marramgrass

A year ago I decided to publish a new photograph every week, as an encouragement to get out with camera in hand and take some pictures. My only rule was that everything I published must have been taken in 2009. If I hadn’t decided that, I would have been too lazy and spent most of the year digging through my archives looking for anything interesting that I hadn’t posted before.

Instead, most of what I ended up doing was digging through my growing archive of 2009 looking for something interesting that I hadn’t posted yet. I spent most of the year either relying on a few good outings to provide three, four or even five weeks’ worth of images, or running around on a Sunday evening trying to photograph something, anything, to post for the Monday morning.

I’m quite happy with a few of the images posted over the year, but more than a few are just filler.

Photo A Week 2009 was an experiment with mixed success for me.

I tried this once before, but I’m still the same fat pasty. I weigh almost exactly the same as I did then.

So, inspired by, encouraged by and joining with quite a few others, I’m giving the public embarrassment thing another go. It probably won’t show up here too much. Instead, there’s a new twitter feed you can keep an eye on: @beatinggravity. If you like. It should be good for some comedy, if nothing else.

It’s not very complicated, in theory. Eat less and exercise more. I’ve learned from experience that that’s a pretty tough thing to do. I’m a man of considerable weakness and some vice, and food gets me every single time. Good food, cheap food, nasty food, chocolate, cheese… high fat, high sugar, high flavour.

My wife tells me that I seem more enthused and definite about this than I have before, so that’s something, but I’ve always been able to talk a good a game. The proof is in the eating, as they say. Or in the not eating, in this case.

Wish me luck. I have 29-and-some years of habit to overcome. Let battle commence!

(PAW2009 52/52)

It’s been pretty cold ’round our way over Christmas.

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I’m not sure whose idea it was to barbecue in December (although, if I had to guess, I would guess my father-in-law), but, even with snow on the ground, the plan went ahead.

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It’s that time of year, again.

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Cheating a little, this is the one I missed last week.

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Yup, I missed 47/52 last week. I’ll make it up.

Jings, it’s a while since I’ve done one of these. I still haven’t posted a photo this week, either.

• The Ultimate Productivity Blog. Aye.
• Apps.ie, showcasing Irish (of whatever variety) mobile software. There’s some excellent work in there.
• After I posted about a U2 track a while back, the Smashing Pumpkins cover it well.
• Sweet Child O’ Mine on the fiddle. Really.
• A thoughtful post on teachers using social networks.
• I’ve discovered a new comic — Dresden Codak. Check out Caveman Science Fiction, then read the beautifully whimsical The Sleepwalkers.
• We recently met photographer Emma Boyd. She’s good.
• I was invited to write a guest post for TotalApps. Check out my Five Apps Friday.
• Mike Johnston gives us an interesting essay on the ethics of reviewing.
• A postie’s perspective on the disputes and industrial action at Royal Mail.
• Every time I stumble across a post at Dooce, I think I should subscribe. This time I did.
• Mig does it again.
• Matt Gemmell on real-world usability.

That’s all for now.

(PAW2009 46/52)