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100 Days to Change // Days 3 / 4 / 5

January 3 / 4 / 5 2016

Today is Tuesday January 5th. Since Sunday, I’ve learned one thing. If I’m not doing something to further my 100 Days to Change, I actually start feeling guilty. I guess that means that keeping a note of everything here on the blog is a good thing and will hopefully keep me on the straight and narrow.

Sunday was a little bit of a chill day, getting ready to head back to work yesterday. I did another bit of work on the back end of my website and have plans now for some further changes which will happen over the next week or so.

I’ve also been working on some plans for a new website, with a new domain for another venture. So I’ve been breaking down everything and putting it all into a planning map of how I want the site to be. I’ve also start work on the copy for the different sections.

It really didn’t help my plans that I didn’t really sleep on Sunday night for some reason. But, I still was up in time to pop into Paperchase and get a proper actual notebook without blobs of glue.

First work day of 2016 wasn’t quite a daunting as Sunday night’s fear would have one believe. One of things I really want to do in 2016 is pick up speaking French again. Since moving to London, I haven’t really had the chance or opportunity to speak much French but I want to change that. One of the big things we getting back into a language is getting your ears used to how it sounds and picking up what you do know, and then trying to figure everything out after that.

In order to do this, last night seemed like the right time to settle down to a French drama series, ‘Les Revenants’. The ending just screams for a season 3. I’m not going to spoil it for anyone. So all I’ll say is it’s good. Real good.

Waking up this morning, I felt I had been hit by a truck. The horrible cold I had last week and reared it’s ugly head again. I blame picking up everyone else’s germs at work. So, the main thing this week is for me to get through the week without falling over. Oh, while I’m at it, I did learn something valuable today. If you’re taking medication in a capsule, for example, a cold and flu remedy, make sure you drink lots of water. If you get a stuck in my throat feeling, drink more. It’s not nice when it melts or explodes.

I will admit I took it a little easy this evening but while I was doing that, I was checking out some music for my radio show. Got a couple of brand new gems for this Saturday!

I’m off to sleep and hopefully get rid of this bug.

2016 Notebook for ideas, plans and plotting

January 5, 2016
100 Days to Change // Day 2

January 2 2016

I’m a bit late with yesterday’s post. I was busy doing today’s, which means, I think, that sometimes I may write about two days in one.

So yesterday was Saturday, the last proper day of the holidays really. So what did I do to get me closer to where I want to be in 2016? A couple of things actually, starting with making a couple of subtle changes to this very website.

Things like tidying up the main menu, adding some content to the ‘About Me’ section, including a ‘Work with Me’ page. I also uploaded yesterday’s episode of The London Ear. IF you haven’t listened yet, now’s your chance!

Once that was done, I set off on a journey to get a notebook. I wanted a new Moleskin notebook to write ideas / plans / plots in. The last one of these I had was while I was in DCU and it worked a treat. I kept all my ideas in there and all my assignments came out of that little black book. I still have that one but DCU was a while ago now and I want a clean slate.

Thanks to the lovely ‘ongoing improvements’, London Bridge and Waterloo East stations have been closed over the holiday season. This means it can be a pain in the ass to get into town/our usual haunts. We (Tahlula and myself) got a train to Blackfriars, where there was a Paperchase, found the notebook I wanted and was all done in 5 minutes flat.

We wandered around town for a while before deciding we’d go home, have the last takeaway until February and chill out. We were at Covent Garden when I thought it would be a great idea to use this opportunity to get some fresh air (well, London fresh) and a walk in, and walk to Blackfriars.

We could and probably should have gone Embankment and got a Tube over to Blackfriars, from where we were, we could see Charing Cross station (also closed). Along the way, I popped into a camera shop, priced a new DSLR and was quite chuffed that I was having a productive day.

As we walked from the Strand, around Somerset House, it just started lashing rain. Like ridiculous. But – had coat and umbrella, was determined and walking along the Northbank of the Thames is something different – we’re normally Southbank people.

Got to the train station with one soggy foot and scored a nice 1st Class seat in the first carriage. South Eastern trains don’t do 1st class on that route so anyone can sit there. I double checked the app. There was me, Tahlula and some guy with a trenchcoat and bad headphones in 1st class.

