So apart from being mistaken for a Kelly Jones lookalike the other day, I've actually been busy. More than I ever been throughout the year, even, First of all, development of my Freya shrine, the Realm of Eternal Rain, has resumed production in August after a lengthy hiatus. I wasn't happy with the opening animation or the original concept for the navigation menu, so I've changed all those around - the Index page now has an animated carousel, and the menu now has sub-navigation drop down menus for each section of the site. This was a feature that was already included in the previous version, but the way I wanted to handle navigation for this version was a bit fiddly, so I've reverted back to a design I'm already familiar with. I still intend to make the site responsive, which was the original intention for the update, so hopefully I'll come up with a solution for how to translate this to a mobile view.

Second, I now have an account on Bidvine! For those who don't know, Bidvine is a social platform for business owners looking for more clients to work with and help expand their business, something which I've been struggling with for a while now. You can check out my profile here! You don't have to hire me right away, but you're welcome to ask for a free quote, in case you do plan to hire me in the future.

I've also managed to get work done for a couple more clients, one of which involved building a search engine from a partially-restored database for a friend - an amazing feat for me, considering I've never actually made a working search engine before. So, hurrah for learning new things! Maybe one day I'll reuse some of the things I've learned for my own projects one day :)

Okay, maybe not that awesome, but still...

Last of all, I've been working hard on my first ever novel, a fan-sequal to one of my favorite games, Final Fantasy 9. I can't really reveal much about it (spoilers!) but I promise you that it will be epic in scope, at least. Maybe bigger than Lord of the Rings, or A Song of Fire and Ice at the rate I'm going - I'm still working on chapter one as of writing, and I'm already 21 pages into writing it. I may consider trimming some of it down, or merge parts of it into a future chapter.

And that's it for this month's update! Tomorrow I'll be out of town for a week, so I won't be able to respond to any replies or questions until I get back.

- Sean

I'm currently six weeks into my fat-shredding program, which I started after I recovered from a bulking program that I did two weeks prior to starting - that, and I was busy recovering from the flu soon after I had finished, and I didn't want to start a new program while I was still feeliing sickly. Since starting, I've lost over 4 kilograms (or 8.8 lbs if you're American, or just plain weird like that), and at least 3.5% body fat. I know, it doesn't sound like a lot in the grand scheme of things, but a small change in weight like that really makes a huge difference after putting on weight during a three-month bulking session.

And to show people that I'm not BSing, here's a little progress shot I've made this morning!

(zomg, abs! Well... sorta!)

As far as the diet portion of the program is concerned, I've been sticking to a strict low-carb protein-heavy diet. And before anyone asks, no, I am not starving myself thin - I've been consistently maintaining a daily goaf of at least 2,000 calories with a carb/protein/fat ratio of 30/40/30, and that does also include my rest days. I'll admit that I did cheat a few times (like I did last night, THANK YOU DARLING NIECE), but as long as I'm consistently eating right and hitting that goal every day, it doesn't really matter in the long run.

It really is a constant struggle, because the last few times I've tried losing weight it ended up in total failure - either from a cold, or loss of motivation, or too many cheat meals, or when I'm close to finishing I start thinking about the next program that I want to do and it starts to interfere with what my current goals are... which then leads to loss of motivation. I'm glad that I'm doing something right for once, though, because I've started to acknowledge my faults and shortcomings, and now that I'm addressing those, I'm now reaching my goals much more quicker (and more safely) than I did when I first started dieting three years ago.

I still plan to bulk up again at some point, though - since that's always been one of my main goals. I don't know when exactly though, because I'd rather not think about that now in case it distracts me too much again and I start to lose sight of what I'm aiming for at the minute. It could even be a couple of years for all I know - all I know is that I want to start putting on muscle again once I'm satisfied with my fat-loss results, and even then, it needs to be done gradually so that I don't turn into a massive fat blimp again like I have done the last few times I tried gaining muscle.

So that's where I am right now on the fitness side of things. Hopefully I'll have another blog post covering my fitness journey in a few weeks once I really start getting into my current program, and maybe another progress update or two on where I am weight-wise - assuming that I haven't quit and binged on cake since writing this post.

Until next time!

