I’m just filing this away here for posterity :)

From philipchircop.com, click to see full post

I know, we’re almost a week into 2012 already, it’s a bit late for contemplating achievements and setting resolutions isn’t it? Every year, the “January diet” gets further reinforced by our populist media – all the adverts are suddenly for exercise DVDs, clever cookbooks and healthy food – and nearly everyone I know is “on a diet”. We’re a nation gone mad, and yet we’ll all be overweight again by Easter. We all strive to be better, and I’m tired of failing… so I’ve been trying to figure out how to do it right.

Out with the old and in with the new.

Why is New Year synonymous with thoughts of past & future personal achievement? As our calendars tick over to a brand new year, most folk feel drawn to it as a fresh start, a simple changing of the date makes us feel like we’re starting over. Combined with a break from the weekly work-eat-sleep routine and copious amounts of time with friends & relatives, thoughts turn to work-life balance, evaluating what we’ve done with our year & reflecting on what was missing.

Then there’s the tradition of setting a new years resolution. Usually something spur of the moment, arbitrary to measure and impossible to achieve: ‘lose weight’, ‘quit smoking’, ‘do more exercise’, ‘drink less’, ‘spend more time with family’, ‘work less’ & so on. These day most of us can count at least two of those on our todo lists, and most of us will try really hard for the whole of January only to inevitably forget, give up, or just downright fail.

Conceived to fail

Why is it so damned hard to keep up a resolution? Whilst the Christmas & New Year breaks give us all plenty of time to think & have our self-realisations, epiphanies & moments of sworn change, the truth is that unless you make drastic changes to your various environments, it doesn’t take long before the old routines take over again, and you remember WHY you smoke/drink/never have time to cook a decent meal/have to stay late at work…again.

Cause and effect

I have come to believe, that if you really do want to change something about yourself, you have to look at the cause of your unwanted behaviour and importantly, WHY you want to change it. Habits are usually a coping mechanism of some sort, so either you need to remove the need to cope, or change the way you do it. But when it comes to the why, i’ll bet the answer is something along the lines of social pressure from the very same society which gave life to your bad habits in the first place (cue vicious circle and nothing ever changing).

However, once you’ve figured out the causes and decided whether YOU really want to change (as opposed to feeling like you should do) you’ll discover you can set yourself a more realistic goal. Hopefully something along the lines of learning a new skill, or challenging yourself to make a small change. That, or you’ll realise you have a much more fundamental problem to solve.

This year, I’m not setting myself a new years resolution. Instead, I’m going to spend some time looking at my list of potentials & really understanding why those things are on that mental list of mine. Then perhaps I’ll be able to action some real, long-lasting change.

Happy New Year Everyone. I hope you do something GREAT with it.

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1. Sleep ** Disclaimer *** I am well aware that WikiPedia...

** Disclaimer *** I am well aware that Wikipedia is not the best source of information… but you know… it’s just.. there!

A very dear friend of mine just posted a comment on Facebook that has prompted me to write this “Thinking out loud” post about my sleeping habits, which is largely an excuse for exploring wikipedia and looking at pictures of cute sleeping kitties. Anyway, here’s what I wrote, and what my friend replied with:

Holiday-fatigue is something I regularly battle. I always have massive plans for what I can achieve with a long weekend or a week off, but by the time I’ve spent a day chilling out I’m in relaxed mode and never have the impetus to do any of it. People who do a full working week and still churn out side projects at a rate of knots in their evenings and weekends have both my envy and my awe.

However, my friend’s comment made me stop and think because she believes I’m suffering sleep deprivation – this isn’t something I recall ever having even hinted to her. Sure, getting up at 5:30 every morning to do a 2 hour commute means I live on the edge of getting enough sleep, but as far as I’m concerned this was something I adjusted to after about 2 months. The idea that it takes more than a few long sleeps to cancel out is also intriguing - so off I went to Wikipedia to read their article on Sleep Deprivation.

