#oneaday, Day 80: Lift! And down. And lift! And down.

I started "playing" EA Sports Active again the other day, having got out of shape during my abortive attempt to return to classroom teaching. And yes, I blame the latter for the former. Partly because the 80-mile round trip daily commute I was doing meant I got back too late to go to the gym, and also that the stress caused tiredness and lack of motivation. Finding myself currently with relatively little to do (it's the Easter holidays, so I'm going to have to wait for supply teaching work) I decided to start it up again.

Those who have known me a while know that I used to keep a blog here. I'm thinking I may start using that again, as it was an excellent self-motivation tool. Even if others weren't particularly interested in reading about how many chest presses I'd managed that day, the act of writing that stuff down helped.

EASA takes a similar approach by constantly offering you feedback and achievable goals. God, I feel like an obnoxious management-type just saying those words, but it's true. For once. Start on the app's "30 Day Challenge" programme and you're automatically set some goals – a number of calories to burn in your first week, a total number of hours to achieve in the month and a number of workouts to successfully complete in the first week. You can also create your own goals, which is nice – though I'm quite happy with the ones it's set for me so far. There's also an Achievement-like trophy system that rewards you for completing workouts, burning certain numbers of calories, completing certain exercises several times – it's surprising how motivating adding these "game-like" elements is.

EASA also has the benefit of actually working. Unlike Wii Fit's all-you-can-eat buffet of exercise with no structure whatsoever (though I understand the Plus edition fixes this), EASA gives you a decent structured workout to do that isn't the same each day. Some days you'll be concentrating on the lower body and doing things that will make your thighs hurt for days afterwards. Other days you'll be using the included twangy red band to work on your arms. The band itself isn't very strong, so I've taken to wearing wrist weights while undertaking the workouts. They're not THAT heavy, but they add enough additional challenge to be able to feel the strain a little bit.

EASA will also get you breaking a sweat quite quickly. Again, unlike Wii Fit, whose only really challenging portion came in the bizarrely featureless monochrome world of the yoga and muscle exercises. Today I had a lot of jumping around, which looked ridiculous, but which was also genuinely hard work. This is good. If I come off a workout feeling tired, then I feel like I've achieved something. It may not be the most pleasant thing to be sitting there sweating, but hey.

Anyway, I shall be continuing with my 30 Day Challenge and seeing where it takes me. I'm also going to try and pick up my gym routine. Motivation!

Now, if only all this stuff I was doing was earning some money, I'd be sorted.

#oneaday, Day 79: Morning!

Good morning! 2am today. BED ERROR.

Actually, I have a marginally good reason for it this time – I was waiting up to see if there was a response from a PR representative for an article I was writing. This is something I've not had to do before. I probably didn't need to wait up quite so late as I did (and play a bit of Game Room) but, well what are you going to do? (The PR rep did respond in the end, incidentally.)

So… what to talk about this time? How about the election, seeing as how it's on everyone's lips and Twitter feeds at the moment. Unless you're not British, in which case you probably couldn't give a damn what feckless idiot steps up to the plate to run our country further into the ground.

It's going to be a strange election this time around. The government we've had in for the last God-knows-how long ("Labour", for the non-British readers out there, a party traditionally associated with socialism but which has seen something of a drift towards the middle as time has gone on) has disillusioned rather a lot of people. The fact our leader is one of the most uncharismatic, doublespeak-speaking arses in British politics at the moment (not to mention the fact that we didn't elect him) has, amongst other things, pissed off a lot of people who are ready for a change.

But the alternatives… we have the Conservative party (traditionally the "other side" to Labour, but which has again drifted rather towards the middle as time has passed) fronted by Captain Middle Class, also known as David Cameron. To give him credit where it's due, Cameron is a better public speaker than Gordon Brown, but he is unashamedly and completely middle-class which I can't help feeling is going to count against him. While there are a lot of middle-class people in this country, there are also a lot of working class people who think he's nothing but a posh git. Hell, there are plenty of middle-class people who think he's a posh git, too. Smarmy, overly-Photoshopped advertising campaigns haven't helped, either.

Then there's the Liberal Democrats, aka "the ones that never get in". Traditionally, people have voted LibDem when they don't like the other two. There's going to be a lot of that this time around, with Labour having disillusioned a lot of people with the failures of the last thirteen years and the Conservatives alienating entire socioeconomic groups by being incredibly white and middle class. It, sadly, wouldn't be surprising to see more radical parties like the BNP (aka "the racist ones") get more of a foothold in Parliament.

