Catching Up

Hi all

It's been a while.

I've been a bad blogger . Moreover, I've largely been a bad friend. Many of you haven't heard from me in a long while and whilst I could cite the excuses of massive amounts of work (both in Waterstone's and of the University variety) it's largely just excuses as I've still found the time to re-start Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, find all 100 gang tags and complete the Pimp and Taxi side-mission (currently working on the Vigilante and Fireman).

This blog, which I'm well aware no one really reads, is probably not the best method of reconnecting with all my loved and distant friends, but it is a step in the right direction. Promise.

So, what have I been up to?

Well, depending how far back you need me to go - I finished my MA in Science Fiction Studies, no final grade as of yet but I handed my Dissertation in on time and was relatively happy with it so I'm confident I've at least passed the thing.

I applied for, and was accepted onto, a PhD in English Literature at the University of Liverpool. I've since converted this PhD into a part-time course which saves me money (which is very tight at the moment) but means I'll be working on it for around 6 years. My University Library Card now expires in 2015!

In non-Uni related stuff, I'm happy at work in Waterstone's in the Liverpool One shopping complex, and have finally been given the responsibility of running the Science Fiction / Fantasy / Horror / Graphic Novels / Manga section, which is at times a frustrating job, but massively appeals to by inner-Geek (which let's face it is also an outer-Geek). As part of this I have also inherited a Science Fiction and Fantasy Bookclub which meet once a month and I have created a Blog for (already more successful than this one).

Things are going well with me and Anna, who I now live with, though our current home suffers from single-glazed windows and so can come to resemble a freezer at some times in the night. The fact is compounded by our stubbornness to live there as cheaply as possible and so not switch the heating on.

We have a hamster, her name is Puck. I chose the name (before even seeing the hamster) because I did my Undergraduate Dissertation on Fairies and Shakespeare.

Ummm.... what else.... My radio show starts again online on Friday 13th November, but if you're on Facebook you probably know that already. Listen to in on ICON radio. I've also got some other radio things in the pipeline but I'm not disclosing them just yet.

I'm going back to fencing in January, after an 18 month hiatus.

Went to see Muse live the other night. That was awesome. Slightly less awesome (and thus disapointing really) was Eddie Izzard who I saw on Halloween, it was good - don't get me wrong - but it wasn't as good as some of the other stuff I've seen him do.

I also saw Jonathan Pryce star in the Caretaker at the Everyman, that was good.

Oh, and I've had the flu. But I suspect it was normal flu rather than the swine variety. Either that or all the people who've complained about swine flu's effects (and not died) are hypochondriacs.

So that's kind of my life for the last few months.


How are you?

Back from the summer hiatus (I really do love that word!)

Yes I've used the same intellectual sounding word twice in two blog titles but I don't care! I love that word, it ranks right up there amongst my favourite words (talking of which there's a newcomer in that category: papoose).

Anyway, back to the point - I've not blogged since before my dissertation deadline so here's a brief summary of what’s happened since then:

> Dissertation was handed in successfully. Got a 2:1. Content with that though was hoping for a 1st.

> As such my whole degree came out as a 2:1 with a strong average, for what thats worth. This means I got onto my MA course. Still wish I'd done that bit extra for the 1st. Have vowed to get a distinction in my Masters instead.

>Was chuffed to bits to have a letter appear in Empire though miffed to hell at that being the month they changed from giving a prize to every letter to reinstating the letter of the month format.

>Got job in Primark, slave away there for £5.69 an hour. My contract hours are Saturdays: 10.30-20.00 and Sunday 09.30-18.00.

>Went to see the new Indiana Jones film and was unimpressed, let down even.

>Discovered "Zero Punctuation"

>Attempted to move into new house, found it to be a sh*t hole and relocated to new, nicer abode.

>Graduated.

>Saw "Dark Knight" at a preview screening two days before the general release. Thought it was amazing, absolutely loved it. Also loved the limited edition moving posted I got free for going.

