Bad Mike, no biscuit. I've not updated for nearly a fortnight, so need to sort that out.
What's been happening? Well, getting faintly squiffy with friends (#56) is coming along, and there might be a part two to that in mid-September. The volunteering project (#20) has been kicked off and I'll be writing about that after the Bradford Photocamp (come along if you want to hear about it at Photocamp, as I'll be giving a talk on that and on pinhole cameras, slides will be linked in here after the event), but I've been having many meetings on this and learning all sorts of whizzy new stuff. Brewing ginger beer has occupied some of my headspace too (#50) but because we don't drink fizzy pop there's a shortage of storage vessels. I'll fix that in a day or two, though. Also, S got a piece of paper saying she has an MA. It's not part of this exercise, but still a very good thing.
Also upcoming: the local NHS PCT AGM is in September. For various reasons I'm on the list, so I might well take a day off and attend that (if we're not on holiday) because delegates get to wander about the Thackray Medical Museum (part of #57) as well as poke our noses into how the PCT is run. There's a huge redesign of Tea & Cake underway, and there's even a podcast up there now. It's not writing more (#58), but it's an improvement. Alas, I missed out on a chance of a backstage tour at the WYP, but there will be other opportunities. Cake comp (#95) is in October, and T&C will be involved with it, somehow.
There's other stuff as well, but this'll do for now.
Currently running habitual tasks: #3 (94+/365, stalling, not sure where I am with this), #13, #26, #37 (4/<34), #60 (11/50), #66 (66/250), #67 (1/>1), #81 (4/250) #85 (5/4) #87, #88, #97 (1/8), #100 (3/>3)
Currently running exploratory tasks: #38 (1/18), #17 (1/54+), #57 (1/9+), #96 (1/>1)
Currently running growing tasks: #41, #52
Completed: 9
Remaining: 92
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Day 131, 130709 (pt 2)
Oh, and something else: I've made a start on writing letters rather than emailing people (#67). My Grandmother, bless 'er, has broken her arm so I wrote her an 8-page letter talking about my recent adventures in Telly (which I've not talked about on here yet) to take her mind off it. I can't think of a better reason than that, to be honest.
Currently running habitual tasks: #3 (94+/365, stalling, not sure where I am with this), #13, #26, #37 (4/<34), #60 (11/50), #67 (1/>1), #68, #66 (66/250), #81 (1/250) #85 (5/4) #87, #88, #97 (1/8), #100 (3/>3)
Currently running exploratory tasks: #38 (1/18), #17 (1/54+), #57 (1/9+)
Currently running growing tasks: #41, #52
Completed: 9
Remaining: 92
Currently running habitual tasks: #3 (94+/365, stalling, not sure where I am with this), #13, #26, #37 (4/<34), #60 (11/50), #67 (1/>1), #68, #66 (66/250), #81 (1/250) #85 (5/4) #87, #88, #97 (1/8), #100 (3/>3)
Currently running exploratory tasks: #38 (1/18), #17 (1/54+), #57 (1/9+)
Currently running growing tasks: #41, #52
Completed: 9
Remaining: 92
Day 131, 130709
Walking in to work is easier than walking home. I want to get home as quickly as I can, and psychologically that means getting the bus, despite the bus stop being about 1/4 of the way home and I'd have to wait up to 30 minutes for the right bus anyway. Walking home takes maybe 10 minutes longer than getting to the bus stop, waiting for 20 minutes and having to battle through the traffic around Asda House. Walking in takes maybe 10 minutes longer than getting to the bus stop, waiting for a bus that never comes, getting on the next one that turns up - which deposits me in such a way I have to walk an extra half-mile to get to werk - which is promptly overtaken by the one I intended to get, and so on. Ultimately, I should just walk to-and-from every day that I can't be bothered togging up in cycling gear.
Even though my route varies slightly from day-to-day (I have proof of this, but as it identifies both where I work and where I live, I won't be making those GPS traces publically available just yet), coming into work is still sufficiently early that I can walk most of it in a zenlike trance, semimeditative, with a couple of subprocesses stopping me from walking into traffic (the routes I take are deliberately light on cars) and people. My mind starts thinking of random stuff, which I'm very happy to let it do.
The other morning, my branes started churning out Lewis Carroll, as a response to certain items on my To-Do list. No, I don't know why either. But, I was reminded of the chain of Belgian chocolate shops called Leodis, and decided that calling my chocolate company that would be foolish, and really it should be Loidis anyway (which sounds wrong), and if I were going to take the latin route the best I could come up with was Cambodunum (which is arguably wrong, but without a time machine or a cache of documents yet to be discovered...). Now, Cambodunum Chocolates does have a ring to it, but whether it's a good ring is open to interpretation. Loidis Chocolates is not going to float. What about Holbeck... and so on.
