Interesting times

The past 7 days were kicked off, as expected, by the speed flat mating. A singularly odd experience.I'll take you through it. I was ushered into Sway Bar in Holborn by a bloke who I'm pretty sure was the lead singer from Elbow. He gave me a sticker on which I was instructed to write my name, budget and preferred area, then sent me in to look for people wearing 'flat available' stickers. To be honest, the caliber of the participants wasn't high - exemplified by the guy who had written that he wanted to live 'somewhere cool' on his sticker. Still, the beer was cheap and by the end I'd made some unexpected new friends that I would never have made in normal circumstances. Worth doing.

 The rest of my week has been spent variously eating out in Chelsea and getting expensive parking fines, more flat hunting (I'm getting closer) and discussing the theory of relativity at some length in the pub with my mate Tom. Personally I'm not convinced and some day I'll prove that time is in fact constant, time travel is not theoretically possible and Einstein was quite simply wrong.

Onto my weekly task. As you may or may not be aware, I set myself the task of learning how to broadly draw the political map of the world from memory. I also said this would include capitals. In retrospect this was an outrageous addition and as such, the capitals will have to wait for another week. As for the map, I've managed it. Good fun as well. Below is the video evidence should you not believe me.

Next week's task... balloon animals.
Until next time.
W

Back in the UK

Greetings. I am tanned (to a certain extent) and rested. I am also party to an extra stone of weight - or at least that's what it feels like. I need to join the Gym immediately.

Indeed, I have been living well in the last two weeks. I have also been working hard on my weekly task. I wasn't quite sure what it was going to be until I arrived in Menorca but it soon became clear. We stayed at a villa, and in that villa was a pool, and in that pool was a football. It quickly emerged that I and my colleague, fella by the name of Craig, could not rest until we had headed the ball back and forth at least 50 times in a row. A worthy and useful task you might say. Well you'd be right. The first two days we were sub-20 and things were looking bleak. But on the very last day it all came together. Here is the result.

As awesome as this was, we have to move on. In that vein, the task this week shall be more useful. By sunday I will have learnt how to draw the political map of the world by memory complete with capital cities. Expect video evidence.

In other news I am looking for a flat in London still. As such I have agreed to attend a speed flat mate event on wednesday night. I won't lie I am quite terrified at this prospect but it might be fun. Plus I am buoyed by the new-found positivity I have acquired from reading 'Yes man' on holiday. If you haven't read it I suggest you do.

Ps. I'll leave you with a new hobby of mine. I have developed something, which some of you may already be aware of - an 'evil face'. It's so evil, I have genuinely scared myself with it whilst practicing in the mirror. I have recently begun to highjack photos with it and plan on continuing to do so. See below for an example. 

Until next time.
W

More holidays

Well a lovely time was had by all in the Lake District. Without wishing to repeat myself, the place is pretty amazing. The reason for travelling there was of course the wedding of two friends which made it all the more enjoyable and I had the pleasure of performing a song at their service. All went reasonably smoothly!

We also climbed the highest peak in England - granted it's only the 13th highest peak in the British Isles but it was still an adventure and it helped to compensate for the vast amount of food and beer I have ingested in the past few days. I won't joke, the hog roast bun that I had at the wedding deserves several awards. As such, its succulent, dreamy, moist and downright tremendous aroma will stay with me quite possibly forever.

Only a short post today as I'm shortly boarding a flight to menorca for my second holiday in as many weeks. Don't even worry about that. I am aiming to complete one of the items from my list over the course of the next ten days so expect some update from this. Which one it will be however will have to remain a mystery until then. W

Holiday

I have arrived in Windermere this evening of Lake Windermere fame. Frankly, it's a lovely place - like a postcard - and has the feel of Cornwall to it but with more hills. I'm here for a wedding and it promises to be a cracking long weekend! We're off kayaking tomorrow morning and this brings me to an interesting subject.

Following the recent success of the olympics I have been pondering the best way for me to win a gold medal in the Rio olympics in four years time. Now this may seem far fetched, and nothing I am about to say makes it any less so. However, based on a number of factors I have decided the only way I can do this is to train myself to perfection in the 200m kayak sprint. This starts tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.

In further shocking news, my hair is now regular length. I cut it and I'd do it again. I have no regrets. None whatsoever. Especially since, as it was such a big occasion, I had it cut at a Toni and Guy establishment, where they washed it and let me sit in the back massage chair. It was well good.

Still no news on flats in London. Unfortunately I didn't get that last one but I'll keep trying. Once I'm back from my holidays I'll be looking more and also beginning to work through my weekly tasks. Not decided which one I'll start with yet but I have an additional task to add to the list. One week out of the next 50 or so will be dedicated to breaking a world record. If anyone can think of which one i should break then let me know. That Rowntree fruit pastille advert seems to suggest it's impossible to have a fruit pastille in your mouth without chewing it for any length of time. Maybe that's somewhere to start?

Until next time.

Making progress

So far, everything is proceeding as I had forseen it. To update, I have now moved back into my parents house for the interim - an experience in itself - and have begun to bring my plans into fruition. I was sorry to see the north disappear in my rear view mirror (or more accurately in the wing mirrors of the massive van I hired to transfer everything. Honestly it was awesome. Like riding down the M1 in a throne-like armchair.) But the north is now but a distant memory - although one that I sincerely hope will never be lost.

My band - Gun Hill Riffs - had their first gig this past sunday evening. A resounding success from all accounts. Stand by for some uploads of some of the songs. Most enjoyable it was too and hopefully it will be the first of many.

I am currently looking for a place in london, and went to see a couple of places last night. One place in Barnes (a considerable hotbed of poshness) looked an absolute steal, so fingers crossed my ever growing hair didn't put the potential flatmates off too much. My fingers are currently crossed.

Talking of which my hair is becoming more of an issue by the day. Do I grow it to rockstar length or do I cut it and return to looking half respectable again? I have just applied for a role as an extra in a feature film for september which specifically says 'no long hair' so maybe my subconscious knows something I don't.

These are the things that are occupying me currently. Expect more updates to follow now that things are starting to normalise.

W

New beginnings

It's reached the point in my stint up north where I have probably, all things being well, bought my last roll of bin bags and my last jar of marmite from northern retailers. That means that my days up here are numbered and I'm looking towards my journey back down south.

I'll be sorry to leave here, after all it really is a lovely place, cracking views from my window and great locals (pubs as well as people). But things have to move forwards and plans are already under way.

I've put together a band which will hopefully start gigging from August - Gun Hill Riffs. Look out for us! There'll be regular updates on songs and gigs in case anyone wants to come and support us. I'm on the look out for a place to kick back in London (maybe Fulham area) with some like minded people. Again, if anyone knows anything, let me know.

There is a list of things that I will be getting stuck into once everything is up and running entitled 'weekly tasks'. I shall be putting them into some sort of order in the near future so if there are any suggestions on things that I could be doing then please let me know!

Obviously I'm going to be hard pressed to, learn how to prepare for a marathon in a week. Some of these things may need a little investment and rest assured there will be regular updates on my successes and failures along the way. If they do dry up, it is entirely likely I will have broken my neck attempting a back flip.

Amongst the smaller items on this list are two or three larger goals which I will be working towards and concentrating on throughout the year...
1) Writing my novel (Some friends will become enemies and enemies will become firends)
2) As already mentioned, the band - Gun Hill Riffs
3) Learning Spanish (could be a tricky one)

So I'll leave it there for now.
Expect some more regular blogs from now on!

Ola