Early last month, just after the Easter weekend I caught the flu for the first time in years. I was pretty much out of it for a few days, and even then, I had to spend the next two weeks dealing with a nasty cough that came with it. Not the most pleasant way to start the month after the Easter holidays, I guess. I did, however, got a head start on an advertising campaign for Silver Dragon Studios over on Twitter - as of the end of April, I managed to rake in over 10,000 impressions... but only 180 engagements. Mostly likes, but no replies or new followers.

So it has a bit of a slow start, despite having reached out to so many people. I'm a little disappointed witht the turnout, but I'm hoping to do another campaign in the near future, as more updates and fixes have been implemented and more projects added onto the portfolio.

Which brings me to my next subject - Silver Dragon Studios is now responsive! :D

During the twiiter ad campaign, I've had a couple of queries on whether my site was going to be responsive or not. I mentioned in my last entry that I would be focusing on putting together a responsive layout. It's taken a couple of weeks of development - most of which was spent on researching how to approach this - but I think I've managed alright, given the short amount of time it took. It's been tested at most commonly used screen resolutions, and of course my own Samsung phone with very little errors, so there -shouldn't- be any serious issues, I hope. If you do happen to come across any, let me know and I'll provide a fix!

- Sean.

First off, I've set up a LinkedIn account with the help of a friend. It's still barebones as of writing, but I'm hoping that it'll build up a few connections and attract more potential clients. You can view my profile over at https://uk.linkedin.com/in/anthony-greenwood-730206117. Alternatively, you can also visit the same link by clicking on the LinkedIn icon on the Social Icons bar.

Next, I'll be working on adding more features to the site in general. My biggest priority is finishing the backend (one page couldn't be completed, since I'd have to gp "live" to work on it), but more importantly, I'd like to make a start on developing a respnsive layout for the site. This was always the number one intention for V2, and the main motivation for me to redesignthe site, but time constraints forced me to push out the release as soon as possible, which meant that I never got around to working on it.

There's also a few more features I'm considering adding in the future:

• A carousel for the front page
• Replies and sharing buttons for blog comments
• Support for multiple images in the Portfolio
• A projects section for miscellaneous coding projects
• And a few others

So that's it for now, I think. I'll also be working on an advertising campaign to generate more interest in the site, starting with local advertising and promoting both my twitter and facebook pages. It isn't much, but I need to make a start on getting my name out there if I want to turn this little hobby into a proper career, otherwise I'll just be lost with the other hundereds of freelance devs out there. I've tried the word of mouth thing before, and it didn't work - now it's time for me to make more of an effort to receive exposure (no, not the unpaid kind!) and get a little bit of recognition out there.

Be seeing you soon!

- Sean

As of writing, all the server-side coding has been complete - now all that's left is some final coding tweaks and polishing before I can go ahead and go live. I'm hoping, barring any errors - or a comet - to have V2 go live by this Sunday at the latest. Naturally I'll have to take the website offline to move everything, but it shouldn't take longer than half an hour of downtime at least during the move-over.

Hope to see you guys on the other side!

- Sean

Both the Leave a Comment URL and Comment form have been fixed. If anyone finds any more weirdness going on, feel free to drop a line on my Contact page above. (Assuming it still works, of course!) Thanks!

Yes, you heard that right. I'm still working on the same website that I've been working on for nearly a year and a half now. That's not a good sign.

I've been thinking about where I've been the last year, where I'm going and which direction I want to take my career both as a web developer, and as a writer/blogger/what have you. I've had a lot of false starts, not just with web dev, but also my fitness routine, , my writing, and the countless social media sites I've signed up to, but never even touched since signup. I suppose it might be a case of me having unrealistic goals and expectations, and it's getting to the point where I've spread myself so thin, it's exhausting. I need to stop that, and focus more on the important stuff, and less on the cool stuff everyone else is doing.

Normally I'm not one for resolutions - I don't like of having the New Year as an artificial starting point for self-improvement, only to blow it before the end of January - but for me it's now as good a time as any to start kicking into gear and make the effort into delivering all the promises I keep making.

