Crocs!

My new profile pic is only temporary. But, I had to stick something new in to replace the Nano Logo. I failed to win Nano, but next year...

This particular picture is an appropriate replacement for several reasons. One of the projects I am working on is the crocodile survey portal*. And as there is no budget to charge regular office hours to I will therefore be working on it in my free time ( A.K.A. my writing time) I feel justified in mentioning it on my personal blog.
The data for the portal was collected as part of Daniela's masters dissertation, and will be up on the web in a few short weeks. The picture, to come around full circle, is the work of Marco- Daniela's other half and great eco and scoio-politically concious artist. Marco was also the man behind the latest Paddington Bear excursion through london.


And while still on the subject of crocs- one of the evenings when I should have been writing I saw a preview showing of
A documentary on the plight of the gharial". A very well produced little documentary, but really depressing - film showing just how precarious life can be for other species sharing the planet with us humans.

Watch it here And please do watch it. Awareness, people, it really is the first step and not to be underestimated.

*The name has not been signed off yet.

Non NaNoWriMo writing

Well not exactly NaNo word count but I finally managed to submit an 'article' to Associated Content. It is an on-line publisher of, well pretty much anything really.
And for Americans at least they pay small amounts for each article that their user base churns out. Sadly living in England I am unable to earn up front payments for content I submit. There is one way non US submitters can earn money: by being popular – you could earn an amazing $1.50 per thousand views. So yeah not exactly a get rich quick scheme and I don’t even foresee getting that lofty target of not quite enough for a coffee, but if you want to read my badly framed argument for aquaria as a way to instil awareness and basic concepts of ecology (or if you just want to help me avoid getting RSI by logging some of those 1000 clicks for me) then:

May I present:
Aquaria as an Introduction to Nature

Read 'em and weep

5 words last night . Five!

I surprise even myself at this prodigious output.  Jeeze This weekend is going to have to develop extra hours...

I did go to the Cambridge fireworks- my first proper 'Guy Fawkes' night in England. And they were pretty impressive.  I might link a pic or two once a certain someone uploads them.  

It was a dark and windy night....

well the first day is here and words have been written. I made an early start, at just after midnight last night. Yeah, before the first hour of November had passed I had a whole paragraph written. That's some dedication!

Look at that progress bar! Wow almost 1%!

I only got back into laptop reach after 12 last night because I had been to the Cambridge Nanowrimo kick off party last night. In amongst a pub filled with crazy Halloween costumed locals was a large group of even more crazily costumed NaNoWriMo participants. It appears to be custom to get as drunk as you can before going home and starting on a full length novel and trying to squeeze out a couple of thousand well chosen carefully positioned words. But it was good to get caught up in the atmosphere of fellow wriMos. And there was an official registration, with goodie bag handouts! The bags were full of motivational quotations, official stickers, and chocolate supplies( we have to keep our brains fueled somehow and we may not have time for cooking - let alone shopping). There are even several pages of word search puzzles which I assume are supposed to be less of a distraction thig and more to help give your brain something to do while it tries to puzzle its' way out of the plot deadend you just wrote yourself into.

We also had to present story setting, main protagonist name, title and genre, and a large number of important plot elements- like how many vampires or guns there are supposed to be. I had to walk around with a lot of blank spaces on my form and my title was simply: Untitled. What was worse wriMos, wrimos who have done this thing before, (o.K to be clear we are talking about pros here) were all talking about the novel outline they had prepared. No one told me about the month of planning you were allowed; were expected to utilise to the full. No one told me - until last night, with raised eybrows and sympathetic smiles- just how important it was going to be. Oh, dear.

On the plus side, it was great to hear all the varied, sometimes astounding, ideas out there and mingle with Other People Like Me.

Besides all is not lost: I have had this character in my head long enough, and I know whhere he is going, and I know where the action will take place(mostly), and I know what the last sentence will be. Now I just need to see if I can pull a decent narrative out from somewhere and wrap it all up.

Now to make the most of the weekend's many unbooked hours.

Another late post

Again dear reader, again I find myself having to apologise for the lack of meaningful update, or indeed any update to the blog YOU CANNOT RESIST. In this case, of course, meaningful is being used in an entirely subjective manner.
As usual though I have an excuse, which I am sure you must be aware of; that’s right GBSOD has been moving. Spug and I have scoured Wimbledon and Colliers Wood areas, wearing our feet away under an unseemly hot sun. Neither of us really believed that England was supposed to experience temperatures above 30 degrees. In fact I am fairly certain Spug was expecting the max temp to be no higher than –5, at all times.

I am currently job-hunting, and pestering BT about our Broadband. As it is I am going to have to go and pay exorbitant amounts of a dwindling capital just to post this in a net cafe. The things I sacrifice for you dear reader.

I have to admit that 4 months ago I would never have expected to find myself queuing in a Job center for benefits, the dole. Never have dreamed of queuing for the sorts of jobs, I erroneously thought, my education would have elevated me beyond. Yes blue collars surround me.
Look at me a snotty nosed, bourgeoisie, pretentious snob! In truth I am really happy, to get the chance to see the world from another angle. An angle that most people with similar backgrounds from Zimbabwe might never see otherwise. As a white in Zim, there is a line that you can never cross, no matter how poor and desolate you are. You never quite reach the bottom of the pile. It isn't easy that’s for sure, living in zim is tough no matter what colour your skin, no matter how tanned you may have become over the generations, but there is a distinction still, a big one - if you are a honkey.

