+ve or -ve week3

+ve helped a friend in need
-ve helped her pack a van which means friend is leaving Glasgow
+ve helped give advice to a charity on some projector use
-ve couldn’t actually do anything for them as they need to move power sockets and speakers and various bits, so I feel like I’ve just given them more work rather than solve the problem.
+ve had lunch with a bunch of folk from church
+ve Stephen is going to try to organise some cycling trips for St Silas
-ve I can’t make the first one
+ve remembered on the way home that GFT was starting a course that I was vaguly interested in so popped in to check the date. It turned out to be starting in 5 minutes so I signed up.
+ve Got tickets to a concert for a band I’ve wanted to see for a long time
-ve These tickets were more expensive than usual (for me) and I don’t like the venue they are playing but it looks like the only Scottish gig.
+ve Full Worship Team meeting on Thursday was good. Jenny’s brilliant and it was interesting to talk through some of the the issues raised.
+ve Then we all went to the pub
-ve Still looking for an Easy Worship operator
-ve LOST MY SHADES
-ve Nice weather all weekend but didn’t get out to enjoy it much
+ve Sorted out some photos (well, I say ‘some’… around 1300 pics taking up around 1.5GB) that I’ve been trying to get done for ages.
-ve Didn’t go to a ‘Rodeo’
-ve Got a ticket on my car (which is parked out front and hasn’t moved since Thursday) for not displaying the Tax Disk. The disk holder had pealed away in the heat and the disk fell out!

Cool, the +ve and -ve balance is restored. This week starts with equilibrium.

Funny thing is with the parking ticket and lost shades I feel much more -ve than usual. Perhaps I missed something or should attempt to put some weighting onto some items, but I don’t want to get that complex.

I’m also trying to figure out how long to run this whole +ve/-ve thing. I think it should have a certain lifespan or it could take over.

Found my Passport.

There are some things it takes me a long time to getting around to doing. One of them apparently is dealing with getting a new passport. My old one ran out some time last year, but as I haven’t actually been abroad since 1997 there didn’t seem much of a need to get it updated. However, I do have to use it each summer to prove my identity to various people (who usually know me anyway), so that I can have police background checks run for taking part in children’s work.

So at some point last year I started picking up the form from the Post Office, filling it out I must have realised that I would have to get my photo taken and then never got around to doing that. At some later point I thought I must get a passport… oh I signed that 4 months ago, I better do it again… and so begins the cycle again. All the time never actually completing the process and frequently re-finding the half completed forms and thinking I must do something about this.At some point I added in the complication of another form to get a new photo ID drivers licence (yes, I still only have the old paper version). I initially thought that I might as well get these both sorted out but then found out that an easy way of getting your ID confirmed on the drivers license is to give them permission to check the details held by the Passport office… hmm.

These forms have lived  (and multiplied) in various folders that I occasionally take to work with the thought of getting some pictures done at lunchtime. This is how they seem to have been mixed up with my insurance claim documents, which have also had to travel to and from work with me for some time (as the idiot who did a U-turn right in front of me back in November is now (well about a month ago) refusing to take any blame).

So, in conclusion:
good news – I found my Passport, forms, driving licence, more forms and photos
also good news – I’ve completed yet another Disclosure form for child protection
not so good news – I can’t get the drivers licence till I’ve got the new Passport
more not so good news – I need to start carrying these in and out of work again in the vague hope that I actually get around to doing something sensible with them…
even worse news – I still haven’t found my sunglasses!

Lost or just misplaced?

I somehow lost my favourite ever pair of sunglasses. OK, it is only a small thing in comparison to world hunger, or global warming. However, I have never felt full comfortable wearing shades, all self-conscious and in no way cool. But these shades fitted well and I don’t think they make me look silly, I just plain liked them! Now I’ve lost them :<

I have also somehow managed to mislay my passport and drivers license, which I need for a disclosure form (my 3rd form this summer – of course child protection is a good thing but this is becoming a real pain). However, these aren’t bothering me as much as loosing my good shades.

Perhaps I need some perspective on this.

Update: Monday 30 April:

Found them!

One of the issues was that I put them in my pocket as I left my office and by the time I had gotten down to the bike they were missing.  I retraced my steps, but nothing.  So I felt stupid for not putting them in my pocket more securely and angry that someone must have stolen them (as obviously I needed someone else to blame as well).  But no, someone had picked them up and put them in our general office where I found them today.  So life is not all bad.   And so ends the tale of the missing shades.

Road Layouts

One of the blogs I follow is xkcd.com which does some great cartoons.  Todays was just too good not to share..

Movie: Barton Fink

Barton Fink (1991) was the fourth film by the Coen Brothers, and was the opening movie in a course I’ve just started on ‘American Independent Cinema’ at the GFT. Set in 1941, this is the story of a scriptwriter (Barton Fink) who after success with his play is taken on contract to a Hollywood studio. Fink moves into a run down hotel and gets to know his strange neighbour. With writer’s block, surreal hotel, crazy film moguls, it is an interesting story to follow.

It is a very ‘Coen film’ –obviously- fairly slow paced to begin with and not as bloody as some of their work. There are also lots of sideswipes at the Hollywood studios, the system of writers and formulaic genre movies. It is an OK movie, which I’ve enjoyed each time I’ve seen it but not the greatest and certainly not the best Coen film (The Big Lebowski or Oh Brother Where Art Thou for example), still not bad.

