Pitch and...pitch, and pitch again...and putt...and putt again...you get the idea

Over the past month or so Andy and I have become rather obsessive pitch and putt fans. This has had three main consequences:

1. I am no longer able to taunt Dad for wanting to wander round an oversized field hitting a 'small ball into a small hole with a big stick'.
2. I am poorer than I was when we played one pool night a week.
3. I have another sport at my disposal with which to tonk Andy.

There should have been an impressive fourth point...however, despite cramming in up to three rounds per week, neither of us have really seen a consistent marked improvement in our play, other than Andy's recent birdie and a few pars here and there. Our aim at the moment is to achieve a round of 36, which is 9 over par over 9 holes. That may not sound very impressive, but at the moment we seem to be hitting the 40 to 45 mark, so a good few shots need to be saved here and there in order to reach the target. Assuming anyone is at all interested, I'll let you know how we are getting on in future posts!

Another new pastime I have recently taken up is becoming an avid viewer of The Apprentice. I had never watched any episodes from the previous four series, but for some reason this time around I find myself hooked! OK, so maybe it's not the most stimulating or moral-grounded show on the box, but I cannot deny that it makes fascinating viewing and I would also point out that it provides an insight into the world through the eyes of people with whom I would not necessarily see eye-to-eye. That said, the media hype regarding the anger, backstabbing and immorality of the contastants to me seems completely unfounded, as the teams appear to, on the whole, work professionally. There is little doubt that in programmes such as this cuts are made in order to create the perceived 'best' TV and I have little doubt that behind the scenes tensions and personal rifts would not be as rife as they appear at face value. So, if you've never thought about watching the show, I would thoroughly recommend at least giving it a chance!

Of course, Apprentice nights are Wednesdays, and from now until late June these times will be double-booked with the Just10 Winchester event, which quite rightly takes priority (thanks, iPlayer!) My church, St Andrew's, is broadcasting a live stream every week from Winchester Catherdal, where well-respected evangelistic speaker J John (who I have heard in the past at Soul Survivor) is delivering a series of ten sermons, each unpacking one of the ten commandments in an effort to open their relevance to our lives and world today. Unfortunately, the live link failed on the opening night and the tech desk had to resort to a pre-recorded DVD of the planned talk. However, the message (about finding true contentment) still came across really well and rumour that a better connection has now been established means hopes are high for the talk this coming week. J John is a highly engaging speaker and I would encourage anyone who reads this blog to, if it is within their means, take a look at the website and come along to one of these excellent events!

Last weekend I completed the annual 15-mile bike ride for the SCRATCH charity, along with 22 others, from Dibden Purlieu to Calshot via Beaulieu (which included a cycle up the intimidating Beaulieu Hill!) Despite being absolutely shattered, especially after a lengthy return trip, the money I and the other cyclists raised made this a very worthwhile morning. One of the reasons I was so tired was that I stayed up until 3am making direction signs, which Andy and I then layed out along the course for those unfamilliar with the route the following morning. Not one of my wisest moments! Then of course, they all needed collecting...and the sign at Ipley crossroads had blown away in the wind! So if you find a salmon-pink laminated piece of card reading 'SCRATCH cycle route' then I would very much appreciate its return (though I'm not holding much hope!)

Also on Saturday, I was called in to operate the visuals for an Alpha day at church, and in the evening the whole family visited the Smiths for a lovely meal, which was followed by much hilarity over a perceived 'mouse' in Andy's bedroom. A plethora of rodent-related jokes soon followed!

So, it's been busy, as usual. In amongst all this activity college has of course resumed and, as I have said in the past, being part time seems to make absolutely no difference to the amount of work I find myself doing - my experience this year leads me to believe that I must surely have been slacking last year! Although I am not dreading the exams by any means, I am very much looking forward to summer, though I am sure I will still miss college, in spite of my anticipation of the promise of university. More to come on this in future posts I am sure. For now, I just need to get through this week, get revising and get some top grades. Sounds easy, eh...?!

I have to admit there is loads more I could have talked about in this blog but I am very much aware that I have gone on for too long as it is. I look forward to the return of The Noise Project this coming weekend, where more cars will be scrubbed, teas served and dances salsa'd as we aim to spread a little bit of love with the community. Read all about it next time!

