My Life on the Net

I’m not keeping to my own schedule of Monday/Wednesday/Friday. I’d love to blame NaBloMoPo for turning me into a blog whore.

The Video

Didn’t think I’d forgotten about you did you?  Well, here’s the video from the night.

Shave video #1 - Broadcast your self LIVE

Shave #2 - Broadcast your self LIVE

Shave #3 - Broadcast your self LIVE

the ‘rents

I’ve been wearing a cap all day. Not because I’m annoyed about my new hairstyle but rather because I couldn’t be bothered explaining myself to the parents.  Well, while in the hospital with them both today my dad asked the question… You didn’t do it did you?

Well, daddy, I did.

It’s not that I didn’t really want him to know, it was that I wanted him to understand why I did it.  He has no concept of my beliefs or I doubt, even my personality.  He hasn’t known me for over a year, and I’ve changed.  I’m not afraid of taking risks anymore.

I do agree that my current hairstyle is a little short, and in future I’ll keep to a #1 or #2. That’s not important.  What I find quite… disgusting… is that I don’t think he even cares why I did it.

He said I looked like an inmate, like a soldier or who knows what else.  I simply told him I was doing it for good, and money was raised to further good.

I have knowledge, I have beleifs that far outweigh yours. I know about other religions from around the world and while I may not practice them entirely, I understand their significance and hold some meaning towards them.

Hair grows back, and while I don’t care what you think – I’d love if you actually thought about why I did it.

Sheesh, if I expected this much contraversy I would have asked for an interview with BBC News.  So, I thought I’d start September with a little extra for you to understand why I’m doing this thing.

Firstly, just because it’s called ‘the big shave’ doesn’t mean I’m getting out the shaving oil and placing a blade to my scalp. It’s going to be something akin to a buzz cut, but it will be nonetheless what I need, mentally, to get myself out of this rut.

I respect many cultures and their practices, especially what such religious acts mean for themselves or their family.  I, as an agnostic, don’t exactly beleive that any of this matters – but it does to the person who is doing the act.  Some Eastern cultures, like i’ve talked about before, sacrifice something in the hope of change.  That’s exactly what I’m going through tonight.

Sure I’m nervous about it. Sure I’ve got second thoughts, but there’s meaning and a drive behind it.  My first video when I talked about it may have been just a spur-of-the-moment thing, but I haven’t spent the time up to this just thinking of doing it for the hell of it.  I researched it, wondered why others did it to and there was always a significant meaning behind an act.

My mother has been in an out of hospital for more than half of this year.  It’s scary, and there’s been times I’ve been literally in tears when something has happened. I’ve been angry, I’ve been worried, and most of all I’ve been wanting it to change.  When my mum was having problems with some aspects of her personality I started growing a beard, telling myself that I’d shave it off when my mother came back.  My mother is still in hospital, and while I haven’t told you one percent of the stories that have happened concerning her (because they’re just TOO shocking to tell) it doesn’t mean the symbolism of my actions should be disapproved.

In thirteen days there is a change that will affect not only myself, but the rest of my family.  It’s the time where all of my mother’s children are moving out of the city.  Already my mum is taking it a little to the heart, and it’s scary to realise that this could be such a heart-felt problem for her, when she’s already lost so many connections.  I wanted to symbolise this and sacrifice something to show what it meant to me.

Some may ask why I want to make this a fundraiser for Cancer Research UK as well.  Too many people in my family have had problems with Cancer, and while my mother isn’t one of them my family has had major changes due to this. My dear Uncle Alan died from Cancer just last year, my Aunt has had to have life changing surgery and my mother has had preventive measures taken.  Half of the reason my mother is in hospital today is because of this, not because she has had it herself but because of how it has affected the family.

Now, I’d talk to you more about it but while I’m someone who normally contains his emotions in tightly sealed boxes I’m finding it hard to stop them rushing to the surface.  I just hope you can understand that I’m not just doing this because I’ve got nothing better to do - there’s true reason behind it, and all I need is a little bit of support though this dark time.

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.

Don’t forget that tomorrow is the big shave at 6pm EST (probably won’t start for real until 6.30 or 7pm - time and one-person permitting).  More about it, and an extra special surprise tomorrow.  Can you believe that today is the last day of NaBloPoMo?  Well, we all made it and all my limbs are still attached.  I won’t be doing it next month, but I’ll talk about what I’ve got planned tomorrow.

