mike[space] dot net

Today, I woke up in the mood to sort out my website. So that is what I have done. Much of the change will be completely invisible to you, as it has mainly been about updating the backend software to a more recent version - I am now running drupal 5.10, instead of the antiquated (and probably insecure) 4.7.2.

So lots of posts of linkage lately, but not so much about me ... so this will be one of those nice and self-indulgent updates, where I shall cover the gamut of exciting things that have been occuring in my life of late. The Saturday just gone marked the third Saturday night in a row with a serious sesssion of Rock Band going on. I've got seriously into the singing, really throwing myself into it. I'm not sure I am necessarily all that good, but I've been getting respectable scores on some songs, and frankly it's so much fun it's well worth it. Sarah is probably the best singer we've had on it overall I reckon, although Dan and Jo were the big surprise at my birthday party!

After my earlier post, don't really have the time for a long and self-indulgent post about where I am in life (hooray!), so just wanted to post a brief comment marking the passing of another year. Life is a lot less structured and fixed than it was this time last year, and I am very much mid-experiment with the changes I am going through. Fortunately I have an awesomely supportive girlfriend, family and friends, so thanks to all of you who have been there and continue to be there as I fret and stress about my writing.

I have got a couple of things to post up on here, that I'll hopefully sort out in the next week or two. I've been delaying because I need to upgrade the software running the site, and wanted to do that first. But anyway, there will be some evidence of my work soon ... honest! ;-)

I'm not quite sure how this happens, but apparently I am able to keep up my blog more regularly when I have a fulltime job, than when I have all the time in the world! So how about a quick catch up?

The biggest news is that Claire has got herself a teaching job for next year, which is bloody awesome. In fact Claire has very nearly finished the whole course as well, which is also awesome, if for no other reason than it will mean she can catch up on her sleep ;-)

The next biggest is that we have found ourselves a new flat. We initially plumped for a large 2 bed place with a big garden, but a second visit revealed just how big a problem the damp was likely to be, and we wound up with a large 1 bed place with a garden instead. It's smaller than we have now, which is going to mean we will need to be a bit neater than we are now, but it's a really nice place, the garden is in good condition and a nice size for BBQs, and it's literally a stone's throw from Brockwell Park, which I am very happy about.

It's been a couple of weeks since I've mentioned the writing, so thought it might be worth an update. The piece I mentioned in my last posting progressed to a 3rd draft just over a week ago, and has been titled "Just Good Friends". I've been getting feedback from a couple of people, and will hopefully be tackling another draft (possibly final) in the next week or so. However, last week was not a good week overall, as I struggled a little with the assignment from City Lit, and didn't seem to get past it. At the same time, flat hunting has begun in earnest, which is a fairly distracting process. I'm trying not to be too hard on myself, if for no other reason than being miserable about it isn't going to help all that much, and if anything risks making matter worse. I knew getting into this that were bound to be more and less productive phases, and I need to develop strategies for dealing with it rather than wallowing too much.

My first week done, and naturally enough my review of that first week is late ;-)

Overall, I have been pleased with how my first week of unemployment has gone. I had extremely grand plans for the week, a lot of them not really focused on writing, but more on the general admin of life such as sorting out my massive backlog of paperwork, doctors visits, gym and cooking. The paperwork really hasn't happened at all, but everything else went pretty smoothly. The biggest surprise has been that, whilst I do have a lot more time, it's amazing how quickly that time can disappear in the process of getting a couple of things done. Just trying to get better at keeping on top of household chores and the like can be a real consumer of time.