beat: James Burt's weblog

2010: pretty good year

There's a danger of end-of-year blog posts turning into a litany of achievements, like a CV or a nightmare round-robin letter, so I'll try to be brief. 2010 was an amazing year and one which saw a lot of changes.

The biggest event was my holiday in India. I saw some stunning places but even more valuable was having space to think outside of my normal environment. The other night I was re-reading my travel journals and I could see myself changing throughout the course of the trip. For many reasons, my time in India was one of the highlights of my life and I am planning another trip early next year.

After India I spent about 4 months living in Derbyshire, working on my novel. Swansong was hard work but I am very pleased with the results. The themes of the book touched on some difficult aspects of my childhood and it was good to reconsider those.  

Other than the novel I worked on lots of short stories. Two highlights were having a 25 word story Rapunzel published in Hint Fiction and In the Night Supermarket... published in Black Static as part of the Campaign for Real Fear. 

In July I came back to Brighton. I love this city and the magical things that happen here: zombie walks, tea parties in the pavilion gardens, White Night, crazy drunk clowns, Boxing Day swims and so on. I'm feeling very settled here, more than I have in a long time.

One thing that hasn't gone so well is the running. I ran 600 miles in 2009, but last year I managed about 400. Injuries dogged me, stopping me from entering the Brighton marathon. Thanks to a great physio I am now back in training and have my sites set on the 2011 Brighton Marathon. I also entered the Santa Dash for the 4th time.

2010 has been an amazing year and one that has seen many positive changes. Part of that has been due to twitter which has led to me meeting some wonderful people in real life. I am now very excited about what 2011 will bring.

The first festival of the Summer

It's been freezing cold for the last week, but this morning I'm heading off to my first festival of the summer, Bearded Theory. Whoever chose the bands is obviously a big fan of '90s crusty, since Back to the Planet, Dreadzone, Senser, Banco de Gaia and Tragic Roundabout are playing. Also appearing are New Model Army, The Wonder Stuff and Blyth Power (whose festival I'm attending later in the year). But the most inspired bookings have to be Doctor and the Medics and the Cheeky Girls. The line-up is odd to say the least.

It will be strange to see so many bands I missed first time round. I can only hope they do better than Suede, who I finally saw in 2003, at least five years too late. Will the Wonderstuff hold up to their early 90's heights? And how will Dodgy compare to the first time I saw them, in 1994?

I'm looking forward to being away from the laptop for a few days. It should be a fun weekend, although the "world record attempt for the most amount of people wearing fancy dress beards in one place!!! sounds ominous.

South Coast State of Mind

I'm now back in Derbyshire after an exciting couple of weeks in Brighton. After a few months away, returning to Brighton in the Spring was amazing. Everyone seems to be waking from the hard winter filled with enthusiasm. I enjoyed slipping back into the Brighton pace of life, spending afternoons sauntering around the town and visiting my favourite cafes.

I'm going to be away for a little while now, while I do some writing. While Brighton is great fun, it's full of distractions. I should be back in Brighton for the summer, though. I'm looking forward to coming back for good.

A picnic on a Tuesday afternoon in the Pavilion Gardens:

My first beach barbecue of the summer, last weekend:

Sunday afternoon I went out to Nymans Garden.

Back home

I'm currently in Derbyshire after my two month holiday in India. I had an amazing time, visiting Delhi, Kahjuraho, Varanasi, Chandigarh and Darjeeling, as well as touring Rajasthan. It's going to take me a while to sort through the photos but in the meantime here's me in the Thar desert near Jaisalmer:

The turn of the year: 2009

2008 started with me joining Mr. Spratt for a dip in the English Channel. I've been so cold recently that a swim didn't appeal, but I did manage a 13 mile run this morning.  Tough, but a lovely way to see in the new year.

New Years Day 2009 finds me feeling upbeat.  Four months of sabbatical have allowed me to do lots of writing and make a range of positive changes.  Sadly I can't spend my whole life on sabbatical but I'm planning on 2009 being as positive as 2008 while getting much more done.

From Monday I'm going to be wrangling EJB3 for Domus, who have some lovely software for me to play with.  It's going to be good working in Brighton again, particularly being able to walk to work along the seafront.

