'Concrete elephants', by me via Flickr

It is an amazingly sunny day today with hardly any wind. I’m not keen on days without wind but with lots of sunshine because the heat rises quite rapidly, making me feel sick. Nevertheless, the sunlight in general is very much welcome. It lets me take wonderful photographs like the one to the left.

It’s amazing to think that I am already on day 50 of the 365 Days of Photography challenge. I seems like I only started this a couple of weeks ago. It is also good to see that the challenge is serving its primary purpose; namely to help improve my photography skills.

I am now very much more aware of the weight of an image, how it is balance and what the overall composition is like. I think I have a better understanding of ISO settings, how colour affects the feel of an image, and the general points to look out for when setting up a shot.

Now if I could only remember to keep my fingers out of the way of the lens when I press the button to take a photograph, I will be very happy indeed! Keen-eyed readers will spot that today’s image is cropped slightly. Now you know why.

Jenny and I went sailing earlier this week (her blog about the day can be found here. I opted instead for a video). I have never sailed before but I am glad we went because it was amazing. We almost capsized shortly after setting off, thanks to a sudden and very powerful gust of wind, but I’m happy to say her sailing skills and my memory of windsurfing combined to save us. She let out the sails and did some other things while I leaned as far out of the boat as I could, shifting its centre of gravity as far over to the side that was coming out of the water as I could (which anyone who looks at some pictures of windsurfers will see happens quite a lot).

Although my feet froze and it was very difficult to thaw them out because of the high wind chilling them again (Raynaud’s is a horrible condition for anyone who fancies doing any kind of outdoor pursuit) I did eventually stop being an ice cube so we could go out again. It was even better the second time because I knew a little more about what I was supposed to be doing. Maybe next time I can try steering the boat; which would be fun.

I don’t know what has gone wrong with regard to the poetry challenge. I have four poems that have not appeared on the website, so I will have to sort that out later today. I am up to my eyeballs in work during the rest of today so I can’t get to it just now but rest assured, you will be exposed to more of my poems at some point!

Like the photography challenge, this April Poetry Month is a great way of developing skills. I am really enjoying it and it seems everyone else who is taking part is also enjoying it; which is fantastic. It doesn’t matter how good or bad you think your poems are, the point is that you are writing poetry and therefore developing your skills as a poet. That, to me, is a great thing.

Anyway, this is getting very long now. I should get back to work, otherwise I will end up working well into the night; which I don’t want to do. Tomorrow I’m drawing lots of comics for next week so we can get The Life of Nob T. Mouse and All over the house back on schedule. If all goes to plan, Ink Proof Cannon will be back on Monday too. If that happens, I will be thrilled. It has been on hiatus for too long!

See you later!

Hall I'th Wood

Today has been a day of sitting around, revising law. I have an assignment due on Wednesday so I really need to get to grips with this. Like all of this year’s course, the assignment is on the broad topic of the law of ownership and trusteeship. It may sound a bit of a dull subject to some people but I am really enjoying it.

That’s not to say I don’t enjoy a break or two here and there, of course. It was such a nice day today that I decided a walk out would be a good way of clearing the cobwebs from the old brain (what an image that conjures up), so I went for a walk down to the Hall in the Wood, which gives the Hall I’th Wood area of Bolton its name. It’s not a long walk and in good sunshine it’s quite a pleasant trip.

I took a few photographs while I was there, including two 360 degree panoramic photos: one of the front of the hall, and the other from the rear. They are quite fun, even if some bits don’t quite line up right.

It just struck me that in all the time I have lived here, I have never seen the hall open to the public. That’s quite sad, really.

Before I went out, I recorded a short video on my second channel; which I use for general vlogging (in contrast to my main channel, which is more for humour and general entertainment videos). The video is about the tune I had stuck in my head, plus my attempts to get it down on GarageBand in the hope that I could find out where I heard it from. So far, nobody can place it. Maybe it’s a new composition? I’ll link the video below. Maybe you know where it’s from?

'Garden pond waterfall', by me on Flickr

Today is the thirtieth day of the 365 Days of Photography challenge I am currently undertaking. It is amazing to think that a month has passed already. I don’t know where it went.

Although it is amazing how quickly time flies, it is also infuriating because it reminds me that when I have a day like today, where I am having a really hard time getting motivated, I am losing precious time. I had a couple of setbacks earlier in the week that mean I haven’t reached my target for writing yet. As a result, I have to work today; which is not my preferred option.

I need the time to work on my comics and also on my law course. The first assignment is due in two-and-a-half weeks. I can’t afford low motivation days!

Still, fretting over it won’t help. I’ll just have to knuckle down and get the work done. If I work really hard I can probably get caught up in four or five hours but if I can’t it will take longer. I don’t want it to take longer, I want it done!

That’s the problem with being self-employed, I suppose. There is only me here to kick me up the backside when I need to get moving. Still, it beats walking the streets in the rain like I used to when I did door-to-door sales. Thank goodness for small mercies.

Oh, as a final thing, if you are wondering where that photo was taken I can tell you: it is the waterfall in my parent’s garden. I took it when I last visited them and enhanced the colour to give it a more tropical feel.