So, you can tell it’s Sunday around here. There’s me (awake) and then there’s the girls.
Who are all clearly very tired.
Category Archives: Life
Writing
Yesterday I used the ‘snowflake method’ to write a single sentence description of a novel, and then expand that into a paragraph providing more detail. I actually quite like the idea I wrote, it’s something that’s been knocking around in my head for a few weeks. But I can’t help the feeling that ‘I am not worthy’ and that I should leave writing to the people who know what they’re doing.
I guess that’s the internal critic people talk about, telling me I’m not able to do it, and that I should learn how to tune it out and just get on with the writing and see what develops. Maybe I will. The next stage in the method is to write up some information on each of the characters, quite a lot of information and that will prove to be a challenge. Although I think I’m up to it. There are some technical difficulties with elements of the plot and I wonder how much attention I should pay to those at the beginning and if I should just ignore them and work them out as I go along. It’s possible that I’m getting hung-up on those issues due to some sekrit internal critic plot to stop me doing anything (this is main theory #1) so I’m going to try and not worry about them. They’ll either work out or not, and if they don’t I can try different things.
Still early, only just gone 8:08. Played a little Resident Evil 4 on the Wii, I like the control system. It’s pleasing that they managed to use the Wii features and not just rely on the standard controller. Playing it on easy, I suck at computer games in general, and got to an early section where some Evil Dudes[tm] were lobbing what looked like sticks of dynamite[1] at me, and inevitably I stumbled and went the wrong way and didn’t shoot the right guy and got blown up, maybe I’ll have another go later.
[1] is it dynamite these days? Does anyone still use that? I guess they do, a quick check reveals it’s considered to be a high explosive. Ooh I learned a new thing, the difference between low explosives and high explosives. Low explosives undergo deflagration (i.e. propagates through burning) where-as high explosives detonate rather than deflagrate.
Shift!
It’s shift based sleeping in our household today, Grete was up until around 5:00am and I’ve been up since then.
No reason. Felt like sharing.
Worst. Flapjack. Ever.
I love flapjack, but as you can imagine it’s loaded with sugar, and even though oats are nice and friendly and low GI, on the whole, flapjack isn’t the kind of snack I should be seeking. It’s the one thing I truly miss that could be considered a sweet snack.
So, I bought some honey (low-medium GI) and some Maple Syrup (pure) which is low GI and I tried to make some flapjack without sugar.
Worst.
Flapjack.
Ever.
The top is crusty and nice but hardly sweet, and the base is like a thick gloop of stodgy gloop which tastes like raw oats, which suggests to me it’s raw oats!
So, maybe I’ll have another shot. I’ve got some options like including some Splenda[tm], more syrup, less honey, baking it for longer, etc. Neither syrup nor honey are that cheap, so either I’ll find a recipe which works soon or I’ll have to re-mortgate the house.
I’m trying not to think about the 125g of butter you’re supposed to use per batch.
Sporting injuries
Opened up rhythm boxing on the wii fit last night (you open up more games / skills as you put in time), and today I can’t lift my left arm over my head. No pain no gain right? I’m still really impressed with the Wii Fit, and the Wii in general. Trying to beat your previous score, trying to get a clear run on the skiing, trying to learn the right steps on the step stuff, all adds up to excercising without it feeling like it (until 8 hours afterwards when your muscles, which you have spent 10 years ignoring, suddenly decide to moan).
Anyway, you should buy one (yes, you).
Lyrics
Scouting for Girls have a song called She’s So Lovely. My favourite lyric in that whole song is, “I love the way she makes me drool; i think that you are beautiful”.
You have to love that couplet.
When has drool and beautiful ever been rhymed before. Fantastic.
Found!
Carl remembered that I’d taken the cup to a meeting on Tuesday, and apparently I’d left it out there and the canteen staff had found it and cleaned it.
So, my rage was misplaced and I apologise.
The good news is that I still have my RTFM mug and I’m happy.
Pissed off
So I know that working in a big office (big, many thousands of people at this location, many hundreds in this building alone) means it’s impersonal. I know that there are dick heads in all walks of life. I know that I should lock my own fucking cup in my draw at night. But I still don’t expect to have it fucking stolen just because I have the audacity to use a personal cup for tea and leave it on my desk overnight or in the office when I’m working from home.
Not. Happy.
Sore fingers
When I was much younger, I had an electric guitar for a short period of time, and I wasn’t any good at playing (not enough practice). Grete took guitar lessons a while back and has flirted with picking it up again, so there’s a guitar in the house.
With my new found Rockin’ Guitar Skillz (Guitar Hero 3) I picked it up last night (the real guitar) to try out some chords. I can play chords.
But it MAKES MY FINGERS BLEED!
They still hurt this morning, and I only did like 15 minutes.
Day 98
It’s day 98 of my new diet (huh? what do you mean it’s only 8 days in? feels like 100!) and it’s going about as well as can be expected when you have the willpower of a demented shrew. In case you’re new to this, I don’t have a sweet tooth really, I just have a huge fat stomach.
Anyway, got through the weekend (roast dinner yesterday, too much veg but better than too much of everything else), and remembered at the last minute to have breakfast this morning (low GI bread toast)! Ate the last of Saturday’s Chilli for lunch with a packet of Dorito Tortilla’s (could be worse). Managed to buy sandwich stuff for tomorrow, and ended up making a quick chicken stir fry for this evening, which considering how late we got to Tesco, how little I wanted to cook and how high the temptation was to get something even easier, I’m taking it as a victory.