Joseph Bloggs

Way back in May in an effort to motivate myself, I promised to have Oneironaut episode II online by January 1st, 2010.

Well, that's today (and a happy new year to you...) and I'm pleased to say that the deadline has been met: Oneironaut Episode II is finally online.

Now let's see if I can get Episode III done in under eight years...

Hev and I have been together for ten years today.

TEN YEARS!!!!

TEN!

Where'd the time go, eh?

Well, time flies when you're having fun, so they say (they say a lot, don't they?).

My life has certainly been more fun in the last ten years than it was before Hev was in it.

Thanks babe...

But enough of this sentimental guff, if it's our anniversary of getting together, it must also be photo chronology day and this year I've managed to get them shot processed and up on the day, which is a first...

So here you go: Photo Chronology of a Family: years 4,3,2,1...

Ever since our time in Cameroon, I've watched Samuel Eto'o's career with interest (I also wrote a Web Design exercise based around his Wikipedia entry, so I know more about his career than is strictly required...)

There's been persistent rumours about him coming to the Premier League for a few years, and I've loved to have him over here (even if it was Man. City...) but sadly he's finally made a move and it's to Italy.

Humph...

It'll be interesting to see how he gets on with Mourinho - they're two characters who rate their own opinions highly (unlike me, of course), so I reckon it'll be worth watching...

My friend emailed me from Cameroon today, to ask if I wanted anything bringing back when he flies on Friday, reckon it's a little too early to score myself a knock-off Eto'o Inter shirt?

If running a marathon has taught me anything (apart from "don't run marathons"), it's taught me that definite goals with set deadlines are a good way of getting things done. In fact, they seem to be the only way I get anything done (if you don't count stuff that my wife organises for me).

All very obvious you might think. I've always shied away from setting myself deadlines and targets where creative projects are concerned though, because of some misplaced idea that it restricts the creative juices and also that it just wasn't very cool.

Well, that's all very well, but it's almost eight years since I produced my online comic Oneironaut for my MA project. For the project I produced episode 1, and the intention was always to carry on producing episodes, for a story arc of seven-or-eight issues.

Well, I finished the MA, got a job, got married, blah blah blah and here we are eight years later and no bleedin' episode 2!!

Well, it's not good this, if I can run a bleedin' marathon I'm sure I can find time to do a bit of drawing and writing and stuff.

All I need to do is make a public declaration of a definite deadline for the release of Oneironaut: Episode 2, so here we go:

Episode 2 of Oneironaut will be online on or before January 1^st 2010.

You can hold me to that.

This year I have mostly been training for the Paris Marathon.

It was Hev's idea, and I thought it would be a challenge and would help me raise my fitness levels for football. Well, it was a challenge alright (as if that was ever in doubt), but I'm not sure my body's any better prepared for football - it's ruined my knees!

The training has been hell on my knees, and so was the marathon itself, but I finished it (just - I walked/hobbled/staggered the last 6 miles) - it took me just under six hours (5:55 was the chip time)!

If you're the kind who like proof, or just enjoy watching others suffer, here's a hilarious video of me stumbling zombie-like across the finish line.

Nice...

In stark contrast to this my wife, who only started running last year and has a pacemaker, hardly walked at all and finished in 5:08...

Is there nothing this woman can't do (apart from spell)?

Speaking of pacemakers, we ran the marathon on behalf of the British Heart Foundation. Thanks very much to everyone who sponsored us, it helped us through and is for a good cause.. If you haven't but fancy it, we'd be most grateful, you can sponsor us online on Hev and Joe's JustGiving page.

Thaaaanks!