Part 2a: Abstract

Ha. It seems to be half three in the morning, whoops. Owing to me going to see relations tomorrow I'm going to say there will be a 1 day delay in bringing you the future, however I can provide the abstract here (and it gives me a great chance to use centre paragraph alignment):

Dave will discuss how the mottos
"you don't know until you've tried it"
and the classic
"work hard and be nice to people"
can be used to guide one through a stimulating life
whilst ensuring things will probably be alright.

Part 1: It's over!

Phew, so here's the first of a thrilling two part Blog; please take it as an apology for slipping past the Blog a week boundary (although to be honest it has been Christmas and those don't really count as Blogging days, do they?).

In this first part we'll be concentrating (in no particular order) on everything up until the moment before I started writing this post. In the second to come later this evening we'll review this first part and the future. You might like to compare and contrast the writing style and tone adopted in both. However be aware that I've just been for a run now (so I'm all energy-full and clear of mind) but I suspect the second half will follow several beers and a curry; so don't read to much into it :)

Right well I went for a run, it's quite spectacularly cold but I am pleased to report I'm still in that place where I can 'just run' with out it really being an effort. It was a novelty re-running the same route I had last time I was here (i.e. before working at Last.fm), I can barely remember the person I was back then. Lets try..
I was:

• Clearly still not over Lauren,
• Generally less happy,
• More willing to go out and investigate the world (possibly?)
• Less experienced (this is blindingly obvious the more I think about it)
  

Roll forwards to now and I'm clearly in no position to bitch about how things are going!..
I should probably state that I've actually finished at Last.fm now, no out of the blue last minute reprieve. Sort of partially moved back to my parents (i.e. I'll need to shoot down and pick up the rest of my stuff in a car). Oh and the room is up on Gumtree, I'll post up a link if my landlady sends me the URL; hopefully they'll find someone to fill it soonish although it's not the ideal time.
Elegantly linking through via my landlady I can excitingly reveal that she sold me her old 24" iMac and I'm writing this Blog on it¹ in OSX! Yes that's right, I'm going to become a Mac fanboy (ha, that page just blows my mind everytime). Well probably not, but after my "If you think something is stupid but many people don't then you're probably wrong" mantra in the previous post it would be hippocritical not to give it a go. To be honest, at the moment I'm thinking:

• Yuck too much mousing = inefficiency nightmare
• Sure it's pretty but I'm not that fussed
• Wow it's true that everything 'just works', had a three way video call with Pete & Sarah like it was the most natural thing in the world
• I'm conscious that I can do everything I need to on pookie, so why splash out
  (Oh I should say I got it cheap and will probably sell it on, we'll see)
  

Christmas! Ho ho ho. I've enjoyed all the traditional festivities of food, beer and friends. It's lovely.

And I simply can't mention lovely things without mentioning Claire (ha, best link ever). Here are some things so I can look back on the happy times I've had (when I've ruined my life) and you can throw up:

• We went to Brighton and it occurred to me once again that it's a wonderful place. Perhaps I should move there. (Wah! That's the future again isn't it.. Wait for part two!). By pure coincidence it was the Winter Solstice and we were treated to fireworks², burning things and general banter. I realised it's actually an ideal time to celebrate being that it doesn't require some fluffly religion and just some knowledge of astronomy :)
  
• She's got two new piercings. I can't be sure where yet but it makes me like her and that can only be a bad thing..
• With Claire as my buddy I finally went ice skating in Finsbury park having discovered there was a rink there ages ago. I still haven't quite decided if it's a cool thing to do yet, probably not, but it is still fun.

What else have I been up to. Ah yes last Friday we had a you're all leaving pub lunch which was very affable. As required by these occasions I got quite spectacularly drunk and as a bonus I didn't Email everyone in the company with abuse³. Yey!

Gah, I'm sure there were other things I was going to say but as usual I've been too slow. I should start using LaTeX to Blog so I can get the stucture down first.

That's it!