>Went to Barcelona with family

>Decided walking to Primark was too much effort (45mins!) so brought bike to Liverpool and now put life into the hands of the drivers on Edge Lane at least twice a week

>Dressed as a Celt for Kate's Liverpool 21st Birthday Party, the theme was nations. (See pic below)

>Saw R.E.M. at Old Trafford Cricket Ground, supported by The Guillemots and The Editors.

>Saw the Trestles as part of the Matthew Street Festival which I finally made it to for the first time.

>Made a trip to Cardiff to visit the now distant Bec and Steve as well as some family in Swansea. Saw former-Stereophonic drummer Stuart Cable in Cardiff.

Well anyway, that brings you up to speed. I'll be posting at least a few more times in the coming days, hopefully at least once a week. Until then this is me signing off. Adios Amigos

Anything I've forgotten may be added at a later stage....

Back from a hiatus

I love that word. Hiatus. Sounds good doesn't it.

It's been a pretty long hiatus, but the blog is back up and running. There's so much going on at the moment I shouldn't really have time to post anything but here we go nonetheless.

In that time I've been up to a lot of junk, with varying levels of success. I've been down into the deepest depths of despair and raised to stellar levels of joy.

The most recent achievement I've clocked up is my completing the Liverpool Half Marathon 2008. I finished the 13.1 mile course in 2hrs 22mins 20 seconds (according to the gun time), according to the official results on the websites I came in place 3042 of 3435 I know that sounds pretty bad but to be honest I'm just happy I finished. The bane of my running life are my knees which despite a support on the right knee (the main trouble maker) starting hurting at the 3 mile mark. I pushed through and was confident that I could make it round without stopping until a muscle twang around 9.5 miles made me stop for a minute whilst I stretched out my hamstring.

Maybe I should have taken this as a warning: I started running again until I passed the 11 mile marker when I had the worst cramp I have ever experienced. My right calf just clenched mid stride and I had a shooting pain near the bottom and side of my knee (where I imagine the calf ligaments are...?). It literally floored me and it was heart warming to see how many people stopped to check I was ok and offered to send one of the many medical teams back for me. I declined the help through gritted teeth and after a couple of minutes managed to get up and carry on.

Needless to say the pain was pretty bad and it was at a slow hobble that I made the final two miles. Before the race we'd joked that the final .1 mile (of the 13.1) would be a killer that would destroy us and I really shouldn't have made such a comment as I entered the final stretch, limping along and people were cheering us on at both sides of the track, I could even hear people shouting out my number (454) seeing the obvious pain on my face. Well, the pain got worse. Just as I began the final hundred metre hobble my left leg cramped up. Not as bad as the right calf but enough to send my stumbling. I was determined not to go down though and with every last piece of willpower I could summon (and yes, I'll admit - through a haze of tears) I forced myself across the line before falling to my knees clutching my leg.

If I EVER say I'm going to do something so physically trying as that run again remind me of all of this but more than anything else, remind me how stupid I was to not do any training since a run to the park (of maybe 8km) in NOVEMBER! Fool!

Anyway, today my knees are fine (weirdly) and my legs are okay, just a considerably amount of muscle stiffness and rawness where my shorts had started to chafe. At least I got a medal and a T-shirt though :-D I gave myself my own reward by letting myself do most of my work for the day in bed. Getting up at 5pm for something to eat and then hobbling to the library where you find me now at 00.30am putting the final touches to some dissertation research. Oh and reviving this blog.

See how long it lasts this time!

Birth of another fad

So here it is, my new blog.

It's been a while since I kept up to date with one of these. The last really successful one was my MSN Space which ran actively for over a year, then Microsoft decided to switch to MSN Live and it took eons to be able to load and open my own space for editing or even just reading.

MSN was abandoned and I wandered aimlessly through cyberspace sampling the blogging capacities of Myspace and Beebo before settling for the superior networking capabilities of Facebook.

But now a new age is beginning! THE BLOG IS BACK!

Check back for pictures, news and random commentary on life, the universe and everything!