It's like an "about" page, just called Elsewhere.

Mostly walking the dogs

There is nothing more untrue than the memes of there is nothing more wholesome than the dad that didn't want a dog, but ended up loving it anyway. What actually happens is the rest of the family soon get bored of the new animal and the dad has to look after it for the rest of the years.

Push

Push, push, push. Skateboarding is something I wasn't particularly good at, certainly struggled at, but had so much fun it didn't matter. Passion makes up for ability in droves. Skateboarding was a big-ish part of my life right from my pre-teenage years, up until a good few years after Uni (with the obligatory few wilderness years inbetween at Uni when I couldn't afford it) when being a grown-up and responsible family man stopped it dead. Such is life. However, self propulsion was soon to pop up again, swapping four wheels for two. Cycling, which although has always "been there", has only recently become a "thing"; we had to move house and I ended up nineteen miles from work. When you are commuting that distance back and forth everyday, cycling quickly becomes a "thing". And then, since cycle commuting came to an end, I wasn't allowed to get fat, and fancied a change, I decided to take up running (which is still, most definitely, pushing with your feet).

Program

I can't say I was geeky computer loving child, so this is a relatively newer thing for me. Yeah I had some Usborne programming books and would have attempted to do some programming on the old Plus 4, but I pretty much would have got frustrated and gone outside and done something else instead. But with hindsight I wish I'd done this at Uni, although I didn't know I liked it at the time, so I can't blame myself too much. I have to say I completely regret studying what I did at Uni. It was a "makes sense on paper" decision, fuelled by not knowing what I wanted to do, but with a opportunity to seemingly combine all the things I did enjoy (maths, science and design) in a "sensible" career. If I'd just picked one of those things - any one - it would have probably turned out better. Anyway, is that kind of relevant, or have I just gone off on a rant? I was going to say "one thing it did do, was lead me into programming", but I'm not overly sure it did. Anyway, again, yeah - programming.

Picture

I've always liked making pictures. When I was a teenager it was with pens and pencils. Looking back at those pictures I wouldn't say I was particularly talented (at all!), but I did at least have the balls to have a go and not worry about what other people thought. Unfortunately I lost the way a bit at university and concentrated far too much on technical skills, never really worrying about my creative drawing ability and always assuming it was something I could pick right back up. By the time I realised that wasn't the case it was too late - my skills had gone downhill, but far worse after all that time apart my passion had waned. After Uni I had a ball making moving pictures. It was only for a couple of years, but I discovered I had a love for video editing. Learning and using Apple Motion and Final Cut Express were probably the most fun things I've ever done on a computer. However, the equipment costs, even on a most basic level (I never moved beyond a basic miniDV camera), were just not sustainable and so I was forced to leave that hobby behind. After a couple of years in the wilderness I decided to switch to photography, realising that I could get a film SLR kit for £13 since everyone had gone digital (which is perverse as when I was into video I always fancied getting a cine camera, but couldn't because of the cost). Turns out I love photography too. And that should be the end of story. I should just be merrily making pictures with camera in hand, but it seems that my love is not quite enough...