What can I say? I have been busy these past four months, but
I'm back for the sake of accountability. Hopefully there will be a
couple more posts appearing here in the next few weeks, for now... let's take
stock of the year.
1. Seize The Day
At the beginning of this year I promised to use a diary and a
calendar to plan my days off more effectively. So far I have seen partial
success in this area. I am certainly making better use of my down-time but
perhaps not as much as I had originally envisioned. Part of this may be
explained by the fact that while I may be trying to keep better track of
up-coming dates, most of my friends don't, which makes the planning of anything social potentially frustrating.
However I must also share some of the blame here. About a
month ago my planner was moved off of my desk and onto a shelf, so that the
aforementioned desk could be cleaned - it was never put back. Also I have
struggled to discern any reason for keeping both a calendar and a diary
planner. Moving forward I'm going to keep the calendar for the planning of
events far in the future and the planner for mapping the individual weeks as
they come.
2. Learn a Craft
I have started taking advantage of the gym next door and its
wide array of combat sports. Currently I am back to training about 5 times a
week, once we include lifting and stretching sessions. I have put a bigger
focus on diet, stretching and recovery than ever before, I want this hobby to last so I need to make sure it
won't wear me down chronically or become too much of a time burden in relation
to the other aspects of my life.
Training as a now fully grown adult (tm) comes with certain
benefits. I don't drink like an arts student anymore, so my body has more of an
opportunity to recover from the various sessions; furthermore I am now
a better cook than I was 3 years ago, so preparing meals to maintain a healthy diet
has become a lot easier. So far it has all
been really enjoyable, I am learning classical gi-based jiu jitsu and orthodox
muay thai, which has given me a much broader appreciation of their unique approaches and
strategies. I'm now looking to perfect my management of time vis a vis training vs recovery. Combat sport is
extremely stressful and the risk of neurological burn-out from over-training is very high; consequently I am watching my recovery to make sure
everything I do is manageable and in my long term interest.
3. Specialise in the Kitchen
There has been a
little experimentation with new foods over the last couple of months. I have
been doing more in terms of casseroles, gotten the process of marinating down
to a fine art, and begun exploring more unusual oils and vinegars for the sake
of salad dressings and frying.
In terms of geographic specialisation however, not much has happened. I have learnt a bit of Scandinavian cookery but not enough to really call it progress. The book I was given is heavily reliant on specialist ingredients, such as elderflower vinegar, which makes its recipes both logistically challenging and low in cost-efficiency. A lot of my more adventurous cooking plans have been put on hold while I sort my diet for muay thai and jiu jitsu. I'm still very happy with my Scandi book and I really appreciate its haute cuisine French-style influences, but when I resume this resolution I'm going to have to pick a Japanese cook book that won't require me to take such extreme measures in acquiring ingredients.
In terms of geographic specialisation however, not much has happened. I have learnt a bit of Scandinavian cookery but not enough to really call it progress. The book I was given is heavily reliant on specialist ingredients, such as elderflower vinegar, which makes its recipes both logistically challenging and low in cost-efficiency. A lot of my more adventurous cooking plans have been put on hold while I sort my diet for muay thai and jiu jitsu. I'm still very happy with my Scandi book and I really appreciate its haute cuisine French-style influences, but when I resume this resolution I'm going to have to pick a Japanese cook book that won't require me to take such extreme measures in acquiring ingredients.