Of course, I'm stating all this without any great understanding of the whole proceedings. This is just my opinion. But early buzz seems to suggest that we may well end up with a "hung Parliament" this time around, with no party holding a clear majority. I have no idea what that means for the country. It might actually make this election interesting for once, though.

Pity none of our politicians have the charisma of Obama. Whatever you may think of the President's policies, you can't argue with the fact that the man knows how to speak to a crowd.

#oneaday, Day 76: Daytime. Sort of.

Yes! A pre-midnight post! How about that. Since I'm in a writing frame of mind, I thought I'd write something. I've just written 1100 words on my story. Actually, I ditched what I wrote yesterday and started again. It's flowing a bit better this time, which is good. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up some sort of momentum.

I say I'm in a writing frame of mind but in fact I'm just trying to avoid the televisual monstrosity that is whatever that ridiculous audition show for The Wizard of Oz is on television. I'm really, really sick of these shows, as I've made abundantly clear on a number of occasions. These ones where the "winners" end up with a part in a West End show make a mockery of the whole process. Andrew Lloyd Webber sitting in a gold throne with everyone calling him "The Lord"? The sycophantic nonsense spewed by Graham Norton and others on the show is enough to make one want to vomit. Yes, Lloyd Webber has created some of the most successful musicals ever, but that doesn't mean I want to see people practically sticking their nose up his arse and rimming him on television. And I certainly don't want to vote on it.

Enough ranting on that subject, otherwise it'll annoy my wife.

Anything else interesting happen today? Well, no, not really. It's been very quiet since PAX East, but people are still talking about it, which is good. A good buddy over on BitMob posted a fantastic article about the experience, which summed up exactly how I felt about it as a fellow sufferer of social anxiety. I suggest you go and read it if you haven't already – even if you're not a gamer. It's a great piece.

I've also been watching some of the PAX 09 DVD which I picked up as a keepsake. The video quality on it is great, meaning the concerts, panels and appearances by Gabe, Tycho and Wil Wheaton all look and sound great. I'm actually really impressed with how good it is – I was expecting low-quality, hand-held shakeycam, but in fact it's a completely professional job. I should know better than to doubt nerds making videos, I guess.

Anyway, that's about it for today. Not very interesting, I know. But that's the way some days go.

#oneaday, Day 75: Late again

One of these days I'll post one of these entries before midnight. If you look at the dates, it looks like I'm a day behind. But I'm not. Oh no. I just stay up late. Which is perhaps not wise. But hey. It's too late now.

I wrote 650 words of story today. They're probably crap, but I made an effort to just churn them out regardless. I'll try and do at least 500 every day, preferably 1000. I can easily get through that. It's just a case of letting the creativity flow and not worrying about it being stupid. That's what the editing process is for.

Little else of note has happened today, really. I went out for a walk and took Gowalla with me. For the uninitiated, Gowalla is a location-based app for the iPhone where you "check in" at places to stamp a virtual passport. You can create your own spots too, meaning that eventually, a user-generated map of points of interest in an area is built up. There's a sort-of game mechanic in there too, with items appearing in places and allowing you to either collect them or drop them elsewhere for others to find.

I'm now up to a hundred stamps. That's cool, although I did create a whole bunch of them myself. Southampton was a little dry on "points of interest" when Gowalla first launched. Now, thanks to the machinations of myself and several others in the area, there's now lots to see. Interestingly, I've got to know a couple of people (not face to face… yet) simply through playing with Gowalla, which is nice. There is talk of a "tweetup" at some point in early April so if I'm feeling super-brave I may go and check it out. We shall see.

Elsewhere today, I rediscovered LittleBigPlanet, which is still one of the best-looking games on PS3. There's some incredibly creative levels out there, too – but you knew that already. Tonight, I played through a selection of excellently designed levels by a guy whose name escapes me right now, as well as a perfect recreation of the first bit of Bioshock, albeit with some rather poor writing spelling, punctuation and grammar-wise. My mind draws a blank any time I fire up the level designer for LittleBigPlanet and I am yet to create a level. I'm sure I'll think of something eventually, though.

