Bible Time Prep

At 8:30 I was London bound via MegaBus, I swear I only feel at home when my skin is touching those blue mottled seats and share breathing space with two dozen cheap skates like myself. Once I got to Rebecca's parents house I was already shattered, but I had stuff to crack on with. First up was a big old grocery shop for the shoot tomorrow, a giant Tesco sorted me out fine but carrying litres of water long distance is never fun, add in a bunch of Haribo and Jaffa cakes and you got some heavy bags to lug around. Finishing that task I was ready to stand down for the evening, then out of nowhere I get a hurried call from my producer asking if I can run into town to pick up some welding goggles (time traveller costume piece). It was all a bit last minute and I was forced to dash into Twickenham to a rather antiquated DIY shop to get the goods. I would have been a little annoyed, but then I found out I was getting paid for today, rather handsomely too.

I'm bedding down at the fair hour of 8:30 so I can wake up at 3am to get to the other side of London on a pair of night buses. Wish me luck.

Battles Galore

Set myself a goal of running an 8K after work in prep for my big run on Sunday. Ended up doing 8.5K and felt pretty confident I could do a 10, this was exactly how I hoped I'd be feeling after today so I'm immensely glad I trained as hard as I did. Key is to not pull a muscle while running on my next filming job on Wednesday.

Louis and Rachel popped round too so we could tuck into a huge episode of Game of Thrones. Battles galore meant we were all in the edge of our seats, even Louis, the Princw of being unimpressed was noticablely sitting upright and slowing his breathing so he could take it all in. Already can't wait til next week.

Heritage Goers

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs and bacon in toast
Lunch: Leftover pulled pork sandwiches
Dinner: Homemade pizza

If this menu doesn't spell a recipe for a good day then I don't know what will.

In addition to eating rather well Rebecca and I decided to put our CADW memberships to good use and tour some nearby English Heritage sights. (Yes, that is the most middle-class sentence you'll read all day). We visited a stone circle in the middle of a field before moving onto Farleigh Hungerford Castle, a ruin in pretty good condition. There was a surprising amount of stuff to see there too, felt a bit sheepish getting free entry but it meant we were Tuckered out after seeing all the castles nooks and crannies. I'll sleep well tonight which is good because I've got one more big practice run planned and I'll need all my energy to do it justice.

Jurassic Storm

Couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the weather as I walked to work early this morning. Having to trudge my way through a tropical storm first thing was not my idea of a good time at it was exacerbated by the fact I could barely keep my umbrella up. Work itself was insanely busy as a result, plus we had a rugby game going on nearby which means we get flocked with the weekend crowd. It felt amazing when it was finally time for me to go home, Rebecca even popped in to drive me home, lucky me.

We planned out our meals for the next few days and sorted out some personal finance stuff before settling into Jurassic Park, neither of us had seen the film in ages and it still absolutely holds up. Raised an eyebrow when Netflix said it was a PG and I was even more shocked after re-watching some of the more gruesome sections. Guess kids need a little bit of the fear of God put into them from time to time.

Budding Green Thumb

Had another day off work which I spent writing a review for another game I played recently. Not only did I write this piece quickly, but I'm also impressed with how well it reads. I'm looking to turn it into a video now, already captured the footage too so I'm looking forward to a fast turnaround and an impressive portfolio piece.

After I stepped away from the keyboard I decided to finally commit to planting the seeds I got for Christmas. I brought some soil, emptied out the old window boxes that came with our flat and sowed some chives, oregano and sage. I hope I planted them alright, it's my first time flexing my green thumb but how hard can it be? Guess time will tell. I'm already feeling impatient and found myself checking for spouting an hour after watering them.

Just before I tucked myself into bed I called up my Grandma to wish her a Happy Birthday, she was thrilled to bits when she heard my name. Apparently she went out for cake and coffee with my Aunt and Happy Birthday was sung to her by her choir group - sounds like she had a cracking day.

Sickly Diet

Immediately after my driving lesson (which went rather well) I started to feel really under the weather. A few early starts and a diet of mostly Easter Egg chocolate probably hasn't helped and now that I've had a day to relax my body has eased into a nasty head cold. Bit of a blow because I wanted to get a lot more writing done today. With any luck I'll feel much better in the morning and I'll be ready to start typing away.

