Promises for 2010

New Years Resolutions. Those promises that nobody really adheres to. They’re rubbish. So I won’t make them, but I am making promises and aims that just coincide with the start of a new year.

For Christmas I got my wife a little book of promises I’ve made to her. I won’t list them (some may make you blush and/or vomit), but the general gist of it and the reason behind it was that with the arrival of Hannah, she has dominated our lives, so for 2010 I have promised to be a better husband, to focus more on ‘us time’. Hannah will always dominate our lives, and rightly so, but there’s no reason we can’t plan to do more couple-y things!

So they are my promises, and here are my ‘aims’. Things I aim for in 2010.

Work: Little and often. It is the habit of a lifetime that I shall never break, but I can try and make a dent into it. It has always been my nature to work on things last minute. I actually perform better under pressure. My job doesn’t help things. With school holidays never more than 7 weeks away at any time, the temptation to leave work until then is great. And of course, without fail, once those holidays do arrive I don’t want to do any work at all. However, if I just did about 30 minutes a day and perhaps more at the weekend, I’d probably easily keep up!

Gaming: I have already started to, but I need to try more things! I play WoW to death and miss out on some great indie games. I also have the terrible habit of buying a game and then not playing past the first couple of hours. I need to get round to doing those games! Mass Effect, Fallout 3 and Dragon Age stare at me with sad eyes from my shelf every time I fire up WoW.

Blogging: More of it. I like writing. I think I am good at writing. Not in the creative sense. I’d struggle to write a story. But I just like composing letters, emails, posts etc. Trying to perfect them. I also miss the glory days of being well known in certain online communities. Those were fun days, but those sites are now dead or dying, so I guess I miss the ‘audience’. I know few people in life with my interests, and I can count how many of those I actually see in person on one hand, and of those that I see more than once a year on one finger, so an outlet for my interests is needed, even if these words fall on blind eyes. Were things in life not as good as they are and I had never met Kat, if I hadn’t decided I want to be a teacher, the idea of being a games journalist/blogger (delete as appropriate to your snobbishness) is a fun one. A dangerous one, I don’t think I could live the freelance kind of life. But it’s fun to imagine what it would be like.  So I think I’ll post more on things that interest and outrage me and just pretend there is an audience.

Lottery: Seriously, I really need to get round to winning the jackpot. I need to stop buying these faulty tickets, they just don’t ever win.

That’s it really! So, imaginary audience, what are your promises and aims for 2010?

2010
12/01
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Welcome to 2010

Hello! Well, there’s not too much dust on the old blog, but it has been a fair few weeks. I should update more simply because I don’t want to bore my wife or Rob with too much, and I do enjoy the ’sound’ of my own words too much to not post!

Be warned, there’s a lot of waffle here! So much so I think I’ll have to insist you click to see more…

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2010
12/01
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La Roux

I’ve mentioned them plenty, but seriously their debut album is miles ahead as my album of the year. There’s not a single track I don’t love. Don’t be put off by her at times miserable look in the videos (the latest one is better), the music is pure genius. I really can’t get enough of it still.

BUY IT!

2009
25/11
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Comments!

I read a fair lot of blogs and I do it through Google Reader (Or NetNewsWire when on my Macbook). It’s a fairly clean interface and I like it, but how hard would it be to add the ability to add comments directly from the reader? A huge number of blogs are powered by Wordpress or are on services like Blogger with standard forms to fill out. Even if you need an account with the website to post it’d be nice to be able to tie it to your Google Account and then comment directly, and have the ability to load up others comments from Google Reader.

Yeah I can understand the counter arguments. Centralising everything to Google creates a monopoly, less visits to the actual websites means less revenue from ads etc. But still, it’d be cool. Perhaps make the feature optional? Commercial websites could make it a perk of being a paid subscriber? I don’t know.

In other news, I’ve got my MAC code from Virgin and going begging back to Zen Internet. I got pissed at Zen when I went over my limit and they charged extortionate amounts for additional bandwidth. After months of shitty pings and streaming video using Virgin I’d gladly pony up the extra £10 for top quality service. Despite the price, I always had a great connection with Zen and they have won multiple awards for it.

This should mean more time for WoW, rather than the roll a 6 system I’m going through. I don’t get huge amounts of free time (even less as the work from my OU course picks up soon) and when I do I like to play WoW. There’s nothing more annoying that logging on to see a ping between 1000-20000ms before being disconnected. I’m really enjoying playing my druid and I dinged 75 last night making this the highest character I’ve played. I’m about 500g off Epic Flight Form (despite having to wait to lvl77 and another 1k to use it in Northrend) and really enjoying the lore in Northrend. I’m looking forward once I hit 80 to taking my time to find read all the little interesting books and doing missed quests, fishing in Dalaran for coins and doing all the obscure achievements.

Warcrack indeed :)

2009
18/11
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October: Walking & WoW

Two notable things for October. Firstly, the WoW addiction has really took hold. I love the game more than ever. Me and Rob started characters together in September, Tauren Druid for myself and Blood Elf Paladin for him. For quite a while Rob was ahead of me, but recently he’s taken a break so I’ve managed to soar ahead to lvl 72 while he’s at 65. This past week I’ve also joined a guild, Feel Good Inc. Seem like a nice bunch.

