By
Zeus’s beard! It’s been over
a year already? AND I MISSED IT? I kind of messed up there, didn’t I (Yes, you’re a tool - Ed)? However, the title says it all really! Pretty sure that means I’ve lasted longer than
myspace and bebo (You wish - Ed)! So, before I get into any recounting and
nostalgic rubbish, I would like to sincerely thank everyone who has ever read
my blog, commented, spoke to me about it and encouraged me. I probably would never have stuck with it if
nobody had been reading with it or if it wasn’t for a hard-ass editor (D’aaawww shucks – Ed). It is one of the nicest feelings in the world
when somebody says they enjoyed a post or they are wondering when my next post
will be (cough JK cough). I did have a couple of plans for the post but
these fell through sadly, so I’m going with the nostalgic review of the year
post!
Swiftly moving on, as promised in my
preview on facebook, I had a dream which involves Mila Kunis…but that isn’t
very exciting (sadly - Ed). Besides, you don’t really care about that, do
you? You want to know about why I threw
myself into the wall, don’t you? You
see, it happened when I was sleeping…or at least it started when I was
sleeping. I may have dreamt there was a
spider crawling over me in my bed which, in turn, woke me up. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t suffer from
arachnophobia; I’m not exactly keen on them but I’m not really afraid of them…them
crawling on me as I sleep is an exception.
So, I dreamt one was crawling on me (perhaps
it really was - Ed), then, in my sleep-addled state, got up onto my feet
(still on the bed)…
And dove!
I launched myself through the air like a majestic swan taking
flight…before crashing into a crumpled heap against the wall, then sliding down
violently to earth with a bang. This was
not my finest moment. Not even
close. Not since I sleep-rolled off the
top bunk (over a safety rail) and missed the corner of a cabinet by an inch (I
wasn’t allowed to sleep on the top for years afterwards) have I displayed such
reckless sleep habits.
Please see below for a detailed photographic
account…and sorry for the tweenage, myspace style taking pictures of myself…it
was only me doing it.
Here I sleep, unaware of my fate
That is not a good picture...I am awoken by some unknown force
It attacks!
And so, I leap
You can see the result
Ignoring my attempt to be funny (I hope somebody laughed...this hurt), let’s
have a quick look over my year shall we?
First of all, since I started writing, I have lived in two continents:
having moved to Nepal in pursuit of work.
And it has certainly had its share of ups and downs…beautiful temples and
countryside mixed with damnable cockroaches from hell in my kitchen. Amazingly friendly and kind people mixed with
heavy pollution. Delicious food along
with food poisoning (and weightloss). As
I said, ups and downs. However, I have
had a great time here and I have some amazing memories that will outweigh the
bad.
Of course, I’ve started my new job and have
experienced all the highs and lows that have been included in this. Since starting, there has been a huge amount
of overtime (and mines isn’t even the largest amount) and working weekends, but
I’ve met some amazing colleagues/friends and learned a huge amount about online
marketing and the admissions process (from the other side, at least). One amazing addition is that I’ve been flown
to different parts of Nepal for work, and so, I’ve actually been able to see
the country whilst doing my job.
I’ve also flown more than I have in my
life. Since starting, I have landed in
eight different airports, flown in 12 different planes and spent time in four
different countries: not to mention visiting different places in Nepal via
plane. Overall, this amounts to over 70
hours of travel and transit. This will then
increase significantly over the next couple of months as I’ve booked a dream
holiday to Japan, will be travelling home for Christmas and I will be visiting
my sister in Italy as well.
I’ve, of course, explored some of Nepal as
well: from the bustling city of Kathmandu and its associated temples to the
serene national parks of Chitwan to the relaxing tourist lake of Pokhara: each with
their individual charms.
I’ve drank beer next to a river as the sun set;
I’ve ate lychee straight off the tree; I’ve had amazing steak with my closest
friends; and I’ve had a shot of spirit with coffee at 9am because of my lack of
Italian. One of my favourite memories
though was my new year: despite being ill and in bed by 11pm, I was able to
spend the evening with my dad on a mountainside, overlooking Kathmandu Valley
whilst next to a roaring fire.
That’s not to say it’s not all been fun and
games though. Living so far away from
home is often an incredibly taxing and lonely existence and I’m not ashamed to
say that despite all the amazing experiences I’ve had, it has been a difficult
year. I’ve been insanely homesick and
missed my friends and family. I’ve lain
there miserable when I’ve been incredibly sick with no-one able to check up on
me. I’ve been woken up by and had to
evacuate for (minor) earthquakes. I’ve
seen more bandhs/strikes than I could have imagined. I’ve lost a very important family member whom
I miss greatly.
So, before I sum up, let’s have some more
stats then. Everybody loves a bit of
stats, right (now we can start to see why
you’re still single - Ed)?
·
60 posts
·
3274 views
·
54.56666667 views per post
·
Readers in 10 countries and 3
continents
·
Most Popular Post: Ten Items or
Less – The First Level
Not too shabby for somebody who only links
the page on his facebook page, eh?
I’m not really good at the whole summing up
thing…especially when it is semi-emotional.
Whilst perhaps not my usual type of post and although it only shows a
fleeting glance over my year, it certainly highlights that I have had a pretty
eventful year and I am truly grateful for it and have thoroughly enjoyed it. I’ve also genuinely enjoyed writing about it:
even more than I anticipated.
It is not often I spend a year doing
anything, and I’ve started many diaries for them to only end up aging in a
cupboard somewhere. So, I am quite
surprised that I have managed to keep this up.
Like I said at the beginning, I probably would not have gone so far if I
didn’t think people read this so thank you very much for reading all this time!
And this is only the beginning! I still have my interviews (I haven’t forgot)
and I plan to expand into a new website when I have time to make it…along with
some new features! Until then, I hope I’ve
entertained you a little and time for the picks of weeks!
Picks
of the Week
Wigs and Glitters and Lies – Ok, as this is a blog post about my blog, I thought I would blog
about someone else’s blog. And no, I am
not including this just because they reminded me that Miss Hannah Minx. This is a funny blog written by my friend
Karina and her friend (whom I’ve never met) Sarah as they examine their own celebrity
crushes, conversations and there goal to reach ‘middle class Utopia’. This is a fairly new blog but it is well
written with some interesting artwork and will manage to put a smile on your
face! Now then, back to learning about
push-ups with miss Minx.
Music of the Week
Ok, so I need to start with some legal issues first. As per the owners demand, here is a picture of Nightwing eating pizza drawn from sharpies. Also, I am awarding it 500 cool points. That's right, 500. Not only do you have less cool points, you just lost the game.
Today, I am first of all showcasing a song from MikeStalfos aka Michael (as mentioned hundreds of times on this blog. Go back and read up people!). One of the many things he does very well is mix and compose and this is his track: Omeg Alpha. Check him out here: http://soundcloud.com/mikestalfos
So that's it from me. Over a year and still going strong. Tell your friends and let's make it an even better second year! Next milestone, 100 posts!
Honarary Mentions over the year
- Bus surfing goats
- Hundreds of Deathnote Tshirts
- Beer and videogame sessions
- Multiple goodbye dinners with the same people
- Being nursed back to health after being hung-over at one of those dinners
- A 12 hour trip to Glasgow with beer, tea and steak
- Ollie remembering me
- Not (deliberately) flashing people at Michael and Cara's wedding. Not this year but I deserve a medal for that
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