Apparently, your brain keeps a close account of how much sleep you owe it (that’s kinda freaky), and if you continue to accrue sleep debt (apparently that’s a thing) you eventually have to pay it back – sometimes your body will steal it back through unavoidable microsleeps or tiny naps (who hasn’t had one of those at their desk after a big lunch?!). By this point, I’ve fallen into a Wikipedia Trap so also had to read the article on the Hypnic Jerk (tee hee).

All this information on sleep is fascinating: apparently the falling dream that often accompanies a Hypnic Jerk is actually a hallucination (weird!) and also, apparently, you can determine just how sleep deprived you are by timing how long it takes you to fall asleep (or your “Sleep Latency“). Shockingly (to me at least) according to the sleep latency test, if you fall asleep in less than 15 minutes, you are suffering a level of sleep deprivation?!? It usually takes me 10-15 minutes if I’m comfy in my bed in a quiet, dark room, regardless of how tired I feel or how much sleep I have. Husband on the other hand struggles to sleep without a TV on – so am I not just a good go-to-sleep-er?

The average adult requires 8 hours sleep (watch it, that link is NOT from Wikipedia haha) so if I’m “the” average adult, and I get roughly 7.5 hours sleep a night, then each week I accrue a sleep debt of 2.5 hours. I usually also get at least one train-nap or lie in a week, gaining me back another 30 minutes and I always have a lie in (at least 10 hours) at the weekend. Therefore, if I’m “the” average adult – I sleep enough (although husband will tell you that I always used to be a 9 hours kinda gal).

I remember a conversation I had before I started my new job where I was saying I couldn’t remember the last time I didn’t feel like I could fall asleep if you just gave me a pillow and some peace and quiet (this is still true). Back then I put it down to the stresses of my old job because I was commuting 10 minutes and easily getting 9 hours sleep a night. Nowadays I’ve a spring in my step and a smile on my face – I might not sleep but I’m much less stressed!

All this is purely academic anyway. We’re all entirely different and have different needs. I’m certian that energy levels have as much to do with diet and levels of physical & mental exertion as they do your sleep debt.  Who knows what we really know or understand about sleep? We know naff-all about dreams. Most adults I know complain of little other than the weather and feeling tired.

So there we go, my random Wikipedia & thought trail is over. I have a cup of coffee in hand and feel more awake than I did before I wrote this… so what about you? Got any weird sleep habits?!

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You can find out more about the video, and our photos, over at our wedding blog.

This post will be mostly photos, however there are a few special people who I want to thank for their contribution. Warning! This is a soppy, heartfelt post – full of love and linkjuice :D

I know they don’t always think so, but my parents are both truly amazing and special people. They both helped to make my wedding day both perfect & very enjoyable. I love them very much.

My two sisters did a fabulous job as my beautiful bridesmaids. My three best girlfriends from school turned up, completely unplanned, in the same colour dresses. This was just one of the things that made the day very special, and they did great as my accidental bridesmaids – totally got the partay going on!

ExplicitWeb FTW! It meant an awful lot to me to have both John & Rob at my wedding – plus they’re even more fun in the flesh than they are online ;)

It’s an amazing feeling to look around a room and see so many people you love. Our friends and family are all special to us, and we are so grateful to everyone who came for making the day such a happy occasion. We really enjoyed ourselves, and we hope they all did too.

It’s impossible to pull off a good wedding without the right people in the right places. The staff at our venue, Horthorpe Hall were absolutely fabulous, so helpful – nothing was ever a problem and despite us buying a package there were no hidden costs. As well as the venue & the venue staff, It’s a Gas provided balloons at the very last minute, and were very nice about it!

I also want to say a big thanks to Rob Redman from Pariah Studios for painting our cake toppers – we loved them :D Wayne Davies, our DJ from CW Entertainment didn’t put a foot wrong with the music, and the slideshow of photos from the day he did during the buffet was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Ed the videographer did a wonderful job on the day and I literally cannot wait for the final version of the video – the first edit is fantastic.

