A to-do list disguised as a blog post and other musings

Ok ok, I know this is disappointing on many levels, but cut me some slack.  I'm working on some nice fiction for you, but I may have booked up my weekends with all kinds of activities lately and I'm trying to catch up on a bit of study as well.  Yes, t'is a sob story for the ages.  So consider this an appeasement; I'm giving you lovely people the chance to get to know me better.  Who could want more from a piece of writing?

Here is a big list of things that I want to do before it's too late.

Academia

1. Qualify for my actuarial qualification thing - This is the most immediate, but I guess that's because it is also the most in progress.  1/15 down, and if I try really really hard, hopefully I'll add another 3 to that this April.  Depressingly, I often feel like I won't be able to touch the rest of this list until this is out of the way.
2. Take some sort of film course - I'm really not fussy on this one.  It could be a weekend course on directing, an Open University module or two on criticism, or maybe I'll just end up reading Sidney Lumet's Making Movies a couple of times.
3. Learn a foreign language - Preferably German or Russian seeing as I already own the books.  However, I'm open to suggestions, especially if the right person comes along and I want to impress them.  
4. Beat Iain McGibbon at chess - self explanatory.

Artistic

1. Finish at least one screenplay - At this stage I have started at least five scripts.  I think the longest one is around 40 pages.  I don't even mind if it's terrible, but to see it through would be an accomplishment
2. Write enough crappy short stories to comprise a book - It'd be nice to have something with my name on, even if it's only self published.  
3. Learn some form of dance - I reckon this'll end up being tap.  It looks so fun!  Plus I don't have the body for ballet (I like chocolate more than Swan Lake, but I think I like the Rite of Spring more than chocolate, hmm).
4. Paint something - Actually working on a canvas looks satisfying, even if it's just something I hang up in a room I never venture into.  This will probably end up as me making bizarre homemade cards and posting them to all my friends using obscure holidays as an excuse ("What's that you say? It's National Tree Planting Day in Iran?  Let me get the stamps!").
5. Stick some collages to my bedside cabinets - They're from Ikea.  They're rather bland.  I've been collecting all the tear off covers to my LOVEFiLM envelopes, plus I have an awful lot of Empire and Q magazines that I doubt I'd ever feel the need to read again.  Let's get creative!

Personal

1. More jogging - I'm quite happy with my exercise rota at the minute (phwoooaarr pull ups, generally lots of pull ups actually), but if I don't want my heart exploding and generally making a mess of the poor whoever's house that I'm sitting in, I think I need to do more jogging.
2. Less food and crappy food - Last weekend I was incredibly active, partaking in a lot of walking and chatting and general good times.  Unlike when I'm at home studying or at the office, I didn't eat some ridiculous quantity of food this weekend.  I didn't even feel that hungry.  Unfortunately, now I'm back in London, I'm already fighting against the urges to raid the vending machine.  I also need to make more of an effort to cook less processed foods.  Done a good job of that last night and today, so let's keep it up!  More fish!
3. Mood - I'm quite the mercurial beast when I want to be.  Some days, I'm incredibly cheery, happy to chat to anyone.  Other days, I just want to get into the office, sit at my desk, put my head phones on and only communicate to people through email (yep email, not even the nice MSN Messenger-esque program we have on our work laptops).  I think the current ratio is about 60% to the headphones, so I need to work on that.
4. Conversationalist - More ways that I am odd.  If I barely know you, I'm hesitant to start any line of conversation.  If I consider you a friend, you're subject to a barrage of half remembered stories, facts and experience all thrown at you in a seemingly random order.  Sometimes my conversation can be compared strongly to a small child chasing after a football and being distracted by all kinds of nonsense along the way.  So, more confidence and more structure.  Less is more?
5. Move - First, further into the city, second out of the city completely.  Hopefully I'll be lucky and end up in Canada. If not, there are plenty of nice places elsewhere.

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Other musings

So yes, I've been busy.  Last weekend, I visited my good friend Ella (found here http://apprentice42.wordpress.com/) on the farm on which she works.  I knew I was going to have a fun time because I always do when chatting to her (unlike me, she's a fantastic conversationalist, and superb listener as well), but I didn't expect the experience to be this thought-provoking.  The outdoors were stunning, the animals incredibly adorable/wonderful/enthralling, and the people were really admirable.  Everyone was so friendly and positive.  So yes, the weekend put me in a fantastic mood.  My mood was so good in fact that it survived the first two tube journeys I made upon my return.  My patience was definitely being pushed on the way home tonight though.  Deep breaths, happy thoughts (note: I still need to read that paper on the Tobin tax, it's on my bedside table, won't get to it tonight or tomorrow (going to the theatre tomorrow!), but I will soon!).

This weekend I'm even busier!  I'm going to the SFX Weekender with Jonny (found here http://jonathanwriting.blogspot.com/), Richard & Sid.  We're driving from London to North Wales at some ridiculous time on Friday morning, then hanging out at this convention thing for a few days.  I'm going to try and talk people into visiting Llandudno and the Great Orme (my favourite rock feature) on the Sunday before we head back.  

I probably won't get a chance to post anything before, so a pre-emptive happy Richey Edwards day (hmm, maybe I should send out a card).  He was such an influence on me when I was younger and still remains my favourite poet.  It saddens me that he's become a footnote in British popular and academic culture.

Not much on the film front lately.  Watched Midnight Run a few days ago and had the soundtrack in my head every since.  Finished off the Brood tonight.  I'll try and do some reviews soon as well.

I'm trying something slightly different for the next bit of fiction.  It was sparked by a conversation I had recently.  Let's see how it goes.