Escape to Veneto

A great few weeks have passed - packed with fun stuff, good times and cool things. I'm not in the mood to waffle on, so here's a bit of a round-up:

First things first - a very happy birthday to my old muckers Matt and Mark (who were born a day apart). Sorry I couldn't be there to share the celebrations, but we'll make up for it soon. 

A long awaited and much needed week away came around for C and I. Having left booking to the very last minute we headed off to Veneto in Italy. Based in Lide di Jesolo, just around the lagoon from Venice, we had a top week of relaxing and doing stuff. Lido is without doubt the largest 'resort' I have ever seen - 17km long with a main strip just as long parallel to the beach. Not really our sort of thing, but a decent enough base to explore the region. One good thing is that Lido is where the Italians tend to go for their hols, so it was relaxed and lacking in drunk Brits. The food was amazing too and we met some cool people plus quickly scoped out the only bars with live bands worth a mention. On our travels we went to Venice (amazing place - love it), Verona and Lake Garda (both equally beautiful) - all brilliant. Felt recharged, a stone heavier and ready to face the world again. Look a load of photos and videos. 

Read a brilliant book whilst away - 'Once while travelling' by Tony Wheeler. In a nutshell it's the Lonely Planet story about how Tony and his missus Maureen travelled across Europe and Asia to Oz in the early 70s on very little before there was any sort of travel infrastructure, wrote a guide on how to do it...then went from there. A fascinating read and made me inspired, but green with envy and wanting to go travelling again...one day. On the subject - Bon Voyage to John and Rhainnon who are about to embark on a year long trip of a life time - be safe guys, take every opportunity, enjoy every moment and be good ambassadors for Yorkshire!

On our return we celebrated C's 30th in boozy style down at The Holy Drinker on Northcote Road - very long, happy, boozy night and cool to catch up with so many people. C was a happy bunny (though slightly and temporarily stunned by leaving her 20s behind)! A fairly hellish week back at work followed for both of us, punctuated by seeing Bloc Party - my anniversary present to C. Good gig - they played well, though not sure about the new songs. I wasn't on form at all and didn't really get into it - sorry C! 

So that's up to date. A great weekend beckons which I will no doubt blog when the mood takes me - apologies for laziness in advance. I want to write things more meaningful, than just a round up of my daily bobbins, but at the very least this will be a diary I look back on to remember such bobbins. Feeling a bit out of sorts again at the moment and disillusioned by things - the bigger picture keeps flashing in front of my eyes when I get side tracked and fretted by daily blips. Need to keep focused. Sure it will pass. Oh look, there it goes...

Top tunes recommendations: The new GlasVegas, Mogwai and Kings of Leon albums. The first two are great, the third is effortless genius - I love that band.

For now...

Counting down...

Once again, a few weeks between blogs so here is a bit of a catch-up. Things have been hectic, but good - the weeks are flying by and summer appears to have passed us by with little more than a semi-burn (I blinked and I missed it), but the world keeps turning and I have lots to be thankful for:

A fantastic day two weekends ago was Eddie and Lucy's wedding - What a brilliant, happy day! Lucy used to be a chorister in Bristol Cathedral when she was younger, and as such is permitted to also be married there! It is a very impressive building and it made the day all the more special. The reception was held on the top floor of Bristol's Science Museum - another amazing venue. Met some lovely people; was lucky enough to eat and drink like a king and danced like a tit in a West Country Ceilidh. As with all weddings the day sped by through having much fun, but we all had a great time sharing Lucy and Eddie's special day (they looked so happy) and it brought back fond memories of out wedding nearly a year ago to the day. After a wander around Bristol (and what a lovely city it is) with sore heads we headed back to London, did our chores then set about celebrating our first wedding anniversary:

The first Wedding Anniversary being Paper, C and I read each other's minds and bought tickets as presents - Bloc Party from myself, Billy Elliot from C. We had also put some pennies back and treated ourselves to an amazing slap up feast at our fav. local restaurant Chez Bruce - yum, hic, burp. Sunday was pretty much a write-off, but in the evening we went to see Rock'n'Rolla at the flicks. A return to form for Guy Ritchie, but basically it was more of the same - easy enjoyable viewing.

The week of work that followed was pretty full-on. I feel a 36hr day might just be enough to get on top of all the projects I am involved in, let alone the ad-hoc stuff that takes up most of my day anyway. I am keeping my head about water without much trouble, but some stuff I am barely denting. I can multi-task so well I put some women to shame these days though! My beloved Wacom tablet gave up the ghost after 3.5 years of punishment - I am lost without it these days. Currently writing a business case for a souped-up replacement in a work environment where non-fee earning staff have trouble fighting for investment. Anyway, some good stuff done this week - my Flash work is progressing and I really enjoy the projects. It's been fun to chug out a load of print work for a change, plus my involvement in some Global projects is getting welcome recognition.

Broke the week up on Wednesday by meeting Mark lad after work for our usual noodle dinner, then wandering London chewing the cud, flicking the shutters and larking about. Heather stayed over on Thursday for more of the same - all good fun and cool to spend some quality time with her.

Friday I powered though work then bobbed on the train up home to Harrogate. Popped straight in to DragonDropHQ where Tinanana's birthday was being celebrated. A chilled time sat round the firebin in the backyard chatting, a few beers and having laughs. Nice surprise to see my mucker PaintMonkey there too - lots of lovely catch ups. Saturday heralded a slight return for summer so my folks and I went for a walk in the countryside near Pannal - we picked enough blackberries for mum to make 7 jars of scrummy jam. Dinner with La Familia at Brio's in the evening, then went round to see my old friend Rhiannon who is about to embark on an epic year long round-the-world trip with her hubby Jonn - lucky so-and-so's - have an amazing time guys! Sunday I went to see my dear old Nan, then went to pick up my Godson Felix from cub camp, followed by a GeoCache hunt near Glassehouses with Matt and the kids. Note to self - don't where sandals in the Yorkshire countryside after the wettest summer on record - footwear malfunction! Cool to spend some quality time with my bestest bud and his lovely offspring (Sophie not pictured). A big sorry to Sophie Pie for knocking her head when I lifted her out of the car! :( Matt dropped me off at Leeds Station (I barely recognise the city where I went to Uni anymore). I shared a very enjoyable journey home chatting and sharing a bottle of wine with two seasoned and wise old travellers from Ohio - Pat and Mauren. 

I've been whiling this week away ahead of a much needed break with C (who was at her show at the NEC most of the week). Saw Swervedriver at Scala with Maria and Rus on Wednesday - they've improved with age and were great. Reminded me why I liked them back in the early 90s. All loose ends are now tied up, voicemail and out-of-office activated. Artwork pre-flighted, packaged and deployed. Sites synced. Temp files trashed. Shutdown...wind down...depart...ciao...