Member: Narshada

Narshada I rock it full & hairy.

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APRIL 30, 2012 @ 05:46 PM | NO COMMENTS


Ugh. Left it too long again. Been meaning to write an update for ages, but I'm always too busy or too tired to do it.

Last update was a brief one in March & before that it was a new year post! Sheesh.

To bring you up to speed:

We now live in Cambridgeshire & I work at my company's store in Cambridge itself. I'm getting on well there, have made some friends at work & generally like 99% of the people there, which is good.

I get the train to work, which is more expensive than the bus was in Bristol, but far more pleasant, albeit still with a few annoyances.

Yes, I've managed to get a personal blog site up. Wordpress & with a default theme as I've not had time to get into designing it, but it's on my "To do: Someday" list.

I've also been writing a short story that I started ages ago & intend to finish. The novel is currently on hiatus, but I will definitely return to it. I was speaking to a customer at work who was a budding novelist & she said generally the first book for authors is about 60-75K words. Mine is just over 60 at present & I'm not quite halfway through. Yikes. Could be a lot of editing to do.

Our daughter turned 1 just over a month ago & is still an absolute joy 89% of the time.

I'm still very active on Twitter & Instagram & even had one of my images highlighted on a weekly forum on Instagram. On that note, I've been truly bitten by the photography bug, (which you can read more about here if you wish,) and splurged out on this bad boy:
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A Canon 550D. It's fucking beautiful & it takes amazing pictures. I love it & am seriously considering a 5 year plan to becoming a professional.

Pictures

Instagram (iPhone 4S/Olloclip):
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DSLR:
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I'd be up for doing some portraits/sets if anyone was interested.
MARCH 15, 2012 @ 02:34 AM | 1 COMMENT


We're finally back online after moving. I've been rinsing the 3G on my phone. Proper update soon as I'm about to leave for work.
JANUARY 1, 2012 @ 06:32 PM | 1 COMMENT


DECEMBER 27, 2011 @ 01:36 PM


Merry festivus.

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DECEMBER 19, 2011 @ 04:34 PM


I'm 37.

When the fuck did that happen?
I mean obviously I know when, it was my birthday recently and I went out for a meal with Pinklet and our progeny, along with Kristoph and TheKnives, along with a couple of other friends.
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I mentioned my advancing decrepitude to a colleague the other day:
"I'm 37 soon!"
"Oh, well that's ok because you have a kid now!"

Not sure I follow the logic, but there we are.


So the big news is we're going to be moving. To Cambridge. I've got a transfer to the store there, (& just been told today I'll be getting a nice little bump in pay too,) so we can be nearer family. We won't be living in Cambridge itself, but more likely one of the cheaper outlying areas like Ely, where most of Pinklet's family lives. We'll also be closer to my family, making it easier all round for related folks to see The Bear, (our nickname for Evie,) & vice-versa. We've started looking for places & should move in the next couple of months.
I'm sad to be leaving Bristol. I've been here about 7 or 8 years now, (I'm bad with time, but I had my 30th not long after moving here,) & I love it, but it's not just about what I want any more, it's about what's best for the family. It's a sacrifice I'm happy to make & luckily my in-laws are awesome anyway so I'll get to see them more.

The second big news is that The Bear has teeth! Well, the beginnings of the bottom two anyway. It's causing her some grief at present.

Apps:

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

Path - Beautiful UI & UX. What Facebook should be like. Interestingly limits the number of people you can share with to 150.

Flipboard - Now on iPhone! Nicely done and a fantastic app anyway. Oddly they chose up & down flipping for the phone rather than the iPad's sideways flipping, but it works. Now has accounts to synch your setup between devices.

Simplenote - Does what it says, but also syncs with the amazing Scrivener, (Mac & PC writing app,) making it indispensible for writing on the go.

Cambox - Shoot shot videos of whatever (people usually,) making noises to create your own soundboards. More fun than it sounds.

