Card No.8 - Do A Yoga Class

Well for the first time in the 2 months since I started my 52 Things In 52 Weeks thing, I'm actually ahead of myself. As in I'm not trying to finish things on a Sunday evening at 10 o'clock! Or worse... into the following week!

This week Joanne, my colleague at Proof Design, chose the Queen of Diamonds which meant I had to do a yoga class! I've been meaning to do it for years to see if it would help my dodgy back a bit but never got round to it.

2015 is the year of getting shit done so I went along to the Yoga Shala on Thursday night. I now have a new found admiration for those who do it regularly and Jaysus do I have new found respect for the downward dog, angry cat and all the other crazy named animal poses that meant I stretched places I never even knew I had!

I know the photo of me standing pointing at the yoga places logo isn't much proof that I actually did the class but believe me, after a tough but enjoyable hour of 'beginners' yoga... my aching hips don't lie!

Card No.7 - Fix Something (Part 1 of eh... a few!)

Fix something the card said. Easy I said. Sure I'll find something that needs fixing and just put it back together again or get it working again.

I've learned over the years that I have a particular gift for over-complicating some of the simple things. And sure enough I've gone and over-complicated a simple thing!

Midway through another breathless week I decided I was gonna get to work on a broken old computer games arcade table that used to be in a bar. It would make a pretty cool coffee table said I... about a year and a half ago! Ever since it's been gathering dust in the shed without any sign of it ever seeing the light of day. I decided I was gonna clean it up a little, put some casters on it, maybe change the top of it and lo and behold I'd have a coffee table!

Once I had a look inside and reminded myself of what the guts of it looked like, with its wire looms going everywhere and it's circuit boards mounted hapazardly all over the place, the patron saint of over-complication duly appeared on my shoulder and told me that the whole thing would make a lovely drinks cabinet! "Oh and you could fit your CD collection in there too!", he said.

So... to cut a boring story short... Card No.7 has turned from fixing something small into finally getting around to fixing up something I've been meaning to for aaaaaages. It's not major work by any stretch but it will take more than a week to sort and hopefully it'll be pretty cool by the time it's all done! :-)

Card No. 7 has been chosen!

After 2 weeks of what feels like slacking, I need to get my act together for week No. 7! The legend that is my granny picked out the 8 of spades which means that I have to go fix something this week! Hmmmm... where to start?! Looking forward to this one even if I'm better at breakin' stuff than fixin' it!

Card No.6 - Swim at the Forty Foot

I've always wanted to swim at the Forty Foot in Dun Laoghaire so when the card was chosen last weekend I was both happy and nervous in equal measure! I knew it wasn't exactly the warmest time of year to throw myself into Dublin Bay but the card was pulled so I was obliged to follow up!

I can confirm it was bloody baltic but it's a really great spot so I'll definitely be back at a time when it doesn't leave you with pins and needles in your face!

Card No.5 - Learn The Irish Sign Language Alphabet

I reckon I need to come clean and admit that I fell off the wagon a little in the last couple of weeks! My task for last week was to learn the Irish Sign Language Alphabet, courtesy of my lovely Godmother Brenda McCormack who selected the 3 of diamonds. This I actually did but unfortunately I have no proof! I was away for a few days and even though I proved to the bunch of lunatics I was with that I'd actually learned it, I'm sure the lot of them would take great pleasure in denying everything!

I did a little video to prove that I actually learned it but I was a bit rusty so it isn't exactly the finest rendition of the ISL alphabet anyone has ever seen!

Card No.5 has been chosen!

I'm writing this post with yellow and green hands after destroying myself with paint during last week's task! This week's one is a little more sedate. My deadly Godmother, Brenda McCormack, picked out the 3 of diamonds which means that I'm obliged to learn the sign language alphabet this week and post proof by Sunday evening! That's a lot to get done so better get started!

Card No.4 - Paint A Picture

This week I'm well ahead of myself and completed my weekly task with a whole 2 hours to spare! I haven't done any kind of painting, apart from the odd wall or gate, since I was in college. Now that I think of it, maybe even secondary school. This week flew and life, as it tends to do, got in the way of me getting started on my masterpiece!

I flirted with the idea of various different styles of painting and different subjects but settled on keeping it simple! I decided that my subject matter was going be my one and only sporting hero, Ayrton Senna, a Brazilian considered by many to be the greatest Formula One driver of all time.

I've always loved the whole look of stencil based artwork and something I've never really tried so that was that. Combining Senna, a stencil and two halves of the same sponge, I put some oil paint on a canvas and crossed my fingers! Below are the couple of different stages and the finished product I hope will qualify as fulfilling the terms of Card No. 4 of my 52 things in 52 weeks!