Tomorrow, I have a music pupil in the morning and then the remainder of the day… who knows. Since coming back from PAX East, it's been an odd feeling to be "free", though of course the money thing is something of a worry. I have let various agencies know I'm available for work, however, and of course, if you know anyone who is interested in either music or computer tuition in the Southampton area, I invite you to direct them here for music lessons or here for computer lessons. That would be marvellous, 'cause if I get enough pupils between those two things, I won't have to set foot in a classroom, even as a supply teacher, ever again. But that won't work just yet, unfortunately. That's the plan, though.

Right. I'm off, because it's nearly 2am. Good night!

#oneaday, Day 74: Don't Be A Dick

Just watched Wil Wheaton's Awesome Hour on the PAX 09 DVD. This has made me sorry I missed his keynote speech at PAX East, as he's a fantastic public speaker, an excellent storyteller and a genuinely funny guy. Modest, too, which is always nice to see.

It's strange to think about these people that we got the chance to see or even meet at PAX being "celebrities" in the geeks' world, but complete unknowns to everyone else. The thing is, I personally feel that Wheaton, along with Gabe and Tycho from Penny Arcade, are far more admirable human beings than many people who are constantly in the news. What is it about them?

Well, I know why they are admirable people: they're not dicks. But why do they toil in obscurity? Because of their geeky interests? Perhaps. I say it's a shame. But it's probably for the best. Would these guys be the same people they are now if they were constantly in the spotlight? Who knows. Perhaps they would be. I'd like to think so. But it's actually kind of nice to have figures to look up to that belong entirely to your own subculture.

Wheaton said some interesting things in his speech and Q&A session, particularly about self-publishing material that you've written yourself. It's something that I've considered myself, actually. But, of course, I need to write something first. I have quite a few half-finished novels in a folder on my computer (in fact, that folder's made the jump across at least four different hard drives now) and an abortive attempt at last year's NaNoWriMo in the planning stages.

If there's one thing that this One A Day experiment has proven, it's that I certainly can churn out some writing each day. Some of it's not great, of course – I'm writing this at the same time as watching the end of Wheaton's spot on the PAX DVD, for example – but I certainly don't have a problem churning out… stuff. So perhaps I should try and actually, you know, write something.

So tomorrow I'm going to try and start a novel. And try and finish it. Not tomorrow, obviously, but I'm going to make a good attempt to write a bit every day. I'm going to take the NaNoWriMo approach of doing a brain dump every day and edit it later. I have a few ideas floating around in my head and have done for some time. Some of them are compatible. Others are not. The difficult thing is coming up with a concept that's not shit. Or coming up with a good concept and ruining it with a shit twist. If there's anything that Douglas Coupland novels have taught me, its that you don't have to have big, stupid, dramatic twists to make a decent story.

So let's see where this goes. I'll post regular updates on here. If you're lucky, even extracts. Though I'm weird about people reading work-in-progress writing, so you'll have to be very lucky. But it starts tomorrow. You'll see. You'll all see! Bwahahahaha! *jumps out of window*

#oneaday, Day 73: Strategic Mind

I'm shit at strategy games. I mean really shit. That doesn't stop me playing and enjoying them, but I am just awful at them. I think it's an inability to think ahead or do those mind-fucking mental calculations required to predict what situation you'll be in ten turns down the road. If I start getting into thinking about that, I end up suffering from analysis paralysis and have to lie down for a little while afterwards.

This is frustrating when playing board games which you know are supposed to be really good, like Agricola and Power Grid. But I find myself consistently losing at them. Agricola is more of a problem than Power Grid, which I can normally do respectably in.

It could well be difficulty in prioritising things. In Agricola I'm never sure what action is the best thing to take, and seeing my regular opponents playing I'm always pretty sure that they are doing some sort of black magic to convince me I've had the same number of turns as them but in fact knocking me out for three rounds, getting into an extremely advantageous position and then waking me up as if nothing had happened. Of course, I know that's actually not happening, that it's just a case of me making poor choices. But it's immensely frustrating, and prevents me from enjoying the game as much as I should – because, I hasten to add, it's a great game.

Now games like Warhammer Quest and Arkham Horror? Fine. I work well as part of a team, so co-op games are good for me. Even Catan is fine, as the semi-randomised nature of the game means that I'm not totally reliant on my non-existent strategic brain. Ticket to Ride, too, is great. But as soon as the game comes down to nothing but my own skill and chance is kept to a minimum? I suck. Hard.

Perhaps I should find a way to practice strategic thinking. Does anyone have any suggestions?

