great take on horror films and well worth a look if thats your type of thing.Its not what you might expect butI can't say much without spoiling the film. The Avengers is out almost everywhere apart from the US and is probably the film I've been most looking forward to the most. Again I won't spoil anything for anyone but if you like the Marvel films you'll love this and I'm left wanting to see Joss Whedon do a Hulk film with Mark Ruffalo. Battleship and Wrath of the Titans are both films I'd skip, good enough if you have time to kill and nothing better to do but if I didn't have an unlimited cinema pass I wouldn't have wasted money on them.
The next couple of weeks are looking to be pretty busy but in a good way. I fly up to Glasgow for a long weekend on Wednesday and look forward to catching up with everyone there and the weekend after is my nephews 18th birthday. It feels weird that he wants me to take him out clubbing at some point but its cool he looks up to me for that kind of thing.
I've been spending a lot of time recently thinking about getting my first tattoo. A fear of needles has always held me back but I've always wanted to get one. I figure now would be as good a time as any and I can use it to mark a fresh start in my life. My problem is that I'm not very artistic when it comes to sketching something. I have a good idea of what I want but I need to find an artist that can flesh it out and make it that little bit better. If anyone's good at sketching or could recommend someone please let me know.
Take it easy folks.
Steve
Heya folks.
It's only my second blog post and already I'm having to apologise for it taking so long.
There's a good reason for this though. After all the fun and games with the flooding I had to deal with at home I tripped up and fell down hard a few weeks back fracturing my left hand and right elbow. It's taken until now to be able to post again. Both are healing well and I've been told theres no need for surgery or anything so I just need to take it easy for a while.
On the bright side though I got a promotion at work the day before I had my accident and am now technically a manager despite not having anyone to manage. It comes with a decent payrise though and I'm now at a point where I can consider buying my own home which is pretty cool.
Assuming there's no more accidents I'll try to post something more substantial and interesting later this week. I've just arrived in Cork for a work meeting tomorrow but will be back home by Wednesday and I have a stag party to look forward to over the weekend in Nottingham which should be interesting if nothing else.
Take it easy.
Steve
It's only my second blog post and already I'm having to apologise for it taking so long.
There's a good reason for this though. After all the fun and games with the flooding I had to deal with at home I tripped up and fell down hard a few weeks back fracturing my left hand and right elbow. It's taken until now to be able to post again. Both are healing well and I've been told theres no need for surgery or anything so I just need to take it easy for a while.
On the bright side though I got a promotion at work the day before I had my accident and am now technically a manager despite not having anyone to manage. It comes with a decent payrise though and I'm now at a point where I can consider buying my own home which is pretty cool.
Assuming there's no more accidents I'll try to post something more substantial and interesting later this week. I've just arrived in Cork for a work meeting tomorrow but will be back home by Wednesday and I have a stag party to look forward to over the weekend in Nottingham which should be interesting if nothing else.
Take it easy.
Steve
I've never kept a blog before so please forgive me if it takes me a little while to get the hang of this.
I had intended to start this sooner but 4 weeks ago one of the water pipes above my room at home burst whilst I was away for a weekend, flooding almost everything I own. This has caused quite a bit of stress trying to get everything sorted and I'v only just received my replacement laptop.
Its quite an odd experience losing everything you've collected over the years. Lots of things can be replaced but there will be things you lose that have no value to anyone but yourself. To begin with I was quite down about the whole thing which I don't think is unreasonable but after some time to think I have realised this is an opportunity.
I can use this to start anew.
I can't quite find the words to express my thoughts but rather than dwell on the bad I will focus on starting from scratch. Some might say I'm getting a bit old for that but I have little time for negativity.
I appreciate this isn't the most exciting of posts but I just needed to get some of my thoughts down. I will endeaver to make my next post more interesting. I'm not sure what I'll write about yet but I'll figure something out.
In the meantime I hope anyone that might happen to read this is keeping well and I'll catch you another time.
Steve
I had intended to start this sooner but 4 weeks ago one of the water pipes above my room at home burst whilst I was away for a weekend, flooding almost everything I own. This has caused quite a bit of stress trying to get everything sorted and I'v only just received my replacement laptop.
Its quite an odd experience losing everything you've collected over the years. Lots of things can be replaced but there will be things you lose that have no value to anyone but yourself. To begin with I was quite down about the whole thing which I don't think is unreasonable but after some time to think I have realised this is an opportunity.
I can use this to start anew.
I can't quite find the words to express my thoughts but rather than dwell on the bad I will focus on starting from scratch. Some might say I'm getting a bit old for that but I have little time for negativity.
I appreciate this isn't the most exciting of posts but I just needed to get some of my thoughts down. I will endeaver to make my next post more interesting. I'm not sure what I'll write about yet but I'll figure something out.
In the meantime I hope anyone that might happen to read this is keeping well and I'll catch you another time.
Steve
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