Well, the blog has been offline for a long time now. I was delaying its relaunch until I finally managed to design a new theme for it, as I have a new perspective on how I want it to look and feel, and what I want to do with it. Unfortunately I couldn’t find the motivation, and kept procrastinating. So, in an effort to force myself to get some work done on it, I’ve installed this somewhat monotonous theme.

Since my last post, at the end of March, a few things have happened:

• I didn’t go back to SiTEL. I continued to be signed off by my doctor, got a very small last pay cheque and handed in my notice, because…
• I got a new job, working as a (junior) website developer. It’s the best job I have ever had, and I spend every hour of my time when I’m not at the office looking forward to being back at the office.
• Tallis and I split up, for good this time. I’m still feeling the impact of that, but I’m getting on with my life.
• I’m still at Mum’s, although hopefully a new house is on the horison.
• I bought new shoes.

A fair proportion of my day tends to be tied up with work, which I am very happy with. Other than that, I spend a lot of my time scoping out ideas for projects I want to work on. I’m having a lot of creative ideas at the moment, and all of them need planning and purchasing. Here’s an insight to a few of the things I’ve thought of or wanted to do over the last month or so:

• I was in the kitchen, trying to decide what I would like for dinner. After milling through the cupboards, I thought to myself “I really fancy a steak”, which brought me to the realisation that there really aren’t enough takeaway restaurants that deliver steak. There’s certainly not a dedicated one, and the various fast-food chains that do offer steak don’t do a very good job of it. As the idea played in my head, I said to myself “I want to open a steak takeaway… and call it… STEAKAWAY!”. So there you go – what a fantastic name for a steak takeaway.
• Following my Steakaway idea, I got very annoyed when I knew of a takeaway that I wanted to order from, but couldn’t find their menu. The Internet didn’t provide much information besides their telephone number either, which was incorrect. I realised that the only takeaway restaurants that do have websites are the nation-wide food chains, such as Dominoes and Pizza Hut. This inspired me to not only take on a challenge, but try to promote these businesses. Therefore, I want to collect every takeaway menu in the UK, in a digital format (preferably PDF) and upload them to a website that I have started. The website will enable visitors to search for takeaways in their area, filter by cuisine, and be able to view the menu for that takeaway, allowing them to place their order without having to worry about digging menus out of stacks of paper hidden away in cupboards.
• Two of my favourite music genres are progressive metal and electronic rock (Dream Theater and The Prodigy, for example). However, it’s so very rare that you hear these two genres combined. I’ve not heard a band that combine them to my satisfaction, and therefore I really want to do it myself. I also want to throw in some Daft Punk inspiration along the lines. This is going to involve sorting out a MIDI interface for my guitar, finding plenty of software synthesisers and drum packages, and becoming a master of both genres of music – something which I don’t suppose will be a short journey. One of my dream remixes is “Through the Loop” by Pendulum. The use of Willy Wonka’s voice from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, complete with the musical build up, gives me such an ecstatic feeling. Unfortunately, after the build up, the music that comes in is a bit of an anti-climax. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, I just invision something much more epic, with screaming guitar sounds, Daft Punk-y synths and progressive/power metal roots. I really can’t wait to start working on this.
• One of my pet hates is how guitarists, especially young guitarists, feel the need to spend (well, get their parents to spend) so much money on new guitars all of the time. It’s as if they think a new,expensive guitar will make them a better player. I have a Squier Stratocaster, but that’s not bold and blatant enough. Therefore, I want to buy one of the Daisy Rock flower guitars, and record videos of myself playing famous songs to publish on YouTube. It’ll be a laugh, and keep my guitar practice on schedule. Unfortunately that line of guitars has been discontinued, so if anyone sees one lying around on eBay, or in a charity shop, do let me know.

I think that’s about everything for now. Soon I’ll (try) to get this website up and running in the way that I want it to. For now though, it’s back, and I’ll try to post from time to time. I hope you are all well, and haven’t forgotten about me.