Month: October 2019

Bits of everything!

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Another good productive day. I went out for a run (just a short one today – I’m trying to get a bit of speed up by doing shorter runs on some days) and finished off my poems for this evening’s poetry night. I then spent the afternoon working on my text adventure game. Still quite a bit to do but I’m on track!

No ukulele class tonight (it’s half term) so I headed straight to poetry night. Poetry night was good – I read another running poem (I do a lot of those) and a poem based on the story of my game. Now back home catching up with a few writing tasks before bed.

It’s weigh-in day tomorrow – fingers crossed it’ll be another week slightly closer to my target range!

Kalenji running top
Not quite an OOTD (although I will be wearing it to parkrun on Saturday): one of my recent postal goodies! Have stocked up on some new winter running gear.

Today’s earworm playlist:

Duran Duran – Save A Prayer
Gunship – When You Grow Up Your Heart Dies
Matthew Wilder – Break My Stride
ABC – The Look Of Love
Boy Meets Girl – Waiting For A Star To Fall
Sacre – The London Marathon
Gomez – Whippin’ Piccadilly
Lukas Graham – 7 Years

Autumn walks

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I had another good few hours working on my text adventure today, and then went out for a nice long mid-afternoon walk (I’m getting a bit sick of having to use the treadmill in the evening to get my steps in!).

I’ve also been working on my poems for tomorrow’s poetry night. One of them relates to my adventure game, so I’m interested to see what the reception is.

Will report on how it went in tomorrow’s blog!

Walking through autumn leaves
Sort of an OOTD: Reebok Freestyles and one of my transitional season trenchcoats for a nice crisp autumn day. Love kicking through the leaves!

Today’s earworm playlist:

Michael Land – The Barbery Coast
The Sugarhill Gang – Apache
Fascinating Aida – Cheap Flights
Jon & Vangelis – I’ll Find My Way Home
Michael Land – LeChuck’s Treasure Hold
Squeeze – Tempted
Bobby ‘Boris’ Pickett – The Monster Mash

Pixel hunting

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I’ve had a good day working on my text adventure today. I’m starting to create the graphics now, which is really relaxing! I’m not really any good at drawing but I’m enjoying making my wee pixel pictures.

Now catching up with a few episodes of Strictly and am about to get my steps in with a quick walk on the treadmill.

Pixel vampire bat
Not an OOTD: it looks a bit odd as I had to take a picture of the screen (the pixel art is too small to post online!), but here’s a vampire bat I made for a minigame that takes place within the main game!

Today’s earworm playlist:

Michael Land – The Brimstone Beach Club
The Sugarhill Gang – Apache

A non-lazy Sunday

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It’s been a slightly busier Sunday than usual – I went for another run this morning and then spent the day working on my text adventure game. Because it’s quite a big game, I’ve still got a lot to do! I’ll be spending a lot of time on it over the next week.

Excited to get going again tomorrow morning.

Domino's Veg-A-Roma
Not an OOTD: also, there was pizza. I’m being good and saving most of it for tomorrow though!

Today’s earworm playlist:

Squeeze – Tempted
Bill Conti – Gonna Fly Now
Naughty Boy and Sam Smith – La La La

Semi-flying Saturday post

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Have had a very busy day that included driving to a new parkrun and going to an awesome gig. Will update fully tomorrow!

OOTD 19th October 2019
OOTD: with all the elephants at the Sage Gateshead! Glasses Emporio Armani (2017), dress Rhona Roy (vintage 1980s, bought at vintage fair 2019), tights Primark (2017), boots Clarks (2016).

Today’s earworm playlist:

Cast of The Nightmare Before Christmas – Jack’s Lament
Jason Paige – Pokémon Theme (Gotta Catch ‘Em All)
Sophie Ellis-Bextor – Take Me Home
Grant Lee Buffalo – The Whole Shebang
Squeeze – Up The Junction
Duran Duran – 911 Is A Joke

Treading heavily

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A full day working on my game today. Back on the treadmill again in the evening too!

I’m trying out a new (to me) parkrun tomorrow morning, and then going to a gig in the evening. Sunday will be spent working on my game again. Should be a good weekend 🙂

Old running shoes
Sort of an OOTD: my old running shoes have briefly come out of retirement for my treadmill runs/walks! I find they hurt my feet now, though, so I’m going to get some new ones specially for the treadmill.

Today’s earworm playlist:

Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
John Parr – St. Elmo’s Fire (Man In Motion)
Abba – Super Trouper
The Proclaimers – Misty Blue

Closer and closer!

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Another good loss at Slimming World this morning – 1.5lbs off – meaning that I’m only 2lbs away from being back in my target range. So close now! Determined to do it in the next couple of weeks.

I’ve had a fairly relaxed afternoon doing some admin, and have sorted out my to-do list so that I can have a full day of working on my text adventure game tomorrow!

Fruit bowl
Not an OOTD: I wasn’t slimmer of the week, but the slimmer of the week hadn’t stayed to group and I was second in line – so I got the basket! Plenty of fruit and veg to help me and Geth have another good week of eating.

Today’s earworm playlist:

Queen – Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy
Gunship – The Mountain
Princess – Say I’m Your Number One
Bruno Mars – Locked Out Of Heaven
Marillion – Lavender Blue

Phone Box Thursday: St Mary’s Street, Edinburgh

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Fast forward a month from the London Marathon, and I was in another city doing another race – this time the EMF 10k. On the way there, I took the opportunity to photograph a few Edinburgh phone boxes that I hadn’t yet added to my collection.

Red phone box
Red phone box, St Mary’s Street, Edinburgh, 25th May 2019.

(Coordinates 55°94’95.4″N, 3°18’34.7″W.)

The centre of Edinburgh is a really good hunting ground for red phone boxes (as evidenced by the vast numbers that I photographed in early 2016 and posted on the blog during the early part of last year!). This one looks a bit unkempt inside, but the outside is still in fairly good condition.

Another Edinburgh phone box next week.

Still plugging away

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Another good day getting on with my text adventure, then I headed out to ukulele class. The tunes we’re doing at the moment are fun but challenging, and as I’ve said before I feel like I’m at the right level in the intermediate class.

Hoping for another good loss at Slimming World tomorrow as I’ve been on the treadmill a lot this week!

Christmas catalogue 2019
Not an OOTD: the first Christmas catalogue arrived through the door today. Not in the mood at all yet – let’s have Hallowe’en first!

Today’s earworm playlist:

James Taylor – Wichita Lineman
Monty Python – Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life
Peter Hames – Ordinary Man
OneRepublic – Counting Stars

Treadmills and pixels

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A slightly more laid-back day today. I caught up with a bit of admin this morning, got some ukulele practice in ready for tomorrow’s class, and then spent the afternoon working on my text adventure.

I got my steps in on the treadmill this evening (if it was spring/summer I might be tempted out for some evening runs at the moment, but it’s getting dark fairly early now!). I’ve also been doing lots of reading about creating basic pixel art. For my last text adventure game, I created the graphics by making photo montages, scaling down the images, heavily pixelising them and reducing them to a 16-colour palette. For my current project, I’d like to create at least some of the artwork from scratch, so I’ll be doing some experimenting this week.

Hoping for a productive day working on my various projects tomorrow.

Pixel art practice
Not an OOTD: I’m no artist, but I gotta start somewhere!

Today’s earworm playlist:

Jon & Vangelis – I’ll Find My Way Home
George Ezra – Paradise
Sacre – The London Marathon
James Taylor – Wichita Lineman
Pharrell Williams – Happy