Today one of those little miracles occurred that only happen when the moon is blue and the wind it blowing in the right direction. That’s right, you’ve guessed it…. I got my inbox down to less than 20 emails (if you guessed that, you probably think too much and really need to get out more).

Not that this is any reflection on the amount of work coming through, but for some reason the past few days have allowed a considerable purge of useless flagged and pending messages awaiting follow ups. I love it when I don’t have to scroll.

Other than exciting snippets of office joy like the last one, everything is just ‘just’. That’s not to say things aren’t good though. Very early this morning and then after some sleep I managed to plug the remaining holes in one of the most enjoyable projects I’ve been working on recently, and so we’re edging very close to launch now. Can’t wait to flip that switch.

Also, I am looking forward to Friday. It’s Nature’s birthday and Devito is back from Spain, so we’re off to Loughborough for a couple of nights of the student life. It’s been a few weeks since I’ve seen the others so it’ll be good to catch up, as always.

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Yesterday was a little unusual. Not unusual in the sense I cut down a tree or my driving test got cancelled again, but unusual in the way that some important descisions suddenly needed to be made. These descisions involve design, travel and creativity, three of my favourite things.

My horoscope in the Metro was oddly foretelling (not that I ever pay the blindest to them normally) but, “As of today, things will start moving again. You won’t keep encountering glitches and it will be possible to to get a sentence out. The big thing you’ve been rethinking is ready to rock. You’ll still be livid at the DSA.”

OK, well the last bit was my own addition, but the first part feels true enough. Talking to Currin the night before got me thinking about the bigger picture. His adventures in the USA never cease to amaze me. Last week for example, he went to meet some fella called Dean Kamen. Heard of him? Probably not. Know what he invented? Yes, probably… the Segway and few other bits an pieces along the way. Anyway, because Kamen didn’t think he’d be exciting enough to talk to on his own, he brought along a couple of guys who manage Google, and the people who own Encyclopaedia Brittanica. Another extraordinary day.

As predicted in my horoscope (we’ll strictly not predicted as I didn’t read it until after these things had happened) stuff has started moving again. The day before yesterday’s shake-up was part of a much wider disruption regarding going forward on a number of fronts (hence my unprecedented level of angst) and so yesterday I approached as much as I could with a clear head.

During a meeting in the afternoon, I was presented with some unexpected opportunities. There are some very interesting routes lying open ahead of me now, and it may well be that I have to start making some life-decisions a little earlier than expected.

After finishing up there, I headed back to Birmingham and then onto Moseley for a couple of impromptu drinks with Gwyth. We ended up taking part in the pub quiz, and stormed into joint last place. Admittedly there were just the two of us, the questions were targetted at the over 40s and some of the other teams (which were 8-10 strong) sat around their tables looking like the next descision they were about to make was whether to press The Red Button, when in fact they were really trying to remember which well known actress was sent down in 1982 for tax evasion.

It was a funny night, although ultimately with no sense of victory.

Despite this, I feel charged; a good feeling.

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At the moment the following things are making me tick:

Skins

E4’s fantastic teen drama/comedy that is like a younger, edgier version of Hollyoaks and with (on the whole) a pretty good cast. There are a couple of interesting names involved in the project, namely Josie Long (if.comeddies award winner for best newcomer 2006) and Simon Amstell . If you’ve not already found the free online mini episodes, check out E4’s Unseen Skins .

Never Mind The Buzzcocks

A fairly recent convert to Buzzcocks, I’ve loved this programme since Mark Lamar left the chair. Amstell’s witty performance and inexorable guest-degradation is on tap making it the best panel game on TV at the moment.

Little Yellow Spider, Devendra Banhart

Soundtrack to that Orange advert where a people in a park move around to reveal and hide other people. A fantastic acoustic song with no deep meaning just amusing lyrics and a great tune.

Standing In The Way of Control, The Gossip

Another great track at the opposite end of the spectrum. Punchy, punkish, political and outspoken, I really want to hear some more of their album.

