I Am Gentlepraxis!

the great outdoors (for runners and yogis!)

gentlepraxis — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 13:57:12 +0000

The thing I’ve always disliked about yoga is people (usually…) do it indoors. Rubber mats and school-gym-esque rooms etc… That’s why I love running – you’re outside and in the fresh air. The thing I’ve always disliked about running (although could never quite articulate it until now) is the shoes. Expensive, posture supporting fashion accessories that look like a discarded prop from the starship enterprise! They stop you injuring yourself (unlike cheap running shoes that positively encourage you to) but they don’t actually improve the situation. You don’t ever learn how to run with proper posture. You don’t ever connect in the way you do practicing yoga.

So today I got up, and after some breakfast and some coding and some music went running around my local park barefoot! It was just blissful. You have to not care how slow you are compared to normal, and take much shorter, lighter strides but somehow it feels connected to the earth in a similar way to yoga. It feels *much* better on my knees especially. I must have run for maybe twenty minutes or half an hour, I’m not sure because I didn’t take a watch. Then afterwards I did some yoga out in the park and that felt fantastic for having the air and the sun around me…

This latest obsession of mine is not entirely my fault. Alison sent me a link to a book on the subject (called born to run) that I’ve ordered off Amazon (waiting for it still!) and also told me about vibrams 5 fingers footware. I’ve since found feelmax shoes which look rather cheaper and might be worth investigating. The idea is these shoes are minimal for days when it’s too wet and muddy or for terrain where you need a bit of protection (ie gravel…).

Some days I get annoyed ‘cos life isn’t exactly how I want it. Then some days I have to check myself and just can’t believe how lucky I am. Today is one of the latter days. Time for a shower and some food.

All the best to y’all!

Made it!

gentlepraxis — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 11:42:35 +0000

So after a week of wondering I’m back in Empoli.In the event the flight was practically empty and bang on time. It seemed to me the passengers paid more attention than usual to the safety instructions.

This morning I got up, did some yoga, did some shopping (for two raw foodies this constitutes non-trivial exercise…) had breakfast on our terrace then got on to sorting my laptop out for work.

It’s noisy as hell here but somehow not as stressed as it would be in a uk town center. With the beautiful warm weather and a lively atmosphere I could truly be at home here – if only I could get to grips with the language!

Not like Me

gentlepraxis — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 13:21:27 +0000

This is not like me. I mean to just open up about stuff that’s happening to me. If I do, it tends to be in the manner of a politician assessing their election winning chances: optimistic bordering on belligerent with a caveat that it is the electorate (or in my case the universe/god/chance) that will ultimately determine their fate.

So this is going to be an odd exercise for me. I’m going to try to tell the truth. Not the whole truth mind. I’ll leave that to the tabloid powered celebs. Some things you don’t need to know. Some of the rest you may find of passing interest and that’s what I’m going to write about.

So where is my life at right now? We’ll I have a wonderful girlfriend who I am not as close to as I would like to be. We’ve spent a good bit of the last nine months apart as she has been in Italy and I’ve been to and fro between there and the UK. I recommend long distance relationships for a short while – just to see how you cope. Now I’ve well and truly had enough of skype and want my honey back! We’ll be together in Tuscany again in a few days for a whole 2 months and I can’t wait:-).

My music is a bittersweet topic at the moment. Sweet because for the first time in my life I can look at myself in the mirror and honestly say that my latest recordings are as good as anything I’ve ever heard. And I’ve heard more than most… Bitter because I’ve not yet achieved any success to speak of. On the other hand if I can improve my writing/playing as much as I have the last few years then I firmly believe I can do anything I set my mind upon. I just have to learn a few new skills! Optimistic bordering on belligerent as I said!

Anyhow I’ve recently started doing IT contract work online to bring in some cash. Quite a U-turn I realize but poverty does funny things to you sometimes. As work I don’t mind it and what I learn is useful for my own online projects. It also gives me an excuse to do a much better job of my music site for my portfolio.

Healthwise things are quite interesting for me. I’ve been eating 100% raw food for most of this year. I seem to be settling on a diet of fruit and leaves:-). It does amazing things for your body and mind though to tell you the truth I’m not entirely sure where I’m going with it.

So that’s enough for now. If you’re still reading and I maintain my enthusiasm for meandering blog posts expect more exciting revelations when you see them!

love

Rob

Political Oxymorons

gentlepraxis — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 17:55:15 +0000

I saw a poster today: The Conservative Party, Vote for Change! You’d think with their combined salaries they’d own a dictionary between them…

‘Conservative’ – A person who is reluctant to accept change and new ideas

What next?