Finally, my photographers Alex & Chris from Gryphon photography have done a brilliant job. They kept the photo sessions short like we asked, and have captured the atmosphere of the day perfectly. A lot of the photos in this post were taken by them and I really hope they don’t mind I’ve butchered them a teeny bit for this post.

Last, but never least, I want to thank my wonderful husband David. He put up with all my Bridezillaness on top of my normal kinda crazy and STILL married me. The bride doesn’t get to make a speech, so this is my chance to say: You are my knight in shining armour, and I love you more than words in a blog post could ever express.

Fin.

Last year was a catalyst, a year of ideas, a year of plans and a year of hard work. By August I realised I had to take drastic steps if I was ever going to move my career forwards. In the midst of summer I was trying to decorate my house, plan my wedding, keep up with blog & podcast and make decisions as to how to take the next big step. I guess I’m one of those people who thrive under pressure.

So it feels slightly odd that all the hard work, planning & ideas of 2010 are resulting in the bounty of 2011. On 8th January, 6 days ago, surrounded by my friends & family and in the most joyous of fashions, I married my boyfriend of 7 years. I am so very grateful to the people who made the day so very special, you know who you are!

Next, on the 31st of January, I will start my new job in London, working as a developer for the amazingly forward thinking startup, MOO.com. The mixture of excitement & trepidation that accompanies starting a new job is deepened by the excruciatingly long build up, yet lessened by the happiness of last weeks occasion. All I can do now is live in the moment.

Right now I’m sat by the azure pool of our gorgeous hotel complex on the pure paradise that is the island of Cayo Coco, Cuba. Surrounded by swaying palms, sipping rum cocktails and enjoying nothing more than the simple company of my new husband.

Here is to the future, here is to 2011. I wish you all health, happiness & a happy new year!

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We’re fast heading for Q3 of 2010. I set myself the task of being organised this year, I’ve done better, but not great. I think this awesome cartoon explains it best (Well worth a read).

Anyway, this time I’ve decided to set myself 4 serious goals. 4 things to achieve, in the 4 remaining months of the year:

1. Build something in ruby on rails
2. Make something cool with Arduino
3. Release a WordPress plugin to the world
4. Write a paid article for another blog

All four of these things involve creating something and all four of them involve doing something new. The rest of my commitments still stand: my job, my blog, ExplicitWeb podcast, freelance work, planning the wedding, and general life. These four goals are about making progress, expanding my skills and achieving something tangible.

Here’s to progress. Mmmmm cake…

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Stay on top of the game.

I have a horrible habit of letting things slide: the housework, the bills, my weight, my hobbies, my blog, birthdays, even Christmas. Unless I have plenty of what I call “brain space”, I find it very difficult to remember to do all the things that I have to do, and even if I remember them I find it even harder to find motivation. If it can be left until later, invariably it is and if it can be strategically ignored then all the better.

For 2010 I pledge to stay on top of the game.

To keep my house clean and tidy, to remember all the bills and paper work and have them done on time, to lose weight and exercise, to be organised with birthdays, Christmas and other important dates and to use my free time wisely so that I may achieve my goals.

I am not writing this here because I think people will want to read it. But so that it’s here for me as something tangible, as a reminder, and hopefully as a little kick up the bum when I start to slip.

To all I wish you a Happy New Year and all the best for 2010.

And if you did kindly take the time to read this, I’d love to hear any top tips for staying organised as well as what your New Year’s resolutions are in the comments!

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Discovery Cove is not like any other theme park in Florida, spaces are limited, so you have to make reservations. This means that there are considerably less people than in an ordinary theme park and as it is also quite a small park, it feels very private. None of this prepared us for the wonderes we experienced today.

First up when we arrived for 8am check-in, they were experiencing computer problems which meant they were checking everyone in by hand. Waiting for this was no bore, as the Discovery Cove staff kept us entertained by bringing out some of the animals including an Owl, a Parrot, a Sloth and an Armadillo! After having a “meet n greet” with practically every member of staff we got stuck in to breakfast (included) which was more than adequate for excited bellies!

