Work

Turns out the powers that be are aware of this blog.

Change of direction will be permanent then.

Though I have ceased and desisted talking about work (on good advice from an unexpected source). I still wish to voice inane chatter occasionally about the other ridiculous things that inhabit my life from time to time. Hence a changed address, and a strict focus on the inane things that inhabit my life out of work.

If someone from work was really determined to track me down again, I doubt it would be a challenge.

Only forward

Something strange is happening to me.

I've got some motivation again.

Coping with work is one thing, but returning home to the lure of a comfy sofa, idly browsing Facebook or submitting to a multitude of other distractions, means that more often than not the spare time evaporates and next thing I know it's time to crawl into bed.

Fed up with this seemingly endless blurred sprawl of spare time with little or no achievement, I've resolved to start running again, and more importantly to get my work-related study back up to speed.

Funny thing is, like a lot of things it's the getting started that's the hard thing. Once you get the ball rolling, approaching the repetitive task you previously dreaded can seem like a breeze. Hell, I spent long enough trying to get things moving, on a whole number of fronts.

Though I've repeatedly burnt myself out since I changed careers, and I probably needed that idle spare time after all. But now that I'm coping well with work (so I believe) I have little excuse to procrastinate further over neglected duties of body and mind.

Book-tag!

Rose 'tagged' me with a booked-themed post. So here we go...

Four childhood books?

The Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkien
What else can one say about this book that hasn't been said already? Quite a challenge as a 12-year old but many a late-night was spent lost in Middle Earth.

The Chronicles of Narnia by C S Lewis
Not quite as heavyweight as 'Rings, but equally inspired.

Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' is usually the obvious choice by this author, but this story somehow struck a chord with me as a child.

The Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
A memorable and rather surreal picture book from my childhood.

Four Authors I'll read again and again.

Jeffrey Eugenides
Though he's only written two books in ten years, they're both masterpieces.

Sara Wheeler
My favourite travel writer who I credit with kick-starting my polar obsession. Humour, natural history and incredible journeys.

David Mitchell
Glad to say I started reading him before he hit it really big with 'Cloud Atlas'. Mitchell manages to take clever ideas and propel them with luscious, lyrical prose and engaging characterisation.

Peter F Hamilton
Consistently the best sci-fi Author I've read; his 'Night's Dawn' Trilogy is simply awesome reading - an incredible space opera with a mean dash of horror. Kinda of like Babylon 5 meets Event Horizon.

The First Four on my to-read list

Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt
Six Days by Jeremy Bowen
Endurance by Alfred Lansing

Four Books I'd Take to a Desert Island

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
The Night's Dawn Trilogy by Peter F Hamilton
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
Terra Incognita by Sara Wheeler

Next up... I tag... Courtney, Northern Monkey, Beth