Squeezed

Been hearing rumors about this little burger place near us called Squeezed for a little while now, some folks ever dared to call it the best burger in Bristol. Tucked away in a small shipping container in Wapping Wharf it sounded like the perfect place for Rebecca and I to enjoy a special dinner. And golly, it was an excellent bit of take-away. Throw in some fries and some home-made lemonade and son, you got yourself a nice little meal. Think it might be my new go-to burger joint.

Because we didn't really see to much of each other around Easter, I set up a little egg hunt for Rebecca to do around the flat once she got home from work. I swear I've never seen her so animated, she turned out to be really good at hunting down tiny chocolates, she found them faster than I hid them!

Nodding Off... Nodding Off

Pulling back the covers I felt more tired than I did before I went to bed. My day mostly consisted of trying not to nod off at work nor after I got home. In retrospect I probably could've had a little cat nap but it always feels like I'm missing out on life whenever I'm asleep.

After a dinner that would make even the most seasoned bachelor or student cringe I got to work on brainstorming future projects I'd like to work on. Upcoming videos, future writing pieces and other little ideas I just wanted to get down on paper. Ended up in a pretty good place with a lot of confidence going forward, generally speaking I want to downsize the scope of my gaming stuff, as in try to make projects much shorter to write and develop so I can release stuff more frequently, this will also gives me some more time to work on any other side projects that catch my interest. Good things are brewing.

Local Hero

I was immensely pleased with the later opening hours I had to work today. Got into the shop at 7:30 to open it for 9, that's a whole hour and a half more sleep for me this morning and I felt all the better for it. Seeing as my shift was fairly short I strapped on my running shoes once again and ran a 6.5K. I borrowed one of mark's sports watches, the kind the bleeps loudly every kilometer you run and its a good little running companion. I did find myself increasing my pace (almost uncomfortably so) in order to get my numbers a bit higher, ended up tiring myself out a bit quicker than usual but I know how to pace myself a lot better now, next run should be a breeze.

In the middle of the day I finally sat down and watched Local Hero, a film so effortlessly charming I didn't even notice the film had won me over until it ended. Like Gregory's Girl before it, Bill Forsyth crafts a wealth of endearing characters, while you may not know all of their names, by the end of the film you'll know everyone's role in the community and all their idiosyncrasies. A lovingly put together piece, though it has warm, soft tone it's not toothless - you'll only feel the sting of the ending only after the credits start rolling.

Happy Easter 2019

Got up bright and early this morning so I could enjoy a bit of naff television with Dad and Louis. Jamie Oliver's Money Saving Meals was the only tolerable thing on telly early doors, and it's arguably not Jamie's finest hour either. Breakfast was the old Easter favourite, grapefruit, boiled eggs and hot cross buns - you can't go wrong with any of those! Chocolates were exchanged, a few were cheekily eaten moments after breakfast and then we hit the road to our Auntie and Uncle's house for a jolly good lunch while soaking up some of the glorious sun. Tell you what else got a fair amount of sun: our chocolate eggs sitting in the car boot. A delicate prod revealed that most of the Easter goodies from the morning had melted into a chocolaty mass, a common problem up and down the country this year I'm sure. No matter though, after firming back up again in the fridge I'm sure they'll be right as rain.

I headed back to Bristol on the train since I'm opening up the shop first thing tomorrow. Felt a little low on the journey back, guess I was just sad the holidays were over for me just as I got into the swing kicking back with my family. I do think I made the most of it this year though and it was lovely to see my Grandmother and my Cousins once again.

Photo Goldmine

First one down to the breakfast table meant I got first dips on the limited supply of muesli, much to Louis' chagrin. Good bowl of cereal set me up for the rest of a busy day. Headed to Orpington to visit Grandma and to go through some of the old sheds in the garden and clean out the contents of some of the old sheds at the top of the garden. We filled up a whole skip with old pedal bikes, motorcycle parts and tattered garden equipment. In the midst of it all we uncovered and salvaged a goldmine of previously unseen photographs from mine and Louis' childhood - real treasure. This one in particular made me smile:

Always loved my grandparent's garden.

Why Don't Games Makee Cry?