A little bit of druid love then. I love this class. You can do pretty much all the main play types with one character (with dual/re-spec anyway). Want to be a ranged DPS/mage? Normal or Moonkin form. A warrior/tank? Bear form. Rouge/melee DPS? Cat form. Healer? Tree form. Added to that the greatness that is instant cast travel, flight and aquatic form and you have what is pretty much the most versatile class in the game. I spend most of my time in Cat Form doing PvE, and have dual talent specced as a restoration druid that I use mostly in instances.

So the second notable thing, and of course the best, is the fact that Hannah can now walk! Nursery phoned one day to say Hannah was projectile vomiting and needed picking up. I was off work with the same illness so was the one that went to pick her up. When I got there they asked if she was walking at home, to which I said no of course. She had taken 6 unaided steps at nursery that day! Then at home she did it again, all the while being ill. As opposed to me who was a useless lump on the sofa most of the day. She usually walks for at least a little bit every day now and she’s building up confidence. It was brilliant that first time we saw her do it, both myself and Kat got very misty eyed when she did it! It’s amazing how proud you feel at each milestone they meet.

So that was October then. We’re now just a month away from Hannah’s 1st birthday which is unbelievable. That year has gone REALLY fast and she has changed so much. It’s been a fantastic year because of her, and the first of many.

2009
04/11
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Gush!

I don’t like to put all my Tweets and FB statuses about Hannah, but it’s hard not to sometimes. I just want to gush about her all of the time. I don’t believe in the ‘love at first sight’ thing for your kid. The movie cliché that once they squeeze your finger you’re in love with them is rubbish. Sure it was an amazing experience and I was fascinated with her and thought she was gorgeous. But the insta-love I don’t think is there, at least for men. Perhaps women are different, given that they have spend 9 months growing them.

Fast forward to now, Hannah is 10 months old and I am each day astounded by how much I love her. I think she is perfect. There’s no baby smarter or better looking. She’s the best thing there ever was or will be in the universe.

There, just had to get that off my chest. You may start the vomiting…now!

2009
05/10
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Reply to Joe

Ok I don’t have a Tumblr account and so see no way of replying to Joe on there so I’ll stick my response here.

Here’s what Joe had to say:

promiscuity & principles: my take

ok i’m going to be viciously candid about this, so if you’re easily offended by judgements on lifestyles, then click away now :)

—

it is widely believed that within the gay community, individuals are more sexually promiscuous and having only been out for a few months, i’m learning this very quickly. however, it is not something that i’m welcoming.

today, I was speaking to my sister, who was telling me about two gay guys at work who had just started and during a conversation they discussed the promiscuity of gay men: “you have sex with them first, and then get to know them later!”, one explained.

now, trust me, i’m no prude – i’m not religious, i come from a middle class background and have had no reason but good parenting and inherited morals to feel uneasy about the thought of a sexual merrygoround.

i know i’ve got a lot of catching up to do, but going out – getting wasted – and waking up in someone else’s bed with regrets is not appealing to me. i really want to just meet a guy, get to know him and go on one or two, maybe even three dates before anything sexual happens. i can control myself, why can’t other people? just because i have a different sexuality, doesn’t mean that i shouldn’t retain traditional values of romance expected in a straight relationship? right?

i just get the feeling that any guy that i do go on a date with, won’t stick around for that second or third date, if i don’t put out on the first. which is crappy.

weirdly, right now, i’m not that bothered about the sexual aspect of being gay – just crave the concept of having someone to chill out with, cuddle up to and just ‘be there’ every now and then. please apply within. :P

what’s everyone elses thoughts on this? reblog with your POV.

x

Well I pretty much agree with Joe, and I think it’s a myth that gay men are more promiscuous than straight men or women for that matter. There are millions of promiscuous people of all varieties, you only have to go to a nightclub to see how many people are out to get a leg over. I personally don’t like that kind of thing but I understand it and see the fun of it. But for me, I couldn’t do it. I would want the relationship side of things. I’d feel hollow about it afterwards.

Sometimes I think I should have taken more chances at Uni. I realise now that women, no matter how attractive are just people. I know some  gorgeous people that if I didn’t know them I wouldn’t approach them at all to talk to, but they’re just as  normal as me. But as it was, I took few chances. I got a couple of snogs but that was about it.  I of course wouldn’t change my life now for anything. I am not ashamed that I didn’t have sex until I was 22 and that that person is now my wife and mother of my gorgeous daughter.  I like that fact. It wasn’t a conscious decision but it’s the way things happened.

So no Joe you’re perfectly normal, I think most people want what you want. Perhaps they don’t want it now, but I think in the end it’s what we all want. Sex is great and all, but it’s one part of a relationship and I know people have different views on it, but it’s not the most important part by a long shot to me. It’s the icing on the cake.

Stick to your standards Joe, it’s what makes you who you are.