So, here's what's going to happen this year at Silver Dragon Studios, in a brief nutshell:

• Finish V2 of Silver Dragon Studios! This is arguably the most important milestone this year, as I've already spent long enough developing it. As of writing I'm very close to finishing it, save for implementing sever-side scripting, and I hope to have it completed within the next few weeks. Which leads us to...
• Launch my web dev business. This is what I've been wanting to do for years, but never really got around to doing much with it. I hope once SDS V2 is finished I can start putting together a more impressive resume for potential clients. I'll also need to start an advertising campaign to drum up interest, whether it's local or online.
• I need, NEED to be more consistent with my diet and exercise habits. I love fitness, I love getting in shape, I was doing fine up until the middle of last year, when my motivation began to dip a little and I slowly went back to my old bad habits. So I need to start working on a more consistent mindset set in regards to that.
• Somewhat related to the above, but I'd like to create my own workout program. P90X, Insanity and Body Beast are all great, but I'd like to put something together for the more intermediate/advanced crowd. I would also like to find someone who'd be willing to collaborate with me on this - the last program I tried to put together, I ended up pulling something in my right arm, putting me out of action for a while. So... a bit of technical advice would be appreciated!
• I want to make progress towards my writing. Ideas and note organisation are the biggest hurdles for me, and they're what's been preventing me from doing much in regards to writing over the last year. So now that I've got a notebook, I can at least start putting my notes onto paper and properly brainstorm all my story ideas. I've got one story in mind, but I'd also like to play around with a couple more ideas I've got going in my head - some of which would probably never come to light in a few years, but every author has to start somewhere, right?
• Blog more! Seriously. This. Why do I even build a blog if I'm never going to use it? Thing is, what should I randomly post about? Videogames? Movies? Music? Politically-flavored image macros and asking readers to share on facebook? ...Okay, maybe not that last one. But it's something I need to get into the mindset of, instead of just shutting down and idly browsing the internet for hours on end, or killing about six hours in Metal Gear Solid 5.

I think that just about covers all my goals for 2016. This year has as much potential to be as amazing as 2015, but -only- if I make the effort into doing so. Otherwise, I'm just going to find myself making this same, exact post one year from now while I ask myself "what the hell have you done with your life?"

It's going to take a lot of effort to make that first step. I just hope I'm not making it into a giant leap like last year.

Age of Ultron manages to live up to the success of the original. The action sequences are bigger, the story and characterization are deeper, and the stakes are far higher than the original. Everyone brings out their A-game as usual, but it was really James Spader who stole the show as Ultron, jumping from sympathetic to downright scary and even funny just by the flick of the switch. Paul Bettany (AKA JARVIS) did a wonderful job playing the Vision, leaving a lasting impression in such a short space of time. And yay, more Hawkeye screen time! We get to see more of his character and personality this time around, after being on the back-burner in the last Avengers film.

Of course, this movie is far from perfect, and there have been one or two elements that have marred an otherwise outstanding movie - I felt that the final action scene dragged on for a bit too long, and it became clear that the film was starting to run out of steam near the end. (I'll give the creators their due though, the movie did have five major action scenes, compared to the first one's four.) Thor's subplot was cut in half to reduce the overall running time, so I never really got to see his storyline resolved, something which I hope will be fixed when the rumored Extended Edition is released on Blu-Ray later this year. And finally, the romantic subplot between the Hulk and Black Widow, while not necessarily out-of-character bad, did feel a bit unnecessary and out-of-place, and it's a wonder why Whedon wanted to include it in the first place, or if it was just an afterthought.

Having said all that, these grievances alone are not enough to bring down the film's overall enjoyment, wit or soul. I came into the cinema expecting an epic all-out blockbuster, and I definitely got my money's worth in the end. Roll on Infinity War!

9/10

So yes, I am super excited for Season 5! More excited than this fella at his birthday party.

However, as wonderful a series Game of Thrones is, I do not wish to be part of that universe. If you've ever watched the show or even read the books, you'll know that no-one is safe in Westeros, where everyone who's last name isn't Stark is a chronic backstabber and anything that can go wrong will go wrong. I wouldn't even want to visit for a day, even. The food sounds delicious (Hello, Jon Snow's breakfast!) but it's not worth the risk of getting my head chopped off, flayed, and have my remains eaten by White Walkers. No thanks!