30 minutes later, we were home, removing the previously mentioned soggy sock and ordering from Just Eat. I unwrapped the notebook and there was a blob of glue sitting on the top/bottom of the notebook, holding some of the pages together. After all that I can’t use it.

Someone once told me that if you were buying an ‘ideas notebook’, buy the most expensive one you can for your needs. You know how much it cost so you will always respect what you write in there, you’ll respect your ideas, you’ll take the time to work it all out. I’ve never forgotten that. The perfectionist in me hasn’t either. I need a perfect notebook, I have to get a new one. Can’t win them all I guess.

Blurry, wet, taken at Blackfriars looking to the SouthBank of the Thames

Taxi – Bronze Sculpture of J. Seward Johnson at John Carpenter Street, London

January 3, 2016
The London Ear on RTE 2XM // Show 103 with Alex Rogers

The London Ear on RTE 2XM // Show 103 // January 2nd 2016

It’s the first show of 2016, good opportunity to look at back at 2015 and look forward to 2016. I was delighted to be joined by Alex Rogers, the biggest music nut I know, who also happens to be part of the BBC Introducing team in Kent.
BBC Introducing Kent’s Alex Rogers

Myself and Alex chatted for ages so I’ve created a version of the show that was broadcast on RTE 2XM and a version for Mixcloud that we didn’t have to cut any music short.

Here’s the music we played:

1. The London Ear Intro
2. Billie Marten: Bird
3. Carly Rae Jepsen: I Didn’t Just Come Here To Dance
4. Wolf Alice: Giant Peach
5. Mabel: Know Me Better
6. Frances: Borrowed Time
7. Niamh Crowther: Little by Little
8. Clock Opera: Changeling
9. Jamie XX Feat Romy: Loud Places
10. Shura: Indecision*

*Yes the vinyl was released in 2015

Instrumental beds used in today’s show came from Death Grips, Harts, The Chemical Brothers and De La Soul

Thanks for listening, The London Ear broadcast on DAB radio, Saorview and outside Ireland you can listen online.You can listen to the show broadcast on 2XM again on the RTE player. The show is broadcast every Saturday at 1300.

Don’t forget to check out the RTE 2XM website. You can keep up with me here.

The full unedited version of this week’s show can be found on mixcloud and in the widget below.

The London Ear on RTE 2XM // Show 103 // Jan 2 2016 with Alex Rogers by Nessy on Mixcloud

Photo of Alex from here

January 2, 2016
100 Days to Change // Day 1

January 1 2016 – Happy New Year!

The day didn’t get off to the best start to be honest. I’ve had a horrible cold for a few days, which seemed to keep me awake for ages, meaning I slept ’til lunchtime. It also rained all day which is never great to give you the get up and go that I had hoped for. Couple this with an annoying cough and you get the drift.

So as it was going to be an indoor, take it easy day, I decided to do a social media cull. So in what way is this making life better I hear you ask?.

Well, I use Facebook, primarily to keep up with family and friends and for my radio show, so I left that alone. Personally, I prefer Instagram and Twitter but it’s easy to add random people to who you follow.

It took a couple of hours, while sitting on the couch, but using Crowdfire app, I went through who I was following that I didn’t really need to be, and had no interaction with and unfollowed. With a couple of hundred less people followed, it’s easier to see what’s going on in your main timeline. It’s not as busy. Next job on Twitter is to add people are are not already in lists into appropriate lists so it’s easier to follow, social media tips, music, radio etc.

A lot of people seem to think that the way to reorganise themselves on social media is to step away completely for a while. For me, using it for work and for my radio show, as well as keeping up to date with the Irish Crew, that’s not an option. So what I wanted to do was to get rid of a lot of noise and already I can see the difference.

Quiche – Tastes better than it looks!
My timeline isn’t as mental, friends on Twitter don’t get caught up in all the spam.. I’m happy so far!

Oh, I also made a absolutely yummy quiche for the first time in my life.. doesn’t look too pretty but tastes yummy! Hurrah for achievement number 1 of the year!

So that’s Day 1 down, yes, I eased my way into it. Here’s to the next 99 Days of Change.

Happy New Year, here’s to a happy, healthy, productive 2016.

January 2, 2016