#BEDM Day 4: What's In My Bag

Day Four of the BEDM challenge is here! Let me start by saying, May the Force be with you and happy Star Wars Day!

Now that’s out of the way, time for the challenge post. This ones simple kids, my bag and its contents.

I never really used to take a bag out and about with me, as a guy my pockets would hold the important things such as keys, phone and wallet. Recently though, it has dawned on me that taking a comfortable rucksack would be beneficial to me. So, there it is in the picture. There’s also an apple and banana, because I like to snack and snack often. As someone who is trying to develop a healthier lifestyle it’s so much easier to keep to this when I have some fruit with me rather than be tempted to waste money and buy a chocolate bar or packet of crisps.

There is also my (rather empty) wallet, something I go into a bit too often when I’m out and about, especially for a coffee or two!

My keyring infuriates Diane as I have several Lego keyring characters, including Gandalf, Yoda, Vader, Gimli and others from the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings films. There are also two bottle openers (always useful!) and several chain rings with absolutely nothing on. The part that annoys her is that there are only three keys in amongst that. In fact until we bought our house there was only one!

I tend to try and read whenever I can and so there’s always a book in there, this time it’s Sabrial by Garth Nix. I’ve owned the Abhorsen Trilogy for ages and am finally reading it. Enjoyable so far. Naturally there is my phone and headphones, for music or the Zombie Run app mentioned in the last post. Can’t go out without my metal blaring into my poor ears!

Finally you will be able to see a medication bottle that contains my pills. Nothing too exciting, I had major bowel surgery when I was a child and those beautiful little guys keep everything running as smoothly as can be expected.

So there it is, my rucksack and its contents.

So, What’s in YOUR bag?

#BEDM DAY 3: Walk to Work

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So today’s topic for the BEDM challenge is ‘Walking to work’. Well, I don’t actually walk to work that often and it’s a pretty boring walk when I do so I decided to do something in keeping with the topic but a little outside of the box. Originally I was going to write about the park and reservoir I discovered near our house, which is a lovely walk on a sunny day. But it turns out that sneaky fiancée of mine has beaten me to it, so read all about that at Nomad Seeks Home.

Instead, I’m going to talk about something that has helped me get into walking and made me more active. It’s an app called ‘Zombies Run’. I had heard about it and decided to download it when it was on offer. It tracks your runs/walks and shows you your distance, speed and route like other apps. What makes it different and appealing to me is that it is designed to be a zombie-survival story at the same time. The way it works is that it throws you into a zombie apocalypse and encourages you to run/walk to evade zombies, complete goals and collect resources for rebuilding.

The story is split into different mission in which you, as a ‘Runner’ are sent to complete objectives to help a settlement whilst listening to instructions as you run. These objectives gain you items that you can then use to build a visual-on-screen base once you’ve completed your goals. The story is delivered through good voice acting in your headphones and an interesting feature is that between the vocal messages, the app plays music from your iTunes/music collection and so you can listen to your favourite tracks whilst literally fleeing the zombie hordes (the power metal I have is very useful for this)!

It has helped me get more active, I’m not a runner but I do use it whenever I go for long walks as it encourages me to go more often and also actually finish them!

#BEDM Day 2: Monday Musings

Day two of the BEDM challenge, here we go!

So here is another Bank Holiday Monday and of course it has been grey, cloudy and very wet. So my musings and question for this post is, what do you do on a rainy day? Wet and grey days are common here in Manchester and something you get used to pretty quickly. Luckily, as a nerdy person I have several ways of keeping myself entertained during these kinda days.

Obviously with Diane working from home I am lucky(?) enough to have her company, as well as the two kitties to talk to/chase around/watch sleep. I find that having someone else, even a cat, around makes me feel a lot better when I’m confined by the house (albeit because I just don’t want to get wet). It’s nice to be able to talk to/at someone every now and then. Even though we have the option of social media for company, that doesn’t feel quite the same.

There are piles and piles of videogames, books and films in our house which haven’t been played, read or watched before, so they are a great means to keep myself entertained whilst Diane works or wants a break from my constant chatting! So I can just plonk myself in front of the TV and keep myself occupied, especially if there is sports on as well. Having recently been unemployed for a while, I would often feel guilty for playing games etc. at home, even if id applied for jobs. But now I can do these things knowing I’m enjoying some well earned time off.

