Archive for the ‘Personal’ Category
April 26th, 2007
I’ve been involved in Kidz Klub (admittedly on and off) in Coalpool for a while now, and this year I got to design the boards we use as a backdrop to the games and stuff we do with the local kids.
I’ve loved working with the whole team over the last couple of years, and all credit to Esther, Sarah and the guys for the sterling work they do.
Unfortunately, we’re up against it as Walsall Council in their wisdom have decided to stop charging us the £20 per week rent we used to pay and increase it to £100! How nice of them. Obviously the KK needs to keep going, so any fundraising ideas (or indeed donations) are gratefully received.
I put together the original design in good old Fireworks, the scale was a little off tho.. whoops!
The design was then transferred onto the boards using a combination of bits of string, pencils and one massive ruler. Hannah then got to work painting…
The finished thing (although not quite the same as the original) turned out alright… Dee provided some lamiate stickers for the 4 points (which looked awsome, thanks Dee).
Photos of the whole process are this way…
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April 11th, 2007
I’m making a career move! After three happy years at Trinity Design I’m joining Glaxstar as thier web designer / interface person / possible tea maker, and I can’t flippin wait!
While this sees me not making my much anticipated move down south, it is the sort of opportunity I’ve been waiting for after Paul’s had his Ning Thing now it’s time for a bit of Glaxstar action.
There’s some pretty big things in the pipeline so keep your eye on the website for the next few months as Glaxstar unleash their new “big thing” on the world.
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January 2nd, 2007
Buzzzzz…. Oh crap, it’s 7:59 and I’m feeling… well, like it’s back to work after a week off. The weather is chilly, and even more so when I get into the office and discover that the heating hasn’t been on and my fingers are freezing to the keyboard. My heart sinks as a torrent of 800-odd e-mails come flying in; In amongst the yule time spam there’s clients demanding things done now now now and all I can think about is my warm bed.
This is it then, back to reality. And that God! Thank God that I’m back at work, safe and well after a brilliant Christmas break. There’s a whole new year ahead full of possibilities, full of promise, and hope. My heart maybe doesn’t agree with my heads upbeat attitude, in fact it’s very much feeling the anti-climax of the first day back at work and the stresses of the last few months. But with most things like this, if you set your mind against something, your heart inevitably catches up (that’s the theory at least).
It may be taking all my effort, but I’m actually looking forward to 2007, what have I got to complain about anyway? I’m almost afraid to write something like “time for a new start” it sounds so bitter, a little “yeah yeah yeah”, but what the heck. Maybe it is time for a change of attitude. Maybe this is a one day wonder, but I really do hope not.
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December 21st, 2006
My last day at work today. I’ll back back after the holidays. Have a good one y’all!
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December 4th, 2006
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with wornout tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on”;
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And - which is more - you’ll be a Man my son!
More on this soon. It’s quite appropriate at the moment.
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October 9th, 2006
Next month sees a popular sxsw event get it’s UK premier in London. 20×2 is 20 people given two minutes each to answer the same question, and I’ve taken the plunge and agreed to speak.
So “where am I?”… To be honest I haven’t got the first idea of what to say (or even if they’ll understand the Brummy dribble that will fall from my mouth). I’m excited, but know it could be brown trousers time on the night. Maybe that’s where i’ll be… on the loo.
If you’re free on Sunday, 19th November and in the London area, come along to Madame JoJo’s at 7pm, should be a good night (at least the other guy’s will be entertaining).
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September 21st, 2006
Sunday saw me and Katie meeting half-way between our two home towns in Oxford (yeah, long distance relationships are a bitch). And man, the weather for late September was amazing! So off we trottled on the open top bus, and had a day of touristy-magic. Including a trip to the Turf Tavern, a pub which was unsurprisingly full of American tourists and Oxford students not having the kind of conversations that I remember from University.
