Well, some might say that you should not be reading stuff on the web. Especially this little bit of ego-stroking and
pandering to people with a voyeur fetish...
Well, what to write? I'm a twenty-something member of staff at The University of Leeds
who does something approximating 3 different jobs. It varies. I`m married, to a delightful young lady called
Sarah, and we have a cat called Perdu. We live in South Leeds, although we're
in the process of moving somewhere nicer - although still in West Yorkshire. We have lots of friends, with a smallish
core of 12 that is commonly called "the gang". I have lived in Leeds, doing various things, since September of 1992,
and I love it here. It's fun, exciting, and bulging at the seams with strange & bizarre characters.
Life:
Life to me is the single most important thing a person can have. I don`t mean being conscious and breathing, I mean
going out, doing things, not wasting a moment - well, maybe a few, because that's how we get a frame of reference -
spending time, not hoarding it away like a curmudgeonly old bugger who merely remembers how to be miserable.
We have a finite number of moments on this mortal coil (so far as we remember, of course) so where is the
point of doing nothing in those moments? We all do stuff we don't like - work, taking kids to school, driving in
traffic, being nice to people we'd rather not spend time with, that sort of thing - but that should just make us
more likely to go out & do stuff. Sure, flump in front of the telly, as long as that is what you want to do.
Makes sure it is, though. Telly will always be there. The friend you havn`t phoned for 3 years might not be. You'd
have a good chat, as well, which is something the TV can't do. Go for a walk - try out that pub you've thought about
going into since you moved, but havn't. Play games. be creative, and use
that camera, sketch that vase of flowers, paint that bathroom ceiling - as long as you make it fun. Use
your time to do the things you want to do.
Creative:
I have to be creative. I like making things. I especially like making things that other people can enjoy - I`m not a
miser, I like to share things. I have a couple of main creative outlets that I use often, and cheerfully.
I cook. I love to cook, and I like to think I can cook very well. I'm vegetarian by choice (although I do eat eggs,
cheese & butter, & drink milk, which makes me ovo-lacto) and this offers me a far wider scope of culinary horizons to
look at. I rarely use a cookbook for anything other than idea seeds (my exceptions to this are for baked desserts, like
cakes and certain pie fillings, and soufflés), and frequently make things up as I go along. I try to make the
name of each dish seem interesting, but these days the fashion is to make the names of dishes descriptive, and if I`m
cooking I don`t often get the chance to think up exotic names for my food, so generally, if you come for dinner, you
might find on the menu such delights as Vegetable Stew with Crumble Topping, Baked Spanish Omlette with Spinach & Basil,
Nut Roast with Puy Lentil salad or Stuffed Yorkshire Puddings with Roasted Vegetables and Onion Gravy. Anything
that contains my tomato goo in it, however, will probably have those words contained in the title. We frequently
invite people for dinner, and you can be sure of being well-fed if you are invited, even if you're a confirmed carnivore -
on holiday in Sweden our hosts (who were frankly gobsmacked at the idea of vegetarianism) cooked for us, until we
gave in & offered to cook something other than bland, tasteless mush. I cooked a simple stew, made from local ingredients,
and they were so bowled over (they were scraping the bottom of the dish the meal was cooked in) we were embarassed by
their delight.
I also write web pages. Quick, simple, and available in seconds.
Lastly, I take photographs. I like to create photomontages in a style similar to David Hockney's pictures of the
Grand Canyon. I don`t have the resources - or ability - to create such an enormous picture just yet, but I am working on it.
I love taking pictures of old, ruined churches, abbeys, or cathederals. One of my favourite subjects for my montages is
Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire - a wonderful NT property which has several excellent vantage points in it's
grounds, all of them ideal for the montage idea. I have also taken montages of Whitby and Rievaulx Abbeys,
and several landscapes from around the country. I occasionally give these away to people as presents, but only after
they have been properly mounted and framed - most of them exist in envelopes at the moment.
Education:
I'm a firm believer in expanding your horizons. The best way to do this is through education, where you can learn how
to do practically anything. I do believe that education should be free for those who can't afford to pay for it under
their own steam - ergo, children & full-time students at universities and colleges, who can't be a full-time student
as well as being a fully-time employee. On the other hand, people who are in full-time employment who can afford
to do courses should pay for them. Generally, people in full-time employment will go to night classes at a local college.
This is by far the best way to further your education, and you need to support your local college, before it goes the
way of the dinosaur. The college will hold courses that are fun, as well as the ones for improving your job prospects.
Where else could you learn about painting stained glass, silkscreen printing or how to decorate cakes without spending a
fortune on a residential course over the summer? I'm learning Italian at my local college - and we're being taught by
a chap from Rome. Admittedly, some courses could be better handled - I frequently hear complaints about IT courses being
taught by people who keep an "Idiots Guide" on their desks - but if you think you could do better, take an Adult Education
course, and teach the class yourself.
The next best way for people in FTE - that's employment, which can seem a little confusing - is to go to the OU. The courses
here are also very interesting, but you're looking at a six year - minimum - commitment that is a bit more expensive than a
30-week photography course. If you're just interested in a subject and havn't explored much past the initial stages,
perhaps the OU might be a little advanced. I've just started a OU degree in IT, beginning with 2 maths modules,
and I'm really enjoying it, and even (heaven forfend) doing quite well. I wouldn't go to the OU for an Italian course,
though... not yet, at any rate.
Finally, have you thought about going back to school? Many local colleges and some secondary schools are offering GCSE and
'A'-level courses to adults in continuing education, and these can be a really good way of getting back into the swing of
things.
Working at a University I can see how some people get annoyed at the perceived student lifestyle, which basically consists of
ale & sex. It really isn't like that, no matter how often you see it on the telly. Students at Universities can often
seem to be hell-bent on a self-destructive course to oblivion, but for every wide boy with the latest Becks haircut and
every It-girl wannabee with a longing for Versace-crafted Michelin tyres there is at least one regular guy or gal who
is there because they know who they were, who they are and who they will be, not some tosser who is just putting off
entering real life for another 3 years at Mum & Dad's expense.
Other Stuff:
Who am I, really? I think I know, I'm fairly sure my wife knows, and possibly the cat.
No-one can be really sure, though, and I seem to have surprised myself in recent months by trying to see how much I have
changed.
I'm a participant in Distributed.net's RC64-5 cracking challenge, part of Team Sluggy.
Have a look at my stats, if you like that sort of thing
(I'm using a PIII-733 and a P166 running NT, a P120 running W95,
and a P166 running Caldera Linux, if you're at all interested).
I recently succumbed, and I now have a
LiveJournal. It
isn't terribly interesting. I suppose that one day I might put up
my Monochrome diary on here, but
arranging it into html might be a bit of a nightmare.
Anyway. Anyone who wants to say hi, please do so.
