Healthy Living

Healthy living feels much easier when the weather's good. I bought up all this good stuff when the sun was shining. I try to be pretty healthy, going running, eating lots of fruit and veg, cycling and all that jazz. Unfortunately I do love a little beer now and then, which is not so healthy. Just a little one though, honest.

Date Night

Ha ha, oh dear! Haven't been looking forward to this one. I'm saying NOWT and retaining my dignity.

Here's a lovely date-based smoothie I made this morning instead:

Almond milk, frozen banana, dried pitted dates, coconut oil and almond butter. PUCKER UP!

(All proposals of marriage will be considered, but not necessarily accepted)

Out of the Comfort Zone

I spend quite a lot of time thinking about how to push myself and to find new challenges. A good exercise from Philippa Perry's excellent book, 'How to Stay Sane' is based around this idea.

"The Comfort Zone Exercise is straightforward. Get a large piece of plain paper and draw a circle in the middle. Inside the circle write examples of activities that you feel completely comfortable doing. Around the edge of the circle write down examples of activities that you can do but that you have to push yourself a little bit to do - those activities that may make you nervous in some way, but not so much as to stop you doing them. In the next band write activities that you like to do but find it difficult to get up the courage to do. Draw another circle around this ring of activities. After that write down those things you are far too scared to try but would like to do. You can create as many circles as you like. The point of the Comfort Zone Exercise is for you to consider what you are comfortable with and what you are not, and then to experiment with expanding your area of comfort. "

Here's one of mine from November last year:

Check me out, I achieved a goal! I did a Pecha Kucha talk a couple of months ago. I was pretty nervous getting up to talk in front of a room full of people, but afterwards I felt great and I think it went well! There is a video here, if you want to see me being exuberant about support networks (and probably saying 'support networks' about 20 times). It's a great night and lots of fun whether you want to do a presentation or not. The next one is on Thursday 29th May at Manchester Art Gallery, book your free ticket here, the theme is Time, should be a good 'un!

This is my most recent comfort zone exercise:

I made a start on pushing my geometric drawings on by experimenting with scale on the wall in my back yard yesterday.

 Had to improvise a bit with circles and straight lines! Drew round my garden table, various pan lids and used my clothes dryer as a ruler.

 My toes are in shot here for sense of scale.

A decent start. The wall isn't in great shape, in fact I'm cleaning and painting it on Friday, hence why I decided to do this little experiment. The drawing needs more definition and is a bit wonky due to my makeshift measuring implements, but I know it works on a larger scale now. I'm off to Draw North West on Tuesday, so hopefully I can talk to someone about possibly being involved in Outhouse then. Onwards, upwards and outwards beyond the comfort zone!

Workspace

I am lucky/greedy enough to have 3 workspaces - my dining room/home office, pictured above in all its messy, colourful glory, my studio at Hot Bed Press and the shop at the Craft Centre.

This is the wall in front of my desk at Hot Bed. Not very inspiring is it?? Need to pop some posters of my favourite hunks up, should get the ideas egg grooving.

This is the print room downstairs from my studio. It's rad. I'm planning on getting stuck into some printing next week. The problem I am a little disorganised, so it's easy for me to get sidetracked. This morning, for instance, I am sitting here in my pyjamas, writing this blog and no doubt I'll answer some emails in a bit, which eats into the time I should be spending at Hot Bed. My computer is here, it's hard to leave this guy. I am good at being disciplined sometimes, but other times I AM NOT.

Various items being made in the Craft Centre. Badges, bibs, baby wear.

 Treats for sale in the shop.

How do you stay focused? Come on, I need some help here!

Being Adventurous

This is a little illustration I'm thinking of making into Risograph printed posters.

I am a notoriously keen and intrepid adventurer. I like to be outside as much as possible, it's so good for the soul. I am the founder member of both The Nell's Angels and Adventure Club, dontcha know. I've done quite a bit of travelling and would love to do more in the future, Scandinavia is high on the list, and Russia too, the trans-Siberian railway is very appealing to me, I love trains…so many places I want to see and experience. I had a more modest micro-adventure yesterday though, I wanted to make the most of the sunny weather and felt I deserved a Monday off after working Saturday and running hard on Sunday. So off I went on Gino, my trusty steed, down the Transpennine Trail and Bridgewater canal. Just the thing to give the legs a stretch.

Transpennine trail.

Bridewater Canal, looking brilliantly British.

 Feeling rad in Rapha.

 Barefoot park times. Post mint Magnum.

Let's take this outside.

The rhododendrons were looking glorious.

Although I would like to see more of the world, I really love Britain and have many adventures brewing in my heart. I'd like to complete LEJOG, the CTC, take my bike to the Isle of Wight and cycle around the island, go to Brighton, Glasgow, go puffin spotting on the Farne Islands...you see the list of fun is never done. I'd also like to do a residency here or abroad, I need to get myself sorted and start applying for these things, otherwise nothing will happen! 

Best thing about being an adult

I missed yesterday's post as I was busy doing the following: running a personal best 10k in terrible heat, hanging out in Chorlton meadows watching some filming, drinking free beers, eating sausage rolls in the sun and arguing with idiots. My time was 51:32, should you care about such things.

That is a weresquirrel.

Anyway, as I was lounging around reading comics, drinking beer and eating pizza whilst pondering this question the other day, I realised that the best thing about being an adult is that I basically get to act like a teenage boy and there's NOTHING ANYONE CAN DO TO STOP ME!

A load of free beers.

Favourite Decade

Ah, it has to be the nineties! Strutting around the mean streets of Darlo with a Chelsea skinhead, being in a band, going to my first festival (Reading '97), leaving school, discovering new music all the time, hanging with skater boys, riding a yellow BMX to college and getting tattoos of questionable quality. Good lord. I'm pretty glad there aren't too many photos around of me with that haircut, actually. My main crushes were Wil Wheaton, Eddie Vedder and Tank Girl.

Love you forever, Eddie. Saw some pretty hilarious fan art when searching for this pic.