Labour – Have a Break! …or…

Lib Dem – We’re in charge, do what you’re told! …maybe not!

My OGG (read MP3…) player

gentlepraxis — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:26:17 +0000

Out in Italy again and restricted to 1GB of music. Not so bad these days as my rate of exploration has thankfully slowed…

Basically I’ve got Regina Spektor’s album “Far”, Tim O’Brien’s “The Crossing”, a cd of Beethoven piano concertos, the Sixteen and still listening to the soundtrack to “Into the Wild” by the dude from Pearl Jam.

I saw Tim O’Brien live recently with transatlantic sessions. He’s one o f those guys who has just got the gift. The group was twenty or so talented artists who could do a show in their own right but every time Tim took the stage (especially for the amazing “Man of Constant Sorrow” of “o Brother Where Art Thou” fame) the whole room lit up!

Going to watch the DVD of “Into the Wild” this weekend and the Beethoven cd is qute mesmerizing for me:-).

Word Spy

gentlepraxis — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 00:01:15 +0000

I just discovered this: http://www.wordspy.com/. It is so awesome. I’m a vegangelical!

Quiz Shows

gentlepraxis — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:18:26 +0000

Traditionally I’ve been a total snob when it comes to quiz shows. My dictionary says for the word ‘trivia’: “something of small importance”. I rest my case!

However, recently I’ve enjoyed a few episodes of University Challenge (have always liked Paxo) and I have to admit it’s kinda fun testing your recollective skills against the clock. I think maybe before I just wasn’t willing to get involved:-).

Anyway I’ve just been watching Only Connect on bbc four (uk viewers only I’m afraid…). At last a quiz show that I love and would even love to compete on! It’s based around connections – you’re given three words/objects/songs and have to guess a fourth, or maybe a grid of objects that you have to put into groups. It must be fascinating designing the questions. It’s such a lovely feeling when the answers just come to you – seemingly random connections in your brain just fall together in a way that feels more rewarding to me than other quizzes.

Even better is the way they make up the teams – by interest. Next week is a team of hitchhikers guide to the galaxy fans vs a team of philosophers. So maybe I can form a team of internet musicians? Or linux nerds? Or yoga teachers for that matter. Yeah I can just imagine having a laugh with the people I went to yoga school with on this show!

Hmm, time to get back to work…

Pomelo Fruit

gentlepraxis — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:31:10 +0000

I normally buy as little imported stuff as I can get away with at the supermarket (read someone saying stupor-market recently! Great:-) but occasionally I treat myself to some exotic fruit if there’s something I’ve never seen before.

Today I tried a Pomelo. It’s native to South East Asia and looks and tastes a little like a cross between a grapefruit and a lime! Mine was delicious though I’m thinking it’d be better straight from the tree rather than the airport. Funny old world we live in…

Survivor

gentlepraxis — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 02:14:17 +0000

Just watched “Survivors” on iplayer. Apart from musing whether the desktop iplayer would work with my Gentoo box I was struck by how many viral apocalypse series I seem to be watching these days. I was disappointed with “Day of the Triffids” (but then the original was so good how could I not be?!) but meanwhile it doesn’t seem like long ago that I saw “I am Legend” and started to take Will Smith very seriously and that’s aside from the 28 days/weeks films. Watching Robert Carlyle turn into a zombie was genuinely creepy. Memorable stuff for me it seems.

By far my favourite (that I’m currently re-visiting for the first time) is “Jeremiah”. Luke Perry, the guy from Beverly Hills 90210 stars in a series created by J. Michael Stracinsky. He was the guy behind “Babylon 5″ – one of my all time favourites. Basically all the adults have been killed off and it’s just the kids left. They grow up and we join them trying to build a world for themselves. The characters seem so convincing to me as what my generation would be like if such a ghastly thing ever happened to us.

Anyway, I was wondering what it said about me that I would enjoy these candle-burning-bright-in-the-dark/end-of-humanity-but-for-a-few-brave-pockets-of-resistance dramas. Now I’m thinking about it I loved reading “The Host” by Stephanie Meyer (think “Twilight” but she wrote for grown ups this time) for a similar reason. Is it that I actually want the end of humanity to happen so I can prove how brave I am fighting for survival? I don’t think so but I feel like something in me really longs for adversity in order to triumph over it.

I’m starting to think I’ve spent enough time making life difficult for myself…

Night night people:-).

Hello world!

gentlepraxis — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 19:02:37 +0000

This is my first post. I have nothing to say as yet!