Over a seven-year period the human body regenerates every single one of its cells. Biologically, this is awesome. Not perfect - the cells don't get younger and better, they get slightly wonky and old and grey and stuff - but pretty awesome nonetheless. Philosophically, it means we are different humans from the ones we were seven years ago.

In January 2003 I was 29, overweight, lost at sea and studying Computer Science. That is also when I started this blog. At various times it's been an outlet, a whinge post and a vat of self-pity. Sometimes I've had good news to report, other times not. Since I started this blog I've gone from:
- wannabe programmer to
- bored literary genius in the English department to
- enthused amateur actor to
- drama student in England to
- 'professional actor' (i.e. semi-unemployed and chasing a dream) to
- almost-full-time-teacher and much-closer-to-professional comedian to
- semi-retired comedian and promising almost-young author.
Looking at it now that's nearly one direction change per year. Not half bad, that.

However, the times they are a-changing. And so I would like to point you towards the third and final of my July projects. I've finished the manuscript; I've sent in the essay - and now I've also completed the homepage*. This will most likely mean that I will stop posting whingey rambles on this page. I will keep an eye out for my strange and wonderful internet friends - the delightfully furious deathboy, the painfully erudite badbookworm, the rampaging kellinator, the Ninja Linguist (possibly Ninguist) and all the rest of youse - and I hope you pop over to my homepage**, leave comments and generally poke about in a pleased and pleasant fashion.

So long, Livejournal. It's been very good indeed.


* And no, I didn't. It's a wordpress page that I've tweaked and banged into submission with the help of Viðar Másson and Jón Hnefill Jakobsson.
** where I'll party like it's 1999. I feel embarrassingly good/settled/grown up about this.

So, how are you feeling?: accomplished

and against most logical predictions I've actually gotten stuff done this July.

Most notably my manuscript - fully proofread, tuned and tweaked and off to be looked at by real professionals what publish books and that.

Significantly, I've also finished the first draft of a BA thesis which did not weigh in at more than 25 pages - but the appendixes made up a further 540ish (no joke) so I figure they won't mark me down too hard on length.

I'm a bit stuck on the third project through no fault of my own. This will hopefully come good this week - but that's not crucial. Work, as they say, is ongoing.

It's all shaping up rather nicely for my beloved brother to arrive from Spain and spend a couple of days loafing about, seeing comedy, possibly some theatre and generally being smart'n clever'n shit. I am tentatively calling that my 'vacation'.

Oh, and it seems I'm going to Japan in late September with the Lady. This still blows my mind and seems only moderately real, but there you go. I shall update later.

So, how are you feeling?: accomplished

I'm unemployed.

Okay, it's supposed to be a 'vacation', I've got 'plans' and I'm technically doing and finishing 'stuff' but that's all fairly dreamy and hope-y and nothing to hang the old hat on, as it were. The long and the short of it? I'm not working. What I *am* doing, though, is looking for a job. I say that; I'm on various job sites, they send me emails, I scan the emails and apply for anything I might be remotely qualified for doing.

Apparently, the 'current climate' is such that this puts me in the select position of being one of 270 people applying for every single position on the job market. Yay. The end result of this? 100+ jobs applied for, 4 interviews, no callbacks, no job.

It's vitriol time. Why? Because it's ( good for the circulation )

So, how are you feeling?: venting

I don't know why, but the stars seem to have aligned in the position of 'meh' today. It might be the pointlessness of jobsearchness. Just keep swimming, said the sentient goldfish. Horseness is and remains the whatness of allhorse.

So, how are you feeling?: meh

To the Café of Writing Writingness.

Only - this time it's with a twist!

I - shall be trying - a NEW café.

I'll give you some time to stand back up, shall I?

In the meantime, I'm off. The temptations of the Internet are too copious. In the words of the master:

"As the siren tears the night in half, someone lost his wallet -
arh - surveillance of assailance, if that's what you wanna call it."

So, how are you feeling?: calm
What's that racket?!: Tom Waits - Small Change

Right - Swords of Good Men has now left the building in two directions with what shape up to be final corrections. That thing will now not be touched* for a while. Work on thesis resumes tomorrow; ship-out date to instructor should be roughly 'this week'. At which time it's time for me to continue the Supar Sekrit Project and then also write stuff. **

*unless you're a publisher and you're waving money. Or asking super-nicely.
** I may have said most of this in the previous entry.

