Heeeeeeeey.
As I had a little spare time tonight, finally cleaned up the blog a little. As I'm here, I may as well update y'all as to a few things.
Christmas was good. A friend reminded me that what you give is more important than what you receive. Ironically, the sermon of the Christmas Day service I attended at All Saints, Hove told us that to receive was more important than giving, as there is no way with competing with the gift God has given us in his son. Well, I prefer to listen to my friend than a priest. The best thing I gave was a 12-pack of 300ml Inca Kola glass bottles, which I bought from a store in London. There was no way any of my family could have expected a present like this, and I'm pleased to say they voted with their mouths and all twelve bottles have been drunk. Two of them by me.
New year's eve was spent with friends. The drinking started at 2pm, a nice early modern time, although admittedly the first drink was only a half-pint of bitter shandy. Over the course of the evening I drunk the equivalent of six pints of beer, although I was never really drunk at any stage as the drinking was interspersed with meals and often with soft drinks, as we crawled from Kemptown to the centre of Brighton. Midnight was spent at a two-storied (yet cosy) little pub in the South Lanes. My finishing drink was a bottle of Crabbie's alcoholic ginger beer, perhaps the best drink I have discovered during the year 2009. There was a little countdown downstairs, and I felt at peace with the world, and more grown up, certainly compared to this time last year. I already look back at the eleven-hours or so that group meeting encompassed as a very fond memory of a truly classic group meeting. I hope for a repeat performance next year.
New year's day was spent at home. Had meal with grandfather, Joan (grandfather's girlfriend) and the rest of the family, six of us in all. It was really like having Christmas a second time; the mixture of good food and formality. There was also good film. In the evening, watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the Gene Wilder version, far superior to the Tim Burton one which was dark without being sinister) and the Italian Job, for which I have not seen the remake.
Peru Report nearing completion, and it will be complete before I go North on the fifteenth. Still set for around 70,000 words, which makes it by far the longest thing I'll have ever produced.
Haven't really been playing poker except for a Heads Up series versus a bit emo, who is 6-4 up after 10 games and the final is tomorrow. So basically, he's already won. He's a good player, by the way.
Nor have I been learning Italian as there have been no fresh plans for going to Rome, though I am sure it will happen sometime this year.
Marathon training has been going very well, especially since I splashed out on some new trainers. When they saw my old ones at the JogShop, they were astounded that someone could punish themselves by attempting to exercise on such a worn platform, although they didn't say it in those words. Alas, due to a fresh bout of snow have had to take to running indoors, although that's gone pretty well too, although it's only been jogging on the spot. Still, tomorrow I will be doing that for forty-five minutes in one stretch. I do feel slightly fitter, but it's quite annoying being so constrained by the weather. Today I took a bus into town. It had difficulty getting down the steep station road, which was far too icy. When I tried to get home not long afterwards, it turned out the uphill service had been cancelled, so I had to walk.
I don't think I'll be making a repeat venture tomorrow. As long as I can walk as far as the shops in Seven Dials, I might just be able to stay sane.
Hope the new year finds you all well, whoever you are. Feel free to comment, by the way. The few people who read this occasionally comment over MSN or, in the case of my brother, in person. But it will get a nice dynamic going if you use the comment feature.
Cheers
I often said, and still I say
'Drink up!' Like me, you'll soon be clay.
As I had a little spare time tonight, finally cleaned up the blog a little. As I'm here, I may as well update y'all as to a few things.
Christmas was good. A friend reminded me that what you give is more important than what you receive. Ironically, the sermon of the Christmas Day service I attended at All Saints, Hove told us that to receive was more important than giving, as there is no way with competing with the gift God has given us in his son. Well, I prefer to listen to my friend than a priest. The best thing I gave was a 12-pack of 300ml Inca Kola glass bottles, which I bought from a store in London. There was no way any of my family could have expected a present like this, and I'm pleased to say they voted with their mouths and all twelve bottles have been drunk. Two of them by me.
New year's eve was spent with friends. The drinking started at 2pm, a nice early modern time, although admittedly the first drink was only a half-pint of bitter shandy. Over the course of the evening I drunk the equivalent of six pints of beer, although I was never really drunk at any stage as the drinking was interspersed with meals and often with soft drinks, as we crawled from Kemptown to the centre of Brighton. Midnight was spent at a two-storied (yet cosy) little pub in the South Lanes. My finishing drink was a bottle of Crabbie's alcoholic ginger beer, perhaps the best drink I have discovered during the year 2009. There was a little countdown downstairs, and I felt at peace with the world, and more grown up, certainly compared to this time last year. I already look back at the eleven-hours or so that group meeting encompassed as a very fond memory of a truly classic group meeting. I hope for a repeat performance next year.
New year's day was spent at home. Had meal with grandfather, Joan (grandfather's girlfriend) and the rest of the family, six of us in all. It was really like having Christmas a second time; the mixture of good food and formality. There was also good film. In the evening, watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the Gene Wilder version, far superior to the Tim Burton one which was dark without being sinister) and the Italian Job, for which I have not seen the remake.
Peru Report nearing completion, and it will be complete before I go North on the fifteenth. Still set for around 70,000 words, which makes it by far the longest thing I'll have ever produced.
Haven't really been playing poker except for a Heads Up series versus a bit emo, who is 6-4 up after 10 games and the final is tomorrow. So basically, he's already won. He's a good player, by the way.
Nor have I been learning Italian as there have been no fresh plans for going to Rome, though I am sure it will happen sometime this year.
Marathon training has been going very well, especially since I splashed out on some new trainers. When they saw my old ones at the JogShop, they were astounded that someone could punish themselves by attempting to exercise on such a worn platform, although they didn't say it in those words. Alas, due to a fresh bout of snow have had to take to running indoors, although that's gone pretty well too, although it's only been jogging on the spot. Still, tomorrow I will be doing that for forty-five minutes in one stretch. I do feel slightly fitter, but it's quite annoying being so constrained by the weather. Today I took a bus into town. It had difficulty getting down the steep station road, which was far too icy. When I tried to get home not long afterwards, it turned out the uphill service had been cancelled, so I had to walk.
I don't think I'll be making a repeat venture tomorrow. As long as I can walk as far as the shops in Seven Dials, I might just be able to stay sane.
Hope the new year finds you all well, whoever you are. Feel free to comment, by the way. The few people who read this occasionally comment over MSN or, in the case of my brother, in person. But it will get a nice dynamic going if you use the comment feature.
Cheers
I often said, and still I say
'Drink up!' Like me, you'll soon be clay.
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