Anyway, the point is that walking to-and-from werk gives me 7.2 miles (ish, depending on the route it can be over or under) in a day, which over 4 days is 29 miles. I walk into town at lunchtimes, which would give me another 4 unrecorded miles a week, so over any given week where I walk at least 4 days, I can tick off one of my 46 weeks as part of Task #4. I'm going to include runs in with this as well as I gear myself up to the 5k, just because it makes the maths easier (and I can record those miles). Last week I walked a little over 35 miles on the daily commute and a few trips to the supermarket or lunch, so I'm happy to get one of my weeks of #4 out of the way. One down, 45 to go... and I'm already into this week.
Currently running habitual tasks: #3 (94+/365, stalling, not sure where I am with this), #4 (1/46) #13, #26, #37 (4/<34), #60 (11/50), #68, #66 (82/250), #81 (1/250) #85 (5/4) #87, #88, #97 (1/8), #100 (3/>3)
Currently running exploratory tasks: #38 (1/18), #17 (1/54+), #57 (1/9+)
Currently running growing tasks: #41, #52
Completed: 9
Remaining: 92
Even though my route varies slightly from day-to-day (I have proof of this, but as it identifies both where I work and where I live, I won't be making those GPS traces publically available just yet), coming into work is still sufficiently early that I can walk most of it in a zenlike trance, semimeditative, with a couple of subprocesses stopping me from walking into traffic (the routes I take are deliberately light on cars) and people. My mind starts thinking of random stuff, which I'm very happy to let it do.
The other morning, my branes started churning out Lewis Carroll, as a response to certain items on my To-Do list. No, I don't know why either. But, I was reminded of the chain of Belgian chocolate shops called Leodis, and decided that calling my chocolate company that would be foolish, and really it should be Loidis anyway (which sounds wrong), and if I were going to take the latin route the best I could come up with was Cambodunum (which is arguably wrong, but without a time machine or a cache of documents yet to be discovered...). Now, Cambodunum Chocolates does have a ring to it, but whether it's a good ring is open to interpretation. Loidis Chocolates is not going to float. What about Holbeck... and so on.
Anyway, the point is that walking to-and-from werk gives me 7.2 miles (ish, depending on the route it can be over or under) in a day, which over 4 days is 29 miles. I walk into town at lunchtimes, which would give me another 4 unrecorded miles a week, so over any given week where I walk at least 4 days, I can tick off one of my 46 weeks as part of Task #4. I'm going to include runs in with this as well as I gear myself up to the 5k, just because it makes the maths easier (and I can record those miles). Last week I walked a little over 35 miles on the daily commute and a few trips to the supermarket or lunch, so I'm happy to get one of my weeks of #4 out of the way. One down, 45 to go... and I'm already into this week.
Currently running habitual tasks: #3 (94+/365, stalling, not sure where I am with this), #4 (1/46) #13, #26, #37 (4/<34), #60 (11/50), #68, #66 (82/250), #81 (1/250) #85 (5/4) #87, #88, #97 (1/8), #100 (3/>3)
Currently running exploratory tasks: #38 (1/18), #17 (1/54+), #57 (1/9+)
Currently running growing tasks: #41, #52
Completed: 9
Remaining: 92
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Day 125, 070709
This isn't really part of Task 15, but I'm going to add it as part of the preamble to that task. Partially because, well, it was an outstanding meal in lovely company, but also because this place really ought to have a Michelin star, and it's astounding that it doesn't.
Last Friday we went for dinner at Anthony's (arranged by our good friend Tom, and I can't thank him enough).
I'm still wondering how to write this up, though. The photos of the food are in a flickr set, but they don't do it justice.
Basically: the food was stunning. Delicious, beautifully presented, never quite what you were expecting... surprising food. I decided to forego my vege/pescetarianism and just take whatever food looked great, so I went for a soft-shelled crab starter (fascinating, very tasty, with a slightly coleslaw-based addition that was still tasty and microherbs), monkfish with tomato, chili and chorizo tapioca, and a banana cake with incredibly tasty chocolate ice cream and - this was odd - a mozarella veloute. There were amuse-geules (a duck confit with foam that tasted like Wotsits) and pre desserts (odd quince pear/pistacio/pea thing that was almost certainly supposed to be a pun) as well, and a cheeseboard containing many tasty fermented milk products. S had an onion risotto that was a work of beauty - it tasted like great french onion soup, only as a risotto.
