Status Report (August '09 Edition)

I've been spread so thin of late that blogging hasn't got a look-in. Between an increased workload, spending time with Nina, salvaging friendships and maintaining creativity, I barely have time to exercise, let alone blog. With that in mind, expect this particular entry to be quick-fire and disjointed, like Uzi-toting custard.

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• I think it's time for the hair to come off again. I had hoped to wait until Hallowe'en to shave it off, doing so as part of my ambitious Harvey Two-Face costume, but I can no longer stand its presence. It has to go. Sorry to anyone who liked it (hi Mum).
  
• Getting my bike cleaned and fixed today, in an effort to battle the ever-growing bulge above my belt. I'm really starting to feel uncomfortable in my own skin, even if the outside appearance is more or less the same. Despite having reduced my alcohol intake considerably in the past year, I've also reduced my gym time. Not good. [EDIT: the roads outside work are flooded thanks to the rainfall. Might stay in tonight after all.]
  
• Earlier this month I took a week off work to hole up in a small recording studio owned and run by Nina's genius brother (they're a family of geniuses, it would seem). With nothing but keyboards, mics, guitars and signal processors for company, I was free to get on the mic and lay down full-throated, aggressive vocals - something I simply can't do in my own house. It was very liberating. The results were varied, due largely to the many rewrites I felt necessary to perform during the recording process. However, I have a lot of raw material to work with, and hope to start producing finished tracks once I give my ears a good rest.
• On a related note, I've been rehearsing with Happi in an effort to pick up where I left off last year and get playing in public again. My goal is to get Denise on board too, and perform some original material between the three of us. Time, as always, is the enemy, but I'm more confident and determined than ever.
  
• The glut of zombie-themed content currently populating XBox Live (several shitty Indie Games, L4D2 trailers, and so on) has led to my shelving of McGrathi Apocalypse once again. The game design itself is quite solid - it would make a pretty good boardgame, actually. Sadly, I can't see it being developed for XNA given the general zombie bandwagonism currently in force. I'll focus my energies on 14 Days, which is a far more original and unique idea anyway.
• I've made a resolution to improve my overall graphic design and production skills with a view to exploring several ideas that have been rattling around for ages: a customized tarot deck for Nina, some t-shirt designs, some large-size wall art for my room, and much more. In addition, I've taken my first tentative steps into non-linear video editing in the hope of finally producing that zombie/slasher/torture short film that McGrathy and I have been talking about for a decade or so.
• I recently finished my first game of Fallout 3. To call it a 'playthrough' would be wrong, because I barely saw a third of the gameworld in the course of my story. It really felt like I had lived and died in the game as myself, thanks to the degree of freedom I felt throughout. Even better, it means that there's a whole other landscape out there that I'm dying to explore in my next attempt (perhaps as a deliberately cruel and evil character - I was eulogized in the closing cutscene as a pure, uncorrupted wanderer thanks to my actions and attitude in the game). A landmark title in my gaming 'career', not least because my fellow Ballymena escapee Liam Neeson played my father in it.
  
• Speaking of landmark titles, one more thing: after getting a fantastic deal at Cash Converters, I'm going home tonight to finally play Metal Gear Solid 4 on my new(ish) PlayStation3. IT. IS. TIME.
  

It's depressing how similar my creative intentions sound to those I had about a year ago. The march of progress can indeed be a slow one. That's more than enough for now - keep on rockin'.

NJM