My Life on the Net

So, we’ve got a lot to talk about.

1. NaBloPoMo is finished.
2. New theme!
3. The shaving of heads.
4. What September holds.

NaBloPoMo is finished!

In a way I’m going to miss it, but in a way I’m relieved I can make posts that are a lot more content rich for you all to enjoy.  By the end of this month I was finding it hard to have a single idea.  So, shall I be doing it again?

Definitely, but not for a couple of months.

I’ve met a lot a bloggers, expanded my horizons and while I’ve been blogging for over a year I’ve learnt a lot over the past month.

New theme!

So, you may have noticed the green is gone and that it’s been replaced by a rich brown (to correspond with the start of autumn).  This is something I’ve been working on and off for the past month.  The last theme, although I liked it, did get a little hard to manage thanks to the fact it was all made on a single day.  The new one has been made to LAST – but I may play around with a few elements once in a while.

Don’t worry if you subscribe via RSS as you won’t notice any difference in your feeds, but if you don’t you’ll be able to get this blog sent to you each time by email. Links in the sidebar!

The Shaving of Heads

I hope you haven’t forgotten that today is the day, and there’s a few reasons I’m definitely going to do it.  Most of the reason for change is symbolic, because I NEED change.  I’ll be streaming it live from 11pm tonight (click here to see the local times around the world – but for sensibility it’s 6pm eastern) and remember that it’s all up to you as to how short I cut it off when you visit the chat room.

And so I don’t forget – it’ll all be on http://www.blogtv.com/People/fusedreality.

Update - just to tell those who might be feeling that this is controversial, i’m not going to be completely shaved off, I’ve decided that much.  That would just look weird.  It’ll be more of a buzz cut like the one below… (thanks to Brad Dielman for the image)

What September Holds

I’m going to be basically on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday routine from now on, with a meme post on Sundays.  This may be hindered for a few days after the 14th since I’ll be moving from my hometown of Edinburgh and back up to Dundee to my new student flat.  Can’t wait – but my internet social activities will be hindered while I meet new friends and meet up with new ones.  Oh, and probably get drunk a few times.

Despite the picture on the right being a terrible example of me both smiling and of me in general, it holds true that I’ve finally found what I consider to be a hat that actually freaking fits and suits me.

I’ve talked in the past about how I’ve got an abnormally large head.  I mean, it’s big. Oh, and you know how I mentioned that it’s big… It’s HUGE.  This XL sized hat from Jinx.com (shown on the right) which I got today is a little tight on me but loose fitting enough to be comfortable.  It’s so nice to wear I’ve worn it all day, but this may also be due to the fact I haven’t showered today and my hair is a mess.

About that…

I’ve talked about it before, and I got a great response from you guys about the idea of shaving it all off (my hair that is).  I’ve given it some thought and I thought I’d tell you.

1. It’s going to happen September 1st at 11pm BST (that’s 6PM Eastern).  [If this is a bad time for some people who want to be there I can make it later.]
2. It will be streamed live, because some people wanted it to.
3. I may not shave it all off, but I might. It’ll all be up to the chat room on the live stream.
4. I’m considering allowing people to support me by giving money to Cancer Research UK, as I’m considering giving $1 for each viewer who watches it live.
5. There will be much rejoicing.

So I hope a lot of you can make it and provide your support.

Horray, August has started and without fail the sun has come out.  It’s probably my favourite month since it’s always warm and it’s when the tourist season begins in Edinburgh.

There’s enough stuff for me to keep myself busy and keeping this blog boiling with content.

So, keep watching for the next month because things are going to get HOT - with new content every day under the theme of ‘Hot’.

(Can you tell I’m rushing out the door… so see something awesome?  Well, I am. So, goodnight and let’s hope the Dark Knight is as awesome as i’ve heard.)

Yar!  Hopefully this quadruple espresso will kick me out of the blogging downfall I’ve been in the past month or two.  It’s been pretty hard to do anything let alone think, thanks to some family problems. I’ll get into it sometime or another… but not right now.

I did try to talk about it though…

Damn, I look crap in this video.

Now, let’s get onto something a lot more interesting.

19th Birthday

Yes! I’ve finally passed the terrible age of eighteen, and I’m able to see the future with crystal clarity. Ok, not exactly, but I had a great time.