So, how are you feeling?: sleepy

For a given value of 'down', two are down with one to go. This is better than I hoped for mid-July. The way this is going I'm positioning myself to be able to take a summer holiday when my beloved brother pops'is hairy head 'round for the start of August, write like a whirling dervish for most of August (oh, I have a few ideas kicking about) and go into the autumn with gusto.

The two that are 'down' are:
1) The Swords manuscript. Reader comments have been incorporated; it is now sitting on my parents' desk waiting to be sanity-checked before it gets bounced off to the agent.
2) BA Thesis. First draft finished today; I'm leaving it over the weekend before starting a bit of revision, then the blessed thing will be sent off to my instructor. Note a pattern here: Snorri finishes things and sends them off. This is quite clever, because it means that while I'm waiting for people I'm also finishing things. Took me a while to work that one out.

The one that isn't... isn't, and will remain anonymous until it's time for it not to be.

To celebrate I'm roasting chicken, and will be experimenting with sauce to go alongside it.

So, how are you feeling?: good

In my fledgling Twittery, I saw one by Neil Gaiman where he said he'd found out he wrote like Stephen King and J.R.R. Tolkien by putting in two chunks of his writing into this website. Could I resist? Of course not.

Apparently, I write like Dan Brown, Rudyard Kipling and H.P. Lovecraft.

While this amused me a couple of minutes ago, now I'm thinking "...bloody hell! I'd so read that!".

In related news, my last dream before waking up was of being a teacher losing control of a class, then rushing into it to find it was being set to rights by Captain Kirk and Spock doing a lecture on the origin of the species. Oh, and I was Indiana Jones.

The rest of the day will be spent trying to figure out what other dog-and-pony tricks I can make my brain perform.

So, how are you feeling?: amused

Yep - I tightened it up all right. The project what I'd been struggling with went from 70% to 92% finished, for a given value of finished. It's amazing how work can bog you down and how actually doing it is so endlessly better than running from it. So now I'm a bit more relaxed and within more of a shout of finishing my self-imposed deadlines for July, which makes me much more agreeable. There's still work to be done, but it's progressing.
We like progressing.

So, how are you feeling?: accomplished
What's that racket?!: Suzanne Vega - Luka

Here's my problem.

Through hard work and sometimes a fairly ludicrous workload I've saved up enough money to actually be able to afford being unemployed for two months. Some people call this a 'vacation'. This means that for July and August I am technically my own boss.

The good: I've actually gotten a little bit done on the three projects I've set myself. I watched and enjoyed the World Cup. I've had friends over for food and generally enjoyed being a man of leisure.
The bad: I've not managed to summon up the energy to exercise as I wanted/intended, and I've played way too much World of Warcraft.
The ugly: I've spent whole days sitting down and found it bloody hard to get to bed at a sensible hour when The Lady is off touring*. Also, it's 10:14 at the time of writing and I'm still in my dressing gown.

I reckon it's about time to firm this up somewhat.

* I kid you not - this just occurred to me: maybe those two things are connected? I am an idiot.

So, how are you feeling?: determined

Whoosh, I say!

Exciting times.

I got up at 8ish today, did 3 hours' work and rediscovered my stubborn side. What this means is that the Grand Unveiling of project #2 on the July Agenda inches closer. There are but two hills left to climb - they're a bit steep though, so we'll see how it goes.

Project #3 has been largely ignored, though. This might get addressed after (exceedingly) modest exercise, shower, lunch and the putting on of some semi-civilized clothes.

Maybe.

So, how are you feeling?: accomplished

Hronk gurble braaaargh snip snip snip bjooooof.

That is all.

So, how are you feeling?: contemplative

Slowly but surely things get ticked off The List.

Project #1 has reached ship-out status.
Project #2 is underway.
Project #3 is about 75% finished, for a given value of 'finished'.

Progress, Captain Birlov! Progress!

So, how are you feeling?: cheerful
What's that racket?!: Sting - We work the black seam together

Maybe it is time to leave the house and be on the Outside for a little bit, for the first time since... Monday? I'm not entirely sure. It is *way* too nice to stay in this flat, it must be said. Way too nice. It is also HOT in Outside-land. But on the flipside, the bin is ripening at a rapid pace (there's fish heads in there) so action must be taken.