GTA3 - Seriously. On iOS. Awesome on the phone, incredible on the iPad. I still remember my way around Liberty City.

Infinity Blade 2 - Amazing graphically, but really the same shallow, repetitive gameplay as before. You can dual wield now, but honestly, this still disappoints. When the Citadel tech demo came out, I was hoping for a free-roaming RPG style game with sword fights, not the on-rails version we got. Worth it only for the visuals.

Dark Meadow - same Unreal engine as IB, this is kind of similar, but takes place in an abandoned mental hospital. The slightly less on-rails feel helps (you move from point to point, but have choices & it's not shown as footage,) and the monsters are quite creepy. You dispatch them in a similar way to IB, so comparisons were always going to happen, but you switch between using a crossbow at long range, to a sword up close which changes the dynamic. Worth a punt.

iPlayer - Nice to see it native, but I honestly haven't used it yet. Got it on PS3, so need for the iPad version for us, but it's nice to have.

Super Stickman Golf - Awesome crazy golf game. Pick your angle, pick your power & take your shot. Way more fun than the screenshots look. Odd courses with ice or vertical platform-game courses add to the difficulty. Power-up's include Mulligans for those bad shots, sticky balls, switching water traps to sand traps etc. Plus the multiplayer is a hoot. Get it.

Maple Thief - iOS version of massive RPG Maple Story. Fun, but fiddly controls.

Fruit Ninja Puss - Puss in boots (from Shrek,) tie-in with Fruit Ninja. Makes absolutely no sense as Puss isn't a ninja, but whatever. Lots of quick to play mini-games with that, "try to get a perfect round" addictiveness. Plus, it's Fruit Ninja. Let's just hope the next tie-in is less obviously about the cash.

Whale Trail - Tap the screen to go up. Avoid clouds. Collect bubbles to stay aloft. Another game like Tiny Wings that was a big hit despite having no real longevity in the gameplay. Meh.

Snapseed - Nice UI - You slide up & down to choose effect, then left & right to alter the strength of it. Some nice filters, but really, it's no Filterstorm.

PicFrame - Choose a frame, then add photos. Multiple images per frame allows you to split one photo or add several pics to the same shot. Nice.

SlowShutter - Excellent app. Like being able to keep the shutter open for long exposures on a DSLR. Has Auto mode with 1, 2, 4, 8 & 15 second exposures, a manual mode, to time it as long as you like and a light trail mode, with variable levels of light sensitivity. I think it shoots video, then composites it into one image, as using it in low light situations to get a shot doesn't work, so it's not actually capturing more light. A lot of fun though & you can get some interesting blurs and effects - see below for a couple of examples. Along with the aforementioned Filterstorm and TiltShift for blurs & Bokeh effects, comprises what I think are the essential iPhone photography apps.



Photos

NOVEMBER 19, 2011 @ 07:19 PM


OCTOBER 25, 2011 @ 05:38 PM


So here's me doing the accent challenge thing:
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First video blog thing. Might do some others at some point. Who knows.

Currently off work for 2 weeks for a well deserved rest as it has been stupidly busy recently.

I finished my short story for the Blizzard annual competition. Fingers crossed - if I win I get to go to their headquarters and nab a load of free stuff. Plus obviously they'll want to employ me as a writer. (I wish.)

Tried to jump back on the novel 'horse' so to speak. Ended up reading the last 2 & 1/2 chapters again to catch up & not doing any actual writing. Tomorrow for sure.

Bought an iPad (loving it - particularly Flipboard,) and upgraded to an iPhone 4S. The camera is awesome. So, photos:

She turned seven months old yesterday.
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Brain slug!
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The wife made a severed toe necklace. Get in touch if you want one!
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Mim yawning
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GPOY
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OCTOBER 5, 2011 @ 05:10 PM


SEPTEMBER 13, 2011 @ 02:06 PM


MAY 15, 2011 @ 07:11 PM


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