Check In October 2011

This blog has been rather neglected of late. My life has changed quite a bit since my last update in July. I’m a fan of the old bullet point update so let’s bring things up to speed:


• I started working on The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. It really is an excellent resource and it got me writing something every day via the morning pages method. Granted some of it was utter rubbish like ‘Had a weird dream last night involving bricks, peanut butter and Shaun the Sheep’ but I enjoyed the routine of setting aside time to write. Even if it was utter bollocks. I’ve taken a wee break from the program due to things becoming utterly mental. All shall be revealed further down.

• At the beginning of September I performed my work to an audience for the first time at Three Cord Theatre run by acquaintances at Sonic Boom Theatre. It was a fun experience and my work seemed to go down rather well. Unfortunately it reminded me that I haven’t written or edited work of performance quality for quite some time. Fortunately I made a good enough impressed at TCH that I can return any time I wish. Top stuff. One of the stories I read out was Wedding in the Botanics which you can read here.

• Went to Prague in September and fell in love with the city. Here’s a lovely photo of me looking hot and sweaty with Kafka’s statue in the Jewish Quarter:

(c) Colin Brown 2011

• I’m still plugging away at Write in for Writing’s Sake but that has been a little neglected in the past couple of months. As mod I should really be contributing to each topic so I plan to do this until the end of the year. If contributions don’t pick up then I’ll need to decide whether or not to continue with the venture.

• Since starting Weight Watchers in February, I have lost 1.8 stone(s). I’m chuffed to bits and trying to avoid rewarding myself with lots of cake. Still have a bit to go before I’m back in a happy weight range (and out of the BMI scale charmingly labelled ‘Obese’). Sadly some of my clothes no longer fit me so I’ll need to have a clear out of the old wardrobe soon.

• Recently I changed from being a vegetarian to becoming a vegan. I met Gillian and she helped to remind me why I become a vegetarian in the first place. I read Fast Food Nation about five years ago and thought the practices surrounding the milk industry (and, in turn, how that feeds into the veal and leather industry) were horrendous. So what did I decide to do? Give up eating beef, pork and chicken but continued to consume dairy products. Erm, well done love. After doing some reading, I decided to finish what I’ve started and go vegan. It’s going well so far; Glasgow is quite a good city to go vegan in. The only difficulty has been buying new shoes. I have a dodgy ankle and it’s easier to try on shoes in shops than go through the mail order process. Still, it’s not that much of a pain and is manageable.

• The biggest change is that I have a new job as a Proper Archivist. I’m not entirely sure what the organisation’s policy is on personal blogging so I won’t name them. I have spent September getting an induction into the archive and the various duties that go with managing the collections. The staff is lovely and it’s probably one of the best places I have ever worked. Due to the meaty induction, I have spent September either working, eating, sleeping and, possibly, shouting at Him Indoors for leaving mouldy bread in the kitchen.

So there you have it. And, dear readers, how have you been?