There are a thousand things I’d like to do in the next 12 months. Am I going to write them all here for you, family, and the authorities to see?! Probably best not to. So, once again, now a birthday has passed, let’s plan out some (bloggable) goals for the next year.
1. Social Media Experiment
Twitter is now X, and new CEO and visual gag enthusiast Elon Musk is in the process of botching up the website. I’ve had an idea for how to use Twitter – I mean X – along with another website, in order to boost the stats on my blog. I went about this completely wrong a few months ago, as Musk has made alterations to the site that you’ve got to pay keen attention to notice, but I think I could get it right this time.
2. Photography month
There are a few aspects of blogging that I’ve particularly focussed on in order to make improvements: touchtyping, Teeline shorthand etc. But photos make up a huge amount of the content of this blog, and many blogging advice websites advise to keep good original photos in your post. It breaks up a block of text, it allows another means of storytelling, it brings validity – people are more likely to believe you met an author if there’s a picture of you with them, or believe you saw a guy off Love Island doing karaoke if there’s a video of it.
But, there’s a right way and a wrong way of shooting pictures and video. I’ve done 6 years of media training with a lot of video work in it. I wasn’t amazing at it, but I can remember a bit of framing. It would be good to see how the kind of guidance and advice available has been modified now that we’ve all got video cameras in our phones capable of shooting 1080p HD content. Are there any photography groups that work with cameraphones? Could I pick up any tips and then look for events at which I could exercise those skills? Could I find things happening that the Manchester Evening News has missed?
Focussing on this for a month, and developing a little bit of skill, might set me in better stead for the future and might bring a bit more quality to the blog.
3. CBD and memory
CBD, or cannabinoid, is an active ingredient in cannabis that is derived from the hemp plant, but does not cause a high and is not addictive. Studies and clinical trials are exploring the common report that CBD can reduce anxiety (Harvard Health).
I’ve had a bottle of this since I attended the CanCalm launch back in ‘19. I dabbled in it once or twice, but then the pandemic basically annihilated my social life so I never got much chance to use it, and of course, you need the scenario to be something that would normally give you anxiety, so for me, it would need to be a night out or nightlife event. These are few and far between these days, so the bottle has stayed on the shelf, but it occurs to me it might be good to try it every night, just to see if there is any change to mood, but there’s another reason to try CBD routinely.
I have short term memory difficulties. There have been no suggestions form the NHS that there are any drugs that can improve my condition, and the emphasis from any treatments I’ve received have been on mitigating the situation with organisational techniques – the calendar in my phone, the Omninotes app, taking pictures of where I left my car, etc. All of these techniques work, but they aren’t infallible.
If something else – like CBD – might help, it’s worth experimenting with.
4. Zinc and hair growth
I'm 41, and have been going bald for several years. It comes to us all.
In an attempt to mitigate this, I've looked into how people have combatted this – beyond going to Turkey and spending thousands, only to look like that twat Tory polititian Michael Fabricant.
It appears the metal element has many health benefits, including vision, skin and hair health. Hence, I'm going to take zinc suppliments nightly, along with a balanced diet, for a month to see if there's any improvement to my sadly fading hair.
5. Namman Muay and flexibility
I’ve made a few attempts to regain some of my 18-19-year-old flexibility from my Mauy Thai days. Outrageously, in my late 30s and early 40s I’ve found I don’t seem to have as much any more.
What I did find is that flexibility can be partly regained through practice, and patiently sitting edging my legs further wider whilst watching Netflix on my phone. I did try to accelerate this process with Thai Oil, or Namman Muay, a menthol-based bright-yellow fluid. The liquid warms up the skin, increasing circulation and aiding recovery. It was fake, and from China, though, so that might be why I didn’t have great success with it.
Real Namman Muay may have a better effect.
I have LOADS of books to read.
6. See Scandinavia
I’ve wanted to visit this area of Northern Europe for a few years now, to visit Viking museums, see the architecture and sample the nightlife.
But which country? They’re all outrageously expensive. I still don’t know which of these countries my ancestors would have come from (it’s one of them). Which has the best museums? Which is the fairer price? What else is going on near the capital cities? Would it be better to avoid the capitals and try somewhere like Malmo?
I guess the answer is, where would I be most likely to find any information about the Toki Viking tribe, from which the Tuckey surname derives?
6 solid plans. We’re 2 weeks into the year of 41 already. Let’s get a move on.
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