Update

I tend to leave ages between blogs, the have brief periods where I blog a lot, just because of a waxing and waning level of enthusiasm. Also, because I've been doing proper band blogs on The Automatic's website (I haven't even done any of those lately so that doesn't hold much water..that's pretty much a lie, in fact).

I've sort of abandoned my year of doing new things, because I fell behind and I'd rather catch up than add to the list of half-finised projects I already have. I have a small notebook, which is gradually filling up with ideas for short stories which I actually want to write, that's the main one I want to complete. I continue to learn Esperanto, my interest in which has grown beyond a hobby into something else. It is more than a second language because of the movement around it, so mentions of it or articles about it appear frequently on the web. These have led me to develop a big interest in languages and to discover some cool podcasts as well - I have to recommend the "Stuff You Should Know" podcast from howstuffworks.com. Their last edition was about zombies! I regularly meet with two other south-walian Esperantists, one of whom is denaskula (one who has spoken Esperanto all her life), so she's a handy person for a lernanto like me to know! We somewhat grandly call ourselves the Cardiff Esperanto Society.

My attempt at making air conditioning ended with mixed results. These included frustration, a wet floor, and the sense that thermodynamics doesn't want to be my friend. It sort of worked, but I couldn't find suitable copper tubes, and they were really quite important.

The Cardiff Half Marathon is less than three weeks away now (donate at http://www.justgiving.com/robin-hawkins, you know you want to. Go on, you'll basically be buying good karma) and I'm not really ready. I ran 8.2 miles two days ago (thanks, phone GPS) at my own leisurely pace and found it surprisingly bearable. I only stopped because I got hungry. That was, however, with quite a few random stops to enjoy the scenery and pet random dogs, so I need to up my game a little, maybe even use a performance-enhancing montage.

While I was on that run, I went up to Llanishen reservoir, sneaked through a fence and ran around there. It's quite eerie, but very beautiful and calm. Some kids were swimming in it, presumably unaware of the fact that reservoirs have a big plughole-type-thing at the bottom that can suck you down and turn you into a beverage. I admire their adventurous spirits, and I hope I don't end up drinking one of them. Next time I'll take a picture and post it!

Until next time, folks!

Rob


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