The year's going great so far

Now, I do know that I've changed this blog's photo for a new ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE one.  But it's a good picture!  I don't know how to resize it for the blog.  Some people have nice long, narrow photos that fit absolutely perfectly.  They know something about photo-trickery that I don't.  I've not the patience to try and find out, so you're stuck with a massive photo.  Hey, it's it good one though :D

So, as I said, the year's going great so far.  I'm not watching any TV at all really, unless I happen to accidentally go downstairs for something and notice that Kev's watching 'Have I Got News For You' and get sucked into the telly.  But mostly I am sitting in my 'office' and reading and doing a little bit of writing.  I am just enjoying the productive vibe that's going on.  I have lots to do, and not enough time to do it all.  That's okay though, I'm just doing which bits I can.  I've got very lovely business cards now, which I need to distribute properly.  So far I have only sent some to Preston Uni via my friend Sara, and I have posted some on the Whale Tail noticeboard - this is clearly not going to make me rich.  I must do more.  I had intended to go to the Guardian office and give them one of my cards, but I've chickened out so far - this is exactly the wrong thing to do.  See, what I've done there, is I've imagined that I'll make a tit of myself, and I've made the Guardian office a scary place to go.  Now, it's very unlikely that I will actually make a tit of myself, because all I have to do is ask if they have any vacancies for a proofreader.  They will either say no, or they will say maybe.  It's very unlikely that they'll just say yes, and give me a job.  But all I want to do is give them my card and let them see that I'm enterprising.  Then I have to go to the university and distribute some cards there - that's also easy, but I've allowed it to grow into a task of Herculean proportions simply by putting it off.  All I have to do there is go into the library and ask if I can put my card on the noticeboard.  It's not difficult.  I've no need to fear rejection, because I already know what that feels like.

My pretty little business cards.  Apologies if you think they're a bit trite (I said 'trite'), but they're very me,
and I'm not about to pretend to be someone I'm not :)

I'll try to do these things on Friday morning - that is my only window, and I must use it wisely.

I have been writing, as I said.  Writing my mammoth Faerie novel - that is, my novel-of-mammoth-proportions that is entitled 'Faerie', not a novel about mammoth Faeries, or Faerie mammoths.  It was very nice to get back into it, and to move the story along a good bit.  I'm getting right into the action now, and it's starting to become exciting again.  And writing that stuff also inspired some ideas for hubs.  Hubs are great, and I've missed writing them - I did see them as a bit of a procrastination exercise, but actually, they're not, because they keep me writing and keep that creative bit of my brain in shape.  I've neglected the hubs, and probably as a consequence, I've neglected all of my writing for the past few months.  It's refreshing to be writing just anything again.  I hope I don't have another break like that for a very long time.  Writing makes me feel like I'm on holiday.

So, I have much to say, and lots of places and platforms to say it on and in and at.  Wednesday morning feels like just exactly the right morning to make some headway - if I don't get ill again.

Honestly (just a little moan) - has anyone else been ill for the past month?  This year's coldy-fluey thing is a horrible one, that just doesn't seem to want to eff off.  That's all I'm saying about that - people have worse things than colds!

Lx.


Addendum 1:  I'm so brainless.  I've already written about some of the things I've just mentioned here.  How is it that I can completely forget that I've written in this blog since New Year?  What is bloody wrong with me?  I think I need to go back to Barbados for a week.

Addendum 2:  I have just been looking at my statistics for this blog, and it hardly gets read at all!  Lots of posts have been read less than once.  Less.  Than.  Once.  Hmph!  But I did notice that posts that were tagged with a famous person, or a topical issue, got a lot more views than other ordinary posts.  So I've tagged this post with a handful of famous people to see what effect that has.  Just a little game, you understand.  No doubt the people who drop by to see what I'm writing about Rhod Gilbert will pop right off again once they realise they've been had.  (I love Rhod Gilbert though - he's a very sexy man.)

A running post

11th May, 2010

Yes, I went for a run. I mean, I don't know why, because I hate running. It hurts. It hurts before you do it, because you get this dull feeling in the pit of your stomach in anticipation of the actual physical pain you're going to make yourself feel very soon. And then it hurts while you're doing it, 'pounding the pavement' as they say, feeling the impact on your joints - particularly the knees - feeling the burning in your chest, the stitch in your side because you didn't leave enough time between eating and running, the stiffness that threatens to turn into cramp in your calves. And it even hurts when you stop (though it's nice at the same time), and then you struggle to walk because your muscles have turned to jelly. Although, I don't stop once I've started, until I get to the end. This is because stopping is such a relief that it makes it harder to carry on, for me. If I stopped half way through a run I know that I would walk the rest of the way; therefore, I don't stop.

But do I really hate it as much as I say? Probably not. I do feel good about myself today. It was very satisfying to surprise Kev by coming downstairs in my running stuff and saying 'I'm just popping out, back in half an hour.' He was struck dumb! And then he was struck dumb once more when I did arrive back home less than half an hour later :) I did three miles in twenty-seven minutes. I was very pleased with that - when I was running four years ago I didn't go that fast. I think I was probably being too cautious four years ago. I was running with a heart rate monitor, and I was sticking to a certain rate as much as possible, the rate that was supposed to ensure optimum performance. But I think I will just use my lungs as a guide to how fast I can manage to go - if I get pain in them and start to struggle to breathe, I will slow down a little (not stop, never stop!); if my lungs are feeling fine, I'll carry on as I am.

Today I feel good. I know I will have pain tomorrow, but it'll be interesting to see how bad it is. I've got achiness in my legs, and they're a little wobbly when I've been kneeling on the floor, but nothing as bad as I expected.

12th May, 2010

The pain arrived in the thighs and the muscles around the hips at about 8.30pm last night, around the time that David Cameron was leaving Buckingham Palace after being offered a new job by the Queen. The pain was quite considerable, but I stretched my legs a good bit, and all was well. So I'm thinking that I might go for another run this evening. Ugh. The thought of that amount of physical exertion makes me feel a little sick. But I will keep the thought of the feeling at the finish in my mind and I will make myself do it. I have to get into it properly if I'm going to manage to run the Paras 10 in October.

This is the Paras 10. But I will certainly not be doing it with a pack on my back, and I certainlywill just be wearing normal running gear. Perhaps the sight of these strapping young men will spur me on to a faster time though :D

So I was thinking about having a bash at the London Marathon one year as well. I've been saying it for several years now, but have never actually tried to get in. Noomski would love to do as well, and so would Kev. And I think my mum would probably have a bash also. Of course, I'd love to get a good time as well, something under three hours would be nice - although, of course, completely unrealistic! Keeping up eight or nine minute miles for twenty-six of them is probably a bit of a tall order for a beginner. But under four hours should certainly be possible... err, but perhaps I should keep my mouth shut about that for now! Noomski would get a good time - he can run for miles and miles, could probably do two marathons back to back on the same day without too much trouble, after a bit of training. He once set off for a wee run one day and found that he'd done twenty-six miles by accident! Weirdo.

So, there's a new Conservative Prime Minister, and a coalition government, but we can still carry on with our lives as if the election never happened. It was exciting to watch, but now I'd like to get on with what I was doing before, which largely involved ignoring politicians and just doing what makes me and my family happy. Well, I've added running, which doesn't make me particularly happy - but it does make my body work more effectively, thus allowing me to achieve more happiness-inducing activities.

Back to work on the book now - ttfn.