Got caught a little off guard yesterday when Rebecca produced an Easter egg for me and I found myself without an egg to give her. Got up a bit earlier this morning, firstly to start uploading my video but also to grab her a sneaky bit of chocolate before she flies off to Spain. Running through Asda's car park I'm flagged down by a lady who looked liked she'd been sleeping rough and she asked if I could help her zip up her coats and hoodies for her. On closer inspection it was clear she had her wrist in a cast and needed someone to thread the zippers on allnher various layers so I happily obliged. During the zipping process she launched into a tale of tempered woe about how she recently tried to take her own life and how life has recently hit her with many hardships - I'd literally only been awake for 10 minutes at this point but I happily listened. Going through Asda later I spotted a good deal on creme eggs, 3 for a quid. One for me, one for Rebecca and one for the homeless lady. She was pretty chuffed, I wished her a Happy Easter and I went on with my morning knowing that I'd broken a world record on fastest deed of the day.

I headed up to Mark's house so we could go on a run together, been a while since I had a running partner but it made a significant difference. Between us we ran bang on 8.5K which absolutely flew by. To celebrate our workout Mark fired up the toastie maker and we both scoffed down a well deserved cheese toastie.

I'm in Newbury now for Easter Weekend, heading to Orpington early doors tomorrow to meet up with more family and hopefully enjoy some of this great weather we're having.

Without any further delay, I wanted to also post up my latest video 'Why Don't Games Make me Cry?' On reflection I'm happier with this one than I'd thought I'd be, it really came together in the last hour or so, already eager to get the next one in the works.

End of an Edit (Finally)

Between driving lessons I got back into Smash Brothers after a new update added a brand new character to the roster. I took my Switch over to Louis' place so we could check out the new content together - any excuse to play games with my Bro.

Even though this video was a total pain in the backside to edit I'm chuffed to say it's all done! Once again the video goes live tomorrow but I'll drop the thumbnail here as a sneak peek for what's to come. Language was very important for the title of the video, I didn't want to sound high and mighty by stating 'Why games don't make me cry' instead I wanted to ask 'Why don't games make me cry' to ask an introspective question on my playing experience. To this day, no video game has made me cry and I wanted to ask myself why that is - look forward to my hypothesis tomorrow.

Sharing the Office

Got the shared office experience at home today since Rebecca and I were both working at our respective desks. She was doing her 9 to 5 and I was cracking on with my next video (also working on that from 9 til 5). Although its one of my shorter videos it's actually turning out to be a fair bit more work than I expected. Concepts are just a little more abstract this time around and finding footage/clips that match the discussion is proving tricky. Got 80% of it done though, tomorrow will be polishing, tweaking and posting so check back here tomorrow for a new video.

False Starts

The whole day felt like a series of false starts. Woke up very early for work and listened to a new album on the way, went on a run after work and started playing a new game too. When I lay it all out like that it sounds pretty good, but in reality the album and the game I played were each a 4/10 experience and the run was oddly bad too. I know every day can't be a winner but all these little things felt a wee bit disheartening. On the plus side I cooked a really nice fajita dinner and started watching Fleabag so all wasn't lost.

Just found it a little hard to commit to doing anything this afternoon which in turn makes me feel a little guilty. I got the next few days off work, all I could think about today was all the cool things I could do once I finished my shift but as soon as I got home those ideas evaporated and I couldn't figure out what to do with myself. Tomorrow is another day though and I'm planning to smash through the edit for my next video, no distractions.

Return of Game of Thrones

Had Louis and Rachel over once again to watch the latest episode of Game of Thrones. Can't believe its basically been two years since we saw anything new - that time has gone so fast. In just a few weeks time we'll all know how the story ends, I spent most of the day listening to people online doing some rampant speculation and that only stoked the flames of my own imagination. This first episode was rather tame but a solid ep 1 that served as a neat refresher course, bringing everyone back up to speed with the characters and their whereabouts. The players are slowly getting into position for the endgame, I only hope it doesn't disappoint.

Reclaimed Bookshelf

Spent the whole Sunday having the most unremarkable day at work aside from reading g a message Rebecca sent me.

