Health anxiety, me and the NHS
Those of you who have been keeping track probably know that 2 years ago I self-referred myself for therapy to deal with a moderate case of anxiety that began around 2006 and has stayed with me since, although I can handle it much better with the techniques I learnt. Without the therapy I would not have a clue what was actually wrong with me and what the triggers of anxiety were. It turns out I have a phobia (in the medical sense of the word) of not being in control. I’m a medically diagnosed control freak! I wouldn’t swap my not-being-in-control-phobia1 for anything — it makes me who I am. My skills as a manager and software architect derive in part from it. My obsession with maps, public transport and strange details that other people miss. My...
My coming out blog post: I am polyamorous
This has been something of an open secret for some time but it’s time I came out properly. I am polyamorous, and I believe I have been all my adult life: it just took me until 3 years ago to realize it. If you’ll bear with me I’ll try to be as brief as I can but this is a subject that takes a fair bit of explaining, so this is still going to be long. Sorry! Being polyamorous basically means I don’t experience relationships as exclusive. That I sometimes have more than one relationship at the same time with the knowledge and consent of everyone involved. And my partner(s) also have relationships with other people with my knowledge and consent. Sometimes people say this looks like I’m afraid of commitment, but it’s really just a different kind of commitment. The...
Leeds Beer Quest
Regular readers of my blog (if such a thing exists) will notice it’s gone quiet here recently. I’ve not vanished, but I do have another project to keep me occupied! Emily and I are on a Leeds Beer Quest! We’re on a mission to visit every single pub and bar in Leeds city centre and review them. We’ve done 36 so far, which sounds like a lot, but we’ve got at least 140 to do! Check us out over there, especially if you live in Leeds and you’re looking for some ideas about new places to go out (or places to avoid). The address is pretty memorable: http://leedsbeer.info/ I’ve also not given up my commitments to Twitter and Flickr, and you can find me on those sites by following the links to the right hand side. I do have loads...
69 Love Songs and the working day
As an extravert1 I find myself in situations at work where interactions with others dominate my day. Whether it’s meetings, asking people questions, answering other people’s questions or simply reading and sending emails, there’s always some interaction going on. I really love that aspect of my job, which means it’s somewhat frustrating during those times when I have to sit down by myself and work alone, which do happen quite regularly. When I have to work alone, I find that listening to music, especially music I know well, allows me to concentrate by providing a backdrop that goes some way towards replacing the interaction that drives me. And this is where 69 Love Songs comes in. The 1999 classic by Stephen Merritt, aka The Magnetic...
Welcome to my new blog
Hello! I’ll keep this opener brief. I have been keeping blogs on and off for almost 9 years, but when I look back over the posts I realize they’re primarily the chronicles of the man I used to be and not of the witty, intelligent, successful man I am today. In 9 years’ time, I will almost certainly look back at this post and say exactly the same thing about these entries. Anyway. It’s been 9 months since I moved back to sunny Yorkshire and I didn’t update the old blog in that whole time, despite having a lot to say. And I’m sick of that bespoke Rails 1.0 application … that time has passed and now I just want to use someone else’s much more awesome software, so hello WordPress! Welcome to my new blog. Hopefully...
Leeds-based non-binary nerd and sewist. I won't break my streak on Duolingo for anyone. 
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