So while a visit to the world of Westeros is out of the question, I can still have fun creating my own house sigil, thanks to the Game of Thrones "Join the Realm" Sigil Creator. I know I suck at creating house sigils, but it's pretty fun doing so, probably because there's no risk of death or dismemberment involved ;)

Thanks, HBO!

Last week marked the end of my P180X challenge, which I failed at spectacularly during the final month, mostly due to Christmas obligations, but also because I had a relapse when it came to junk food and snacking. So while I didn't achieve the results that I wanted, I still managed to keep my body fat levels below 15%, which is fairly good as far as I'm concerned.

So now that the P90X phase of my fitness journey has come to an end, it's now time for me to move onto the next stage - building muscle.

Tomorrow, I start Body Beast, but with a twist - instead of taking complete days off, I'll be incorporating Yoga X from P90X into my rest days. That way, I can still maintain all that flexibility I've built up over the past year, whilst allowing my muscles to recover after six days of heavy lifting.

I'll be starting with the Lean phase of Body Beast, then afterwards, depending on my results, I'll then move onto the Huge routine, and finish up with a P90X/Insanity hybrid to cut up any remaining fat I've build up over those two programs. It's a little ambitious, but after all that I've done last year, I'm determined to make 2015 my year this year.

I've also made a seperate blog for my fitness journey, which you can find it over at http://seanpowersfitness.tumblr.com. Yeah, I know, SJW central, but I don't want to clutter up my professional blog with countless updates about my fitness journey. If you've got any questions about my current program, or you're curious about my current diet trends, feel free to follow me over there instead.

Hope to see you guys on Tumblr!

- Sean

I have succeeded on all four fronts.

I've dropped all the junk in favor of greens and healthier food choices, and in doing so dropped all that weight I've been struggling to get rid off for years. Now I'm finally getting the results I've dreamed of, and I feel the best I've felt in a long, long time. I've started work on the next versions of the Realm of Eternal Rain and my own personal site, Silver Dragon Studios, whilst promoting my business with some degree of success. And while Chronicles is still a while away from being written, I've been organizing all my notes, from characters to plot structure, and polishing everything up, now that I have a story plan I'm satisfied with.

And to top it all off, life just seems pretty damn good right now. It's amazing to know that I've accomplished so much in the space of twelve months. I still think that I've been spending the majority of my life asleep, only to have woken up around June this year. If I can get so much done in one year, imagine what else I could do in the next ten.

My goal next year is to maintain my productivity, and build up on it. Right now, I'm content and at piece with myself, but there's still so much left to do, and so many goals to accomplish. I still feel I can do better than I've done this year by taking everything I've done and improve on it. So for 2015, I plan to:

1.) Continue to get in shape. This year was all about "Laying the Foundations", dropping any excess weight and toning up, preparing my body for hard gains. Next year will be about "Building Walls"; Once this current round of P90X is done, I'll be moving on to Body Beast and start my bulk-up plan, building muscle and improving my overall strength and stamina. I'll also be continuing to eat healthily, trying out more healthier food choices and cooking fantastic food that makes me feel good.

2.) Kickstart my business. I've drummed up a bit of interest and support for Silver Dragon Studios, and I want to start building websites for clients. I would also like to add more example works to my portfolio, or at least finish up on all my outstanding projects before I start looking for clients.

3.) Start writing Chronicles of Gaia. I've been putting this off for far too long, partly due to my web development commitments, and I want to release the first few chapters as soon as possible. I've got a great cast of characters, and a great idea for an epic story. It's a shame to put all of my ideas to waste, and I want something to show off to the world, even if it's just a small niche group. I might try writing a few short stories and one-shots just to polish up my writing skill, if I need to.

4.) Continue to be happy and assertive. I've been the happiest I've been in a long time, now that I'm content with my current lifestyle and living situation. I feel more relaxed and outspoken as a result, instead of the shy, withdrawn and awkward nerd I've been these past few years. Right now, my happiness comes from living a healthy and productive life; I want to build on that by doing things and seeking new hobbies that will help keep my happiness intact. And who knows? Maybe I'll finally find that special someone too, while I'm at it?

