Gym

I have, today, at long last returned to the gym. After becoming completely bogged down with working two jobs before Christmas I decided, with high dudgeon, to cancel my membership. I then made some stupid life decisions, ended up picking up too many nasty habits, and I sit here now, drenched in sweat probably in the worst shape I've ever been. 

Nevertheless, it was nice to dust off the cobwebs; especially since I've signed up to run a half marathon for cancer research this summer. It's just a shame that 30 minutes of non stop running has now dwindled down to 3 and total amount of calories burned has halved itself from 600 to 300 over the same amount of time... oh well. I always knew I'd have to make up for lost time but I didn't realize it would be quite this much. 

One thing I've noticed of late, whether it be through music TV or social media, is a new-found respect for those with curves and wobbly bits. Meghan Trainor is preaching about how it's all about that b(ass) while our tellies are covered in 'girls who can' - Sport England's latest campaign to celebrate women (apparently wobbly men don't need encouragement...) who are getting fit no matter how well they do it or how red their faces get. Which is fantastic! All they need to do now is the same thing for all them boys and girls like me who need a little more encouragement to celebrate their edges and corners. I am 6'3.5" you can count my ribs and juice a lemon on my hip bones. I hate it, but at least I can still eat like a horse while back at the gym in hopes I'll put a little meat on. 

Meanwhile I still find myself waiting for lovely police officers and pencil-pushers to tell me that I'm not a criminal so I can start my new job, the new sofa still hasn't arrived and the cat needs a trip to the vet to investigate a lump and get her pedicure. So while I'm not doing that, I look forward to a week of sweat, tears and finding out what the fuck 'burpies' are.

Wishing you warmth,

Ben

Meghan Trainor (who really doesn't need to be worrying about her weight)

Curvy not-men.

Blog.

Having been toying with the idea of writing a blog for years now I've been waiting for a suitably pivotal point in my life to arrive with enough reasons to actually start one. It looks like I've finally got my act together and accumulated a few, so here are the ones I've settled on:

- I recently (mid 2014 if you can call that recent) moved away from home. I waved goodbye to the rolling green hills and Range-Rover plagued country lanes of rural Warwickshire for a grittier, more stimulating life in the Jewel of the Midlands (That's Birmingham to you and I) - the city that I love. Despite the skepticism of many around me, I manage to keep my head above the water with a cunning combination of being tight, and working like a dog. At least I sleep well at night!

- My second reason for starting this online commentary is that I recently got myself a new job working away from 'the High Street' which I have known and enjoyed my entire working life. No longer a shop lackey, I'm keen to see where my new adventures will take me. I'm also getting fed up of people asking me about it. Harsh? Probably. At least I'm not gassing about the weather...

- There are lots of reasons why I've wanted to do this but the third and final one I've settled on is simply with the fact that when it comes to communicating, at least on an electronic basis, I am worse than useless. I leave texts unanswered, I tend not to read emails straight away, and I can't remember the last time I dialed a number into a phone or wrote a letter... 

So there you are. I've always been an open book and I don't keep secrets about myself (sometimes to my detriment) but I don't care. Secrets eat people up and tend to lead to gossip which, as many who know me will tell you, I loathe. 

I now find myself sitting in my favorite coffee shop mooching off their WiFi and sipping a mocha that I can barely afford before I venture back into the icy streets of the city to attend a meeting on behalf of one of the choirs I sing with. I feel I should leave soon before the hipsters notice I'm using an iPad and accept me as one of their own.

They gave me all of my accumulated annual leave at my current job this week. Much as it felt good to glide through the stomping sea of angry, chain-smoking commuters on my way here without a care in the world, I'm determined not to get too accustomed to today's new-found man-about-town lifestyle. I'm sure it would all go to my head and I'd end up drunk, broke, fat and sucking on the end of a cigarette. Plus I don't think I'm fancy enough.

Adventures to follow...

With any luck... 

Warmth, Ben x