(P.S - Starting to think I need to blog a few times a week, the way things are going. What you have here is only a snippet of what I could have talked about, but then you all lead busy lives and haven't got all day to read pointless waffle. I promise to use my time spent with your attention sparingly!)

Championing the Mundane

This week I decided that it has been too long since I last wrote a blog post, and thus another incident of unplanned bedtime procrastination has allowed me a window of opportunity in which to get the ball rolling again. I am writing this on my laptop in bed, where of course I should be making an effort to get to sleep, though it has to be said this is a rather dull thing to spend your time doing, despite the fact that the combination of a weary body, busy day and the darkness outside more or less necessitates it.

It does feel kind of weird to be using this laptop again, as since I last posted on the blogger site I have bought a new desktop PC, which has naturally become my main computer. The laptop is now used mainly for college - and currently as backup for Lydia, whose own computer has decided it wants to begin shutting down at will thanks to a faulty fan. Another visit to PC World awaits.

At this point the predictable route for me to traverse would be to sum up everything that has gone on between my last entry in early November and the present time. However, as most readers of this blog either know this already or hold little interest in the events of the past five or so months, I will unashamedly resist this temptation in favour of a relatively simple comeback post which will hopefully mark the beginning of a continuing stream of blogs for many months to come.

In spite of this, there is one element of my life which I believe does warrant a mention, and this is my decision to accept an offer from the University of Southampton to study IT in Organisations from October this year. In stark contrast to my previous experience of university application, on this occasion I genuinely feel excited about the prospect of studying in higher education as I feel I have considered my future with a much broader mind. This time I am also keen to live out in halls, as I believe a have matured enough within the past year to find this an attractive proposition and am now drawn more towards an independent lifestyle. Without wishing to bore you with any further thoughts and details regarding university in this entry, it is my intention to continue to update you on progress as I move towards this next chapter in my life.

In my last post I talked about introducing readers to some of my strange sayings through the means of this blog. While in retrospect I would now rather concentrate on publishing my thoughts on life as we move through the exam period, summer holidays and towards university, I will say that these funny phrases do continue to be used, probably to such an extent that they no longer appear amusing and have simply become an immovable habit. This was especially evident at the 'Get Ready to Go' event which I attended at the university during the week, where I found myself explaining to one of my peers how I 'champion the mundane' and 'enjoy the tedious things in life'! Lucky for me he was a computer scientist, or else I would have indeed seemed rather monotonous company myself!

As the Easter holidays draw to a close, rather than dreading the return to college, I find myself actually looking forward to the run-up to exams. Come this Thursday my coursework will be cleared, meaning it is simply a case of revising hard in order to succeed in the few exams that I am sitting. One of the best pieces of advice that I heard during the event at the uni was from a current student, who recommended viewing studies as 'a 9 til 5 job', which means that if you work hard during the day, you should not feel guilty for taking it easy in the evenings and at weekends, nor will an overspill of work infringe on your free time. It is definitely easier said than done, but I am keen to give it a good go in this final term in order to keep things as stress-free as possible. (Going to bed on time may also not be a bad idea!)

As I conclude this comeback post, I would like to ask for some advice regarding my style of writing in this blog. I have always struggled with 'net speak', as I do in fact find it easier to write using moderately complex vocabulary than simple words. In the past I have been concerned that this formal style is incongruous with the type of reading one expects to find on user-created content websites, though having said that I usually encounter positive comments whenever I put up a new post. (Maybe simply because these are much-anticipated rarities!) It could be said that it fits my perceived demeanor, but is that necessarily a good thing? Do you find my blog posts too heavy-going? I am simply querying this to gauge an opinion as, after all, this type of blog should be written in the way in which its author feels comfortable and thus don't expect a style change as result of any reader complaints!

That said, this post will set a poor benchmark upon which to pass judgement, owing to the fact that I am simply using it to begin blogging as routine once again. Future posts should lean more towards the current affairs of my life and, touch wood, be written in a chattier style in times of reduced intelligence (ie any time before midnight, after which for some reason I often gain a surge of positive and intelligent thought, left largely untouched for the majority of the day!)

And so, time to begin snoozing. I am sure there are many topics I have failed to mention, most of which would have surpassed he level of interest generated by the contents of this post. Oh well, they are destined to either be mentioned on another day or forgotten about completely. Expect a bright, fresh and exciting new post towards the end of next week, when the church bike ride looms large!

As Adrian Chiles would say - 'Have a bearable week at work'. See you soon!