Once I got home she pointed it out the bookcase to me through the window, shortly after I elected to retrieve it with her before someone else snatched it up. To my delight, there was not a thing wrong with it, though my heart was pounding after we hurriedly shifted it into our flat. Though we don't 100% know where to put it, I wasn't about to pass up the chance to get a free bookshelf.

Lil Orange Tree

Wow, had another full-on day. Got up nice and early to do my shift at work and immediatelyafter I met up with Rebecca to go visit Blaise Castle to fill our lungs with the countryside air. Its always nice to get out the city even if it's just for an hour or so. Heading back we popped into IKEA to grab some bits and pieces we needed for home including a brand new frying pan (really excited to cook some fried eggs now). Rebecca bought a little plant for the house while I seriously mulled over buying a tiny orange tree for my desk. Just seeing it sparked so much joy but I wasn't sure just how easy it was to care for them or if Ibhad enough room... Need to do some more research before filling my workspace with greenery.

What do you think? Should I get it?

Sightseeing with Simon

After running a quick 6K I met up with a German friend I made through Youth for Europe called Simon. He's working in Oxford for the next 6 months and took some time out to come visit us in Bristol, so I took him an a scenic sightseeing tour of the city.

We started off right, lunch from St Nick's street food market (we also met up with Daniel since he was still in town), got a jerk chicken wrap which gave up plenty of energy to walk up the various hills of Bristol. We went into the cathedral, up Cabot Tower and ultimately to the Suspension Bridge, basically did all the touristy things but in a very chilled out manner. I took him to Pinkmans for a coffee too, he sat there tucking into a black forest gateau slice while sipping a cappuccino grinning from ear to ear - he found his Nirvana in that moment.

Many steps later, we headed back to my flat where we met up with Rebecca, Louis and Rachel for dinner and board games. When the clock told us all he needed to catch his train you could tell by the speed he put on his shoes that he didn't want to leave. He kept saying how today was one of the best days he's had since he started living in England. I felt very humbled by those comments and truly it was a bit sad waving him off at the train station. It felt like only a moment had passed since I welcomed him into Bristol, and even after a full day of activities, it seemed almost too soon to be saying goodbyes. Looking back on it, today was really good, we truly made the most of it and I was reminded of the importance of keeping in touch with good friends.

  

Party Tarts

Daniel popped into Bristol for one night only with Mark and Lucy so Rebecca and I took a trip to theirs to spend some quality time together. We played Mario Party, Overcooked and some board games, chortling the whole night long. I brought some left over Portuguese tarts from work plus a cheesecake so we weren't short of things to snack on. Amidst that company, its impossible to not have a great time, I always say this on this blog, but its always great to see Daniel, Mark and Lucy however short the visit its lovely to hang out with old friends.

Clan Wars Revived

This was the first day I got all to myself for a while so I used it to get a few bits and pieces done. I recorded speech and started work on my next video, I met up with Rebecca for lunch and I ran a 6K. To top it off I made a properly delicious Caesar salad for dinner - Rebecca gave it two thumbs up so it had to be good. In the evening though, thats when my day got serious. Louis rekindled Team Fortress 2 clan wars with the old gang, been about 5 years or so since we've done it and it was a proper good time. I was a team captain and elected a really wholesome squad of people including Louis and the man himself: Mark Stopher. The games started off really well but we ended up losing overall because Louis had to type something into the server's console, leaving him out in the open and thus the enemy team just swooped in and stole what should have been a clear cut victory. Damn shame, but great fun. Looking forward to doing it again soon.

Waves of Coffee

Had one of those days at work where you start fantasising about what to say to your manager as you slap down a letter of resignation. In my head it'd go something like The Smiths' Frankly Mr Shankley but I don't think I could write something that scathing and self-deprecating. Day dreams of sitting at home and working on writing projects filled my imagination as I looked upon heaving queues of Easter Holiday kids streaming into the shop. I felt like a young boy at the beach, looking hopelessly at a swelling wave three times my height, knowing full well it would sweep me up and fill my nose with salt water. I braced myself for impact with the thirsty hoard of customers, even with a slightly incompetent team member at my side, I knew the pain would only be temporary and I'd live to fight another day.