Jeff Buckley

I knew the name, but it wasn’t until I heard his name mentioned in Badly Drawn Boy track that I decided to wiki it. I found some of his stuff on some old compilation albums and ever since been really impressed with the music/annoyed that I’d overlooked it before.

Ruby, Kaiser Chiefs

I couldn’t stand this song when I first heard it but it’s since grown on me and ended up on my playlist.

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You may or may not know I am a big comedy fan spanning all mediums, and my most regular dose comes from the radio. On average I listen to six or seven shows a week ranging from stand up to panel stuff. There are rich pickings on the BBC Listen Again feature and it gives a good chance to catch up with shows that I’d normally miss.

Favourites include Jeremy Hardy Speaks To The Nation (a series of ‘lectures’ recorded in 1993), People Like Us (Chris Langham’s brilliant hapless Roy Mallard as interviewer in this ‘mockumentary’), The Smith Lectures (Arthur Smith’s clippings of radio and stand up routines), Mark Watson Makes The World Substantially better (stand up, if.commedies winner and more recently panellist on Mock The Week), The News Quiz (weekly topical panel game which was the original radio format for Have I Got News For You), The Masterson Inheritance (improv featuring Josie Lawrence and Paul Merton), Yes Minister and Just A Minute.

I think some people miscomprehend radio humour as being dull, but I would hotly contest that the quality is considerably higher than most of what you get on TV. Admittedly, Have I Got News For You is more entertaining than The News Quiz, but I think a lot of our best comedians fare better on radio than they do on the screen.

I would list Jeremy Hardy, Paul Merton, Tony Hawkes, Sue Perkins, the late Linda Smith and Marcus Brigstocke amongst my favourite comedians, but most of them unknown to mainstream audiences. Mark Watson and Russell Howard are breaking into popular culture but I feel their live stand up far out performs their contributions on TV.

The reason I got sidetracked onto all of that was that I’ve managed to get hold of four very elusive tickets to see a recording of my favourite of all the shows, I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue. Tickets usually sell out within minutes, but so determined I was this time that I sat on the website from 10am until 11am repeatedly trying to place an order until finally the overloaded server picked itself up and took my money.

I’ve ended up with some very decent seats. Guests on the programme before have included most of the well known names above, Bill Bailey, Rob Brydon, Jack Dee, Ross Noble and Phil Jupitus. With only six recordings a year and an already 86-year-old chairman there really is slimmer and slimmer chance of getting to one in future, so I thought I’d seize the opportunity while it was still there.

Should be a really good night.

In other news, I got frustrated with Halifax this week when I tried to order a new debit card to renew the expiry date. It’s likely my old card will expire while I’m travelling, so I order to pre empty it I explained the situation to the bank who replaced the card. It was only at the point I noticed the expiry date hadn’t changed, just the issue number. I phoned them up again (actually I got them to call me back) only to find the first person I had spoken to had been misinformed. It seems you can’t change the expiry date which is really frustrating. More graft required to get my finances in a workable order before I go away.

On Thursday night I met up with Gareth and Ross for a few beverages and curry in Lye. I love hype and discussion.

Aside from all this, the sun is shining and the weekend is not even half way through. It’s a great day.

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At the moment there seems to be little important other than work.

Today I completed a project that I’ve really enjoyed working on and although there maybe an odd tweak here or there, and I’m still waiting to see the final fruits of the stationary from the printers, the main trunk of it is done-dusted.

There is another large project I’m tying the bows on too, and although it won’t be finished until next week, I’m feeling really energised by the progress of work since I managed to get my visa. It’s like I’ve drunk a couple of bottles of Calpol and I’ve been buzzing ever since.

I ordered a polarising filter and rubber lens hood for the new lens this morning. I can’t say the price was exactly as good and it’s annoying to think I have a couple of perfectly good ones lying about, just they are no longer the right diameter fitting for this new kit.

Thinking of other investments, I was both ecstatic and heartbroken to find out the Foo’s are playing V Festival this year. I have no idea if I can make it, but I’m hoping they announce a few more dates. Although I’ve always wanted to do a festival, travelling years have never been good ones due to the uncertainty of the dates.