#oneaday, Day 72: Taking Stock

Okay, so I'm back in the UK. Now what? I kind of haven't come down off the high from the last few days yet, but I probably should start making some sort of plan to sort out that "future" thing. I hear it helps.

So here's where I am now. I am going to run down these things in writing in public to see if that helps to take stock of my current situation and give me an idea of where the hell I'm going.

CURRENT EMPLOYMENT STATUS: Writing for Kombo.com. Writing for dailyjoypad.co.uk. Two music pupils, possible third.

EMPLOYMENT ANALYSIS: Not enough to pay rent. Need either a) more pupils b) more writing jobs that pay big bucks (hah!) c) computer pupils as well as music pupils or d) few days of supply teaching per week. I'd rather not have to do d) but it may be a necessity, for a little while at least. Over the next couple of days I am going to set up a new website advertising my computer tuition services and I shall be counting on you (yes, you!) to be part of the pimping process for that. My pupils have found me through the directory on musicteachers.co.uk thus far, but I'm not sure if there's an equivalent for computer tuition. I guess some research is in order.

CURRENT HEALTH STATUS: Mild sore throat. Unfit. Fat.

HEALTH ANALYSIS: Recommence Operation Gym and Operation Run Without Dying. iPhone is already loaded with an appropriate soundtrack, featuring tunes from Bayonetta, Persona 3, Persona 4, OutRun, Space Channel 5, Trauma Center and various Final Fantasy titles. Get into routine of actually going to gym as opposed to routine of not going to gym.

CURRENT SELF-ESTEEM STATUS: Actually not bad right now. Several days with "my people" has helped with this, specifically with the whole "Hey, you're not such a freak after all – and even if you are, there are at least 59,999 people just like you in the world, probably more" thing.

SELF-ESTEEM ANALYSIS: Maintain by doing stuff that makes me feel positive. Avoid doing things that make me feel negative. See aforementioned gym routine thing.

CURRENT MISSION OBJECTIVES:

Make enough money to pay rent (OPTIONAL: Make enough money to pay rent AND have Fun Stuff)
Recruit more music pupils
Design computer tuition website
Recruit computer tuition pupils
Do more writing for Kombo, DailyJoypad and BitMob
Hassle other sites for writing gigs
Attempt to make use of contacts made at PAX
Get into a situation where I can keep the necessity of doing supply teaching to a minimum

First one and the last one are the biggies, I guess. Everything else will contribute to those two. If I can get to a stage where I never have to step inside a classroom again, and I am working entirely on my own terms and feeling good about myself, that's the goal. That's the dream. And it's frickin' well going to happen.

Also, I've totally managed 72 days of blogging without a gap. That's pretty good going, right? I'll have a party on post 100 or something.

#oneaday, Day 71: Token Entry

Will shortly be boarding my flight back to the UK so am posting something now to… well, have something posted, to be perfectly honest. Missing a day because I'm asleep over the Atlantic? Laaame.

I said pretty much everything I needed to say post-PAX yesterday but I'll just reiterate that this was a supremely awesome time for everyone – yes, Sam, better than Kaos and a kebab – and I hope we can all do it again sometime very soon indeed. Maybe next time those people who weren't able to cone this time will be able to join us too.

For now though, boarding will shortly call and my battery is low. So I will bid you all adieu and see you back on the wrong side of the Atlantic.

TRANSMISSION ENDS.

#oneaday, Day 70: Thank You For Playing #PAX!!

These last few days have been the absolute best few days I've had for a very long time, representing not only some much-needed rest and relaxation but also an opportunity to meet some beloved friends face-to-face for the first (or, in some cases, second) time, hang out and talk shit about video games for hours on end. That was a very long sentence but it pretty much reflects how my mind is racing right now; I'm stoked to have met all these awesome people and I'm more convinced than ever that these long-distance friendships are not just "an Internet thing", they are very much real relationships that many of us have built up without, in some cases, having any idea what the others really look like – not that that should matter.

So I'd like to say a very public thank you to the following people for making this weekend a huge success from my perspective: Mike Minotti (because he'll complain like a bitch if he's not first), AJ Minotti, Chris Minotti, Chris Whittington, Mark Whiting, Lynette Terrill, Christopher Bowley, Chris Person, Jeff Grubb, Derek Lavigne, Brett Bates, Eric Majkut, Chris IforgotyourlastnameandamverysorryandamnotsureifIknewitinthefirstplace, Lik Chan (sorry we didn't get more time to chat!), Joey Chiu, N'Gai Croal, Shawn Elliott, the other guys I went to lunch with and can't remember your names (sorry!) and, of course, my awesome brother John Davison.