Deconstructing everything would take quite some time, and as I wasn't taking notes during dinner - how rude would that have been? - I think I'll save it until the next time we go. Yes, it was good enough to warrant a return visit. This trip out has made me wonder precisely how nifty a Michelin restaurant needs to be (although, given most of the starred restaurants outside France are in capital cities, perhaps "proximity to an airport" is one of the criteria). Looking forwards to completing this task, just to find out.
Last Friday we went for dinner at Anthony's (arranged by our good friend Tom, and I can't thank him enough).
I'm still wondering how to write this up, though. The photos of the food are in a flickr set, but they don't do it justice.
Basically: the food was stunning. Delicious, beautifully presented, never quite what you were expecting... surprising food. I decided to forego my vege/pescetarianism and just take whatever food looked great, so I went for a soft-shelled crab starter (fascinating, very tasty, with a slightly coleslaw-based addition that was still tasty and microherbs), monkfish with tomato, chili and chorizo tapioca, and a banana cake with incredibly tasty chocolate ice cream and - this was odd - a mozarella veloute. There were amuse-geules (a duck confit with foam that tasted like Wotsits) and pre desserts (odd quince pear/pistacio/pea thing that was almost certainly supposed to be a pun) as well, and a cheeseboard containing many tasty fermented milk products. S had an onion risotto that was a work of beauty - it tasted like great french onion soup, only as a risotto.
Deconstructing everything would take quite some time, and as I wasn't taking notes during dinner - how rude would that have been? - I think I'll save it until the next time we go. Yes, it was good enough to warrant a return visit. This trip out has made me wonder precisely how nifty a Michelin restaurant needs to be (although, given most of the starred restaurants outside France are in capital cities, perhaps "proximity to an airport" is one of the criteria). Looking forwards to completing this task, just to find out.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Day 121, 030709
You know how you get into the habit of doing something, then all of a sudden you stop doing it, and then it takes an age to get back into the habit? Last year I was cycling to work, and then in August I stopped because it was getting too hot, and then all of a sudden we're 11 months further on and I'd taken the bike out twice in that time, and not at all this year. This is not a good state of affairs.
I love my bike; it's a Specialized hybrid with slick-ish (but wide) tyres, an insanely lightweight frame given the size of it, and lovely shifters that haven't given me a moment's gyp since I've had them. And, despite not even being looked at for six months, all I had to do this morning was give the chain a blast of WD-40 and pump up the tyres. Hop on, and bam, I'm at werk without having to wait for a bus or be tempted by the gamut of coffee shops en route.
The route in from home is fairly straightforward: up a bit of a hill, right a bit, down a HUGE hill that gets me touching 30mph if there's no traffic on it, under the motorway, past the huge office complexes, under the train station, up Park Row, over Millennium Square and up the road past the hospital. Done, 17 minutes door to door. Homewards takes slightly longer, as I have to go up the huge hill. That gets wearisome, but it's tolerable, just. Because of traffic flow I have to go through Holbeck, but it doesn't add much extra time (unlike the hill).
Still, I'm going to count home->werk->home as One Trip Out on the bike, which means I only have 249 left to go before I can count Task 81 completed.
Currently running habitual tasks: #3 (94+/365, stalling, not sure where I am with this), #13, #26, #37 (4/<34), #60 (11/50), #68, #66 (66/250), #81 (1/250) #85 (5/4) #87, #88, #97 (1/8), #100 (3/>3)
Currently running exploratory tasks: #38 (1/18), #17 (1/54+), #57 (1/9+)
Currently running growing tasks: #41, #52
Completed: 9
Remaining: 92
I love my bike; it's a Specialized hybrid with slick-ish (but wide) tyres, an insanely lightweight frame given the size of it, and lovely shifters that haven't given me a moment's gyp since I've had them. And, despite not even being looked at for six months, all I had to do this morning was give the chain a blast of WD-40 and pump up the tyres. Hop on, and bam, I'm at werk without having to wait for a bus or be tempted by the gamut of coffee shops en route.
The route in from home is fairly straightforward: up a bit of a hill, right a bit, down a HUGE hill that gets me touching 30mph if there's no traffic on it, under the motorway, past the huge office complexes, under the train station, up Park Row, over Millennium Square and up the road past the hospital. Done, 17 minutes door to door. Homewards takes slightly longer, as I have to go up the huge hill. That gets wearisome, but it's tolerable, just. Because of traffic flow I have to go through Holbeck, but it doesn't add much extra time (unlike the hill).