So not really a list of new years resolutions, but more like a series of objectives that will help me achieve my overall goal for the year more easily. I also have a list of smaller, low priority goals I'd like to fulfill too, such as updating my blog on a more regular basis, or to cut out diet soda completely. They might gain priority as the year progresses and I've cleared up my plate a bit, but for now, I want to focus on finishing all of my outstanding work and continue living a healthy, creative lifestyle, and of course to continue to write, document and share my life and experiences with my friends and family.

I look forward to what 2015 throws in my face.

So, thoughts.

First off, I've gotten around to setting up a Facebook page for Silver Dragon Studios. It hasn't gotten a lot of likes yet, but I've began an extensive advertising campaign to start drawing in more visitors (and potential clients! :D) and spread the word about my work. You can find it at https://www.facebook.com/silverdragonstudiosweb - if you're reading this blog post and haven't done so yet, drop by and drop us a 'Like'!

Second, I've also updated my portfolio page - it's still not managed by the backend, but each project now as a title and brief description posted under their corresponding screenshots. I've also added the template files for Sweet Apple Acres, Realm of Eternal Rain v9, and Silver Dragon Studios v2. They're all still being worked on, but for now, I'm using their concept pages as placeholders for the portfolio. You can head on over to the Portfolio page and take a look if you want.

Other than that, things are starting to progress slowly as I'm getting ready for Christmas. I'll be at my sister's this year, and I'll be working both Christmas day -and- Boxing day - a first for me. So, it'll be a very busy year this year, but I'm hoping that once that's all done and dusted I can get back to working on and -finishing- all my outstanding projects, like the first chapter of my novel Chronicles of Gaia. I've got some big plans for next year, and the sooner I can put them all into action, the better.

More to come soon!

First off, I've finally got around to creating my own Twitter widget to use for Silver Dragon Studios, without having to rely on the official one. It's far from perfect, as you can see, but I'm glad that I finally have a working widget to use for all my future projects, and I'll definitely be using it for the next version of this website when it finally comes out.

The second update is that, rather than leaving the pricing guide on a blog post, it's now been moved to it's own page after what felt like an eternity. If you've looked at the navigation bar, you would've noticed that one of the links was greyed out with a "Coming Soon" label tacked onto it. That was the Pricing Guide page. Now that I've finally decided on what my prices are going to be, I've decided to move the list to it's own page, so that anyone looking to hire me would know where to go if they're curious about my prices.

Again, they're not set prices - they may subject to change, and they're only a *minimum* of what to expect to pay for my services. If you're looking for an exact quote, drop me a line with your website idea and I'm sure we can work something out that'll fit your budget without breaking the bank.

Until next time, my pretties!

I've loved his music for as long as I can remember, but never had the opportunity to go and see him live. By chance, I found that he was touring the UK for the 30th anniversary of his Reckless albumn, and booked tickets to go see him at the Liverpool gig. I was excited to go see my musical hero live for the first time, but I was also worried that his performance would turn out flat and dull, as is the case with most live performances.

How wrong was I when I finally saw him up on stage.

Bryan completely dominated the stage, belting out all of the hits from his Reckless albumn (Including a couple of unreleased songs, Reckless and Let Me Down Easy), before moving on to do some of his greatest hits, including a brilliant accoustic version of When You're Gone, and finally ending with an encore of not one, not two, but FOUR songs on his accoustic. Bryan's voice is fantastic, having shown no signs of ageing even after 30 years of performing, and the energy he delivered throughout the night was electrifying and unending. Almost no-one in the arena wanted the show to end.

One of my favorite moments of the tour was when Keith Scott rugby tackled Bryan to the floor during the performance of Summer of '69. Another standout moment was that he got a member of the audience to dance to If Ya Wanna Be Bad. And finally, when the audience waved their camera phones around during his encore performance of All for Love, I couldn't have asked to have been in a better place there and then.

People often criticize Bryan for being too backwards and old school for a rock singer in the 21st century. I would praise him for just that. Bryan has such talent and charisma that very few singers this day and age could match, and is living proof that even after 30 years, classic rock is still relevant today as it was back in it's hayday. In short, Bryan Adams is an amazingly talented artist, and his live shows just have to be experienced at least once in a lifetime.