I may have missed someone inadvertently. If so, I apologise profusely, and it wasn't deliberate. Give me a slap in the comments and I will correct the above list forthwith.

I missed Wil Wheaton's keynote speech on Friday, but he was good enough to post an excerpt from it on his blog, summing up the way I think most of the 60,000 nerds who descended on Boston this weekend feel. "Games are important. Games matter. PAX is where we come together to celebrate that. Gaming is the foundation of the best friendships I've ever had, and it's the mortar that has held my group of friends together for almost 25 years."

The Squad has only known each other for a fraction of that time, but already it's clear that we're a tightly-knit group of people despite being scattered to the seven winds. (Are there seven winds? I just made that up, I think.) Meeting this weekend for the first time (in most cases) cemented that relationship and it makes me feel good to know that I've got friends that I trust and respect, friends that I can share what's important to me with – even if they're all thousands of miles away. Thanks to the Internet, we're always close enough to chat or play something together, and I know these friendships will continue for years to come.

I have a ton of awesome photos to share but haven't unloaded them from my camera yet. That will probably have to wait until I get back home on Tuesday, but rest assured there are some gloriously nerdy things to share.

One more time: PAX has been the most awesome time. If you're a nerd reading this and you've never been to a gathering of this magnitude, take the next opportunity to do so that you get. You won't regret it.

Sentimentality over. Flying back home tomorrow evening, arriving back in the UK early on Tuesday morning.

#oneaday, Day 69: #PAX Day 2

Wow, what an insanely hectic day. This is going to be a short one as I'm absolutely knackered.

Today we caught a couple of panels – firstly, the "Death of Print" panel that my brother was appearing on along with several others, and then the "Podcasting for PR" panel featuring Shawn Elliott, Jeff Green, Ken Levine, Major Nelson and a guy from Insomniac whose name escapes me right now. Both were excellent, thought-provoking discussions. The podcasting one in particular gave us some great ideas for future podcasts, and the "Death of Print" panel raised some interesting questions and food for thought about the future of the print vs online divide. Particularly after hearing those guys speak, I firmly believe there is a future for both, but each should stop trying to be the other.

I got the chance to spend some time with my brother today, which is an extremely rare pleasure, with the last time I saw him, if I remember correctly, being our wedding well over a year ago. I also got to hang out with Shawn Elliott, N'Gai Croal and some other media types whose (I apologise) names also escape me right now in my super-tired state. Not to sound like that pathetic fanboy, but it was actually quite an honour to get the chance to sit down and talk to a selection of people who have helped shape the games industry into what it is today. So I guess this is a public "thank you" for those guys giving me the time of day – and hopefully not just because of my last name. Thank you to big bro for letting me tag along, too.

Didn't get the chance to hang with the Squad as much as I wanted to today but, you know, family has to come first sometimes. Tomorrow, though, will be a different matter, as John flies back early in the morning leaving the day free for Squad activities. And I am certain there will be plenty – watch this space for further details!

I have more to talk about but I can barely keep my eyes open right now. More tomorrow!

The only last thing I do want to share is that PAX is awesome. It's such a good feeling to be in a place with sixty thousand other "harmless" and "nice" people. Normally I hate being in crowds as it makes me feel self-conscious, but the wonderful thing about PAX is that we are surrounded by people who are just like us – people who like the same things (to varying degrees), people who don't feel the need to be unpleasant just for the sake of it (the fear of which is what causes the greatest amount of anxiety to me) and above all, people who are just friendly, pleasant, intelligent and fun to be around.

Also, there was a totally hot Bayonetta cosplayer wandering around today, which made both Chris and me very happy indeed. You can mock cosplay all you want, but when someone is 1) attractive and 2) making a proper effort the results are just… wow. Anyway, enough of that. Late night delirium talking. *wipes dribble off chin*

To anyone still out on the town tonight: have a great one and I'll catch you tomorrow. To anyone back at home wishing they were here: you should definitely make the effort to come to a PAX if you ever get the opportunity. To anyone back at home reading this and thinking "what the fuck is he talking about?" – politely respect the nerds in your community and continue about your business.

Good night!