It surely has been a while...
I've just returned from a few drinks with an old friend of mine. Always good to catch up with someone you've known nearly 20 years. There's a somewhat unusual sort of freedom with someone like that. Like, if you've known someone that long and not freaked them out or driven them away by now, then you should be pretty safe to talk about nigh on anything, right? So, that was nice...
I've had my birthday just lately. I'm now 26 years old. People keep telling me I'm more than halfway to thirty and that sort of thing, as though I'm somehow supposed to be bothered by the inevitable, unavoidable, irrevocable passage of time. You may get the impression that I'm not overly fussed by being 26, or being 27 next year, or even 30 in 4 years time... You'd be right.
I was given money for my birthday, which is fair enough because that's what I asked for when people asked what I wanted. I've bought myself a swanky new Ipod, which is pretty cool. I've ummed and ahhed about getting one for a while now and it is pretty handy now that I have it. I've also finally got into buying music off the 'net with Itunes, which is something I've been meaning to do for a while, and so far it's not disappointed. It's all very easy and the quality is good, so I'm quite impressed. I know there's all the furore about DRM (I'm a geek - I'm supposed to know about these things) but I'm a bit apathetic about all that fuss at the moment. Anyway. The music's good and the price is good, so I'm not too fussed.
Beth is doing well at the moment. She's really getting the hang of talking now. She's apparently supposed to know 300 words by the time she's 2, but I'm sure she knows more than that already. She talks all the time, and is good at assimilating new words and using them properly. She's started to get the hang of talking on the phone too now. I'm currently away on training in London, but I've been calling each day to say hi to Ali and to Beth. I think she appreciates it, even if all she says is "Yes" to about anything you ask. Still, it's progress... a while back, all she'd say was "No".
I've actually got some good photos of Beth, from Christmas, and from a day a while back when we had some snow. I'll post them on Facebook or something, or on here sometime soon.
Training, ah training... It's pretty hard at the moment. I've got loads of work to be getting on with and it's very difficult trying to fit in family life and leisure time. I've come to appreciate the ironic use of the phrase "copious free time" as coined in - as I understand it - the US Navy and popularised by the legendary satirist and pianist, Tom Lehrer. "Sure", I say, "I'll do that in my copious free time". My, how we laugh, my fellow students and I, as we quietly wonder how we'll manage to cram everything into our brains in time for the exams. Panic is already setting in, and the first exam is still two months away. It's not looking good. I'll get back to you in May and let you know how it all turns out.
I've a mind to write about a whole bunch of other stuff, but it wouldn't really fit with this sort of general progress update. I've got a bunch of buzzing thoughts about various items of media... films, books, TV... Rough reviews of sorts. I'll post again soon, maybe even this weekend.
Still, don't hold your breath, eh?