I'm off.

And so are the fish heads.

(as president of Snorri Enterprises) is off to a flying start.

Gentle exercise, sensible breakfast, some work dealt with and sent to the world, some larking about and now more work. Ipod on random, summer outside. Planned breaks for the two world cup games; some outside time as well.

So far so very very good.

So, how are you feeling?: cheerful
What's that racket?!: Some nice electronic chill stuff.

Upstairs, in number 21, there's a man. He has a large drill. It is a drill he likes to use when he's not using his hammer. He´s been using his drill for three or four weeks now. When he uses his drill it makes a sound that makes me feel like I'm inside a tooth that's being drilled by a dentist whose seventy thousand dentist friends stand behind him playing vuvuzelas. It is not a nice sound.

I am on summer holiday now. I have a nice flat. If the man upstairs continues doing what he's doing I will not be able to do any work in my nice flat.

This makes me sad.

*edit* Captain Drillotron has been mostly quiet today, which is unsaddening. I shall have to stop being whingey today :). Soon to come - an organimazational post detailing how I shall use the coming vacation time to TAKE OVER THE WORLD MUHAHA. I reckon I'll go with Monday for that one. Baii!

So, how are you feeling?: sad

It's approximately ONE MILLION DEGREES in London today. This does not combine all too well with me doing brain-related work.

But it's gonna happen anyway.

I'm slowly but surely getting back to asskicking mode, I think. I also think that the more I repeat that on a nonsensical blog, the more likely it is to happen. Which is neither here nor there, but what have you.

Onwards!

So, how are you feeling?: hot

Work is getting done in a more or less major way. Slowly but surely rhythm is getting rediscovered, and I'm getting excited. Finishing things really is a major kick. I've even been a wee bit domestick - getting stuff for the house to surprise The Lady for her return tomorrow. This is all v. v. good, and we like.

Generally, things are good at Planet Snorri.

So, how are you feeling?: productive
What's that racket?!: Sting - Children's Crusade [live]

Still pootling along. Work gets done - too slowly for my liking, but it still gets a little bit done. Plans are on the horizon. Jobs are not. I run out of my present job in 10 days and am then technically, literally and physically unemployed for two months. In a surprise twist I've actually done the math and can afford to - just - stay like that until school starts again (hopefully). I'm not taking a show to Edinburgh which may leave me with time to see to other things and I've made up a makeshift "working day" of stuff that I can do with my time while I remain unemployed to aid in the whole getting a writing career going thing.

So, y'know. Things are progressing, after a fashion.

It's still been a bit of an up-and-down month. My brain has, while maybe not actively convincing me that the moon is made of cheese, been slightly on the telling porky pies side. I've been a bit wobbly, high-strung, needy and whatnot. Less than optimal, shall we say. I suspect that My First Rejection (like My First Pony, but less fun) stung me more than I care to admit, and the novel has thus consequently gotten a little bit of a millstone-round-the-neck type feel to it. It doesn't help in that respect that I've decided to do this freelance job first, then finish my blessed thesis before I can actually deal with the manuscript, finish it and push it to sea once more. I keep battling the Tiny Wyvern of Wishful Thinking (I believe the kids' book will be discussed informally over lunch with some high-and-mighty children's publisher this week, for example) and holding it to an uneasy draw.

Ech.

It's just stressful, is all. And I'm boring myself with this whingeing by now, so I cannot imagine how you feel. On the bright side one of the tasks set for the summer is to rebuild my homepage. When that happens most of my writing efforts will be focused on putting up things what I can show people on there in a writer's portfolio-type fashion, so maybe that will bring an end to the occasional whinge bursts over here.

Now for some more browsing.

Tutuloo!

So, how are you feeling?: lazy

Exhausted; typing this from a Coffee Republic in Oxford. I am overseeing (or not, as it were) kids on a s school trip. They're also exhausted. However, they're doing a drama workshop. I'm not.

On a related note, I seem to have lost touch somewhat with my badass self. I just can't seem to find the energy anymore - I've just been all happy and normal and settled in the flat and working one job (which means not working on my thesis, freelance work or manuscripts) and watching tv and stuff. I'm not entirely sure what to make of this, but I'd like it to stop and my superhuman self to return. My conclusion is that personal space and comfort are not conducive to lots of work. Ah well - maybe it will all change when I get home on Friday.
It's a good thing there's no quintessentially required male viewing sports event about to hit the television screens.

