Updates on here seem to be a bit sporadic again, but I've been continuing to find my way around Twitter.
In fact, I'm so impressed with it that I've decided to give up Facebook for Lent this year and all of the annoyances that go along with it. I'd expected it to be much more of a challenge to ignore it completely over the last few days, but now I'm thinking it may become a longer term decision.
However, as much fun as micro blogging is, I can't always say what I'd like within my 140 character per tweet allocation, so I still have every intention of keeping this blog going.
Oh and on the subject of updating blogs, I thought it was about time I posted something new on the other one...
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Enough to make your eyes water...
I can't say I'd been particularly looking forward today. I don't like hospitals at the best of times and this time I wasn't just there in visitor capacity.
You may recall that during my eye test last month, they spotted a "mysterious shadow" behind my right eye and decided it needed further investigation. Even with the aid of the detailed photos, my GP (or rather, his stand-in) was unable to make a confident diagnosis and referred me to the eye specialist at our local hospital.
Having been forewarned that I would be ill-advised to drive, I made my way down there this afternoon by taxi. Unpredictably, the taxi rolled up a couple of minutes after I called which meant I arrived well before the "no longer than 10 minutes before your appointment" sternly stated on my letter. A cup of filthy hot water vaguely disguised as coffee helped pass the time.
After a brief conversation with the grumpy receptionist who told me she didn't have me on her list, then mysteriously did, I took a seat and waited.
First was the visual field testing, having to stare at a central light then click a button each time I saw another light flash in my peripheral vision. Quite honestly, it felt like the most important computer game I'd ever played. Then back to the waiting room. To wait, obviously.
Next up, the vision text. No surprises there, reading letters from a chart covering one eye at a time. The nurse telling me that she was going to put drops in my eyes to dilate my pupils was no surprise either. The surprise was her advice that it was likely to make my eyes sting quite nastily for a couple of minutes. Wonder why they don't mention that in the pamphlet? Truth be known, it was no worse than the way your eyes run when chopping onions.
Then back to the waiting room for, you guessed it, more waiting. This time with the added bonus that my sight was slowly going blurred as the drops took effect so I couldn't read anything to pass the time. I refused to stoop so low as to look at the pictures in the Hello magazine perched my the chair.
When the doctor eventually called me through, he asked a few questions, shone some more lights into my seriously dilated pupils then announced I had a choroidal nevus behind my right eye. Thank goodness no-one mentioned those words to me earlier - I Googled it this evening and found it on the website www.eyecancer.com. Now there's a trouser filling URL if ever you read one (and not in a pleasant way).
Fortunately as the site goes on to explain, it is (as my optician originally anticipated) little more than a raised freckle on the reverse of the eye that rarely requires treatment. He wanted to get a better photo of it for future reference (i.e. make sure it doesn't grow) but their camera was out of action today so their "photographer" is going to call me back in.
So another eye-wateringly fun-filled afternoon awaits. But all of that said, I'm more than a little relieved to know that it's nothing serious...
You may recall that during my eye test last month, they spotted a "mysterious shadow" behind my right eye and decided it needed further investigation. Even with the aid of the detailed photos, my GP (or rather, his stand-in) was unable to make a confident diagnosis and referred me to the eye specialist at our local hospital.
Having been forewarned that I would be ill-advised to drive, I made my way down there this afternoon by taxi. Unpredictably, the taxi rolled up a couple of minutes after I called which meant I arrived well before the "no longer than 10 minutes before your appointment" sternly stated on my letter. A cup of filthy hot water vaguely disguised as coffee helped pass the time.
After a brief conversation with the grumpy receptionist who told me she didn't have me on her list, then mysteriously did, I took a seat and waited.
First was the visual field testing, having to stare at a central light then click a button each time I saw another light flash in my peripheral vision. Quite honestly, it felt like the most important computer game I'd ever played. Then back to the waiting room. To wait, obviously.
Next up, the vision text. No surprises there, reading letters from a chart covering one eye at a time. The nurse telling me that she was going to put drops in my eyes to dilate my pupils was no surprise either. The surprise was her advice that it was likely to make my eyes sting quite nastily for a couple of minutes. Wonder why they don't mention that in the pamphlet? Truth be known, it was no worse than the way your eyes run when chopping onions.