Discovery Cove provides either a vest or full wet suit, a snorkel & mask (you get to keep the snorkel if you wish), and special sunscreen which isn’t harmful to animals. After getting suited up we headed to Starfish Cabana for our 9:25 dolphin interaction where we watched a short film & got to chat to the trainer for a while. We were split into four groups with just 8 people in each and taken to the lagoon.

The kids in our group seemed put-off by the cool salt water, but I couldn’t wait to get in there and meet some dolphins. We got to stroke, kiss and hug a 12 yr old dolphin called Jenny who was very friendly and a bit of a poser! She then took us for rides across the lagoon and boy do dolphins have torque! You put your right hand on the dorsal fin, and as soon as your left hand touches the flipper, away she goes! (I’ll upload the photos when I get home, don’t have my EEE-PC CD drive with me)

The 2nd dolphin we got to play with, was Rose, a younger “model” dolphin – long, thin, dark, and gorgeous! We used hand signals to ask her to talk, jump, and sadly to say goodbye :( but this was only the beginning of our day. Discovery Cove has an area where you can snorkel with tropical fish and be just a glass pane away from barracudas and sharks, a ray lagoon where you can feed rays, and a lazy river which floats you through the awesome aviary.

The aviary was the one surprise we weren’t expecting. It’s in 3 sections, and you can feed the birds in each part. Some are vegetarian, but I had great fun feeding mealworms to Cuckoos. Many of the birds are very friendly, and there are so many different types all with different personalities from the proud peacock to the sleepy tawny frogmouth! We spent hours in the aviary feeding various birds and learning all about them from the (mostly) friendly staff.

Lunch is also provided, and is served from 11-3pm so you can feasibly have two lunches :) The food was pretty darned good, included some yummy deserts and all the cookies, crisps, ice-creams, soft-drinks and annheuser-busch alcoholic drinks you can eat! Posh toiletries, towels, loungers, parking and 14 days unlimited access to Sea World, Aquatica and Busch Gardens were also included on our ticket making it great value for money in my opinion. The one thing they sting you on is the cost of photographs which are totally irresistible of course, but what the hell, this really was a fabulous, once in a lifetime, unforgetable, amazing experience.

Sorry for the long post, but I want to document today as much as possible!

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I was really worried about the hotel before we came, I had the idea of a dodgy American motel in my head, but the hotel we’re staying at is really nice. Clean rooms, friendly staff, plenty of onsite ammenities and several pools. Being on Highway 192 means we’re really close to everything, and there is every type of restaurant and fast-food chain you can imagine a short walk away.

Our first day here was spent at Animal Kingdom where we got really, really close up with some white rhino on the Safari, and then almost as close up with a tiger on the Maharajah Jungle Trek. For some reason we got considerably wetter than anyone else on the Kali River Rapids, which was fun until the Sun went in!! Expedition Everest is a pretty impressive ride, I always love dark coasters & something about the mystery of the Yeti really makes for a good freaky atmosphere!

Sunday we did Sea World, which never ceases to be amazing. The shows have been updated since I was last here 10 years ago (you’d be amazed at what hasn’t changed in some of the parks), but I don’t think the Shamu show could ever get boring! Manta is very similar to Alton Towers’ Air, apparently there’s not another one like it in the area, so I guess we Brits are spoilt!

Yesterday we visited Aquatica, which is way better than either of the Disney water parks. The map makes the beach area look small, but the beach is huge, and there are plenty of loungers to go around. There was very little queuing or hassle which made for a lot of fun, and more of the slides and rides are multiple-riders which also made it very enjoyable. One warning – wear sandals when walking around – the floor gets HOT!

Of course we’ve done many of the other parks on the other days, but if I write about everything I’ll have nothing to talk about when I get back! Tomorrow is our day at Discovery Cove, where we get to swim with Dolphins. I am SO excited, and we still have another ten days here, so there’s bound to be more to tweet about & I’ll keep adding photos to my Flickr Stream :)

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