Good looking, talented, funny and a decent gentleman, the guy that gets you will be one lucky SOB :)

2009
16/09
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September Update

So, that was the summer holidays then. I actually really enjoyed them. I know in previous years I’ve got bored, but not really this time. We didn’t go out much, Me and Kat went to London for 2 nights. Saw Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, which inspired me to get a move on with the books. I managed to read books 2-7, averaging out to one book a week. Read the 7th in about 3 days and it was brilliant. We took a trip to Skegness, the first time we have all been together. Hannah liked the beach!

Hannah  is continuing to develop well. She has two bottom teeth and a third on the way. She can’t walk, but she can walk if she’s holding onto something, so for all intents and purposes she can get anywhere she wants now. This past week she’s started to form new sounds, ‘ma’ and ‘na’ have crept in and it looks like she’s starting to use her tounge to go for a ‘th’ sound too. She’s slipped a bit with sleeping in that she tends to wake up once a night on average for a feed, but she’s very good and it only takes a few minutes of feeding and she goes back to her cot without a fuss. Actually getting to sleep is much better now. She cries for only about a minute most days once we put her in and she’s away, some days she doesn’t cry at all. This means 99% of the time we know we have Hannah-free time from 7pm onwards.

Games wise I’ve pretty much just been playing WoW. Despite my previous post, Kat didn’t get round to trying WoW. A shame, but never mind. Rob has got back into it and we’re enjoying playing together. My Druid is much more effective when all the damage is going to his Paladin.  We’re both poor this month so I have just cancelled my pre-order for Batman: Arkham Asylum. I played the demo and it was brilliant. I’ll still be getting it, but will have to wait for pay day.

Comics wise I’ve just been reading the usual. I’ve got the 8th Preacher installment to read. My comics subscriptions have pretty much run out and I’m not too keep on renewing. The cost is the main issue. I get paid less than when I first subscribed and due to the exchange rate it’s not as much of a bargain. Added to that is the fact that trades are cheaper in the long run. It’s difficult. Overall quality of the comics is actually just average. I haven’t really enjoyed Captain America in a while. I like Bucky Barnes, but the constant need to have him relive his WW2 days is a bit of a bore fest. It looks like they’re bringing back Steve Rogers which although I am excited about, it is a massive copout for him to be alive. All the claims of him being properly dead, it’s stupid. I don’t believe the whole ‘we planned it all along!’ crap either. They shoe-horned the ‘forshadowing’ in. Astonishing X-Men has been a big dissapointment since Warren Ellis took the reins. I loved the Whedon run, but the writing and the art work for the series now is utterly, utterly terrible. New Avengers has been it’s usual self, just constantly average. I love the idea of the Avengers more than the actual series I suppose. Dark Avengers has been ok but still, the problem I think is having Brian Michael Bendis seemingly write all of the major Marvel titles and he’s spreading himself to thin. He can be good but he’s just spreading himself too thin right now.  I’m tempted to catch up on Iron Man, I got the first trade of the new series recently and the second is out in hardback. I’ll see how much it’d cost to get the individual issues on eBay and then perhaps subscribe from Page45 in Nottingham. Funds are tight lately though so maybe not.

This month we also did a cooking challenge, spawned from my ponderings for many months about how much we spend and waste on food. So we adapted the idea (initially it was just about cost) so we each bought food and cooked for everyone for a week. Points went for lowest cost, least waste, best quality, healthiness and best 3 course meal. Overall I won, but only just. Although it was tiring towards the end to be doing all the cooking, I did enjoy it because it forced me to try new dishes. My asian chicken noodle broth, crunchy garlic chicken and chocolate brownie cake all went down very well. All thanks to Jamie Oliver’s book ‘Ministry of Food’. If you can’t cook, get this book. It’s all very simple stuff.

I won’t talk about work here for obvious reasons, let’s just say certain things are worse than they were before the holidays.

Oh well. Overall life is still good. Can’t believe Hannah is 1 in just 3 months! I’ve got my next OU course starting in a couple of weeks. Workload this year should be slightly less as I’m doing a 20 point course first then starting a 30 point in Feb. But the work should be harder so I don’t know what’s worse. I shall try to keep on top of it though. I had brilliant assignment scores in my last 2 courses ruined by average exam marks. I think the system is very unfair given the subject matter (there is NO programming done in the test, you write code on paper…yeah, that’s a really good reflection of how things work practically in the real world!)

2009
14/09
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WoW!

I have just convinced my wife to try World of Warcraft! Even though I’m fairly sure she won’t enjoy it all that much, the prospect that she might is very exciting!

2009
10/08
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GeekParents no more

Ok so my GeekParents idea has died. Mostly my fault in that my excitement and effort lasted a whopping week. You can’t magic up a community, it takes time and effort, the latter of which I just don’t have. I’m really enjoying relaxing this summer, reading the Harry Potter books and loving them, enjoying time with Hannah and playing plenty of TF2 and WoW. The amount of work I have to do over the next 5 years to get qualified to teach is considerable so I want to spend my free time enjoying it as much as possible! I do feel a mix of guilt and embarrassment and it is tempting to delete it all but I’ll leave it there, I may yet change my mind or other people may be interested.

2009
08/08
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