Cut Throat's First Quarterly Review of 2017

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.

Cut-Throat's Resolutions for 2017.

2016 is dead. Long live 2017. Here are my resolutions for the coming year, along with some related observations and expectations.

1. Seize the Day (Off).

I rarely plan my days off, and when I do my foresight struggles to see past the first 48 hours. Consequently, I repeatedly fail to visit friends who live in other cities, and have not taken a proper 'sight-seeing' holiday for over two years - which is fairly appalling considering that I don't have any dependents to account for.

132 Seize the Days, a travel guide published by the Lonely Planet in 2007, attempted to cajole the reader into making better use of their weekends and holidays. Although it presumed the reader had a lot of disposable income, at least far more than I currently posses, it otherwise offered plenty of inspiration to do something interesting with those days off. To this end, I will be using a diary planner, in conjunction with a calendar, to plan ahead and make the most of my free time.

2. Learn a Craft.

Where I live there are a lot of opportunities to participate in combat sport. Unfortunately the nature of my work does not allow for facial injuries and so I will have to stay focused on grappling this year. This is not necessarily a problem. I have a fairly rag-tag martial arts background, but little in the way of accredited technical skill. Although I am a - relatively - okay grappler and a - below - average stand up fighter, it would be nice to be able to say that I do 'orthodox [insert grappling style]' to a reasonably satisfactory level. My aim for this year then is to grade in either Brazilian Ju Jitsu or Judo.

3. Specialise in the Kitchen.

Now that I have developed an all purpose cooking from scratch skill-set, it is time to dabble in the realm of culinary specialisation. By the end of the year I hope to have a strong grasp of at least two styles of world cuisine: I am currently hoping to learn Japanese and Scandinavian cooking. Vegan cookery may also make a later appearance, for the sake of my vegan friends, moral conscience and general curiosity.  

Cut-Throat's 2016 Resolution Round Up

Susan Neiman's 'Why Grow Up' encouraged me to take resolutions seriously. My review of it can be found here and it has, in retrospect, been immensely influential for me. Of course, it is easy to be cynical about resolutions: they are, rather comically, rarely successful. But they also represent a struggle to improve oneself, and are more empowering than the alternative of un-reflective meandering.

What is often forgotten is that growing up and living longer, is fun - it results in competency. When you are young you lack the knowledge and experience needed to make the most of life's opportunities; it is only with a bit of practice that you can actually start to get good at living. Resolutions then, are a small attempt to harness this growth in natural competency.

1. Reading, Writing and Running.

2016 was intended to be a year where these three activities would happen on an 'almost daily' basis. The three programmes, which were lumped under one heading, have been met with varying levels of success.

Reading- I read almost every day, even if I am just browsing articles on the web. However my recent flat move has denied me a comfortable reading spot for a more focused programme of book consumption. In the new year I will have acquired a new reading den to remedy this. This sub-resolution has been a partial success.

Writing - This year I have regularly written with a much wider scope than ever before; in particular, I have started writing more poetry and short-form prose. I have not managed to make this an 'almost daily' routine, as this year has shown that reading, writing and exercising on an 'almost daily' basis is a tall order considering all the other things going on in my life. 

Running - I no longer exercise on a daily basis. This is not due to a lack of motivation but rather a lack of necessity. I have finally gotten back into combat sports this year and am looking to take grappling much more seriously in 2017 - perhaps enter a tournament or look to grade in Judo or BJJ. At the moment, again due to the flat move, I am lifting in the gym rather than training in any particular club. With last year's fitness failure in mind, I am very happy with what I have accomplished in 2016.

2. Get Techie.

This resolution was discontinued three quarters of the way through the year. I certainly know a lot more about digital technology than I did at the start of the year, but it wasn't thanks to any considered effort on my part.

3. Get Foodie

I cook from scratch almost everyday now; which has helped to improve my diet and aided in the tweaking of a number of dishes that I have been working on this year. Jack Monroe's budget cook book 'A Girl Called Jack' has seen a lot of use in my kitchen over the last few months. It has quickly become a classic in contemporary budget cookery and I highly recommend it to budding chefs who want to broaden their horizons; the dishes in Jack's book are varied but, for budget reasons, stripped down to their bare bones. The result is a cook book filled with recipes that require little in the way of food shopping, which is probably the most time consuming part of learning new forms of cuisine.

I now have a fairly wide and adaptable skill-set in the kitchen that I feel ready to build on. Next year I will be looking to work on more presentation pieces and start specialising in a couple of areas of world cuisine: French, Japanese and Middle Eastern cookery are on the cards for 2017. 

Cut Throat's Third Quarterly Review of 2016

The final quarter of 2016 is upon us and it is time to retrospectively assess the second half of the year. My initial resolutions for 2016 can be found here, and June's "half time" review of those resolutions can be found here. On with the show...

1. Reading, Writing and Running.

Now that I have picked up Judo and MMA again I no longer have any need for running. My exercise regime splits my week into three rest days and four days of workout; this has been the greatest success of 2016's resolutions so far. Exercise has finally been properly integrated into my lifestyle with an intensity and purpose that makes it both efficient and fun. After spending nearly two years drifting around in limbo, I am finally back in shape.