Typically, as I’m writing this and discussing things that I do when the weather sucks, the sun and blue sky have appeared. But, as I’m halfway through a mission on a game I think I’ll still stay inside. I may open a window.

What do you guys do when the weather isn’t great or you have a day in the house?

#BEDM Day 1: Introduce Yourself

So I set up the blog and haven’t written anything yet. Hmmm. Unsure of how to begin the whole thing. My fiancée Diane (also a blogger under the name of ‘Nomad Seeks Home’ suggested that I start with the #BEDM (Blog Every Day in May) challenge and so here is the first day.

Apparently I’m supposed to write a bit about myself. Name’s Chris, prefer to be known as ‘Topher’ though. I am 28, engaged to a beautiful woman called Diane and we live with our two cats Pickles and Luna. I have lived in Manchester most of my life and love it, but my family are originally from the West Country and when the sun comes out I look forward to visiting family down in Devon and Cornwall.

Most people would see me as a chubby nerd with a dark sense of humor and a sharp tongue but in reality I’m lovely and harmless! The type of nerd who loves fantasy fiction rather than comic books, I’m a huge fan of the authors Terry Pratchett, Tolkien, Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. Currently own WAY too many books and have to crack on with reading them all. I do all the usual nerdy stuff, play videogames and watch many horror and zombie films. I’m stereotypically also into metal music, in particular power metal band Blind Guardian, who I’m going to see twice this month. Also a huge fan of the bands Amon Amarth and the wonderfully named Rotting Christ. I’m basically powered by power metal and caffeine.

BUT! There is also much more to me. Unlike many nerdy folk, I’m an avid sports fan. Bet you weren’t expecting that. Love me some football and American Football. Supporter of Liverpool and the Minnesota Vikings, perhaps because I crave disappointment. Hoping to go to an NFL match when we are in the US for our honeymoon.

The most surprising thing about me after reading this is that I am a huge softy. I genuinely love my other half so much and realize how lucky I am to have her. The cats are a close second though and are sometimes more willing to give me a cuddle! Became a huge Disney fan thanks to her and Disney World is now tied favourite with Bloodstock Metal Music festival as my ‘happy places’.

What I Like:

• Vikings winning football matches
• Wizards and dragons
• Power Metal
• Pizza
• Disney World

What I don’t like:

• Clothes shopping
• Hipsters
• Romance
• Paying more than 3 quid for a pint
• People

What I secretly like:

• Romance
• People

Can I just say how proud I am that I got this out on the day with just over 15 mins to spare! 

First Post: The start of an unexpected journey

Smorgasbord

noun

1. a buffet meal of various hot and cold hors d'oeuvres, salads, casserole dishes, meats, cheeses, etc.

2. an extensive array or variety

Smaug

A large fire drake/dragon from Tolkien’s novel ‘The Hobbit’ 

The name of the blog comes from these two words. I love food, including all of the listed dishes and the blog itself will be a variety and mixture of things that I’m interested in. One of those things is a fondness for fantasy fiction, with Smaug being a character I like. So combining the two words seemed a fun and logical choice when deciding on a name. Yes, I’m aware that ‘Smaug’ isn’t pronounced ‘Smorg’ but ah, its close enough.   

So, here it is. My first blog post.  After talking about doing one for months I have finally taken the plunge and decided to write something. What inspired me in the end is actually seeing my fiancée, Diane, enjoying putting so much into her blog http://nomadseekshome.co.uk/. It looked like something that would be interesting and give me a chance to talk about some of the things that have got me thinking and that I’m enjoying at the time.

This blog will be my views, observations and occasional rants about the things that I have read/watched/played and listened to. I’m not an expert on any of these chosen subjects but I have a passion for, and enjoy discussing them.

So if you’re interested in fantasy books, metal music, films, games (video/role-playing/board), food, the occasional bit of sports, and want to read the ramblings of a Hobbit in the city then please, enjoy my blog. If not, then…

 

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…ok not really but I hope you will find something on here that you find interesting!