Blogging
Another fortnight with no blog posts. This is getting serious. And it’s not just here. I haven’t blogged on Perl Hacks for almost a month either. There’s a trickle of posts on Wasted Inches, but there’s nothing I can do about that as the schedule is determined by my ten-years-ago self. I don’t even have the excuse that I’m particularly busy elsewhere. Posts on the Mail Corrections and Clarifications site have pretty much dried up as the Mail have almost completely stopped publishing a corrections column. Which is strange as they haven’t exactly stopped making mistakes.
I need to drag myself out of this and start blogging again. I have a couple of ideas for posts. I’ll aim to get at least one of them written by this time next week.
Health
Things seem to be going well here. I’ve got into a good rhythm and I’m losing weight at a pretty solid rate. Unfortunately, last night we had a dinner party which undid a few days of good work – and there’s still rather a lot of cheesecake left in the fridge.
I’ve mentioned that I’m using a Fitbit to track my activity and My Fitness Pal to track what I’m eating. I’ve also started to use RunKeeper. RunKeeper is for tracking exercises like walking, running or cycling. As well as the web site there’s an Android app which uses the GPS in your phone to monitor your movement. I still don’t trust my ankle enough to run very far, so I’ve been taking two mile walks. I’m managing to fit in three or four a week. As with all of this stuff, if you measure something it becomes easier to improve it. I’ve already shaved a few minutes off my average time over two miles.
Yesterday my wife asked how far it is from home to Clapham Junction and I realised that it’s probably about two miles. So I think I’ll start walking home from there a few times a week.
Training and Speaking
I haven’t actually done any training or speaking in the last two weeks, but I’m talking to three people about possibilities for later in the year. It feels like this is the year that the training side of my business will really take off.
Gigs
A couple of rather different gigs this week. Last Sunday I saw Lisa Hannigan at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. I was introduced to her when she played at the “Way to Blue” tribute to Nick Drake concert at the Barbican two years ago. I was really impressed and have been trying to get to see her again ever since. This was the first time I managed it. And it was well worth it. The show was great. The only slight disappointment was that I had heard that she had played the Nick Drake cover “Black Eyed Dog” on this tour. But she didn’t play it that night.
Then, on Thursday, I saw the Scissor Sisters at the Shepherds Bush Empire. I hated their version of Comfortably Numb when I first heard it in 2004 and if you had told me then that I would be going to see them play within ten years I wouldn’t have believed you. But I must have mellowed. But even now I probably wouldn’t have gone if it wasn’t for the fact that Little Boots was the support. Little Boots was, as expected, great. Scissor Sisters were very good. But I’m not sure that I’ll be rushing back to see them again every time they tour.