Then back to the waiting room for, you guessed it, more waiting. This time with the added bonus that my sight was slowly going blurred as the drops took effect so I couldn't read anything to pass the time. I refused to stoop so low as to look at the pictures in the Hello magazine perched my the chair.
When the doctor eventually called me through, he asked a few questions, shone some more lights into my seriously dilated pupils then announced I had a choroidal nevus behind my right eye. Thank goodness no-one mentioned those words to me earlier - I Googled it this evening and found it on the website www.eyecancer.com. Now there's a trouser filling URL if ever you read one (and not in a pleasant way).
Fortunately as the site goes on to explain, it is (as my optician originally anticipated) little more than a raised freckle on the reverse of the eye that rarely requires treatment. He wanted to get a better photo of it for future reference (i.e. make sure it doesn't grow) but their camera was out of action today so their "photographer" is going to call me back in.
So another eye-wateringly fun-filled afternoon awaits. But all of that said, I'm more than a little relieved to know that it's nothing serious...
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Did you know...
No rant, no wise cracks and no funny remarks this evening.
I was directed to this video this evening via Twitter and I thought it was worth sharing. Certainly makes you stop and think...
I was directed to this video this evening via Twitter and I thought it was worth sharing. Certainly makes you stop and think...
Sunday, February 15, 2009
What are you doing...
No new videos this week I'm afraid as I've been busy trying to make my house look as though somebody actually lives in it before Little Sis and Co arrive later in the week.
On the subject of Little Sis, she had a bit of a rant a few weeks ago about the futility of Facebook sometimes. Now although there were mitigating circumstances behind that particular post that I will not go into, I have to say that to an extent I agree with what she had to say.
I really enjoy being able to see what my friends are up to and it is a convenient way of keeping in touch with people I don't see very often, but there is quite a price to pay in terms of irritation factor.
On so many screens you are constantly told how many of your friends apparently "have a crush on you" and "want to kiss you" or "want to go even further". Then there is the bombardment of futile gifts of virtual hugs, kisses, chocolates, drinks, snowballs, muppets, local landmarks, etc. For each of these you receive, you then feel somehow morally obliged to return the gesture but before you can do so, you need download the application that drives them.
This weekend I finally took a good look at Twitter having heard how many people in the media were "twittering" regularly; Stephen Fry being one good, and I would previously have thought unlikely example. I have to say that it seems to be a much more grown up way of keeping track of what your friends and favourite celebrities are up to without all of the other annoying distractions that Facebook permanently regurgitates in front of you.
Basically, it's a micro blogging site where each post is limited to 140 characters; a limitation that I may well have benefited from during some of my waffles and rants in the past.
For the more adventurous amongst you, there is also a great application called TweetDeck that helps you to organise your tweets more effectively. The only down side I've seen so far is that it can be just as addictive and a drain on your spare time.
So for those that know me in the real world, please sign in and look me up and I'll look forward to twittering with you...
On the subject of Little Sis, she had a bit of a rant a few weeks ago about the futility of Facebook sometimes. Now although there were mitigating circumstances behind that particular post that I will not go into, I have to say that to an extent I agree with what she had to say.
I really enjoy being able to see what my friends are up to and it is a convenient way of keeping in touch with people I don't see very often, but there is quite a price to pay in terms of irritation factor.
On so many screens you are constantly told how many of your friends apparently "have a crush on you" and "want to kiss you" or "want to go even further". Then there is the bombardment of futile gifts of virtual hugs, kisses, chocolates, drinks, snowballs, muppets, local landmarks, etc. For each of these you receive, you then feel somehow morally obliged to return the gesture but before you can do so, you need download the application that drives them.
This weekend I finally took a good look at Twitter having heard how many people in the media were "twittering" regularly; Stephen Fry being one good, and I would previously have thought unlikely example. I have to say that it seems to be a much more grown up way of keeping track of what your friends and favourite celebrities are up to without all of the other annoying distractions that Facebook permanently regurgitates in front of you.