Sammi is now in Nepal and will be for the next six weeks until I arrive. It’s all getting close now and really want to get South America sorted soon. I think some phone calls and credit card bills are in order.

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Frustration might be one word that springs to mind when thinking about how today turned out. Instead of making headway with work as I had intended (with a brief break to pick up my Indian Visa), the whole thing was ‘flip reversed’ to use colloquial ‘street-speak’.

I had hoped a mid-morning excursion into the Jewellery Quarter would mean I could nip in and out (maybe with a small queue) then come back to send off some work to print and get my teeth into some other bundles of work. Unfortunately after my 30 minute drive in, and a another 30 minute wait I finally got to the front of the queue where the lady behind the counter dissappeared with my tombola ticket and came back five minutes later to let me know it hadn’t been done yet. I wasn’t a happy bunny.

After being told to return at 3pm (when the consulate reopens after lunch) I decided a head start was in order, and at 2.30pm got into the queue behind the other 30 people. At 3pm they let us in and we streamed in in crocodile fashion like a rather bloated Chinese dragon, only to discover at this point that the doors had been open the whole time and the queue actually had extended up the stairs to the top floor meaning there were at least another 30 people in the queue ahead of us.

Thankfully sanity came from conversation with the people around and for the next hour and a half we talked about travel, the fantastic experience we were all having and making suggestions about ways to improve the system. And just to assure you that this wasn’t just a load of pallid Britons moaning, the Indians in the queue were just as irritated, including the blokes in front and behind me who had both sent in postal applications then discover their passports had ‘gone missing’.

The system had many faults, but it’s best by far was the lack of complaints procedure. See, not only were there long delays, but also after lunch half the staff go home and then only a solitary window is left open to deal with all visa requests. There were at least 300 people in the queue by the time I left, and with only half an hour left until closing time (and that means the shutter comes down and you have no choice but to go home). That means only 80 would have had their application processed today. There are no other staff on hand to deal with enquiries, take suggestions or advise that you aren’t likely to get served today, which means that you just have to wait and put up with it like everyone else. It’s that that makes the experience complete.

Such was the build up and my genuine fear for just over an hour that I would be back there tomorrow that I felt genuinely ecstatic when the girl passed me back my complete visa with all my names had been spelt right and they’d even taken the time to stick it in the right way.

In truth, the waiting didn’t bother me. Nor did the long queues. Nor did it trouble me the number of journeys. I’ve met some interesting people and had some good conversations, just one thing still really bugs me, and that is that I have lost two full days work. My advice to anyone else self-employed trying to get an Indian visa in Brum – just pay an agency to do it for you.

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Yesterday was a bit of a mess. Thursday was alright, but Friday was a little bit chaotic.

Thursday evening was the annual careers convention at OSH, my old school. I get an invite every year to be the representative for web and graphic design, and being a good chance to spread the word, see the staff and other faces again, I try to attend. Unfortunately I decided to walk, and by the time I had arrived I was drenched from head to toe. It took me most of the evening to dry down, but giving out some guidance and getting a chance to speak to a few people I hadn’t seen in a while made it all ok. Definitely thanks required for Ian who fetched me a plate of stealth buffet. Good man.

When I got back home I decided that I was going to bite the visa bullet and just knock it on the head the next morning. I knew this meant an early start, and that it was likely to be a fairly interesting experience. Not wanting to pay �30 for somebody else to do it, or risking a postal application following some nightmare stories and reading the rather foreboding terms and conditions on the application forms, I arrived at the Consulate in the Jewellery Quarter at 7.20am and joined the queue which was already 50 people long.

I had bought a paper thinking this would be the best way to pass the time, but I ended up spending most of the two hours until opening time chatting to the girl next to me in the queue, which ultimately was very worthwhile as she shared her camping chair with me while everyone had to stand. Thankfully the rain held off. Whilst I only live half an hour from the Consulate, Paula (the girl with the chair) had travelled from Liverpool and like me, had made one previous failed attempt earlier in the week. We were both gritted and determined to not be back here again.

