My Writings. My Thoughts.
40 x (8) days of random girls…
// September 3rd, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Random Stuff, Reviews
Been looking forwards to (500) Days of Summer for a while now, and it didn’t disapoint - Isn’t Zooey Deschannel almost perfect? Awesome movie - funny, sad, happy, funny, good soundtrack… Zooey Deschannel.
It did however occur to me that my life mimmicks the first 8 days of the lead male characters life quite a lot… time and time and time again. And then some more.
I should man up.
snZero.BOOM!
// September 3rd, 2009 // No Comments » // Random Stuff, snZero
Somewhat of an anticlimax, but I’ve managed to throw together a very sleek (read: nothing on there) website for the socialnetworking-ZERO event. If you don’t have your ticket already then you can initiate the process of getting one over at http://www.snzero.com right now! Though there are only 8 left at this point…
Should have known better. Making the same mistake again?
// August 23rd, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Random Stuff
A little while ago I bought a brand new sony laptop. It was small and lovely and had a massive resolution, and a really slow processor and I thought “well, I only ever check my email at home - that and organise my iPod, upload my Nike+ runs and download things that are of interest to me - so a slow processor shouldn’t be too much of an issue”. And when I got it, it was brilliant, more than capable of everything I wanted it to do - and then after about 3 days I realised I was lying to myself and that while this sony netbook/laptop was indeed very gorgeous it was also totally not going to work as my home PC.
Not only did it randomly lock up when copying files between two locations, it also ground to a halt trying to show flash movies on the BBC website - oh, and that Nike+ that I wanted to run? Well, it did - but only if you left the machine synching for 30 minutes. So all in all, a purchase that I wasn’t that happy with.
And well, I’ve maybe gone and done it again - or maybe not. Time will tell, but I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone, and back in time about 10 years - and have bought y second ever Mac PC (which is now connected to my 40″ Samsung LED TV, and being used to write this).
First impressions? Mostly good - though the “not to mighty mouse” is really laggy - something to do with accelaration I believe. Everything else? Seems to be good 3 hours in, though we’ll know for sure in coming weeks as my desire for more and more Windows applications grows and I grow more nad more angry that I’ve had to delete all the music off my iPhone to resync it with my new PC.
It is lovely, and small, and quiet, and plugs into my telly, and … well, let’s hope this feeling lasts more than 3 days. It does work with Nike+ afterall, so I maybe good.
A head is for life
// August 16th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Random Stuff
…not just for Christmas. Seems like a funny sentiment but I’m tired of people loving to feel my folically challenged noggin - the last straw was Friday night when a random man stopped me while I was on the way to the toilet in a bar and asked if he could feel it - and before I could verbalise the sentiments “try it and we’ll be stepping outside” he already had his big bearlike paw on my head. Needless to say that at that point I felt that dragging himself and pistol whipping him with the nearest motorbike would probably be a waste of time and went silently to the toilet to seeth.
The point is that I’m more than a head people - albeit a fucking lovely, stubbly one that feels amazing to run your hand over; I’m a person, with feelings. Stop using me to get your “tactile rocks” off! Or at least if you’re going to, then can you at least be a goreous young lady who wants to take my home afterwards…? Is it really too much to ask?
Apparently so.
Why something new? Because of everything old.
// August 6th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Random Stuff
So I sent out a few emails yesterday after mining a few local repositories for the names and email address of Leeds digital marketing agencies, and got a remarklable amount of response for ’social networking Zero’. Lots of people also emailed me telling me it was a great idea, and how they were looking forward to it. And not mutually exclusive from that last group of people lots of people asked:
a) Why I haden’t liked GeekUp?
b) Had I tried OpenCoffee, GeekUp and other alternatives?
For many of them I attempted a response and at the last minute thought better of it before simply remarking that I looked forward to seeing people, and leaving those two questions unanswered. The questions had answers… a, can be found a few blog posts back, and the answer to b is that No, I haven’t… I just wasn’t in the mood for sharing that information - mostly because the two questions hit at the heart of why I was so unsure about this whole thing in the first place - nights, mornings and afternoons exist already where nerdy/administrative/management types (and other types for that matter) get together and talk about nerdy/administrative/managerial stuff all over Leeds.
And that is why I’m wanting to do this … because those things happen. And none of them “fit” who I am as a guy who works in digital marketing in Leeds - I used to be a developer, but I’m not a geek, and don’t belong at GeekUp. I am a manager, but I don’t have the time to make to go to OpenCoffee once a month, and it strikes me as really way too “work focussed” anyway.
