Let's go through the week shall we -

Monday - This was recovery from the May Day bank holiday. I had still had to work that night but at least it was quiet thanks to some truly shitty weather. Grey clouds, raining and cold...you know... English weather.

Tuesday - Got back to the gym after having to skip Monday's session due to being called into work early. However thanks to my swim session on Sunday, I'm still good for me going to the gym 5 days this week.

Wednesday - A glorious day off. Didn't do too much however. Went to the gym during the day. That night however I met with Jo to talk about random stuff that had been on my mind since the weekend. For whatever reason I was moving down to a dark place that I had been in once before in my life and had no interest in returning, so I told Jo on the weekend that I would like to talk to her about it. She's one of the people I really trust here and she was great about the whole thing and I felt so much better after being able to say stuff that I thought I wouldn't be able to tell anyone.

Thursday - Back to work again. Was asked to a double which I happily agreed to since it would put my hours for the week to 43, something quite useful when you need more $$ in the bank account. I was also informed that I was one of two people who served a mystery diner and for many points in my favor, I scored 100% for my section. I also had a nice chat with the managers about the pub, the running of it and what they thought about me and I was quite glad to hear that it was all very positive.

Friday - Well this is today and with another day off, I thought best to update this blog of mine. Will be going out later tonight, something I'm greatly looking forward too. But now it is time for me to go. I have to grab something to eat and catch the train to get to the gym and do my daily exercise before liver destruction tonight.

With the huge success that came with Diablo and Diablo 2 and Blizzard continuing to have fans drooling in anticipation of the upcoming Diablo 3, there was more than enough market for a Diablo to come in and give fans some release. However, Torchlight, released by Runic Games did nothing to give relief to fans by being a complete duplicate of the Diablo series thus far.

When one creates a game that is always going to be compared to the brand name of the gameplay style - Grand Theft Auto for urban sandbox bloodshed, Half Life for the first person shooter and Diablo for the hack 'n' slash, it's incredibly important that the game define itself in such a way that it can be played without the user feeling like its they are playing the old game all over again. The best example that comes to mind is Saint's Row with it's GTA roots. Yes the game was a blatent knock-off of the Grand Theft Auto series but it was done so well and in a manner that allowed the user to feel like they were playing a whole new game. Torchlight fails to do this with practically everything taken from Diablo. Let's begin a list shall we -

- Town Portal and Identify scrolls
- Gems and socketing
- Transmuting gems from lower to greater value
- Fighting off hordes of enemies in a dungeon going deeper and deeper into the earth.
- Playing one of three classes - Melee, ranged and magic user.
- Mobs dropping tons of loot so you have to keep going back and selling every 5 minutes.
- Chest of belongings staying in town.
- Three different trees for each character class to invest their points every level into.

and the list goes on. Now this may not have been so bad had there been some actual differences to set it apart. But Torchlight fails this as well with the changes being cosmetic only. You get a pet to help sell items by having its own inventory and being able to run to town, visiting shopkeepers without them batting an eye, a fame level allowing you to get an extra point or two into your skill and the whole game being dunked into a bucket of fluorescent paint.

I'm not going to sit here however and claim that the game is bad; had i not grown up in the Diablo era and this being my first hack 'n' slash game, I would be more than happy to play it over and over but having been spoiled by Blizzard's brilliant creation, I can't help wishing the Diablo 3 would hurry its arse up and allow me to play it.

I like sleep. I find it quite enjoyable to have large amounts of it. Being placed in situations that require large amounts of effort on minimal sleep annoys me somewhat so this weekend was somewhat annoying but still greatly enjoyable.

My day off on Friday saw me head out to party at Jo's house with a few others from work. It wasn't a real rager, it would be better described as a gathering, it was still very enjoyable. However due to an unfortunate turn of events during the week, instead of sleeping ANYWHERE except the Orange Tree, I had to make my way home from Peckham to Richmond at 3am in the morning and didn't end up getting home until 5am. You see if I had the chance to crash in any number of other places, I would have gotten at least 7 - 8 hours of sleep, however getting back to the Orange Tree at 5am and then having to be up by 11am saw me get only six. Some may question my complaint but as I said previously, I enjoy sleep and I was on a double on Saturday so I was hoping for a little bit more.

