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'My Corduroyed Life' - Mark A's Journal
Because I’ve got some unexpected time on my hands, I thought I’d update everyone with some general news on what’s been going on in my world. A post I’ll call: “Me, me, me!”
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Work: Unable to be Unprofessional
The latest Graduate Gateway Programme finished on Friday and all our little chicks are flying the nest to start their work placements. Bless. For those of you that care, I work for a programme that helps unemployed graduates get their first opportunity to gain a graduate job. Our website is: http://www.careers.salford.ac.uk/gradgate
It’s always kinda good to know that (get your sick bags ready) we’ve made a difference and really helped people get their foot in the door, which can be so difficult with the shitty graduate job market at the moment. I do regularly malign my job, but (as mushy as this is) I do genuinely feel good when I can see that we’ve really helped someone. I’ll never get the kind of salary I want while I’m at Gateway, but there’s definitely an element of job satisfaction there, and frankly, it’s easy and stressless.
Of course, the graduates going on to work placements means the disappearance of my lovely eye candy guy that I so unprofessionally drooled over for the last four weeks. Bah! He really is damned gorgeous! SO fit! [sigh] I’ll miss him. He’s SO straight. However, this cloud has a silver lining, and we’ve already started interviewing for the next programme and from what I’ve seen, there’s some more gorgeous guys on the way for me to lust over. Yay!
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Bunty
Bunty!
[lol] That’s still making me laugh…
To my horror I discovered that Bunty is no longer published. It’s funny that in my constant childish amusement by the periodical, I never actually read it. So if anyone knows where I can get a copy, I’d be curious to read it…
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Internet – Gaydar going mad and bloody Project Rockstar
The delightful internet dating service that is ‘Gaydar’ (http://www.gaydar.co.uk) has added something new to profiles. There is now a ‘keywords’ section. You put your in, and you can search for things you like. The categories are: Fetishes, Types I Like, Sexual Activities, Languages, Sports & Fitness, Religious Interests, and Leisure Activities. Now Fetishes, Types I Like, and Sexual Activities strike me as just a smidge sordid. It also doesn’t help that pretty much everyone I know in the world knows my gd profile, and will take the mick if I plaster my sexual activities all over the net. You’re more than welcome to check out my profile, because I’ve been deliberately restrained (http://www.gaydar.co.uk/kingghidorah123).
Now I was extremely irritated by the reset of Project Rockstar (http://www.projectrockstar.com). I was even more irritated when every bugger out there picked the decent musicians within like 3 minutes of it being back online. I inevitably hired one that was too expensive and went bust. Razzafrazza!
Also, the fucking thing no longer allows you to have more than one band, a picture for your manager, or a label. The rumour is that it’s going to be relaunched soon with a ‘Premium Package’ which would basically mean having to pay for all the cool stuff we had before the reset or sticking as it is (which is kack). They’ve also made some particularly irritating gameplay changes that mean I can’t exploit what I used to exploit. All in all, it’s just not as much fun as it used to be: there’s little to aspire to, little to do, and little fun.
I decided to leave Project Rockstar…
BUT after chatting to mcphee, he’s convinced me to give it a go on the premise that they may add stuff back to it, and it’s an opportunity to be ‘in it from the beginning’. I dunno, the cynic in me thinks that it’s not gonna get anything added to it and it’ll be used just to sell us the Premium Package (which we bloody used to have). Gah!
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Music – I’ve lost it
I used to be something resembling ‘hip’ when it came to music. I used to have groundbreaking CDs that no-one had heard of, but were always impressed when I played them. I used to buy loads of CDs. However, when one does far too much in their life, something has to go. To my horror, over the last couple of years, my groundbreaking music taste has slowly but surely deteriorated into mainstream. I look back at my collection from the mid to late 90s, and I see some fantastic records that people are impressed with. I look at what I’ve bought in the last year or so, and not only have I only bought about ten albums: they’re all popular rocky stuff. Downloading stuff has meant I buy next to no music, and when I do, it’s been in the charts.
Don’t get me wrong: the music I’m listening to is good stuff and I hella enjoy listening to it, but I just don’t feel as cool anymore. All my recent records, everyone will have heard of them. It’s quite upsetting. But I used to be the cool guy who people asked for music recommendations…
Saying that, recently my friend Sean (the aforementioned 16 year old American) was talking about music on his blurty: (http://www.blurty.com/users/downfall838) and did a post on soundtracks and making the perfect compilation CD. The idea not being that you just put a list of favourite songs, but that you actually think about it and form a compilation album of songs that work well in a sequence/ compilation type situation. Sean did a rock one, and as such rock is out. So I’ll thought I’d do a queeny one. In fact, I did a compilation on a CD that I gave to my friend Andy (www.fexter.net) as a EuroPride present. ‘Now That’s What I Call Queeny’ as it is named, went down a treat at Andy’s place as we got ready at his and drank wine. Alas, I don’t have a track list, and can’t be arsed to do another one, but when I see Andy (which should be quite soon), I’ll hassle him for a list and then post it here…
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Ninja – Swords, stuck in a rut, and pain
Ninja is frustrating me at the moment: I appear to have hit a ‘peak’ inasmuch as I don’t appear to be improving very much (if at all). I’ve been getting paranoid thoughts about whether or not I’ve got as good as I’m going to get, and won’t ever improve again. Bad negative thinking is not good for the soul! Must be positive – use Ninja discipline to be positive.