...*sigh*.

I am also failing spectacularly in finding a job for July and August. I kind of want to pretend I can finish off the freelancing / thesis / manuscripts in that time, but that would leave me with precious little money for the annoying details in life, like "rent". But fuckit - we'll see. 12 minutes ago I applied for a copywriting job and offered them two weeks for free.

It's rough out there, blood.

Now internetting shall cease, and re-attacking a job shall commence.

So, how are you feeling?: tired

Zooming around in my head. Knocking on doors, hurtling down brain corridors, scribbling frantically with a pen knife on an old wooden desk.

I am getting to the point where I seriously need to FINISH the things that are hanging over me and write something NEW, dag-nabit.

At the moment, here's what I am waiting on:

1) Viking book. Currently being considered by a publishing house.
2) Kids' book. Currently awaiting review by me, strategy input by agent and then translation.
3) BA thesis. Currently hingeing on me getting my thumb out and starting to kick a little bit of time-using arse. It's gone quite fast - it will go faster. At page 5/30 at the moment.

Awaiting attention:

1) A new play I've been working on - handwriting, no less. How retro, eh?
2) A new kids'book. Embryonic, but ideas are there somewhere and keep popping up.
3) A new book about my vikings. For this I've done a bit of research, found a nice juicy villain and thought a lot about random things.
4) A modern adventure novel about chaos. This is an 8 year old idea which has been lurking like a crocodile in a really big persian rug at the back of my head.

Added to that is a raft of 'short' ideas.

Now all I need is a little time, and for some people to start getting back to me about things.

So, how are you feeling?: creative

I have a plan.
It's not a particularly clever plan, but it is a plan.
Now I just need to find a couple of targets.

So, how are you feeling?: focused

...surely means honing in on experiences and exploring their every nook and cranny, dusting off and peering into each crevice and leaving no stone un-turned. It's a worthwhile pursuit, this - and one which I can proudly say I'm undertaking.

Because for the last 2 weeks or so I have not had internet access at home, and I very much feel like I'm nearing the absolute and full understanding of that experience. Now I'd like it to stop. The doltish engineery people said they'd send us a letter (possibly with internety connecty equipment). This has not arrived. They said they'd come over on Wednesday, so I took a day off work. They did not arrive. On Tuesday I got a job interview - for the two days I had to research I printed out wikipedia entries and read them at home. What's this? The 90's? Sheesh.

Oh, and I'm typing this at McDonalds, which has free WiFi.

*theatrical, swooning sigh*

Apart from that, life's all right. I'm more or less solvent, the new flat is comfy and feels very much like home and I'm relatively healthy if still scarily unfit. Now I'm waiting on the job people to get back to me, along with the publishers. I'm getting marginally better at pushing things away and not thinking about them, which is good. In my immediate future is a trip to a shop to purchase a birthday present, and then a trip to Brighton to see the show what The Lady is working on.

There's general dust-settling going on, I think - soon there will be time to crack knuckles and do sorting out of things.

So, how are you feeling?: calm

I figure I'm gonna have to link this.

So, how are you feeling?: Literally restrained

and the new flat just happens to be Made Of Awesome.

There's space. Oh, the space. There's even separate rooms'n shit. Me and the Lady are cavorting freely in the spaceness of the spacity of it all, delighting in calling eachother from different rooms and generally having a wail of a time.

Also, it doesn't look like it's going to fiscally SKIN ME ALIVE - it'll be a tad pricier than the other one, but not an awful lot. Which segues nicely into the Big Job Search - which is ongoing. I've kind of narrowed it down to copywriting - it's writing, which I can do and have some experience/credits in. Having spent a fair bit of time faffing about and applying to random things I find I'm at a junction where I can pursue it a little bit and answer questions like "how the hell does one "get into" copywriting?". All ideas are well received.

However, any serious job search will have to wait a tad. I'm internetless at Number 19, and will continue to be so for at least a week. That does suck a fair amount of balls, but hey ho - summer is around the corner, I've got a new flat and I simply cannot find it in myself to grump. Which is very close to being a first.

And on that note I'm going to hop-skip-and-jump to the place where the train takes me to the place where the bus takes me home.

Byeeee.

So, how are you feeling?: content