I've never really understood Crufts. Don't get me wrong, I really like animals a lot, but I just don't get watching those poor dogs running up and down and being well-behaved, whilst being enthusiastically dragged by their owners.
Charlotte, however, loves Crufts. They introduce each individual dog, and as a new one comes up on the screen, a new and progressively cuter "awwwww" comes from two feet in front of the TV, closely followed by her looking back at me to see if I've seen the doggy.
I have come to the conclusion that, whilst Crufts isn't exactly riveting viewing, it makes Charlotte more entertaining than anything else that's on right now, so I can live with it!
I haven't exercised in ages; like years probably. I used to play badminton with my dad on Wednesdays after work. I used to play basketball with my cousin and some friends in the summer holidays in middle school. I used to play football! I've been a member of a gym, I've been running; in my life, you'd think I'd done enough exercise to do me til I die. You'd be wrong in your assumption
There has been murmurs of exercise at work recently, people suggesting 5-a-side football after work. I'm not really one for football - it's annoying getting my hair dirty, and I'm not the hugest fan of tearing out one of my piercings so I wasn't really into the football idea, but basketball; I could get into that again. Quitting smoking has turbocharged my appetite, so anything to keep the kilos stacking on my stomach is a blessing!
It turns out, exercise is actually pretty fun, and fun begets more fun. Logically, therefore, exercise begets more exercise and we've been playing basketball 3 times a week, at least, for the last few weeks. I'm borrowing 2 badminton rackets so we can start playing badminton, too!
The moral of this story is neither convoluted nor hyperbolic; it's just "do exercise - it's fun!". And don't smoke, not smoking is much better than smoking.
After having had a very productive Christmas period, getting well under-way with the new site - no red tape, no people making unrealistic demands, no bureaucracy - I find the sobering return to normality isn't nearly as welcome as I'd initially hoped it would be. Instead, I have an inbox full of short-sighted expectations and a head full of the same. All-in-all, I just wish it were Christmas again!
On a happier note, someone commented on the site the other day! This lead me to have a look and see if there were any solicited, unverified comments and there were! Turns out that Getting rid of Keloids is on the front page of Google for the same phrase and I've seen an increased amount of daily hits because of it. I've also had a few people comment to thank me for posting about it (Comments have been out of action for quite a while. I still get them, but don't display them. It probably seems slightly backwards posting, then posting again about comments that I don't display, but it's my site!) which is quite cool. I think my blogging activity could well increase this year, and I'm hoping to stem away from the personal stuff as best as I can and actually try to post useful things - it's been a nice feeling that something I've written helps some people.
Anyone I've not already had the chance to say it to; hope Merry Christmases were had, and happy new years follow!
It's not even been as long as I thought it would be, but I guess where there's a will, there's a way and all. I found a knitting blog in the del.icio.us popular feed the other day and I must admit it's something I find quite cool. I've been talking to people about it and the general consensus is that it's not a very manly thing to do but I think I'll give it a go! Making bright, pretty things to wear - what's not to love about that!!
Recently, I've been really neglecting my blog. There are a fair few reasons for this, but the main ones are a lack of free time and my pursuing other projects (one of which will end up replacing this blog). I really don't suppose that this will actually affect anyone, but if you're a friend of mine and you're not already on my facebook, then I'm the only Jasper Tandy on the whole site!
Soon there will be something here that anyone can use and benefit from - maybe it'll make me a zillionaire. Though I doubt it.
So, we noticed this morning that Jaypeg wasn't looking too great. She was walking with difficulty, and squeaking/wheezing when trying to breathe. Obviously, we were very concerned but we didn't know whether to put this down to the time of year and her getting in hibernation mode or what, so we called a vet for some advice. They said to keep her warm and make sure she gets plenty to drink, so we did that but being the overprotective parents that we are, we couldn't just sit and watch her (seemingly) in pain and do nothing.
We just got back from the emergency vet, and it turns out that the difficulty breathing was caused by fluid on her lungs as a result of heart failure. According to the vet, this is incredibly uncommon in hamsters but as Jaypeg's in such good condition, we should try our options to see if she gets better. Again, being doting parents, we said yes, and Jaypeg was give an injection of aspirin and diuretic, a painkiller and a paste to stimulate her heart beat. If she responds to this medication, we have to keep her on a once-a-day diuretic (I think) for the rest of her life!
Heart failure in hamsters seems to be very undocumented - hopefully this will get spidered by search engines, so anyone looking for wheezing, difficulty walking, drowsiness and extreme fear in hamsters might find this and take their hamster to the vet immediately
Please cross your fingers for Jaypeg's speedy recovery
So, as well as this normal blogging platform (which I'm almost certain no-one reads), I've decided to give Twitter a go. I have an incredibly short attention span, so the idea of micro-blogging really appeals to me. Plus the ability to text update and the [probably too] large array of applications you can use to post/monitor from the desktop make it really accessible. Twitter seems to be a pretty hot topic at the moment - I read an interesting post about content ideas, and I really like that. I often have ideas about stuff that I can't really be bothered to elaborate on, to the extent that they actually require a post on here. It also seems more personal than something like tumblr and more accessible, too. Having said that, I've only really had a fleeting glance at tumblr.
One problem I can see with this concept is that it relies on the community in a pretty big way, and there are so many communities out there - it seems that the one with the biggest community is going to win, rather than the one with the best features. Seeing as Google bought Jaiku, it could [hopefully not] end up that Jaiku gain the largest following and, therefore, a better chance of success in the social aspect.
Whatever happens, come and visit me at twitter.com/echohelloworld and see if the idea takes you. I hope it does!
I love flickr. I'm not one of those obsessed-types - but then I've not really gotten like that with any of the social start-ups. I use del.icio.us, facebook, youtube, myspace, flickr, bunch of forums, and now twitter, but I've only ever seen this in flickr. (and I suppose, to a degree, myspace as well (and quite the opposite in youtube!)) That is, the unabashed sycophantic behaviour that exists in the comments.
Recently, I've been actively seeking out decent photographers on flickr (not really making much of an effort, just not ignoring flickr pages in my del.icio.us feed), and the ones that have enough followers to make it to del.icio.us/popular just get inundated with these people blowing smoke up their asses. I don't know why, but it just gets on my nerves.
take this example. This guy is one of the users I found on del.icio.us (in some guy's blog, if I remember correctly), and he does take photographs that I like. However, some are incredibly cliché and a lot look like generic desktop backgrounds - nevertheless, the guy gets comment upon comment about how spellbinding the photo is.
Reading it back, this is making me look quite bitter, but I promise, I'm not. I joined flickr to share my photos with friends, and look at other cool photos - personally, I think the comment feature is a little redundant, and there's a real gap in the market for a social photo critiquing site. When I post a photo, I don't care about comments you have to make on it, unless it's constructive criticism! (and then I don't want it displayed for everyone to see!
Before:
After:
So, I got my awesome tragus-conch industrial in January, and it's probably the most awesome piercing ever (I can't really back this up), but the only thing is, each one got a lovely, gross keloid scar around it. However, after trying a fair few things (chamomile tea bag compresses, lavender oil - so, just 2), I was recommended the miracle oil that is tea tree oil. You can pick it up for around £2 from Savers. I've been using it for about a week, and the swelling's nearly gone! Fie on the nurses who told me I'd be scarred forever!
In case you hadn't spotted, I'm back to my blog-spamming old self again. Hurrah!