Return of the Obra Dinn

Couldn't wait for my shift to finish, I think the tiredness from working all last week was slowly starting to hit me. I made a real conscious effort to pace myself a bit more on this shoot but even so I felt my bones becoming weary. Once I got home I got straight into my pajamas and hopped in Return of the Obra Dinn, a game where you play as an insurance adjuster as you check out a mysterious ship that re-appeared on the coast of Cornwall. Everyone on board has met a terrible fate and its up to you to piece together who each of the 60 members of the crew were and how each of them died and lemme tell you, this game does not hold your hand! It's actually quite refreshing just how much the game respects your intelligence, figuring out little bits and pieces feels amazing especially now its all falling into place. Rebecca and I are both really digging it at the moment, it was great fun to spitball our theories about each crew member, it was an unlikely bonding experience.

Waiting Day 5

Last day of my shoot and though we had a busy morning it was a gentle day to end on. We were filming two characters inside a wardrobe being a bit awkward mostly, but we built  a fake interior of a cupboard about 50% bigger than the real thing so both our actors and camera could squeeze in - felt like the 'Close to Me' music video.

Total Steps: 17,137

Waiting Day 4

Our location today was a crematorium since we were filming a sketch about an open casket funeral. In order to prep the shots in advance they needed someone to pose inside the coffin so naturally I volunteered. Even though it was only a prop hire casket, I gotta say it was pretty cushy. Rest of my day was pretty chill, did a small bit of first aid for our DOP after he fell off an apple box, but aside from that I was on standby for most of the shoot - like a coiled spring I was always ready to pounce. One more day now, dream location too since its only 2 short his trips for me in the morning, should be a good one.

Total steps 20,165

Waiting Day 3

Even though I got up early to avoid any travel issues, seemingly every connection didn't want me arriving to set on time. Delayed trains, queuing in the Underground and buses that weren't on schedule all forced me to use the most reliable for of transport: my feet.

As something a little different, we were filming inside a professional torture dungeon. I spent most of the morning dismantling various bit of sticky bondage equipment and making jokes that obviously no-one had ever made before. Once everyone was settled I was frequently sent out on little care package runs for art department, took a £50 bouquet of flowers for a pretty long and careful journey to set before having to walk it all the way back again because they wanted some adjustments. Big day but a good day - need to shower myself in bleach now.

Total Steps: 31,946

Waiting Day 2

Stayed with Lincoln last night to avoid waking up super-duper early to arrive on set. It turned what would have been a 2 hour trip involving multiple trains and tubes into a 25 minute journey on one bus. It was heavenly. Shoot went incredibly well today too, we were sat in a cosy bungalow filming in a conservatory. After a lengthy set up, I actually got a chance to sit back a bit and watch the magic of film unfold before my eyes. Team spirit was much higher too, day one is always a bit awkward since the group is a bit unfamiliar with one-another, but today we hit the ground running and actually finished a smidge ahead of schedule.

Daily Steps: 16,210

Waiting Day 1

Real glad I started going out on runs this year, who would have thought that going running would help me out on my running jobs? Joking aside, I had to go and do a lot of last minute shopping on set today but I didn't even break a sweat. Topic of the shoot was lampooning Eurovision so the shoot was born to work on.

MegaNap

Following an early but unremarkable working day I hopped on the Megabus with good intentions to read a good chunk of a book I got for Christmas, 15 pages in though I felt my eyes begin to sag and droop. The early morning start caught right up with me so I settled in for a good old MegaNap. Years of experience sleeping on the MegaBus has afforded me the knowledge of how to make the most if the cramped leg room and the 'might as well be concrete' headrests, woke up an hour later feeling remarkably fresh and ready to take on the world.

Tomorrow's start is thankfully not very early, I daresay its quite cosy, looking forward to feeling well rested so I can hit the ground running.

Monday of Rest

One day off to enjoy myself before trotting into a very busy week. Got an early start at work tomorrow, followed by catching the ol' MegaBus to London so I can settle in with Rebecca's parents for 5 days of filming. Thought I'd take it a bit easier today though so I played some games and went for a run. Mostly I grabbed a bunch of game footage for an upcoming video so it was that nice middle ground between work and play. Keep thinking about going on set again in a few days, I'm really excited to hop back into it but I'm also kinda worried that I'm going to be a bit rusty going in, only one way to find out though - bring on the big week!