But not just that, oh no, not me and Katie! We went all out crazy-go-nuts on the tourist trail stopping off at the Oxford Story a trip back 900 years into Oxford history, and then (much to Katie’s delight) a bit of shopping at Alice’s Shop.
But, I think the pinnacle of the day was Oxford Castle Mound. Not that the mound itself was that amazing, just a lot of dirt, but the security system for keeping people who’d not paid the one pound entry fee was pretty much state of the art.
To get on the mound you first have to go in the shop and buy yourself a ticket. Upon exiting the shop you then make your way to the mound itself. Before ye can pass, ye must buzz the buzzer on the 5′ (possibly electrified) gate. Then, when your identification has been verified using a series of voice and DNA checks, the gate is opened electronically.
As we came down the mound we passed a guy who’d obviously missed the sign that said “this mound cost’s a pound” and was chased down by the huge guy who worked in the shop. I wouldn’t have liked to get on the wrong side of him.
So was the mound worth a pound? Well, we damn well made sure we got our monies worth! A whole 30 minutes we sat on the mound. It was quite a moving experience.
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September 11th, 2006
The decision to grow facial hair is one I took well over a year ago after being inspired by a freind who’s beard added a certain something cool to his face. So night and day for a solid month I’d have a constant straining-for-a-poo look on my face as I attempted to force the hairs out into the cold hard light of day.
Eventually I succeded in growing what some would call a beard, some would call “idiotic” and yet others would just call in to question.
I did try removing the beard once, but this only resulted in me getting id’ed for beer in my local Tesco. I quickly regrew it, again employing the straining technique.
So, for now at least, the questionable face fashion is staying. I did dabble with the idea of a Tom Selleck cos I think every man needs to experience the feeling of a bristly top lip at least once in his life. I guess watch this space.
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August 30th, 2006
Okay, maybe not a tan but you can certainly see the sun-burn line on my neck thanks to a groovy new haircut. What a week I’ve had in sunny (aka drizzly) Littlehampton, home of my No.1 lady-fan who also took a few well earned days off work.
So back at work again and last week feels a million miles away. This coupled with the impending winter and uncertainty about my future finds me in a melancholy mood this morning readers. Where oh where has our summer gone? Only a few weeks ago we were set for another heat-wave, and now we’re facing the arse end of August and hurtling towards colder weather faster than a greased-up fat man on a steep hill.
Perhaps it’s also because I’m moving out of my house that I’ve been in for six months this weekend. Admittedly I haven’t been there much, but I enjoyed my time at Drayman Close.
So all this leaves me feeling like I’m hanging on my the skin of my teeth, waiting for this storm to pass and coming to the realisation that I have no-one to blame but myself. Maybe it’s post holiday blues, but I suspect that’s just a contributing factor. I’ve felt God in all of this, I have had people I didn’t expect shore me up at times, and for that I’m very thankful.
So where now? What now? I guess I’ll just have to find out…
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August 15th, 2006
Ah, there’s nothing quite like basking in the warm glow of making a comment that stuns everyone in the room into silence. So it was one rainy October day in 2003, as Ross, Colin and I were trying to decide on whatever entertainment our dwindling student loans would allow. When, for some reason, my brain engaged my mouth without even asking me if it was OK and I herd myself say…
I know, lets play the hello world game! You know, where you have to think of as many ways as you can that you could write “hello world” in a programming language. Then the others have to guess what language you’re writing in!
It was a shameful moment for me. I knew as soon as I said it that it was a mistake. It was half meant as a joke, but there was no getting away from the disdainful looks that the others gave me. There was no choice, I had committed myself to this, and now I had to see it through, so I opened my and out flew this gem…
I’ll go first. What language is this… “Response dot write ‘hello world’ ?”
Needless to say Colin and Ross have taken the p*** ever since.
The Century!
On a completely unrelated matter, this is my 100th post. Hopefully it wont take another year and eight months to write another 100. I might even get myself a little cake to celebrate!
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