Progress with both my writing and reading has been encouraging but inconsistent. Reading wise, I have managed to stave off the temptation to buy new books, and have gotten close to clearing my home libraries gargantuan back-log; writing wise, I have begun work on a novella and am enjoying the process of writing poetry. I have begun experimenting with the integration of reading and writing into my morning ritual, this has worked well so far.

2. Get Techie.

No progress here, and little intent to improve. Back in January I thought I had a relatively stripped down set of resolutions. Bizarrely, I didn't spot the folly in wrapping up "read more, write more and run more" under one heading while also expecting to learn computer programming and progress with my cookery at the same time. I have come to my senses and abandoned this resolution in order to better pursue the other two.

3. Get Foodie.

Most of this year in the kitchen has been spent honing the elementary crafts and skills of world cuisine. In particular, mastering simple dishes and processes to the point that I can guarantee a consistent level of quality in terms of homemade curry/pizza/stir-fry/grill meals/omletes etc.

I have also, since getting back into combat sport, moved onto a more calorically restrictive diet. This is less of a stumbling block than you would imagine. The crux of good cookery is in making mediocre things taste great; learning to cook and learning how to enjoy food, that isn't drowned in butter and animal fat, work surprisingly well as a complimentary set of practices.

Lessons Learned.

The maxim "Do Less, Achieve More" was uttered at the beginning of this year: I have only recently begun to take it seriously. Accordingly, I will not pick up any skills in computer programming this year and will focus on consolidating the progress I have made in other fields.

Another life lesson is that if you want to incorporate a new activity into your life you need to properly alot a time and place for it. For example, getting and staying in shape is now fairly easy. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday I go to a training session where I can wrestle, puff and lurch myself through endless tai-otoshis and juji-gatames and go home knowing I have had a good evenings workout. After that, all I need to do is work one more exercise session into my weekly schedule and I have met my target.

It's a shame I won't pick up any tech skills but I really should leave it until I am finished working on other areas of my life. What I really miss is the opportunity to engage in an activity with marked cognitive benefits. Meditation appeals to me for similar - but still different - reasons, and would probably be easier to fit into a daily routine. Well... there is always next year.

The 2016 Half Time Review

With the arrival of June comes this year's edition of Cut-throat and Clueless' Half-Time Review. As you might have noticed, I have half-finished redesigning this blog in celebration of this milestone. For my original list of 2016 resolutions click here, and for my last quarterly review click here. Below is a summary of victories and setbacks that have been achieved and/or suffered over the last three months.

Resolutions.

1. Reading, Writing, Running.

My reading has picked up its pace since I last discussed my resolutions on this blog; my writing has been steady, though mostly fiction orientated, and my exercise regime has finally diversified to include body-weight training - routines that once reduced me to a huffing mess, I now breeze through effortlessly and it feels great! I have also recently booked myself onto a distance learning course with the UK Society for Editors and Proof-Readers - I'm looking forward to it immensely. I also have my first Judo session, in years, coming up at the end of this week.

2. Get Techie.

Hurrah for progress! I have finally started learning Python and it's fascinating. Coding engages a very different part of my brain to that which is engaged when reading and writing philosophy. Frankly I'm excited to learn something tech related but also hoping to gleam some of the mental benefits associated with programming. Granted the few hours I have put in so far were grinded out purely so I'd have something to write here, but the enjoyment I have received from it has been genuine.   

I'll have to find some sort of project to focus on later in the year, at the moment I'm just trying to memorise the basics.

3. Get Foodie.

There has been too much progress made here to list comprehensively. Notable success' include home-made pizza made from scratch; vegetable pakora and a couple of other great finds discovered among my growing collection of cookery and cocktail books. I'm making food better, faster and with less stress than ever before. As a side note, I've discovered that food and drink books are remarkably reflective of their social origins.

Consider that "The Savoy Cocktail Book" written by Harry Craddock back in the 1930's is close to 300 pages long with almost every page containing  4 or 5 recipes, each of them calling for a variety of spirits and liquers. By contrast, "Good Things to Drink" written by Mr Lyan, and published last year, features recipes that tend to focus on one particular spirit and prefers the intelligent use of mixers and garnish to accompany drinks. In terms of "recipes per page", it has one recipe for every couple of pages with the majority of the book being photos of Mr Lyan and his friends drinking in rustic locations while looking infuriatingly hip.

This is the unfortunate consequence of modern advertising, and caused by the same forces that have perfume companies advertising with bizzare montages of models sliding out of Limos. While Craddock may bring content by the bucket-load, Mr Lyan would trounce him in terms of sales if they ever competed - the gloss sells.

Gripes aside, as much as I have enjoyed Mr Lyan's book, he has a bad habit of tacking "top up with champagne" onto the end of his recipes; the fact that he considers adding champagne to be an afterthought indicates that mixology has yet to escape its privileged roots.