In the end I completed my shift (mostly on Red Bull) and got back home at 3am which sounds about right for a Saturday night close but I was still exhausted even though Saturday was much quieter than it usually is. With only another 6 hours of sleep due to needing to get to work by 10am, I was not a happy camper. I had begged my boss to let me crash on the chairs at the Ship but as the disbelieving friend said to the inventor of the feces powered helicopter - "That shit will not fly." Thankfully it was again another quiet day, something I believe will keep happening throughout the entire world cup at The Ship is not a particularly sporty pub.

So overall a minimal sleep weekend. I'm sure in the future to be having worse but until then; ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

There were many things that I expected when I started working out at the gym. Increased muscle mass, reducing gut and an improved level of fitness however what I hadn't expected was the increasing confidence I now have.

I have never been one for having confidence on a mass scale. I would be comfortable around people I knew and trusted and then something somewhat loud and exhubarent wouldd come to the surface, but other than that, trying to talk to new people what a somewhat challenging thing indeed.

Now, partly due to my position in a bar and partly thanks to having a new exterior, I find myself with more and more self confidence. I am able to have conversations with people I wouldn't have been able to before. I'm still not quite at the stage where I am able to go up to random women in a bar and attempt a pull but thats never really been my style....not that I ever had one.

So what does this all mean....who knows. Maybe I can get up and sing karaoke or dance on a club floor...maybe I can look a girl I like in the eye and say "I like you and I would like to take you out." The confidence is growing and I'm liking where it is taking me.

Recently my blog has featured a current tunes feature that I am using in order to display the current songs in my "Mix" playlist. This is a playlist that I am certain that most people would have and its basically something that I can flick on and know I am going to get a collection of songs that I will enjoy listening to. As I get tired of songs or as new ones are released, I will update it so it's always good to listen to.

So for this blog post I though I might go through some my list and explain why they are currently in my Mix list.

The first one I am going to jump to is ironically the first on the list. White and Nerdy by "Weird Al" Yankovic is just a great song all round. Taking a format such as rap and turning into a song about being...well....white and nerdy is just brilliant.

The next one I am going to jump to is Dream On by Matthew Morrison and Neil Patrick Harris. This song is an Aerosmith cover for the TV show "Glee" which has a lot to answer for thanks to reviving Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" and making it a nightmare for any pub worker. However Glee saves itself by taking random songs and turning them equal to, if not better, than the original. Having never heard the original song of "Dream On" it's hard for me to pass judgement on whether or not the song is better but it is brilliant nevertheless. Matthew Morrison and Neil Patrick Harris both have fantastic voices and this song stretches them to the limit, particularly with those high notes towards the end.

Next on the list is Josh Groban's "My December". Now strictly speaking this is a Linkin Park cover but the overall feel of the song is much better in my opinion to LP's version. Now this song has made its way on and off my Mix list for as long as I discovered Josh Groban did this cover for two simple reasons - "My December" is my favorite song of all time and Josh Groban is my favorite solo artist. Combining the two results in much joy but it goes beyond that. You hear from judges on shows like "Insert Country Here Idol" that you can't sing a song without at least understanding the lyrics in a song, if not feeling the same way. I can fully understand every single lyric that is in that song and it's why it's still perserveres on my list. The same goes for February Song. Whilst this was only released on Groban's latest album, it is such a beautiful song that I love to listen to it over and over.

Now onto Lifehouse's "Everything". This song was originally written by Jason Wade when he was in a Christian band and the song is about, what could only be, God. However having only discovered this recently, I prefer to interpret the song somewhat more New Agey and believe it to be about that one special person in your life, the one you can't live without. You can take whatever meaning you life out of that, the fact of the matter is....it's an unbelievably beautiful song.

Lastly I would like to mention Linkin Park's "Breaking The Habit" This song written by Mike Shinoda was originally written about a close friend's drug addiction but I don't relate to the song that way. I prefer to relate in more in a sense about any habit that destroys you and that you want to break.

Now some may look at my list of songs and go "WTF is that doing on there?" Stuff from Leona Lewis and "Bad Romance" from the Glee cast springs to mind but the simple fact of the matter is that I like those songs. I don't criticise people for their music taste because music is so individual. Some might say I don't have the "typical" music taste for a 25yo guy....which is probably true. I prefer to describe it as that of a 53yo man...considering I seem to have the exactly same music taste as my father.