In lieu of my relinquishing social networks, I’m going to try blogging more frequently. If nothing else, I’ll write more sentences; maybe encourage some abstract thought that I don’t condense to 140 characters.

Considering today has been spent doing a godawful job of painting a bathroom, playing with a puppy in the snow and drinking nasty rum, I thought I’d post some photos of the 21st century’s answer to polaroid; my iPhone.

Dead-centre of this gorgeous, frosty sunrise, trying to stop a dog picking up and eating sticks.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t post some pictures of snow.

I love our house.

It seems that water supplies are intent on giving me crap at the moment. Luckily, the external pipe is low on my list. Downstairs toilet, however, is another matter entirely.

A few rare moments where he’s still enough to capture on the awesome iPhone camera.

Look at those legs. Since we got him, he hasn’t been a 100% proportionate dog. Funny how all his body parts grow at totally different speeds.

Toilet training is getting SO much better this week. He’s getting good at finding a door and sitting by it to let us know he wants to go out. Problem is both our kitchen doors are identical and I think he might get confused a bit. Couldn’t say for sure, though.

We’ve had our last set of jabs, so this time next week, we’ll be going out for walkies, which I’m really excited about. He has so much energy, I think walking’s going to really help.

He’s generally becoming a much nicer dog to me, as well. All the persistent command-shouting is really paying off, and he’s now understanding commands (even if he chooses to ignore them if there’s something better going on). Generally a much more trustworthy member of the household now – I’m a lot more comfortable with him being unsupervised outside his cage for short periods of time, and he’s not doing anything to betray that trust, so it’s going well!

Everyone loves puppies (apart from you, Jem) and, as such, people (ok, I) tend to forget just how much work it is owning one. It’s not as simple as “pick up the poo, take him out for walks, get sleepy cuddles”, as people (ok, I) think it should be. You have to learn about them so you can spot when they need these things. You have to have lightning quick reflexes for those nick-of-time moments. You have to shout at those cute little faces. It ain’t right!

The rewards, however, far outweigh the drawbacks. Puppies are amazing. Yeah, they eat your shoes, and they don’t understand the 50th consecutive “NO!”, and they have very little regard for doing their business over the cracks in your nice, clean, wooden floor then kicking it throughout your house, but it’s so rewarding when you get through a whole day and you’re totally in sync.

This is, however, a massive responsibility and investment of time and energy. You have to be totally willing to drop everything you’re doing at any given moment to tend to a puppy. You can’t be sat writing a blog post and just ignore a whining puppy who needs to go out – you have to be up and at it! This goes for ANY time of day. Sleep is deprioritised, as are loved-ones, friends, cameras, code, video games, movies, TV shows and books (it’s a testament to my literacy how low down books are on that list) and there’s nothing you can do about it. This does have its advantages; you’ll get ridiculously good at going from any position to standing, clothed, shoed and alert; you’ll have a feeling of fulfilled responsibility and accomplishment; but, most of all, you’ll be on the way to having a well-rounded, well-behaved, house-trained dog.

Anyway, enough of my indignant, week-old wisdom on raising a puppy. If you’re thinking about it, please seriously think about the implications and the impact it’ll have on your life. Puppies are cute, but they’re so much more than that.

As a reward for wading through the wall of text, so uncharacteristic of this blog, have some pictures of Sudo, in chronological order.

6 weeks, 2 days.

6 weeks, 3 days

7 weeks

7 weeks, 6 days

London is so good. One day I might go mad, quit my job and spend the rest of my life taking photos around London. We managed to cover a tiny amount of Oxford Street and Southwark before it got dark today – don’t know the areas well enough to find well-lit stuff yet. Also, remember to charge your batteries before going out shooting all day.

Oxford Street

Southwark

You can get vegetarian sushi, which is pretty awesome. I never had sushi before; the idea of raw fish didn’t appeal. The idea of raw vegetables and sticky rice definitely does, though.

Lovely, quiet sit in the (now-funded!) St. James’ Park before walking to work with Charlotte.

Impromptu night walk with Paul actually resulted in some keepers. SWEET.

There are almost too many things to photograph in multi-storey carparks!

This underpass is so good.

The other one was better, but I accidentally deleted it trying to make some space. Twat.

Do not use this cash machine if anything about it seems suspicious.

These guys requested I took their photo, then posed. I can only hope they’re drunk or making fun.

As is my prerogative, the photos I took of the actual event at FOWA are hugely unrelated. Anything else is a result of socialising afterwards. You don’t get any of the content in pictures of speakers, so why bother?

Taking photos of the signs at these things is so passé. Too many people crowding it.

Believe it or not, the least subtle plugs of products at FOWA were the big, constant lights on the walls. I know, right?

Marionette on Portobello Road

That’s some awareness of colour, when your house matches your car.

Was it gravity, Charlotte nearly flying across the road to a boutique?

Olives suck.

Man-up.

Recently been holed-up (that sounds like it should mean something else) with a project that’s set to drop Monday. Friday marked the end of payment gateway testing and end-tying-up and we’re basically there. I’ve got a screencast to record and some stuff for my own peace of mind, so tomorrow will be a work day as well, but this site is so worth it.

Since starting at buffalo, I’ve gone from kinda soured towards programming and work in general to liberated by both. I’ve got an amazing amount of freedom both personal and professional (can you go out for 2 hours in the day to get tattooed without making excuses? No? I can) and (I’m allowed to say this because it’s true) I’ve produced 2 amazing websites since being there.

Anyway, photos:

Went for a cool little wander in Worcester this morning. It’s been ages since I took my camera out properly. I’ve been saving loads of inspiration to a photo collection on a new site I’m working on and I think it’s really doing me some good! I love the every-day subjects you get in those slightly washed-out film photos. There’s nothing monumental going on, it’s just every day and I like that!

Charlotte is as tall as the flood was in 1948.

I found my first abandoned area. It’s pretty scary wandering round somewhere—especially when you hear someone leg it when you shout.

We finally got our act together and got the last of people’s photos of our wedding together. There’s not many, but we picked our favourite for anyone who cares to take a look at.