About two years ago I started the couch to 5k running thing with a friend of mine. I’d previously bounced off it innumerable times, “Running”, I thought, “wasnt for me”.
Well turns out running on my own wasn’t for me, and if I’m honest, neither is running with a pal. I just don’t like it. At least misery loves company. Anyway we started it about two years ago, and ended up doing the full thing and running (to my own amazement) a number of 5ks. But then we took our foot off the gas a bit, and missed a few and dropped a few and now we’re hovering around the halfway point. Now, to be honest, I’m not bothered, the main thing I’m getting out of it is largely I’m going for two-three runs per week (schedule permitting) and I’m no longer so deeply unfit that a short walk is killing my legs (seriously, just before we started running we went walking and 1k in my calves were killing me)
Now the thing is I’m a little fitter. Which is great. But I’m not much slimmer. I still eat like a horse, my wife has recently lost a stone and a half and I’m a little jealous. I’m a short man, with a wide stomach. Now I’ve also been suffering more ibs attacks lately, and so I’ve decided I’d try and alter my diet a bit to see if that helps. So yesterday cut out sweets/chocolate and tried to limit my eating hiours. So one day clean of chocolate. (god I love chocolate). I’ll let you know how I get on. I weighed 14st 6lbs today.
Focus
I’ve decided this year I’m going to fucs my attention on work. That means, sadly, no improv and no acting, no goofing off doing outside stuff. That extra time and focus, I hope will get me back on track. Especially since I want to make a concerted effort to write more this year.
Yesterday on bluesky.
I posted up a status report on Terran Omega. Look! Look! This is why I love Clip Studio Ex’s story mode, you can just watch your pages as they form right before your eyes (very slowly…)
21 Pages in!
I also set up an Affinity Publisher file with the pages so far in a mock up of the first issue of the comic. Why? Because I think I might print 100 up and either try out kickstarter or see if I can sell them directly.
Over on my Patreon I’ve grouped all my old folklore Thursday posts in to a collection, it’s all free to view (and if you enjoy it you could consider buying the collection from @johnreppion.bsky.social at John’s online store… )
I suddenly1 had an urge to listen to Enya’s debut album “Watermark” (which my memory remembered being called Orinocco Flow, but that’s cus thats the first song released from it. I bought this when it came out, I was 18 and certainly this was when I was discovering what my taste in music was. I loved it.
From that I largely sat on spotify listening to whatever it threw at me, and finally I heard this – song -Chimacum Rain by Linda Perhacs and it was transfixing, sounding like an unreleased song from the amazing Silent Running. It’s a real delight if you’re listening with headphones or have a good stereo system set up. When you listen to it you should read about it too, fascinating. I’m somewhat taken by stories of people who produce something once then go off and have normal lives only to discover decades later that they have a fanbase for this one dazzling creative moment in their life. (here’s an interview with her from 2015 – to sum up, was a dental hygensist, released the album in 1970 it was barely noticed, she went back to the day job, the album was “rediscovered” in the late 90s, then in 2014 she released a second album.)