At 9.30am they finally opened the doors. I’m not sure how many people were in the queue now, but after the first 200 tickets were handed out, the rest of the queue were turned away. It was about 9.40am.

We had to wait for our numbers to be called, another hour, but finally we got to the counters handed over our stuff and we’re told to come back at 3pm to collect. At least, that’s what I thought was going to happen. Paula seemed to have no problem, but the guy behind the counter asked where I was from. I told him, and he told me I’d have to pick it up on Monday. I didn’t quite realise how angry I was about this until after we’d left for some food.

So Monday morning I’ll be back at the Indian Consulate picking up my passport and visa. Thankfully I won’t have to queue next time (well not for longer than 15 minutes) but it was only 11.30am and things weren’t going as well as I had hoped.

Things just got worse and after getting home and sorting out a list of things that needed sorting out, I finally sat down to do the day’s work at 2.30pm. Not ideal. Thankfully I was quite productive after this, and despite feeling totally knackered by 9pm, things were wrapped.

I woke up this morning to a few nice surprises. My new lens has arrived (Sigma 18-200mm ) and I’m really happy with it. The focal length is ideal for travelling as it saves carrying multiple lenses, and even if this type of lens isn’t so hot at the long end, it’s better than the limits of the standard lens kit I was using before. I also got two cheques in the post and a couple of other pieces of correspondence that I’ve been waiting on. Saturday is coming good.

As a sidenote, this site will be down for four hours tomorrow for unfortunate but essential server maintenance between 8am and 12 noon.

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At the moment, life is a bit like a box of chocolates. To be precise, dark chocolates, because they are infinitely nicer than normal chocolate. And if I’m going to be picky (which I am) they are made from Cadbury’s Bournville chocolate, as that’s the best dark chocolate money can buy.

In an effort to over-indulge in this box of chocolates metaphor, I need to explain that not so long ago, life was full of rich treats. The initial choice was easy – the favourite one – the one with strawberry, cherry or lemon in. This represents the initial excitement of travelling, something I will have been doing annually for five years come the summer.

After the first favourite comes the second favourite, but this could be any one of a number of options; it’s not so clear-cut as the first choice. This represents the big headache making decisions about where to go and the sacrifices that have to be made (someone else wants one you want). It’s satisfying, but not as fulfilling as the first chocolate. It leaves you thinking you better dwell on this and not rush onto the third one quite yet; you’ve lost a little enthusiasm with all the injections and the rest (not that you should bother immunising your chocolates, it ruins the flavour).

The third is either another dose of your second favourite (by now the favourites have most certainly disappeared; you’ve committed) or it’s time to taste an unexpected one. You randomly take a swipe at box and a surprise comes out. For instance, today I found a new (old) travelling partner for South America. About a week ago Sammi realised she couldn’t do a second trip anymore, and so I’ve been weighing up my options. James had initially been unavailable, but due to a shift in plans it looks like we’ll be travelling again after all. Number three is surprising but definitely a good discovery, in this case maybe even a summer-saving one.

The order of the next few chocolates are unimportant. They are a real mixed bunch, the good, the not so good, the ones you really don’t want to eat and end up getting left to the last. This rabble of confections can be seen as everything else in life right now. There are some great things going on in work, it’s exciting but busy (some might even say ‘choc-a-block’... I am so, so sorry). There are definitely things in the collection that I don’t want to have to sample at all, but I feel duty bound to as otherwise I’ll feel wasteful. And after all, when you actually try them, it’s never so bad anyway – it’s all still chocolate.

The best thing though is that I’m still not full. When you start feeling sick, that’s not a good point. At the moment I’m still happily working my way through. Ideally there would have been one or two more of my favourites in the box to start with, but that’s the way boxes of chocolates are packed unfortunately.

If I haven’t totally lost you with the metaphor, this is my convoluted way of saying that things are going just great right now. I’m just hoping that I’m not over-indulging, especially as the expiry date isn’t that far away now…

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