Still, I'm going to count home->werk->home as One Trip Out on the bike, which means I only have 249 left to go before I can count Task 81 completed.
Currently running habitual tasks: #3 (94+/365, stalling, not sure where I am with this), #13, #26, #37 (4/<34), #60 (11/50), #68, #66 (66/250), #81 (1/250) #85 (5/4) #87, #88, #97 (1/8), #100 (3/>3)
Currently running exploratory tasks: #38 (1/18), #17 (1/54+), #57 (1/9+)
Currently running growing tasks: #41, #52
Completed: 9
Remaining: 92
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Day 119, 010709
Exposure Leeds #5 was last night (task 85). Again, a pretty enjoyable use of an evening, but... lacking, somewhat. There were a lot of newbies there, and a bunch of them left at 8:30 (possibly because they were expecting it to finish at 8:30, like wot I woz, and I'm categorically not a newbie) when we still had quite a bit to go through. Anyway.
I was on the door again (although Gav likes hitting the big green button, so I left him to it, mostly), getting people to sign in and nametag up, and hanging the prints people had brought for the Flash Printswap (bring a print, get a post-it, give the print to us. We hang all the prints, hidden away, and at the end of the evening we do a grand reveal and people can put their post-it on another print, and take that away with them once all the prints are claimed - and I say you can). The quality of the prints were excellent, in some cases considerably better than last time.
Talks: a decent one on macro photography, although a bit flat did have some interesting technical detail, some of which was slightly incorrect, but never mind, it makes no difference to the results. I'm minded to repost my talk from EL2 on "The Dark Art of Exposure". The second talk was about travel photography, and whilst it was very interesting (and I really like Ade and his work) it was about 15 photos too long. This was a thing, really - Jon let the talks go on for a bit too long, so we were a bit rushed at the end. And, I had to really struggle to hear the speakers. Now, I know I'm having problems with my hearing at the moment - struggling to differentiate background noise from useful sounds, particularly in my left ear - but I don't think I was the only one thinking they were a bit quiet.
Finishing at 9:30 is a bit late, though. Could be a minority opinion, but 3 hours is pushing it.
All that aside, though: I came out of there thinking about how I could get going with some macro photography, and an inspirational evening is always a good evening.
Currently running habitual tasks: #3 (94+/365, stalling, not sure where I am with this), #13, #26, #37 (4/<34), #60 (11/50), #68, #66 (66/250), #85 (5/4) #87, #88, #97 (1/8), #100 (3/>3)
Currently running exploratory tasks: #38 (1/18), #17 (1/54+), #57 (1/9+)
Currently running growing tasks: #41, #52
Completed: 9
Remaining: 92
I was on the door again (although Gav likes hitting the big green button, so I left him to it, mostly), getting people to sign in and nametag up, and hanging the prints people had brought for the Flash Printswap (bring a print, get a post-it, give the print to us. We hang all the prints, hidden away, and at the end of the evening we do a grand reveal and people can put their post-it on another print, and take that away with them once all the prints are claimed - and I say you can). The quality of the prints were excellent, in some cases considerably better than last time.
Talks: a decent one on macro photography, although a bit flat did have some interesting technical detail, some of which was slightly incorrect, but never mind, it makes no difference to the results. I'm minded to repost my talk from EL2 on "The Dark Art of Exposure". The second talk was about travel photography, and whilst it was very interesting (and I really like Ade and his work) it was about 15 photos too long. This was a thing, really - Jon let the talks go on for a bit too long, so we were a bit rushed at the end. And, I had to really struggle to hear the speakers. Now, I know I'm having problems with my hearing at the moment - struggling to differentiate background noise from useful sounds, particularly in my left ear - but I don't think I was the only one thinking they were a bit quiet.
Finishing at 9:30 is a bit late, though. Could be a minority opinion, but 3 hours is pushing it.
All that aside, though: I came out of there thinking about how I could get going with some macro photography, and an inspirational evening is always a good evening.
Currently running habitual tasks: #3 (94+/365, stalling, not sure where I am with this), #13, #26, #37 (4/<34), #60 (11/50), #68, #66 (66/250), #85 (5/4) #87, #88, #97 (1/8), #100 (3/>3)
Currently running exploratory tasks: #38 (1/18), #17 (1/54+), #57 (1/9+)
Currently running growing tasks: #41, #52
Completed: 9
Remaining: 92
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