Thursday Three.. pt1

Three people I find inspirational and why.

Number One
Lance Armstrong



If you know me well you'll know that Lance is my hero. I've read his books. I've worn the famous yellow LiveStrong wristband for nigh on 6 years and I cried when he won his final Tour De France. I yelped when he made a comeback, I was mildly disappointed when he got with Sheryl Crow and so very happy when they split up and yes i've heard all the rumours about the EPO and stuff like that but I can't help think that through his fight against with the LiveStrong foundation he has brought light to many people who may be going through very dark days.
I can't tell you how utterly broken I was when I set off on a rainy afternoon in August 2009 to try to catch a glimpse of him cycling around Glasgow/Paisley. I missed him by a half hour. Gutted. One day though, my time will come. I may meet him. Although they say you should never meet your heros...(heroes?)


Number two
Mark Beaumont



Well he did cycle around the world one his own then down the Americas. What's not inspirational about that. Actually, I went along to a talk by him at the Albert Hall in Stirling in April. I took my friend Linda and some other people from work were there too. Listening to a first hand account of these two incredible journeys he took brought a tear to my eye at points. It brought back feelings of my own incredible journey i had taken the year before (my trek). He spoke about people asking him "what next?" when he had just returned and how it was too soon for those thoughts and how they didn't realise what it took out of you. Now granted, my 2 and a bit weeks away was nothing compared to his year or two away galavanting around the World but adventures can be big or small, they're all the effort you want to put into them and they stir up feelings and emotions and drive and all the determination you can muster and he has most of that list. Inspiring.


Number three
Ryan Higgins



Yes that's right, my four year old beloved nephew. He's an inspiration in the way he can make a room light up not only from his bright red hair but just by being in it. He has a fabulous wit and sense of humour. A budding drummer (this is his new obsession) and sometime guitarist. He has a shy side to him. He doesn't like attention being on him and prefers to join in at his own pace. He loves his baby brother Connor so much and I fill with pride when i see him cuddle and play with him. He has a side to him that can make his Granda (my Dad) mad but within a few minutes they're best buddies again. Nearly everyone in the village talks to him, he's one first name terms with our local shopkeeper Archie. The fishman gives him cake on a Wednesday. The ladies in the chemist love when he goes shopping with my mum and at the nursery i think he's quite a character with Mrs Love and Mrs Tierney regaling stories of him playing football and running about all over the place. You ask him about it though and he won't tell you a thing. You should all get to know him one day. In fact you probably will. you know me, you know him, we come as a package.



Ange x

Stuck... like a wellie in muck

Lately I've been at a loss as to what to blog about as well you see my life is really work, home, work, spin, work, gym, Tuesday night graphics class, work, spin... well you get the picture.  There is really nothing much going on so I put a call out on Twitter to see if anyone could inspire a new blog post topic or something - anything!  Only one reply came in from @Robgreen78  He suggested top 5 favourite sunsets where i was when i took them; most rock n roll thing I've ever done and what was i doing this time 5 years ago.  Well, one - i don't like to think back in time. I was probably doing what I'm doing now except there was no blog or Twitter; two - I'm too much of a goodie two shoes to do anything even remotely rock n roll (well in the grand scheme of things) and three - my sunsets are mostly seen from my back door or bedroom window.  So I thanked him for the topics and decided I'd do a Thursday Three post! and try to keep it up every week.  You may remember i did a Friday Five post a few weeks ago but as usual I never kept that up. But Thursday Three will hopefully be kept going. Less pressure than a Friday Five.

So here's the deal.  I'll list below some topics for Thursday Three posts and you can all join in if you wish. If not I know I'll be here each Thursday with a new post. And hopefully more often in between.

Thursday 30th September - Three people you find inspirational (famous or not).
Thursday 7th October - Three songs that have personal meanings to you
Thursday 14th October - Three ideal days/nights out
Thursday 21st October - Three things you want to do before the end of 2010

OK i think that's enough to be going on with.  I hope you will all join me in this fun little blogging task.

check back tomorrow for my first Thursday Three.



Ange x

Phase 77 - Designs on Life

I go through phases in life.  With everything; music, hobbies, routines everything.  An example of this behaviour is music.  If I buy a CD (rare occurrence these days) I tend to play it every day for months and then not for ages, anyone else do that?  Anyway something that i've always had an interest in is art, design, architecture, buildings, great photos and all that gubbins.  I even still have some drawings from when I was an imaginative and creative 8 year old designing the interiors of caravans.  Yes caravans!  I used to love drawing where i'd put the tables and sofas and built in shelving units and stuff...

For a few years i've been wanting to learn new things.  Perhaps even do a degree which I could maybe do at work but to be honest there isn't really a subject that is taught at my University that interests me a great deal.  Apart from where I work (of course!) and I couldn't do that because heck I produce all the exam papers, I log essays and i don't think it would be allowed.  There's Business Management and all that but... blah nah not for me. No my interests still lay (although they've been dormant for a hundred years) but they still lay in design...art... So i made a  decision.

I got myself an ILA account from the Scottish Government and booked myself onto an Intro to Graphic Design course at Glasgow Metropolitan College.  Woopee!!  I go on Tuesday evenings and have just had my third week.  The first week I was a bit nervous as there was so much to take in and i thought oh no i'm never gonna have enough ideas for this but three weeks in and i'm finding my creative mojo.  Don't get me wrong this is just an intro course and it's probably missing out a lot of things but we are bumbling along and were set the brief of designing a poster for an fictional exhibition called Adventures in Typography. Having read some really brilliant documents that Mr Seamus Murphy off of Twitter sent me (thank you!!) I was ready for this brief.

I done three quick sketches of my layout and where i thought things should be and set about creating it on Adobe Illustrator on a shiny new iMac (a fantastic piece of software and an excellent bit of kit).  My first attempt I wasn't happy with. The tutor has shown us a few tools to use in Illustrator and I tried to work these into my work. He came around and i wasn't happy with it.  His comments were "restrained" and I knew it was.  It was also a description of me that night.  It was good but i need to have more fun with it he said.  And so that's what i did.  I set about with this idea in  my head and got it down before i forgot.  I was inspired in a way by my funky coloured scarf i had on that night ad my purple Converse.  The class ended and i couldn't wait to come back the next week to get it finished.

As I headed to class last night I was eager to finish my design and maybe even start a third one then decide which one I'd submit. I added more detail and completed my poster. This time when he came around his words were "excellent", "you've got the idea of what the brief should be and where it's going", "gold star".  I was chuffed.  I explained what my ideas were and how i wanted to interpret them and he said it was spot on. FTW!!!

Next week we get to print off our designs and have a critique session by the whole class. Can't wait for that. I'll show it off, see what you think.
I'm loving this phase of my life. I don't know where it will lead but i think i'll have some fun while I'm doing it.

Ange x

Holding Page

Hola!
I really should blog more but can't seem to find the time nor the motivation nor a topic to blog about.  Yes there are a few but would it be too boring.  I dunno.  This is a quick holding page until i figure out what i'm gonna say. Anyone else have this trouble?  hit me with your solutions, stories, tips, tricks in a comment.

In the meantime here's some nice pictures I like...

Ange x


Stirling Bridge



It's Natural To Be Afraid



Sunset



Connor is One



Cloudscapology