I’ve been growing a little facial hair ever since my mother went into hospital a month ago. It was a symbol. I’d shave it off after I got my mother back and became herself again.  But by my birthday it was getting too annoying, and with the need for a haircut too I treated myself to a ‘Groom’s Special’ at The Player’s Lounge, Edinburgh.

It was a shave and a haircut, something I’ve never spent this much on… but I’ve been trying to get a straight shave ever since I watched Sweeny Todd.

The Player’s Lounge was amazing. While you wait they include a complimentary beer and let you read magazines and their PSP.  When they’re ready for you the treatment starts…  The shave lasts 45 minutes.  Since I had a full beard on at the time it took an entire hour, but I have to say it was the best shave I’ve ever had.  Steaming hot towels to soften the hairs, about 5 different types of facial scrubs and moisterisers even before she started to shave with the straight razor.

The haircut was very good too! I’m normally used to getting a barber who, while he can cut hair, doesn’t truly know how ones hair works.  I told my hairdresser (repeadly) about how thick my hair is.  ‘Real’ hairdressers have noticed, and she definitely did.  Thankfully, she did my hair perfectly… taking out all the extra volume and managing to make it really suit me!

Thanks player’s lounge!

The night was awesome too. I went out to Gulliano’s on the Shore and had some wonderful Italian food, followed by Wall-E (for the second time :D).  Everyone was super nice and got me everything I desired.  Money, Coffee, Espresso machines and computer games.  So, awesome.  Thank you everyone.  I’m still waiting for a super-awesome present from a super-awesome person (Corinne), but can’t wait to get it.

Survey

If you remember, about 2 weeks ago I asked you to take a survey so I can go forward.  Thanks for all who took part and I hope to implement a few of the requests.  Right now, I’m going to share them…

• 83% of you are happy with the blog as a whole.
• Only 17% of you visit the blog via an RSS reader.
• Everyone was either happy or not bothered that I made money off of this blog by displaying advertising.
• People wanted to read more (by popularity)…
• Things that happen in my life.
• Photography
• Stories and Ideas
• Videos
• Reviews
• Tutorials
• Documentaries on Socks
• Podcasts
• Some people want…
• “Boobs?” [Although this was anonymous... I KNOW WHO YOU ARE!]
• What are the things you like to do?  What about your family life? [So, actually talk about what the title seems to suggest. Ok.]
• Most people want new content 3+ times a week.  I might freak out some of you when I say there’s going to be new content every single day next month thanks to the fact I’m participating in NaBloPoMo [National Blog Posting Month].
• 82.3% would purchase limited edition prints so I could afford a over-the-atlantic trip.
• People want more…
• “Boobs”. [Scott... seriously... [it's in the pipes ;)]]
• Tutorials on web design, photography, etc.
• More pictures… (of the blogger)
• More topics that entertain a wider audience… e.g. “Try things out of our element and blog about them. What did you like or not about the experience?”.
• More lists.
• When asked if there was anything not discussed here that you’d like changed or discussed about… They said…
• “Boobs?” [*headdesk*]
• Talk about your friends more… aka…ME! (and you know who this is) [Yes, I do...]

So, back to normal from now on.  You’ll see a lot of things change (more than you’d think) in the next week so I hope you’ll enjoy it.

Now, before I leave you… one last word for the wise. DON’T EAT YELLOW SNOW!

Hi honorable readers, you look nice today! Cup of tea?

Ok, I’m flattering you awesome guys for one reason. I need your help. I’ve been in a downer the past few weeks and lost my blogging groove. That’s where you lot come in, to tell me what the hell you want!

Simply fill out the short survey at the bottom of this post and in seconds I’ll be back on my feet. I have some ideas, but there’s a few new things I want to try that need your say-so before I get them going.

Take the Survey

Thanks!  You lot are fantastic!

Most of us spend our time complaining about the little things - be it that you don’t have enough money for something, your food is too salty or you just can’t seem to get things right. Whatever is wrong, we always seem to find that we forget the good things in life and forget all the important milestones.

At the start of this month I was happy to celebrate that I had finally surpassed a year of blogging and that I had learned a lot since I started. Now, I’m happy to celebrate I’ve managed to make a hundred posts!

Now through some marvel I’ve finally managed to make a hundred posts. Normally by now I would have lost interest and this blog would have found it’s way to depths of my server and never to have been seen again. But thanks to your interest, thanks to your comments, thanks to your words and your appreciation I’ve managed to make it this far and I just wanted to say… thank you.

