My computer was covered in grubby finger marks today; not because my two lovely nieces (who are 5 and 6 years old) had been playing Rogue Legacy and Minecraft on it but instead because my mother decided to see if my iMac was touch screen. It’s not. It still wasn’t when she came back and prodded it a few hours later. This is what I have to put up with at family gatherings.
I’m writing this quickly because I don’t know how long the Internet connection will last. It went off for several hours earlier because of the bad weather and although it’s back now, the house is shaking in the high wind and the interior doors keep opening due to the draughts. The house is Victorian and although we have done our best to make sure it is properly insulated and all the draughts are dealt with, there is still a through wind. I’m pretty sure at this point that when I come to press “Publish” to send this missive into the ether, I will find the ‘net connection has gone again.
It’s new year, that time when we all declare “I’m not drinking any more!” and then last a couple of days at most. Well okay, not all of us. I rarely drink alcohol these days, only doing so on special occasions, and have planned to stop altogether again because I’m convinced it’s making my lupus worse. As a result, that’s one of my resolutions. It’s lasted a day so far, despite a few people asking if I want to help them “finish off the New Year wine”. No, thanks. I had a couple of glasses while we saw in the new year and when I woke up this morning, I had a fever and the largest lupus-related bruises I’ve ever had. A glass of wine is not worth that.
I’ve already mentioned my resolutions because I chose them in December. To summarise, they are: 1. Finish writing the first drafts of Forged in Blood, Curse of the Other World, The Eagle and Spellhacker. That resolution is going well so far. 2. Brush up on Japanese and Norwegian. I’ve not had a lot of time to devote to that one since I made it but I am getting better with the kana, so that’s a good start. 3. Make more films. Not had time to film yet, but some of the scripts are shaping up, and 4. Learn to program in C++.
When I wrote that resolutions post, I had not decided which language I would go for, C or C++. I’ve decided on C++, mostly because I have a few books on it already, so they may as well get some use. I’m looking forward to giving this a go. I’ve already written the obligatory “Hello world” program, following a free online tutorial (although I did modify it to say “Good morning, Dave” instead of “Hello world”, because I am a colossal nerd) so that’s a start, I suppose.
This coming year has a lot to look forward to in it. I’m standing for election again in May, for Bolton council in the Westhoughton North and Chew Moor ward. There’s a General Election to help fight. There’s a lot of work still to be done on LGBT matters, mental health matters and a load of other issues I’m passionate about. Politically, it’s going to be a great year with a lot of hard work to be done. I’m looking forward to it.
No doubt there will be a lot of other things to look forward to as well but for now, I’m preparing for a long, hard campaign both in Westhoughton and in Bolton as a whole because I’m intending to throw myself headlong into the General Election campaign to get some Conservatives elected to Parliament in Bolton. That should keep me occupied until May, which is good enough to be getting on with. For the moment however, the weather is getting worse so I’m going to sign off now in the hope that I get this uploaded before the Internet drops out again.
So I’ll leave you with hope that 2015 is a good year for you. All the best!