Last week at Ninja, we were sparring with shinai (bamboo swords wot you hit each other with – it BLOODY WELL hurts [especially on the hands], but they won’t break bones or concuss). It’s always a scary thing when you have to spar with Rich (the sensei) because from the grin on his face you can just tell that while you’re putting in 101%, flailing around like a salmon upstream and desperately missing him, he meanwhile is hardly even trying as he unceremoniously whups your ass for you. So I was sparring with Rich (wince), and was doing my usual brave attempt at hitting him, while he grinned and kept hitting me. Suddenly, he recoiled. Que? Turns out that by luck I’d hit him in the eye with my sword and broken the skin! I hit the sensei in the face and made him bleed!!! How badass am I? It kinda pissed on my bonfire a bit when he dabbed his eye, shrugged and said “Stings a bit.” He also then proceeded to actually try during our sparring… I still have bruises. Later on in that lesson when he was demonstrating a strike on my leg, he also managed to ‘accidentally’ punch me right in the joy department. For all the boys out there, you’ll know the fifteen minutes of pain I went through…
At Ninja, we use swords. Swords are great, and I currently have two wooden ones (one is a bokken/ katana/ long sword and the other is a shoto/ wakisashi/ short sword) and a bamboo one (shinai/ training sword – think kendo). Some of the better Ninja have *real* katanas and wakisashis! They really are swords, but they aren’t bladed. They’re not really all that useful to the martial art except for learning how to draw a sword properly. Anyway, I asked my mum and dad to buy me some for my birthday… and my mum got upset: “I’m not buying you swords!!!” Ah well…
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In general, things are good… nothing particularly blog worthy though… so I thought I’d write a fucking epic, obviously.
Have fun,
M
Current mood:
bored.Current music: Joan by Erasure.
I was delighted when Ninja Rich emailed me asking me to write an article for 'Student Direct': The University's Newspaper. My basic 'mission' (I like to think of it as a mission from the Sensei) was to write an article of roughly 300 words to advertise the club, detailing my experiences to date (why I joined, how I found it, why I'm still training and how I think it's benefitted me, and mentioning the social side.
Normally, my writing is rather tongue in cheek or very informal or sardonic or sarcastic or full of lists or just plain rubbish or a mixture of all that plus more. I thought I'd try and tone it down, but try to 'keep it real' for 'da 18 year old massive' who would be reading it.
Well, this is what I came up with:
When the academic year started, I wanted to do something that would get me fit, but also would be something that I’d enjoy (the gym just seemed so dull and repetitive to me). I also liked the idea of learning something useful… and being well hard like Jackie Chan! As such, I decided to join one of the University Martial Arts Clubs. Of all the Martial Arts at the Fresher Fair, Ninjutsu stood out as the most active, realistic, and interesting. I wasn’t wrong, and from the first lesson, the classes were excellent with a relaxed atmosphere and Senseis with real experience, who actually know what they’re talking about.
Ninjutsu incorporates a number of the traditional Japanese Martial Arts into its discipline, which includes the use of katana and bo staff. The classes also include ‘real life’ situations with sparring being a regular part of classes. One thing you need to know is that Ninjutsu is a contact martial art: you will punch people, you will kick people, and you will throw people over your shoulder onto the floor… and you can definitely expect the same back! It can be pretty intense sometimes!
Like any good University club, the social side of Ninjutsu is great too! Members have got together for boozey nights (including an actual piss up in a brewery! – fantastic!), and we intend to make ourselves known at Rec Night this year!
From a personal note: a year since joining the Dojo, I have got considerably fitter and toned, increased my strength and suppleness, gained confidence in myself, feel I can defend myself better, and have made some great friends. I have also got a green belt instead of white one!
Salford University classes are held 6 – 7:30pm Tuesdays (Peel Park Sports Hall) and Thursdays (University House Disco Area). Please wear loose clothing.
Rich was pleased (or he at least said he was), but said he might need to make some changes [raised eyebrow]. Suppose I don't mind, but I'll be interested to see what he changes.
Hmmm, had I done it in my usual style it might have come out a bit like this:
After five years of procrastination and laziness, I wanted to do something that would get me fit, but also would be something that I’d enjoy (the gym just seemed so dull, repetitive and full of twats to me). I's be lying if I didn't say I wanted to be able to do flippy stuff and be badass like Jackie Chan! As such, I went to the Fresher Fair to see if the Uni had a Ju Jitsu Club (as I used to do that in my teens). Of all the Martial Arts at the Fresher Fair, Ninjutsu sounded the most like Ju Jitsu (and had a fuck load of weapons on the stand). From the first lesson, the classes were excellent (despite the pain) with a laid back atmosphere (almost too laid back) and Senseis with real experience, who actually know what they’re talking about (and liked to show off).
Ninjutsu incorporates a number of the traditional Japanese Martial Arts into its discipline, which includes the use of katana and bo staff (Yay! Weapons!). The classes also include ‘real life’ situations with sparring being a regular (and fucking painful) part of classes. One thing you need to know is that Ninjutsu is a contact martial art: you will punch people, you will kick people, and you will throw people over your shoulder onto the floor... but they'll probably hit you harder and with more skill and you'll regularly get your ass handed to you and go home with cuts and bruises! It can be pretty fucking hardcore sometimes!
Like any good University club, the social side of Ninjutsu is great too! Members have got together for boozey nights (including an actual piss up in a brewery! – fantastic!), and we intend to make ourselves known at Rec Night this year! Okay... so we went out once (the Brewery Night), and didn't go to Rec Night last year: fuck off!
From a personal note: a year since joining the Dojo, I have got considerably fitter and toned, increased my strength and suppleness, gained confidence in myself, feel I can defend myself better, and have made some great friends. I have also got a green belt instead of white one!
[warm smile] That paragraph I'm not changing, because it's true...
Have fun,
M
Current mood: Getting Sleepy.
Current music: Breath of Life by Erasure.