Basically, it's a micro blogging site where each post is limited to 140 characters; a limitation that I may well have benefited from during some of my waffles and rants in the past.
For the more adventurous amongst you, there is also a great application called TweetDeck that helps you to organise your tweets more effectively. The only down side I've seen so far is that it can be just as addictive and a drain on your spare time.
So for those that know me in the real world, please sign in and look me up and I'll look forward to twittering with you...
Monday, February 09, 2009
Strange celebration...
The 2009 get-fit campaign is well under way now although I think it's fair to say that it hadn't exactly been going to plan so far.
With the exception of one pub meal and a few pints a couple of Saturdays ago, I've pretty much stuck to the same diet that worked so well for me last year but the weight didn't seem to want to budge this time.
Each day I'd been ramping up the running machine program but to my horror, it seemed that my weight was actually increasing. Screw that for a laugh, I'm no real fan physical exercise at the best of times, especially if I'm not going to see any benefit from it.
However, persistence seems to have paid off over the last few days as the scales finally started moving in the right direction again and today marks a very special day. Yes folks, today for the first time in at least four years that I know of, I am officially overweight.
Why am I so pleased with this result? Today my BMI dropped to below 30, which apparently means I am now only overweight rather than obese. Now although it would have taken more than a light breeze to carry me off over the tree tops, I've always thought that the term "obese" was a bit harsh.
And if I was a bit miffed, imagine what the apparently obese (according to BMI) Johnny Wilkinson must have thought...
With the exception of one pub meal and a few pints a couple of Saturdays ago, I've pretty much stuck to the same diet that worked so well for me last year but the weight didn't seem to want to budge this time.
Each day I'd been ramping up the running machine program but to my horror, it seemed that my weight was actually increasing. Screw that for a laugh, I'm no real fan physical exercise at the best of times, especially if I'm not going to see any benefit from it.
However, persistence seems to have paid off over the last few days as the scales finally started moving in the right direction again and today marks a very special day. Yes folks, today for the first time in at least four years that I know of, I am officially overweight.
Why am I so pleased with this result? Today my BMI dropped to below 30, which apparently means I am now only overweight rather than obese. Now although it would have taken more than a light breeze to carry me off over the tree tops, I've always thought that the term "obese" was a bit harsh.
And if I was a bit miffed, imagine what the apparently obese (according to BMI) Johnny Wilkinson must have thought...
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Video Vault...
Firstly I'd like to say thank you for all of the kind comments of late regarding the "literal" music videos. They are certainly good fun to put together and I'm glad that others are getting enjoyment from them too.
However, this blog was never really intended for that purpose so I've decided I won't be posting any more of them on here.
The good news is that I've set up a brand new home for them where I can keep them all in one place, along with the other daft little animations I've made along the way. The plan is to keep adding to them there as I hopefully continue finding ideas for new ones.
So please feel free to head on over there now at http://seanysvideos.blogspot.com where, to get the blogwarming party started, there's a brand new one waiting ...
However, this blog was never really intended for that purpose so I've decided I won't be posting any more of them on here.
The good news is that I've set up a brand new home for them where I can keep them all in one place, along with the other daft little animations I've made along the way. The plan is to keep adding to them there as I hopefully continue finding ideas for new ones.
So please feel free to head on over there now at http://seanysvideos.blogspot.com where, to get the blogwarming party started, there's a brand new one waiting ...
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
For no other reason...
While the ideas were still buzzing around in my head, I couldn't resist putting another video together for another of my favourite Queen songs.
Admittedly, this one is shorter than the last and does make use of several images I already had, but it was more of a challenge trying to sync the pictures to the music this time. But hey, what does it matter? It's only supposed to be a bit of fun...
Admittedly, this one is shorter than the last and does make use of several images I already had, but it was more of a challenge trying to sync the pictures to the music this time. But hey, what does it matter? It's only supposed to be a bit of fun...
Sunday, February 01, 2009
By popular request...
Seeing as you asked so nicely (and quite honestly because they are quite good fun to make too) I've given the Seany Silly Video treatment to Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen...
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