Food, Glorious Food...

I love food.
It's no secret - hell, my profile picture on blogger.com is a jar of marmite.
I know I'm a chunky brother - too chunky in fact, which is why I'm on a bit of a health kick at the moment. Strict diet, loads of exercise and most importantly no beer... It hurts.

But is it any wonder we're a bunch of fatties?
Maybe it's just because I'm denying myself anything that tastes good at the moment, but I'm sure there's a conspiracy out there to bombard us with as much food propaganda as possible and fatten us up for an impending apocalypse.
Since I've cut out the tasty treats, it seems that everywhere I turn there's a picture of something chocolatey, cheesy or chunky. The TV is full of it, screaming for me to indulge in a Mr-T endorsed chocolate bar or ex-footballer's favourite crisps. And all the billboards all the way home are at it too - larger than life posters of pizzas and burgers are severely testing my usually feeble willpower...

But I'm being good, and hopefully will reap the reward - a slimmer and trimmer version of my fine self will soon reappear.

For now, I'm off to watch the cooking channel - it's like foodie porn.

Long time no write...

I doubt anyone would really have noticed, but it's been almost 2 weeks since my last rambling (partly due to a rubbish broken PC, but mostly down to my own laziness) so I thought I'd better get back to the keyboard before I forgot my login details...

Not a great deal has happened in the last couple of weeks to be honest, but I've managed to make start on another of the items on my 'List' - teaching myself to play the guitar. I made another trip into the loft, dug out my old (but unused) acoustic guitar and watched a couple of beginner videos online. So far I've only performed some drills to practice plucking and improve my left hand co-ordination, but it's a start! And I've learned my first little bit of recognisable music - the old guitar staple of Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple.
Watch out Eric Clapton, here I come...

I've also added a new item to the list - I'd love to take a course in Digital Photography.
I'm not sure when my interest in photography started - probably when I bought my current camera two years ago before my last skiing trip - but I think I've always had a bit of an un-nurtured artistic side. I love composing and taking photos, and I'm always uploading new photos to my Facebook and Flickr accounts, but I really wish I could get out there on more dedicated photo trips and take more pictures.
Hopefully if I go on a proper course and learn the ins and outs of using my camera and preparing and composing good shots, I'll be more inspired to get out there and capture some great pictures.

While I'm on the topic though, here are a couple of photographs I've taken recently:

This one is from last week, my mom came down from Norfolk for a brief visit and we spent a day at Hampton Court Palace admiring the gardens:


















These are from a day trip to Brighton for a work away day last week:

































And this last one is from my last trip to Norfolk a couple of months ago:


















I'm always keen to learn, so feel free to let me know what you think, and offer any constructive criticism.

Anyhoo, I'd best get myself off to bed, I've got a tough week ahead - I've agreed to let two crazy fitness-freak girls at work whip me into shape before my skiing trip in December.
Maybe I have a penchant for letting fit women boss me around.
I guess I'm just a sucker for punishment... :)