And I don't care how pretentious I sound right now, because last night's show was INCREDIBLE.

While I'm not expecting clients anytime soon, I'm putting this list up for future reference just in case anybody does decide to hire me to build something for them - which of course I'm more than happy to do so. Please bear in mind, though, that this was only drawn up last night as of writing, so prices *may* be subject to change:

Website packages:
1 Page - From £450
2 - 5 Pages - From £600
6 - 10 Pages - From £750
11 - 15 Pages - From £900
16+ Pages - From £1050
eCommerce/Online Shop - From £1500

Hosting:
.co.uk - £10 per month
.org - £15 per month
.com - £20 per month

All website packages include:
Custom built web pages using HTML5, CSS3, and PHP
Full Content Management System (CMS)
Javascript and jQuery Animations
News and Events Management
Responsive Layouts
Integrated Social Media Widgets
Email and Domain setup
Free aftercare consultation for up to three months

---

So, do these sound reasonable, or are they too cheap/expensive? Let me know! :D

Since my last post, I've been working diligantly on the next iteration of Silver Dragon Studios. A mockup of the front page has been created in Photoshop, and after some last minute tweaks and polishing, I'm happy with how it's turned out. I've already been waving the final image around Twitter and Facebook, which I'm sure some of you are already getting a bit sick of, but for presentation purposes I'm posting a short preview of it here, since it is going to be part of my portfolio, after all.

There isn't much else I can think of that needs doing at this stage, other than planning for mobile and tablet support, and of course writing content (my archilles heel!), but other than that, I can now start putting together a working template. The new look isn't as flashy as most modern websites out there, but it feels good to give my personal site that fresh lick of paint it desperately needed.

In fitness news, I've just recently passed the 100 day mark of my P180X challenge. I'm impressed, shocked, and amazed by both my dedication to this fitness challenge (or is it obsession?) and the results I've been getting just by pushing play every day. Both my arms look incredibly pumped (I can now do up to 30lbs on concentration curls, whoo!), and I can just about see my abs peeking through my stomach. So it's just a matter of keeping up the good work and trying not to gorge too much on cake frosting on my recovery days.

On the subject of healthy living, I've started experimenting in the kitchen a little bit, trying out new recipes and dishes that might help me with my training and recovery. It's rather touch-and-go, as I'm a complete newbie when it comes to cooking my own food, but with a bit of help and encouragement from my mother (and of course a bit of nagging), I've started to improve a great deal and even tried my hand at making my own dishes - protein banana pancakes, chicken and spinach omelettes, and even a healthy(ish) alternative to the sausage and egg breakfast sandwich using Quorn sausage, a poached egg and a handful of spinach.

It's a fun learning experience, as I get to learn what goes into my food and what meal combinations work on which training days whilst eating clean and fueling the body for my workouts. I might even say that I'm slowly turning into a real foodie as a result, always on the lookout for new meal ideas or recipes for healthier takes on common meal staples, or interesting new flavors for protein shakes. Hell, I might even post some recipes of my own once I've mastered a few dishes. Though I can't promise anything Jamie Oliver quality.

So, Sean the Chef, eh? I'm quite entertained by the idea ;D

My results as of Phase 2 are:

Weight: 62.4KG
Body fat: 8.9%
Chest: 32.5"
Waist: 30.5"
Hips: 34"
Biceps: 12.5"
Thighs: 21"

So I'm just under a third into the program now. And from looking at my workout schedule, it's going to get even harder from here on out, so there's no time for self-congratulations just yet. Just keep pushing play and keep bringing it :D

In other news, I've decided to switch back to the "When I can" schedule, as far as personal projects are concerned. I have no problems with either coding day nor writing day, in fact, I've been making good progress in both; Sweet Apple Acres is currently on hold while I've been putting together the next iteration of the Realm of Eternal Rain, and I've already done a wireframe model for Silver Dragon Studios V2. And the first twelve chapters of Chronicles of Gaia are all drafted out, ready for fine tuning and polishing.