What always brought it home to me, what always made me to want to shout in frustration, was when a white haired old man, would call me, Sir, the only reason because I was born into a particular skin pigment category- no more, no less.

The lesser spotted ramblings

I have to apologise, dear readers, for a complete lack of significant update since, well since the beginning. As most of you are aware though, I have been sick and rather busy. All is not lost though, unless of course all of you have all already given up bothering to check for new content. No, I am still here and ready to enrich and add meaning your lives.

I have passed all the exams for my first module and I am now one complete step closer to becoming a web designer, and the true satisfaction of a real job. A job where I may earn enough money to become a blip on the radar screens of the goblins of the dark side of the force- the market force. I will, by being able to actually buy the odd piece of over priced merchandise develop statsitical and actuarial meaning. And, quite possibly, consequently have more spam and exclusive -one time only- you will fail at life without this deal- offers thrust at me.

I have to admit, as much I dislike shopping, especially the physical act of battling through massed armies of fellow shoppers. Armed with straggling kids and ram-like oversized prams ( with turning circles not unlike that of first generation tanks). I do like to shop. No I am not a (complete) moron, I hate shopping, but in certain very specific circumstances I like to shop. I like to browse great shelves full of things I want. I say browse because actually buying anything would involve spending money. Something I currently lack.
I suppose that is part of the attraction, the desire is hightened by the knowledge that I can't have it. Yet...
I try to stay out of those siren brothels, because it it so easy under their spell to convince yourself that you can afford something, just this once, as you know a treat. It is so easy to forget, once inside, all those previous purchases. It is so easy and that the particlar idol really is, this time, the one your future happiness relies upon.
Even if each time before we found ourselves sitting staring blankly at an inanimate soulless mass produced product. The hastily torn packaging scattered around us, an impromtu pentagram, a pagan shrine to our new Happiness: and there is nothing, no epiphany. Perhaps already we think about the sequel, we need that now.

Merchandise that has been hyped, by advertising, to levels where anticipation of the 'thing' becomes a mass hysteria (like waiting for the Da Vinci Code movie- those poor misguided fools). A fleetingly tangible emptiness . For, once having purchased the 'thing' and experienced that brief rush of actualisation - finally owning what I always wanted- the 'thing' becomes its own anti-climax.

In a turn of events which, redolent of a slight hypocrisy: I have applied for a job in a well known high street retail outlet.

And I managed to get an interview.

The interview went well, well I felt comfortable during it, and afterwards I could think of no glaring faux pas that might have slipped my lips. I might even have a chance at getting offered the job. As Nix said: She will remember me and that is a good thing. Far better than being so normal and expected you fade into the background noise of normality. I just don't know if being rememberd for interesting stories about elephants and their sensitivity to chillis is going to help - in any way- in getting a job as a sales assistant in a retail store in the middle of England.

Intro

Welcome to my domain... catch the pun? Actually that doesn't work as a pun dammit. I better fix that. I'll put that on my list of things to do, wherever that is:under the pile of study notes perhaps? It has been so long since I looked there.

You might be asking yourself, why does Nick have a blog, and if you know me a little better than that you might wonder if england has done something -strange- to me...
Yes, can you believe it? Nick, following a trend, and worse going against his ingrained aversion to the current paradigm of attention seeking, ego stroking narcsasits desperate to be different 'unique' . All those who strive to be original; making their amazing, earthshattering intellectual insights and scathing opinions known to the public simultaneously becoming cliche'.

Though I may have done it twice in one year now- finally embracing new fangled, fashionable tech, I have not suddenly developed into a not fashion conscious, commercial centric Ken barbie-doll, capatilast zombie, shell of a man. In fact fashion is still an anathema to me. Umm... Hooray?

But I have a case for my defence: Mobile phones really are useful, and besides they are so ubiquitious now that they have become part of everyday life and no one really cares if you have one or not anymore; it is just a nuisance all round if I don't have one.

As for the Blog, which I have always thought of (and still do for the most part) as the more pretensious and less committed version of getting a tattoo and nose piercing. Only more ubiquitous -and thus even less appealing- and incredibly emo. It is, however, no longer an entirely 'image garnering tool', there are some good blogs out there. For those of you interested check out my favourtite author-blog linked to the right there- 'They must need bears'. Besides I do not intend or indeed want the public gawking at my blog or oggling at tweaked pictures of myself and my fluffy pug Toto.

No, the idea behind this blog is it to keep all of you, my greatly diffuse network of friends and family connected. Connected with ME. That is of course if interest is kept up, on both sides. On yours dear reader, because I don't want to know what happens when a word crashes into another in the middle of the page and there is no reader to see it, and mine - obviously this is all about me. Wow, there goes my ego already, heel boy!

I am also harbouring a secret dream that if I set it up and you guys click like mad at the ads I can earn a bit of pocket money. But shush, don't tell google...

This may very well end up as another of my many projects that gets left chocking on the dust of some new found dream that snaps my head around as it flashes by. But it might be usefull and hopefully even mildly entertaining while it lasts, so please do visit and comment. I like invoggorating, if pretension and or nonsense filled,arguments as much as the next person, perhaps more... so lets debate.

Oh, one last thing... hopefully this will provide another reason, and outlet, for my writing. The old adage, practice makes perfect... well I think we will all agree I need some of that then.