Happy 3rd Birthday Ella!
Bit later than intended but at the start of the year I wanted to check in with how I was progressing on my LifeList.
Completed / Done It / Nice One
- Set up my own domain and blog
- Dance badly at a wedding with Ella-Pops
- Go camping somewhere in the UK with the family
- Try my hand at a new sport
- Remove non friends on Facebook
- Ride a Boris Bike
- Go digital on books or music (undecided!)
- Refresh my diving qualification
- Take my godson Max out for the day
- See Arcade Fire live
- Swim the English Channel
11/25 (44%)
Looking back I’m proud of that list thus far. Each one alone doesn’t take that much effort, but in your mid 30s, with one child and a full time job, it’s always about juggling the time. I’ve certainly benefited from the additional focus that something as banal as a list can give me. I can stop myself and ask – “am I making good use of my time?” You might look at the list and decide no (I doubt the Nobel Committee are busy rewriting their winners list), but in every instance I’ve benefitted enormously from the enjoyment that completing these has given me.
Particular highlights include Swimming the English Channel and raising £500 in the process as well as whizzing around London on a blue bike and seeing Nina sleep in a tent with a shaggy dog.
In Progress / Getting There / Easy Does It
- Reach 150 appearances for my football team WIFC
- Attend at least one Olympic event
- See FC Barcelona play live
3/25 (12%)
Three things that I’m confident I’ll achieve in the coming year. Tickets for Barcelona and London are booked, so unless Boris Johnson drops the torch in the Thames, I can tick these off at some point. I’m currently on 140 WIFC appearances and with WorldNet 12 on the horizon I hope to cross that century and a half mark. Probably go and break a leg now…
Not Started / Incomplete / Chop Chop
- Visit at least one new country
- Master a new dish and cook it for my friends
- Save £10k
- Cycle from London to Bath
- Get a letter published (not a blog post)
- Do some volunteer work
- Move house
- Start and finish David Simon’s Homicide
- Get horribly drunk with my Best Man, Steve
- Sleep in or at the very least visit a lighthouse
- Enjoy a pub lock in
11/25 (44%)
First impressions – crikey, thats a lot of stuff to do. Saving £10k in a year when I’m planning to also move house is a perhaps a tad unrealistic, but I think I can be creative about that. That’s what accountants do right? Elsewhere I can see myself hitting most of these goals. Cooking – check. Guy and I keep talking about cycling to Bath so we just need to stop talking and just do it. His Dad also owns a pub so that’s two ticks in one weekend. Homicide is within reaching distance on my bedside table all covered in dust and we are looking at ways to make volunteering at work easier so that should be completed by end of 2012.
Visiting a new country looks unlikely at the moment (does Catalonia count? Many people have died suggesting it does.) and I’ve no idea where to start when it comes to getting a letter published (do I need to be angry about something first?) Best Man Steve has had his second child so there’s a reason to get drunk. The lighthouse needs some work. You know anyone who lives in one? And then on top of that I need to flog a house. Oh and buy one.
- Watford 5 West Bromwich Albion 1
- August 24th 1985
- Vicarage Road, Watford.
Barcelona: Unwrapped
This year’s Christmas gift to my wife was a little slefish you could say – but one that helps me achieve another milestone on my LifeList.
For some years, we’ve both harboured dreams of visiting Barcelona. For her, the sun, the architecture, the shopping. Me – the Camp Nou. Yes I’m sure Gaudi will leave a lasting impression on me, but the best artist in town is currently Lionel Messi, and so our four day visit also happens to include two tickets to see FC Barcelona take on Getafe. We’re seated up in the gods but on the front row so I’m hoping for an amazing view. Now I just need to hope that Messi stays fit and is picked. It’s not often, as a Watford fan, you get to see one of the all time greats in the flesh, so here’s hoping.
I was lucky enough to receive a Kindle this Christmas – a simply packaged item, that like the iPad, comes from a company who have total confidence and faith in the delight that their product inspires. Although I’ve yet to start reading a book on it (the copy of Homicide still awaits…), I can’t wait to convert. All year I’ve ummed and ahhed about moving away from physical books to electronica. Yes, the “You can’t beat the feeling of a physical book,“ argument rages on, but I find it’s one comfortably answered by the hundred weight of books that sit on my shelves collecting dust, only to be read once.
Replacing all my books will never happen. I still want to preserve my Tintin collection and share them one day with my children (although I reckon Herge is made for transferring to the iPad!) and the increasing collection of quality Watford FC literature I’m amassing will never transfer with the same emotion or sensory overload to an eReader. In other words, I think there is room for both – as the market is ably demonstrating.
Fireworks? Check.Cheesecake? Check.Bottle of champagne? Check.Happy New Year you lot!
— Jamie (@jamieparkins) December 31, 2011
Had a lovely day off work last Friday with Nina, Ella and my Godson Max, whose mother Emma, I went to University with way back in 1995! Now that Max is old enough, cool enough and confident enough it’s been my first real opportunity to spend some quality time with him – and we had a blast!
So what do you do with a boy who is three and three quarters?
1. Take them to Stickman – the hottest (s)ticket in town
As an aside – a brilliant hour long adaptation of one of the better Julia Donaldson stories. This production was beautifully crafted and is brought to life through great songs, some lovely humour and an occassional visit into the audience from Stickman himself. Go see!
2. Buy his love with a toy that lights up in the dark
3. Dine out at a restaurant called Maxwell’s. What’s not to like?