---

¹ And here I am, in my back in my parents house, yey for integrated iSight..
² Hehe, finger conditioning trivia: I actually typed firefox automatically only when I slowed down was I able to stop my fingers going into autopilot. Damn command lines :)

³ Please disregard the fact that everyone there is wonderful and I'd have nothing to go on anyway.
*bursts in to tears*

Now here's a little story

R.e. My last post, I have an update. It's a little strange writing this because only once you Blog about something does it seem to become real, but here goes:

So as of 7pm this Friday I will no longer be working at Last.fm any more. Those of you who know me will know that I definitely wouldn't have quit and I wouldn't have done anything 'bad' which would result in me losing my job. Those of you who know what the world is like will know that I dare not elaborate any more because I have no desire to make this any more painful for those concerned.

Today I said a last fair well to Elias who I've worked with closely since I started in February (he's off on holidays tomorrow morning), everything is starting to sink in now but I suspect it will take a while before I've 'processed' the events; just going through the motions at the moment!
As for my initial reaction: I'm just glad I had the opportunity to work there. Reflecting on how much I've changed with Elias earlier it's hard to imagine the person I was when I started. Lets just say now I finally understand why employers consider experience (in the relevant field) such a valuable commodity. The time has also made me appreciate just how smart some people are! And you'll understand that as someone who was always (ego) near the top (sorry) at Uni it's something which can be quite sobering.

Gah, I was about to write a list of self affirming 'things I've learned' here, but even at the most vague technical level I might let slip something I shouldn't. Hell, I'll just add lashings of abstraction:

• Beautiful things.
  
• Doing stuff with lots (and I mean really, LOTS) of stuff such that you end up with less stuff that has more meaning.
• Dealing with things which weren't necessarily your things to start with.
• Bears
  
• If you think something is stupid but many people don't then you're probably wrong. (Or, there's a reason my 'About Me' now has a strike through.

Going forwards, well the next two days are going to be pretty emotional; but for all the right reasons. I'm going to be moving out of my room in London as soon as possible and will set up camp back at my parents (thanks for not renting out my room!) while I research the next chapter of my life.

I've been saying I'd love to come back and work in London and there are a lot of very good reasons I'd like to stay here; but conversely who knows where.

It's okay, baby

I'm not even gonna say it, this time, at least once a week, hell yeah.

So updates on last post:

• I have been seeing friends, rejoice.
  
• My foot is almost better, finally. Have been running for the last couple of weeks.
• It's probably because I did get some decent shoes, from here. Very cool, they do the video you while you run on a treadmill gait analysis thing; apparently I have slight overpronation. (Haha, that word gets me every time, I actually laughed when the guy in the shop said it).

An update on last post-before-last-one:

• I did to go see Fantômas and it was last night!

There we go, that engineered an elegant link to:
I went to see them with, introducing; Claire. More details you ask? Well buy me a beer and I might elaborate. I'd describe her as a blend of the person I hate most in the world and the worst thing that's ever happened to me. She's quite special and I have more than a suspicion we'll have lots of adventures together (we're doing well so far). And to allay any concerns you may have r.e. my performance last time I met a girl and then she said go away: This time I'm enforcing a 100% no feelings guarantee. I promise :)

Some final trivia:

• Hazaa, a fixed foot means I've also been going to circus regularly again. I'm all over the body conditioning class; still haven't throw up! Am definitely improving tumbling too, don't think I'm letting go of the backflip dream..
• Everything is going so fast it's hard to keep in touch. Can't believe I've been at Last.fm for nine months now. Two observations:
• It's just a ridiculously awesome company.
  
• So now I get companies are so keen on people with experience. Thinking back I couldn't even begin to enumerate everything I've learnt since I started, I guess that's why you don't learn it at Uni!
• I now own a leather jacket, it keeps me warm like I never thought possible.
• In June 2009 I will be completing another of my life's ambitions as I watch Britney perform at the O2 arena. It's safe to say after that nothing I do will ever compare, so I shall dedicate myself to making the world a better place.

Oh and thanks everyone, there's no way I could have found such a great life so far without y'all. Further, if you ever find my generally optimism and excitability is getting too much (Claire) then perhaps you'd do well to remember you helped create it, so deal with it :)