Now the meme.  This one is from Sunday Stealing, and it’s easy. Finish the sentence!

1. My uncle once had a big debate with me on the pros and cons of Linux.  At a wedding reception.  With suits on.  Not my idea of a linux geek.
   
2. Never in my life have I seen a ghost, but many members of my family claim they have.
   
3. When I was five my parents bought me a RC car, which I promptly broke 5 minutes later after wondering if it would survive a drop from an ironing board.
4. High school was not the best time in my life…
5. I will never forget to go to a meeting or class, or ever be late, unless something bad has happened… or I’ve slept in.
6. Once I met someone who knew me from a video I posted online. Since then I’ve been scared s**tless that it’ll happen again, but inside wanting it to happen more and more.
7. There’s this boy I know who is turning into a mac addict and I have no idea where it came from.  Still, he’s joining the light side… gotta be worth something.
8. Once, at a bar, I drunk with friends that thought I was four years older than I am… that being, when I was 14.
9. By noon, I’m thinking of getting dressed - but I’m normally still in my pyjamas [only during days when I'm not at university, of course].
10. Last night I stayed up till two playing computer games, and I don’t regret it a single bit.
11. If only I had a way of traveling thousands of miles for free, or really… really… cheaply.
12. Next time I go to church I won’t be the one playing Clarinet as part of my old high school band.
13. What worries me most is that I may be without a mother sooner rather than later, and hoping that I’m wrong.
14. When I turn my head left I see my espresso machine, screaming at me to make another cup.
    
15. When I turn my head right I see an orange wall and my phone trying to tell me I’m late for something.
16. You know I’m lying when I start crying like a little girl.  Nah, not really… when I start stratching.
17. What I miss most about the Eighties is nothing. I wasn’t around for most of it.
18. If I were a character in Shakespeare I’d be the skull in the “To Be, or Not to be?” skit.  No lines, and I don’t have to do anything!
19. By this time next year I will be two centimeters to the right, and hopefully with less of a belly on me.
20. A better name for me would be Craig. Just Craig. Then nobody would have a last name of mine to say wrong.
21. I have a hard time understanding other languages, especially the ones I’ve never actually heard or seen before…
22. If I ever go back to school, I’ll be promptly hiding from the headmistress, who I didn’t like too much and asked for too many things to be done.
23. You know I like you if I don’t mention it… ever… unless the other party is fairly obvious in their like for myself.  Seriously, I’m a dumbass when I comes to relationships.
24. If I ever won an award, the first person I would thank would be myself, I’m the one who one it!  Nah, probably my family for supporting me.
25. Take my advice, never tinker with computer components that require soldering when you know your skills are less than capable.

Now I’d love to chat more but if you know anything about Edinburgh, today is the day of the fireworks! So, I’ve got to run off and catch some flickr photographers up town (if you’re from Edinburgh. NCP car park, just off Lothain Rd at 8pm.)

I talked recently about how I had done a photoshoot for one of my clients. One thing I never expected was for it to last six hours, on a day which I had not had any food. Let’s just say I wasn’t expecting it. I was however not alone and had another flickr photographer Lorraine there to help out. All in all, it was a great time.

The rest of the collection can be viewed here.

I love blogging. It’s awesome.  I can chat to you, spilling the beans of my life as long as it’s amusing enough to gather readers.  I can respond to your stuff, and link to whatever I find funny.

The last month I’ve figured out something, and it’s not bad.  I rather find it pretty interesting.  Men mostly talk about things they have.  Women talk more about what they do.  This leaves me in the middle.  Out of the people I’ve subscribed to this month, most have been women - because most of them have the guts to participate for long periods of time.

I used to only talk about what I have, and what I’ve taken - but with NaBloPoMo has taught me something. People like to know who you are.  Women are open to sharing this, and while I’ve been doing this for over a year I’ve been concerned about talking about my life. It just wasn’t comfortable.

I’m changing - but while I’m surrounded by people who love to share their lives, in one way or another, it takes me a while to adopt changes.  Hell, I’m a guy - and I’m surrounded by women bloggers.

It’ll take time, but I’ll have fun doing it!

How this relates to hot - ehm… ehm… change is a… hot topic!  Ok, walk away… Nothing to see here…

I’ve managed to stay completely away for coffee for five days, and while I miss the hot beverage as I would miss my left hand, I’ve just not been bothered to make a single espresso.