It’s all because of people like you i’ve kept blogging for so long.

Well done. Some of you have managed to survive my writing for an entire year - which surpasses any of my house plants or even underwear (but we won’t get into that). Where has the time gone? I remember it as if it was yesterday when I wrote my first blog post here.

[INSERT FLASHBACK SEQUENCE]

It was sunny one April 1st. It was the first day in which I could go out in a t-shirt and enjoy Spring for it’s sun instead of the wind and rain. I hope it happens again, because this Spring has been terrible so far.

[END FLASHBACK SEQUENCE]

The blog has evolved so much from what it was to begin with and I’ve learned a lot. Loads of starting bloggers make mistakes - some of them keep doing them and wonder what they are doing wrong, some give up because they feel like they’ll never get it right. So what am I going to do?

For the next 10 days I’m going to be sharing my tips for starting or experienced bloggers who want to improve their blogs and how other bloggers perceive them. I’ll share simple things but they don’t account to a winning formula. They’ll help you feel happier about your blog but even now I’m learning what my readers like and what the boundaries are that I will share.

I hope you’re going to enjoy it.

It’s been a long week of decision making, planning and all-round fiddling about on Call of Duty 4. It’s actually been really helpful, and I’m happy that some of my friends on twitter recognised what I’ve been going through. When the going gets though, we all need to take a break sometime.

I’m writing this on one of my more comfortable days, Saturday. The week is finally over and at 7.30am, after staying up all night aimlessly watching television and Resident Evil Acopalapse, I feel that I’ve come up with my decisions on how this blog will work from now on - and damn it, it will work.

With Spring seemingly showing it’s head to the world, I’m finding the idea of going on photowalks more and more attractive. It’s been a harsh winter, and I’ve become lazy since my move to Dundee. A little analytic bird also told me that photography is your favourite category. More of the good stuff is always better. So, photos will be finding it’s way to you each Sunday.

Now, I don’t want to give up the idea of making written posts. I’m even thinking of doing NaNOwRimO this year, so I want to get into writing more each day. I used to have a schedule of writing a post every three days - and I always found myself skipping days or delaying and always screwing myself up. More blog posts on a lot more interesting topics are coming to you on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I’m even thinking of trying to get a couple of people who’s work I enjoy to show a little insight into their work sometime - but I haven’t even began talking to people yet.

So there you have it. I’ll be posting from now on four days a week. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and an extra photo or two on Sunday. It’s going to be fun.

I hope you’ll stay and enjoy the ride with me.

In this dark bedroom, I try to write something that some people on the internet would call ‘interesting’. Sometimes it’s short, sometimes it’s long - but it’s mostly every three days. You know what I call blogging every three days?

Exhausting.

It’s taken me away from things I would normally do, things that most people come to my website for. According to my sources, many users like to visit my photography category and see new posts - yet for the past few months I’ve posted nothing.  All I’ve done is write little scraps of my life. Not exactly interesting.

Now, I could just blame it on winter blues - but I know better.  Things have been hectic for the past month - mainly due to mother being in hospital and since I haven’t had a spare weekend for ages, I’ve done nothing either productive nor interesting. I’ve been sitting on my butt playing games and watching movies.

I am going to take a week long holiday from blogging. I think i’ve deserved it, and I know when I come back I’ll be revitalised and full of new ideas.  Although I intentionally try not to include my life but rather my actions as a person through this blog, more recently I feel this has not been so.  But most of all, my writing is getting boring. Look at this paragraph! It’s too long!

So don’t think of this hiatus as a bad thing. Think of it as a paid vacation that makes you work better when you come back from it.

If you’ve forgotten. I said Phwoto (the photo location sharing web app) I was creating would be operational by the end of last month. Big mistake. I didn’t expect to hit the brick wall which was family problems that stopped me from developing it.

It’s slowly getting sorted but I’m not around during the weekends to work on it, which leaves me about 6 hours per week to work on the code.

It’s a little tricky, but since things are getting better I’m going to set a release date. Knowing me, a release date in my mind will sort out every little problem I’ve got right now… So, without further adieu…

Phwoto is going to release 1st April 2007. (And no, this aint no April Fools!) and the aim is to set to let some people into the beta a week before.