bookmark_borderImages of self

A couple of things have prompted this post.

I seem to have been sucked into Twitter recently, I’m still not exactly sure why it appeals so much but it is annoyingly addictive whilst remaining relatively useless (to me). The odd snippet of information here and there is all well and good but I do wish I could find something a little more productive during the “down” minutes that, these days, find me heading towards Twitter. Twit.

One thing, and it’s been commented on elsewhere, is the tendency for people to use photos of themselves on the site, rather than the old school style graphical representations (the new ‘head’ up there on the banner in my case). This is not necessarily a bad thing, it does somewhat depend on the photo being used I guess, but still begs the question: “what prompted this change?”

I’ve not followed this trend, yet, for one very good reason. I don’t really have a photo of me that I like. Well there is one but it looks like I’ve got a plant growing out of my head, and it was about 2 stone ago and.. well, vanity is such a sin it would be a shame to waste it, right?

Today I spent a little time looking for tips on taking a good portrait photo, with the thinking that I’d set up my camera on the tripod, set the self-timer for stun and try to take one myself. The efforts are wholly uninspiring.

Now, if this was JUST for Twitter, then yes I’d probably just go with something daft, but I may need to have a “headshot” photo for other reasons (more on that later). Do I really need to go to a professional? I do know a couple of photographers who might gimme a few hints, or even offer a free (short) session but it does seem a little OTT. Mind you, I suppose all these people who already have headshots had to go through the same kind of thing.

In a related note, having recently used the rather fantastic vzaar to record a video to post with an item I was selling on eBay, I was reminded what my voice sounds like. I had forgotten how nasal I sound and that I have a tendency to mumble, ohh and of course I had forgotten the basic fact that I SOUND NOTHING LIKE I IMAGINE!

It’s odd how we build up our own idea of how we look, act and sound, yet the reality is usually further removed than many of us would like to admit. The truth of the matter is that I’m a little taller and thinner, than I imagine, my face is more defined, my voice is deeper and more authorative, and I’m never ever cute, just “dashing”. Yes, yes, that’s the truth of the matter and I won’t hear another word said on the topic.

bookmark_borderThis, that and the other

Yesterday’s post highlighted something for me, namely that I really REALLY need to get the miniblog area of my sidebar sorted out.

At the moment it pulls from a del.icio.us account but that means you can’t comment on it, which kind of defeats the purpose for me. The miniblog is supposed to be just that, a smaller ‘blog’ to which I can post shorter snippets and links, allowing me to focus the ‘main’ posts on longer, better thought out pieces.

I’ve tried a few plugins but I guess I need to crank out the hand coding monkey again. Oh well, I’ve got one website to finish then I’m gonna take a break from client work to sort out a few oddities in both this and my other sites. I’ve also got a huge backlog of Scottish Blogs cleanup still to do and will need to start thinking about organising another blogmeet I guess.. the fun never ends.

But that’s a while away yet.

It’s times like these that make me ponder about my incessant need to keep myself busy. Last Saturday, as my darling wife was suffering a rare hangover, we did NOTHING all day. Nada. Zilch. Zero. I’ve not done that for ages, just sat on the sofa and completely veg’d out. I think I’ll be scheduling some other days like that in the future.

But I do find it hard to sit still and do nothing, my boredom threshold is low, and doubly so now that our TV viewing is fully under our control.. adverts? we don’t watch no steenkin adverts!.. of course there is still the small issue of finding anything decent to watch, but that’s a separate discussion (mind you, Jekyll is proving better than I thought..).

Another thing that is crunching on my boredom factor is reading. I’ve not sat down to read a book for ages, although that’s probably because I’ve been reading “work” books recently (Wisdom of Crowds, Emotional Design, Document Engineering… yawn…) rather than tackling the stack of novels in my ‘to read’ pile.