So, at 9pm – I’m starting to feel a little like this.

See you tomorrow.

One of my clients right now is a bar and restaurant that serves food every single day.  With their website coming into fruition soon I had to head down to the bar and take some pictures.  Fine.  It won’t take long.

Let’s just say… I was there for SIX hours.  But all was good.

One thing I suggest if you’re ever going to photograph food for that amount of time – have your breakfast!  I unfortunately thought that I would be fine despite the fact that I had neither of my two meals for the day, and while I was hungry for most of the day… Damn it was alright.

In total, I’ve taken about 250 photos of burgers, mussels and a whole load of fancy items.  But best of all, I was not alone as another flickr photographer, Lorainne, was there helping out.  We shared our boredom through the time but in all, I think we’ve gotten some good shots.

But what’s the best thing about this my little ones?  Free food.  Sure, most of the food displayed for the pictures were inedible – but they felt that since our well spent time was used wisely (we were only supposed to be there for an hour) they served us nicely decorated food with all the bells and whistles.

Oh, and free drink…

So, you may expect me to NOT be in such a good mood to write today.  I’ll see ya tomorrow instead…

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.

So it’s getting into day 25 of the wonderful, and thoroughly enjoyable, NaBloPoMo - and one thing it’s introduced me to is the world of memes.  It’s a pretty cool idea, and while some people find it slightly annoying I think it can provide some pretty cool insight into people.

Like when I’m talking to the awesome girl (which is Corinne) we seem to always find a way to talk about which food we’ve either got in each of our respective countries, or what we’ve ever tasted.  She’s never had haggis and I’ve never had a corn dog.  It happens, and we each swear we’ll try it sometime.

I got this from Return to Rural, and should be pretty interesting.

Here’s the idea:-

1. Copy this into your own blog, including these instructions.
2. Bold all of the items you’ve eaten.
3. Cross out (or italicise) any items you would never consider eating.
4. Post a comment here once you’ve finished and link your post back to this one.
5. Pass it on!

So, let’s go.

1. Natto
2. Green Smoothie
3. Tofu Scramble
4. Haggis
5. Mangosteen
6. Creme brulee
7. Fondue
8. Marmite/Vegemite
9. Borscht
10. aba ghanoush
11. Nachos
12. Authentic soba noodles
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Taco from a street cart
16. Boba Tea
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Gyoza
20. Vanilla ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Ceviche
24. Rice and beans
25. Knish
26. Raw scotch bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Caviar
29. Baklava
30. Pate
31. Wasabi peas
32. Chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Mango lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Mulled cider
37. Scones with buttery spread and jam
38. Vodka jelly
39. Gumbo
40. Fast food french fries
41. Raw Brownies
42. Fresh Garbanzo Beans
43. Dahl
44. Homemade Soymilk
45. Wine from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Stroopwafle
47. Samosas
48. Vegetable Sushi
49. Glazed doughnut
50. Seaweed
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Tofurkey
54. Sheese (is this fake cheese? if so, yes)
55. Cotton candy
56. Gnocchi
57. Piña colada
58. Birch beer
59. Scrapple
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Soy curls
63. Chickpea cutlets
64. Curry
65. Durian
66. Homemade Sausages
67. Churros, elephant ears, or funnel cake
68. Smoked tofu
69. Fried plantain
70. Mochi
71. Gazpacho
72. Warm chocolate chip cookies
73. Absinthe
74. Corn on the cob
75. Whipped cream, straight from the can
76. Pomegranate
77. Fauxstess Cupcake
78. Mashed potatoes with gravy
79. Jerky
80. Croissants
81. French onion soup
82. Savory crepes
83. Tings
84. A meal at Candle 79
85. Moussaka
86. Sprouted grains or seeds
87. Macaroni and “cheese”
88. Flowers
89. Matzoh ball soup
90. White chocolate
91. Seitan
92. Kimchi
93. Butterscotch chips
94. Yellow watermelon
95. Chili with chocolate
96. Bagel and Tofutti
97. Potato milk
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Raw cookie dough

Thanks for reading, and if you want to keep reading something help my friend Mur Lafferty out by buying her novel Playing For Keeps. Definitely recommended!  And you know… if you’re feeling generous…