I'm also looking forward to doing more running this year.  In February I have the Sussex Beacon Half Marathon, although that's been a little eclipsed by my plan for April: entering the Blackpool Marathon.  The first few weeks of training have gone well and I'm very excited.  But that really deserves its own post.

While I did some good writing in 2008 my level of submissions was shameful (particularly when I see Kay Sexton's record).  In 2009 I want to have all my finished work circulating - I was appalled to discover I had 27 finished stories sitting idle on my hard drive.  I'm also working on a new novel which I'm very excited about.

There are lots of other things I plan to do, such as finally read Ulysses, lose a stone, take a foreign holiday and go out a lot more than I did in 2008.  2009 should be a great year.

The turn of the year: 2008

2008 has been a good year. There’s not much to crow about in terms of public ‘achievements’, but I'm ending the year feeling happy and relaxed.

I finished at Sigmer in January then took a month off in Blackpool before starting an EJB contract in Coventry. Living in Coventry was good: I needed a break from Brighton and, due to the cheaper property, I lived in a fantastic two bedroom flat for the price of a studio in Brighton. I didn’t know anyone in the town when I arrived and kept myself to myself. I watched a metric shitload of movies, decluttered my life, and got fit.

One attraction of a contract was that I could save up and take a substantial break at the end of the year. I returned to Brighton at the start of September and have been on sabbatical since then. Being able to take so much time off is a luxury I greatly appreciate. I’ve had the space to work out who I really am and what matters to me.

As far as writing goes, I’ve been working hard without much to show for it. I've only had one story published this year, despite having a massive stockpile of finished stories - I've been very slack in sending work out.  However, I've done some live performances at Short Fuse, Sparks, Tight Lip and had a story read at Liar's League. I also finished a draft of the clown novel (which I may revisit in 2009) and have embarked on an exciting long project.

After taking up running at the end of 2007 I've continued through 2008. Checking my running diary I’ve run 392 miles (which doesn’t actually sound that much). I’ve entered several races: the Breedon Run in June, the Morecombe Half-Marathon, the Brooks Brighton 10K, the Santa Dash and the Diseworth Run on Boxing Day. The Diseworth run was lovely, as I was 30 seconds faster this year and placed 15^th.

2008 was a year of lying fallow, which is how I'd planned it.  I'm feeling healthier and happier than I've ever felt. I’m very excited about 2009.

Back to Blackpool

I made the journey from Brighton in 4.5 hours and I'm now back in Blackpool.  The packing continued while I was away and the house is very empty.  Apart from my room, which is full of post (including the new phone) and books.  I have lots of things to do between now and Saturday when I set off for Coventry, via Luton.  I also need to pack the room up too.

Which means my last 2/3 days in Blackpool will offer little time for walking along the beach.  Guess I'll have to come back here for a weekend when things calm down.

It's weird to be bouncing around so much.  Since yesterday I've had no housekeys but I don't actually need any of the keys on it.  Technically I don't have a home right now - I'm not paying rent on anywhere and all my things are in the storage, which may or may not have a leak. 

Whatever.  The plan for tonight is simple - write one of the 5 letters I need to write in the next week and figure out all the things to be done between now and Luton.

Where's James?

I've not been so good at updating my weblog the last fortnight (I was updating twitter in the meantime).  I spent a couple of weeks relaxing in Blackpool.  I did lots of writing, rediscovered my love of reading and spent hours walking along the beach.

Since Thursday I've been in Brighton.  I've caught up with a few people, but not as many as I would have liked.  Mostly I've continued relaxing and started preparing for some J2EE work.  I'm going to be here until Saturday at least, then I'm going to Derbyshire for a week before starting the new job.   As of the start of March I'm beginning a six month contract in Coventry.

I've not caught up with everyone in Brighton I would have liked to.  However, I'll be making frequent trips back over the next six months.  I'm definitely going to be around the weekend of March 15/16, where I'll be attending 'Enchantment Under the Sea' at the Hanbury and BarcampBrighton2.  Hopefully I'll catch up with some folks at one or both of those events.