It’s odd that I’ve got the impression of myself that I am inherently lazy and selfish but constantly say “Yes” when people ask for help. If I could be bothered analysing that train of thought any further I would but.. well.. you know.. bored now.

bookmark_borderGuilty Pleasures

Sometimes I loathe our TV, despite paying for the “all the channels, yes even the poker ones” some nights there is just NOTHING ON! Quite frankly it’s ridiculous and it’s all that Murdoch’s fault, sometimes I wish I wasn’t addicted to Sky+…

Mind you at other times it offers day long TV marathons and next thing you know you have to lever yourself up from the sofa (always a slightly painful experience when bare skin has been in close proximity to a leather couch for nine hours) and you are wondering why it’s gone dark. Of course, they never EVER broadcast day long marathons of good TV shows, no no, if you are going to spend all day in front of the TV it’ll be brain-numbingly awful stuff that you’ll be watching.

Ohh yes, it will.

Don’t deny it.

So, what programmes yield such power over me? Well in an effort to clear my soul of some of it’s burden (I’d like it to be nice and trim for when I get sent to hell) here is a short sampling of my guilty TV pleasures:

  • Extreme Makeover: Home Edition – An American house DIY/design show where they, sometimes, knock the house down and build a new one. It’s all done for “needy” families and is a mixture of OTT Americanisms and heart-wrenching stories. If you have a soul you’ll have tears in your eyes at the end of every show, if you don’t it’s worth it just to see what they put in the houses.
  • The Best – the only made a couple of series of this but we still enjoy watching it. Three chefs, well two chefs and a cute food scientist, cook a meal based on a given theme which are then judged by three members of the public in secret. A running score is kept through the series and the banter between the chefs is half the fun.
  • U.F.C. – late night on Bravo, amongst the titillation and … er… whatever else they do, is the Ultimate Fighting Championship. In the same vein as boxing I’ve always believed that if that’s what these guys want to do, and it’s as safe as it can be then why not? Often bloody, always exciting, but I wonder if it’s just the shock factor that drags me back?
  • Friends – yes. That’s right. We still watch repeats (re-runs for my American reader) of Friends. They are simple, easy to watch and light-heartedly funny.

They are the most common culprits the ones I’ll happily embrace along with my dressing gown, a jumbo bag of minstrels, a mixed selection of (generic supermarket brand) crisps, and copious cups of coffee (surely the reason advert breaks were invented). Couple them with a very laisse faire attitude to personal hygiene for the day, and I’m in TV heaven.

It’s so bad that I only allow myself one of these days every two or three years lest my brain rebel and force me to stab myself in each eye with a blunt spoon, for if there’s something guaranteed to make me want to stop watching TV it’s a sharp pain to the eyes inflicted by a rounded metal eating implement (but each to their own of course).

Now, it’s over to you dear reader, time to fess up! What’s your guilty TV secret? What’s your ideal “TV loafing day”? Share your techniques and let all of us slobs benefit.

Ohh and I’ll pre-empt the wisecracks about “nekkid ladeez” or any reference to Jude Law naked, daytime TV only guys and gals!

bookmark_borderMiscellany

Bit busy so a few quick thoughts.

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Remember that musical meme which went round in January? Well I’ve been spotting it all over the place in the last couple of days. Apparently it’s hit the “design” guys and gals. I used to think that they set the trends, but it seems like we are all further ahead than we think!!

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Paul (brother-in-law) and Angela (his girlfriend) are over tonight for dinner. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with him buying a new MP3 player, and even less to do with the fact that I have 58GB of music on my PC.

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Blog etiquette. More on this later, but it’s a bit like life. If you wouldn’t say something to someone’s face then don’t say it online. Ohhh and there is NEVER any reason to degenerate into name calling and whatnot. I’ll happily disagree with someone, and have them disagree with me, but everyone has the right to expect courtesy and politeness. Pausing before you type is usually the best method.

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Football starting up again soon. Must get fit. No chocolate has passed my lips for three days. Yes, I’m counting!

bookmark_borderCluck

Well I’ve just been chastised for not mentioning that Louise was away at a hen weekend. So there you go Susan, I’ve mentioned it.

Seemingly it was a debauched weekend of spa treatments, shopping, drinking, silver vibrators, and the like. Your typically hen weekend. I’m not sure what else to say about it other than that the main protagonists were named Cheap, Easy, Sleazy, Teasy and Tacky. They even had t-shirts with their names on (designed by moi).

Of course when I attend the groom’s stag night in a couple of weeks I’ll be posting NOTHING about it. Law of the stag and all that.