What I really want social media Zero to be is something that transcends the boundries which I perceive things like OC and GU to have - it’s for everyone who works in digital media in Leeds (those that aren’t geeks and those that can’t have the morning off every fourth week to go drink crappy starbucks coffee)- and if 10 people turn up that I don’t know and my social circle grows to include them, then I’ll consider the whole exercise a success, and if twice that number turn up then this doubt will all have been worth it. And I might have someone design me a logo or something - it seems the rage.
social-networking-Zero
// August 5th, 2009 // No Comments » // Random Stuff
Well, it’s a while off… but the date is set, the venue will be set within the next few days… and we’ll see how many people really are interested in a night where digital media people talk to digital media people about what matters to digital media people. In Leeds. So without further ado… get your “register” on…
a night for digital marketing professionals…
// August 1st, 2009 // 7 Comments » // Random Stuff
So, after being sought to be ejected from PowerPoint Karaoke earlier this week, and realising that bedroom programmers and nerds aren’t my “cup of tea” I’m thinking seriously about trying to organise something myself for the people who are a little bit more like myself - people who work hard in the digital marketing agencies of Leeds (or those that want to!) - just a night where people can network, talk about the industry as it stands - how the recession is making agencies boom or making agencies bust, to exchange ideas about usability, SEO, JPG vs. PNG vs. GIF, SifR vs. Canvas, Transitional vs. Strict, Waterfall vs. Agile, Dictator vs. Democracy, MSN Allowed or Banned - in an atmosphere that is befitting digital marketing professionals - somewhere with running water, electricity and nice wallpaper - somewhere without free wi-fi - an evening that is all about social networking ZERO - that is talking to each other - programmers, designers, account managers, managing and financial directors, EVERYONE welcome! Even the information architects and copywriters. And new business people too.
Kinda like the old Gimp LS monthly get-togethers that used to happen 8 years ago - just without the free drinks (Yes, I’ve been in Leeds digital marketing way too long).
So, of all of those people out there reading this that work in a digital, is this something that you and your colleagues would be interested in? If so you should email me… Matt(at)26point1.com
And so it begins… Again
// August 1st, 2009 // No Comments » // Diet and Exercise, Random Stuff
Yes, rather dull-ly, after 3 weeks of eating what the hell I wanted, I’ve started the diet again. Hoping I’ve not piled too much weight back on - will see when I weigh myself on Monday.
Thank god for Cows and Chickens - those lbs are coming off!
I am not a geek.
// July 30th, 2009 // 10 Comments » // FURY!, Random Stuff
Tonight has been a special evening. One in which I have taken part in PowerPoint Karaoke, once in which I have heckled a lot, one in which I have drank a little, one in which I have been told “the group wants me to leave”, and one in which I’ve met a cool girl.
But it’s also been a night where all that has come together in an epiphany moment where I realised that the group of people I’ve spent 2 years socialing with once a month really aren’t people that I’m that interested in socialising with at all.
Yes, there are people amongst them who I find interesting, and those who I genuinely like and maybe even love as friends and who I could sit with in a pub for large amounts of time and drink until merriment was not an issue. But then there are the rest of the people who are either a) too intelligent for me to have a meaningful conversation with, or b) they think they’re too intelligent for me to have a meaninful conversation with (in all but 1 case the latter). In either case I am now going to choose to not care. The truth is that one “easily offended” young lady has tonight led “the group” to want me to leave - either really, or jokingly - and that has annoyed me. And then I met a cool girl.
The cool girl was Mercedes who I have now known for weeks and has red hair and is awesome. And I feel completely good talking to her. I feel completely at ease and I don’t have to try with her. And then I realise that I don’t have to try with Gav, or Kirsty, or James, or Erica, or anyone else… And then I realise that the people at GeekUp are completely on the flip side of that, and apart from 2 people I really don’t know why I go… and then I realise that the fine line that I think I’ve done a good job of treading the last two years (between geeks and real people) is one I don’t want to tread any more.
So, I’m deciding right now, tipsy, that GeekUp is not for me anymore. And that while I’ll be sending out emails asking if people fancy a drink every now and then, the majority of GeekUp will be benefitting from not seeing my face again.
On the plus side, my Powerpoint Karaoke rocked again. I’m not really bad at the whole ad-libbing thing it seems. Wish I could pull it out of the bag in real presentations now.
Five sixths of a man…
// July 4th, 2009 // No Comments » // Diet and Exercise
A nice little graph showing my weight loss over the last 8 weeks… Going for 14′7 next week which will be exactly 3 stone lost over 9 weeks, which will set me up quite nicely for the last push to 13 stone before August 15th…
5/6ths of a man
