You've Come a Long Way, Baby

We've come a long long way together

Through the hard times and the good

I have to celebrate you baby

I have to praise you like i should

-- Praise You, Fatboy Slim

----

Not the most profound lyrics unleashed on man, but certainly resonating with me at the moment. Things continue to astound me about this place, and I have a raft of visitors coming through in the coming months for me to look forward to.

After a hiatus while life got crazy, the Masters is commencing again, I start in two days and am looking forward to tucking into some academic endeavour. Not biting off too much, just one subject, but it should help keep my mind sharp. The subject is Writing History and while history is not my strong suit, I am eager to learn and apply myself.

The Marshwah Project has been a good laugh, with my foray into video logging providing some entertainment for myself and others. I think initially I was gunning for a new video every 3-4 days, but this is a shade ambitious for a number of reasons.

1. I have a day job and will be studying again very soon
2. The production elements of the task takes longer than I anticipated, with the whole rigmarole taking a good few hours
3. Being the complete narcissist that I am, I need to acknowledge that me talking about just anything doesn't really make the cut - I need engaging material and I think it's quality over quantity

Having said that however, I'm enjoying it quite a lot and one a week should keep me out of trouble. The feedback has been amusing too, it's ranged from "go Marshy!" to "GTFO" to a tongue-lashing from one of my old friends who is resoundingly anti-digital (in good humour though). We'll see if the novelty wears off or if it continues to prosper.

Probably need to lose the headset though, I'll do that when I get a new computer!

So previously I mentioned that I'm not drinking for two months, and if you know me well you might be surprised to read that I haven't caved yet! It's been 15 days without a drink.

To be honest, I haven't missed it as much as I thought. The culture is a bit different in Singapore and despite being out and being offered free drinks on several occasions, I haven't felt the need. Alcohol's main allure for a lot of people is the lowering of inhibitions and relaxant effect - I'm a very uninhibited person anyway so it's not really affecting my enjoyment. Add to this, my head's feeling much, much clearer. I feel like the guy in Limitless.

But there's more to it than that, I've commenced The Couch-to-5k Running Plan and have completed my first week. I've had this program recommended to me several times over the years, but have always essentially ignored it because I don't like the clumsiness of time-based running ie. Run for 60 seconds, walk for 90 seconds etc. But with my new open and fog-free mind, I discovered a set of podcasts that counts the time for me.

The music sounds like what would happen if you froze 50 kilos of frozen tripe and spun it around in a cement mixer, but its utility is unquestionable.

It also has the added bonus of reinvigorating the RUN FOR COVER MOTHERFUCKER Facebook fan page which has received a deluge of spam-like weather updates.

There's a lot to pleased with this year and I have an inkling things are only going to get better.

A New Frontier

Back in November, I mentioned how impressed I was with the potential of Vlogging on audiences. You could get your message across, convey more humour, and generate a lot of attention.

As I love doing all of these things, I didn't let the hit of inspiration just wither away and die. I had a day off today, and spent most of it polishing my new product and preparing to unleash it on the world.

The time has come for me to enter the world of Video Logging, otherwise known as vlogging. And I don't mind my first attempt. Rather than blather about it, I'd prefer to just see how it goes, or maybe you should see how it goes...

What does this mean for my current blog? Nothing at the moment, but it'll be fun to see how it goes.

Some Thoughts and a Personal Challenge

Been a while since I blogged. My apologies. The past few weekends and work have been semi-crazy. For the weekends in good ways, and for work in bad ways. But the ship's righted itself now, and I'm blogging from a happy - and clear-headed place - on this rainy Saturday in Sinagpore.

But more on that later.

I saw a dear friend off the other night, he was here for six weeks for work. While that's the official reason, I think the universe conspired to have someone close to me here while I settled in. The fact he was staying just two blocks away from my apartment for the majority confirms this suspicion.

The move here has been nothing short of unbelievable, and to have someone here to basically hold my hand while I settle and be a vessel for bouncing thoughts and feelings off has been a privilege. Plus we had some bloody good times. The one that springs to memory the most was when two other friends were in town for Thailand. Two bottles of Bacardi, an amazing venue, classic tunes, and three great friends. For those of you who didn't read the constant praise we were all heaping on the night via Facebook here's the summary:

• Sensational weather
• Magical company
• Glorious food
• At least two power-spews
• Diving in the adjacent pool to the sounds of Missing
• Lost keys
• Many, many laughs

A top five experience for sure.

But I alluded to being clear-headed on a Saturday. What gives? Well in my latest "I'm Gonna" (let's face it, I have a lot of projects that I never quite fully see through) is that I'm not drinking for two months.

What's provoked this? A desire to lose weight and get the metabolism on track. I just hope it goes better than my last effort. Add to this, in two months from yesterday (when I started) it's my 28th birthday. A pretty good milestone and reward to strive for.

So that's that. I'm not drinking. Had my first test last night when I rocked out to the tunes of James Zabiela at Zouk. Personally the night was a privilege and I didn't really need the assistance of alcohol, but the test came when my two friends hit the d-floor with jugs of some concoction and basically tried pouring it down my throat! I fortunately didn't cave, it would be a really piss-poor effort only lasting less than 24 hours. Besides, the natural energy in the room was more than enough.

Lastly, I have some good news on that other project I used to always blog about: my writing. I've resumed my Masters of Writing and commence my next unit on the 30th May. I couldn't be more excited. Life was pretty crazy the past 8-9 months, hence the postponement, but now that things are back on track I can't wait to further my education.

And that'll do for now.