Random mass update!!

Yes, I know, I'm sorry. My posting regularity is utterly terrible these days, I'm just never managing to sit down and write anything.

Having a go at that again now. I do apologise if this ends up sounding a little disjointed, I'll be slowly writing bits of it through the day.

So.. last post was just over five weeks ago. There's a couple of things that have happened since then, but honestly it hasn't been all that busy (other than my usual weekly stuff anyway).

Wedding:
The big standout one no doubt was Ashley & Rebecca's wedding. Nothing quite like rocking up to the wedding and having the groom hand you a tablet and ask you to record the wedding for him. That was rather unexpected! Since when do people think I'm good with electronics gear?... hang on...
The wedding was small, and very, very geeky, from Star Wars awards music while walking down the aisle, to vows involving "Till Ragnarok comes", and Adrian giving an "Ode to Pi", with slight rewording which had the whole room either in hysterics or wondering what on earth was going on.
It was a good ceremony all in all, it's nice to see people taking something that important and then making it fit them, rather than going "Well we have to do it the traditional way" and going with the usual solemn ceremony.
Something involving history, geekiness and everyone laughing fit them far better.

Clubbing:
Honestly, this one was rather funny.
A friend invited me to go along clubbing a while back at a place she goes to. I've been clubbing once before when I was at uni and didn't think much of it, but in the spirit of trying new things I figured I'd go along.
Now, earlier that day I was at a friend's place planning the group trip to NZ that we're having, and after the planning was done I was slumped half asleep in a beanbag while the others broke out a boardgame.
Something was mentioned about plans for the evening, and Laura mentioned that I was off clubbing that evening. She sheer amount of incredulity in Lena's "Darren, clubbing??" response was hilarious :D

The clubbing itself ended up being more fun than I thought it'd be. The music (at least in the area we spent the night) was quiet enough that you could actually talk, and honestly I spent most of the night watching people and chatting about random stuff with a few friends-of-friends that I met while there.

New thing tried for month of September: Tick

Back:
My back is.. fluctuating... most days I've got some kind of twinge in it, but it's exactly that, a twinge rather than "Oh gods I shouldn't do that again". A bit like muscle pain from doing a lot of exercise, but without the 'nice' edge those tend to have.
Been to the physio a couple more times, but basically it boils down to: I'm spending huge amounts of time in an office chair for eight to fourteen hours a day, five to seven days a week, and its catching up with me.
I'm doing stretches and exercises every half hour or so at my desk (when I pay attention to the RSI timer thing I've setup), but really I need to get myself a new job that involves moving around for at least part of a day. Walking to other buildings to setup computers and stuff. Or maybe just changing careers entirely and becoming a professional travel writer. Hah!

Health:
Thankfully am finally over the latest bout of the flu. Not much need be said here, but fever & hallucinations really suck

Weight: 
Unfortunately due to a couple of emotional rough patches and some comfort eating I've put back on most of the weight that I'd lost, which annoys me to no end.
It seems to have redistributed slightly since my waistline remains the same, but I'm under no illusions that I've put on enough muscle to make up the difference.
I somehow think my hope of losing 8-10 kg in the twelve months of this blog isn't likely to happen thanks to this setback. I'll just keep my fingers crossed I come out with a net loss of something at the end.

Personal Stuff:
I won't go into specifics, but I've had a few very 'down' spots personally/emotionally recently. I've mostly dug myself back out of it again, and talking to people has helped, but.. yeah, not fun times, and I know I hurt at least one person during it, but I think we're better with it now.
Also, gods I hate it when something that's.. important but not overwhelming, suddenly gets stuck in your mind and all that you can do is chase that one thing, to the exclusion of everything else.
I do NOT like that degree of obsession randomly cropping up in my life.

Food:
I'm a little up and down about bringing lunch in with me to work, I'm managing it.. every second or third week at the moment, typically spag bol or butter chicken or chili con carne or similarly easily 'made in bulk' foods.
Now that the weather's warming back up again I may give sandwiches another go
I think the 'veggie of the week' idea is well and truly dead. Being out 3-4 nights a week isn't leaving me with enough time to use something like that.
Maybe I should do a "try new recipe once a week" or such, that I can do on a weekend.

But hey, I'm getting decent at making pie at least :)

SCA:
Going to an SCA camping event this weekend (Great Southern Gathering) which will be interesting. There will be classes on various things, fighting training and such. Will be a new experience.
Laura is also going for her "Free Scholar" prize in Rapier at GSG, think of it as like a martial arts grading. It's not completely analogous but its close. I've been informed that I'm allowed quiet, reserved encouragement from the sidelines. Waving pompoms is strictly prohibited.
I did manage to get her fighter's favour completed last week at Crafthall thanks to the awesome tutelage of Janet, I'll post a picture up here after the event.
Silk painting is a lot of fun, and surprisingly therapeutic, I most definitely need to learn more from her and perhaps try my hand at some solo.
Also need to look at getting more garb made (since while I have rudimentary sewing skills, I don't really have the time required to become good enough to make things I'm happy with, not right now at least.
Similarly I need to finally get my own armour, have been speaking to Rodriego about having him make me a set, need to follow that one up...

Leisure Time: 
I've been finding myself spending a LOT less time playing computer games than I did a few months ago. Well, with the exception of the weekend just gone, when I was playing Borderlands 2 a lot, but in general computer game time has gone down, reading time and time watching tv shows has gone up.
Unsure what, if anything, this says about my tastes, maybe I was just getting bored with the games right as interesting new shows and books cropped up.

Tidying:
I also had another big go through my wardrobe and cupboard, tidying things up and throwing out a pile of stuff that I no longer need/is busted.
I'm also trying a technique suggested by my friend Rachel. Put all my clothes on hangers in backwards, then when I use them, put the hanger forwards again. Then after X amount of time I can go through and I'll know exactly what I have and haven't used, and anything with a backwards hanger can be stored or donated or packed away or similar.


Hrm. I think that'll about do it for now. I do have a discussion on gender and such that I plan to put up, but I think that'll deserve a post in itself.

Also, Laura has suggested that I ask people what they'd like to see/read about in the next post. Feel free to weigh in!