Quote:
Detective Mastrionotti: You know, ordinarily we say anything you might remember could be helpful. But I’ll be frank with you, Fink. That is not helpful.
Detective Deutsch: Notice how he’s not writing it down?

or

Barton: Have you read the Bible, Pete?
Pete: Holy Bible?
Barton: Yeah.
Pete: Yeah, I think so. Anyway, I’ve heard about it.

+ve or -ve week2

+ve    had a fun lunch hour art class sample session thing
-ve     can’t make any more of these classes
+ve    went for a nice meal this week
-ve     spent far too long this week putting things off till later
+ve    later… I got most of them done.
-ve    didn’t get to the Climbing Centre at all
+ve   cycled to work (and back) 3 days, but I’m a fair-weather-cyclist and…
-ve    the good weather seems to have gone
+ve   caught up with all the episodes of 24 I’ve managed to get my hands on so far
-ve    only half way through this series of 24 and have no idea how far behind I am
+ve   possible opening at an event for DeepRiver type stuff
+ve   managed to get dual monitors on my work PC, which I’ve not had for a long time
+ve   managed to sort out my desk at home so that it is a workspace again and not a dumping ground
-ve   reading the most boring book
+ve  finished that boring book with self-satisfaction for sticking at it
+ve  managed to get to the cinema
-ve   didn’t like the movie much
+ve  walked around the bouncy castle of Jericho this morning.
-ve   sacrificed some strawberries to a horrible death.
-ve   somehow ‘broke’ my mac powerbook so that it no longer plays the audio from any online video format other than quicktime
+ve  will spend much less time on Youtube because of this

so +3 !

That’s interesting,  last week was +3 as well and I have been doing this kind of randomly.  Is two weeks to short a sample size to draw any conclusions?  Should I do this every week… things become a tradition so quickly and too much self-analysis isn’t good for you.  Anyway, Monday morning beckons and it’s a +3 week so far :-)

Movie: Perfect Stranger

Halle Berry, Bruce Willis and some other people in Perfect Stranger.  A who-done-it thriller with lots of twists and turns (apparently).  But the thing about films with sudden twisting endings is you have to care about the characters and I just didn’t get into this.  There is a reporter (Halle Berry) after a story, and a murderer, she has a strange friend, flash-backs, etc.  Meanwhile, Bruce Willis (who IMHO hasn’t made a bad movie even though some have been slated) is great in this not very challenging role and is one of the few reasons for seeing this film.  Well, Halle Berry is eye-candy, but I thought she was overdoing it a lot of the time.

It’s OK but nothing special.  And there are a lot of ridiculous scenes of computers doing things that computers in real life just don’t do.

Best Quote:
can’t think of anything.

Food: The Cottier Restaurant

C is for Cottier. Cottiers is one of those places that at one stage (a few years ago now) I went to so often that it became a bit too familiar. Not that I’ve actually eaten there much but I passed it every day and if going for a drink would often end up there. Seen some great gigs in the theatre as well. Nice place, but it has been a long time since I’ve eaten there and that is what this post is about.

Firstly this is a fantastic building. I’ve always liked it and if churches have to close down I think being turned into a theatre, bar and restaurant is much better than a carpet warehouse. The restaurant is upstairs and actually that is the only thing that lets this place down. The stairwell could do with a fresh paint or something to make it look a little more welcoming but once up there it is a bright fresh room with lots of space.

The service was great, not pushy very polite and timely. But of course the most important thing is the food. We ordered from the pre-theatre menu (which was about £11 for two courses), where I had Soup with flat bread and Char-grilled Louisiana chicken with sweetcorn fritters, spring onion & spiced jus.

OK, the soup was great – interesting with flat bread, I’d prefer a roll, but hey.  The Char-grilled chicken was unbelievable! It was succulent, fresh, extremely tasty. The spring onion & spiced jus – or ‘gravy’ as far as I’m concerned was reduced to nice thick sticky consistency bursting with flavour and coating the chicken. Absolutely fantastically presented and created meal.

Great place, fantastic food, good value. Highly recommend.

Deeper & JJ

The Notes from this month’s Deeper service last Sunday are now online.

The Photos from the Deeper service are also ready

Even though this pic is blurry and unfocused I still think it is worth a post

This isLL & JJ, and JJ’s blog is here…

+ve or -ve

Time to balance out the week…

-ve    felt like I’ve had too much to do all week
+ve   the weathers been getting better all week
-ve    only managed to get to Climbing Centre once
+ve   got my bike back on the road for the first time in 2 years
-ve    I’m really struggling with my current book, so boringly slow I keep falling asleep so it is taking longer to get through than it should
+ve   I managed to cycle to work twice this week and even for an hour on Saturday
-ve    that hour was the only chance I had to get out on Saturday which was really nice sunny day
+ve   I swapped both my work and home diary over to google calendar – so far so good on that, but still reviewing.
+ve   ate more fruit than usual this week
-ve    no time to blog this week
+ve   discovered a new TV channel buried in the cable quagmire, Current TV – probably more on that to come later
+ve   had a nice meal with my prayer buddies and their ladies
+ve   managed to do some fun cooking this week
-ve    left a video job so long I had to do it on Saturday (great weather and I was stuck in most of the day)
+ve   got the video done
-ve    made a silly mistake on outputting, didn’t notice and had to redo the DVD on Sunday afternoon (it was finished 15 minutes before start of service)
+ve   checked the video in time to find the above error and to re-do
-ve    I’ve got a sore head
+ve   I’m going to bed.

balance  +3

So I’m +3 going into a new week, that’s got to be a good thing…