The problem I do have is time management - while it's great to stick to a schedule when you're as busy as I am, it does feel like it's taking even longer to finish these projects than I thought. What I'd really like to try, however, is to spend at least one week coding, and one week writing, to start with, and alternate each week. I figure that working on projects in week-long blocks would be a bit more beneficial and productive than just alternating each day, especially if I'm having a work block and I didn't get anything done on that particular day.

It's rough, but that's my plan in a nutshell. It's exciting to see that soon all of my unrealized projects will come to light. I've had a few false starts and some setbacks, but now I'm encouraged by all the progress I've been making over the past year to keep on going.

Now all I need is to update this blog more regularly, and then I might have a sense of satisfaction :P

Now that my 90 days are over, I can say that I'm seeing some massive improvement in my general fitness, as well as other noticeable gains, (hurrah for a six-pack on the way!) So while it was difficult and tiresome at times - especially with my hectic schedule lately - I can honestly say that the last three months were worth it in the end.

So now that I'm taking a week off to recover and celebrate on chocolate and ice cream (har har, how healthy of me!), I think it's time to announce my plans for the next round - the P180 challenge!

The P180 challenge, as I like to call it, is a hybrid program that combines both the core P90X program and it's expansion, P90X+. While I was doing the program, I was searching around for ideas on what to do for my next round. Beachbody offers a couple, but they were just repeats of the X program, or in P90X+'s case, way too cardio focused, which wasn't what I wanted, as I want to build muscle as well as shed fat.

Luckily, I found a really good hybrid that spreads both programs out evenly, focusing on a twice-a-week split for each body part, but the drawback was that it lasts between 20 - 26 weeks, and not 13 - that's almost double the length of a single Beachbody program.

Well, I like a challenge. I've done this kind of thing twice now, and I did Insanity and Trans-Pennine last year. So all I can say on the matter is... Challenge accepted!

The program will run between Mid-July and January next year, starting next week. I'll also be modifying my dietry needs so that I can reach my goals much quicker and more efficiently. Right now, I'm aiming to drop my body fat down to at least 8% before shifting my focus on building muscle.

So without further ado, here's the lowdown on my P90X/P90X+ hybrid program. Note that I've marked Legs with a * to indicate that I'll be skipping the Back exercises on those. This is done to keep with the twice-a-week plan for the program.

day 1: P90X+ Total Body / P90X Ab Ripper

day 2: P90X Kenpo

day 3: P90X Stretch

day 4: P90X+ Total Body / P90X+ Abs-Core

day 5: P90X+ Kenpo

day 6: P90X Stretch

day 7: P90X Yoga

____________________________________

day 1: P90X Core

day 2: P90X Stretch

day 3: P90X Yoga

day 4: P90X Core

day 5: P90X Stretch

day 6: P90X Yoga

day 7: Rest

____________________________________

day 1: P90X+ Upper Body / P90X Ab Ripper

day 2: P90X Cardio

day 3: P90X Legs*

day 4: P90X Yoga

day 5: P90X+ Full Body / P90X+ Abs-Core

day 6: P90X+ Intervals

day 7: P90X Stretch

____________________________________

day 1: P90X+ Upper Body / P90X Ab Ripper

day 2: P90X Legs*

day 3: P90X Plyo

day 4: P90X+ Upper Body / P90X Abs-Core

day 5: P90X Legs

day 6: P90X Kenpo / P90X Yoga (Balance Section)

day 7: P90X Stretch / P90X Yoga (Power Yoga Section)

____________________________________

day 1: P90X Chest / Back / P90X Ab Ripper

day 2: P90X Legs*

day 3: P90X+ Kenpo

day 4: P90X Shoulders / Arms / P90X+ Abs-Core

day 5: P90X Cardio

day 6: P90X+ Full Body / P90X Yoga (Balance Section)

day 7: P90X Stretch/ P90X Yoga (Power Yoga Section)

____________________________________

day 1: P90X Chest / Shoulders / Triceps / P90X Ab Ripper

day 2: P90X Legs*

day 3: P90X+ Intervals

day 4: P90X Back / Biceps / P90X+ Abs/Core

day 5: P90X Plyo

day 6: P90X+ Full Body / P90X Yoga (Balance Section)

day 7: P90X Stretch / P90X Yoga (Power Yoga Section)

____________________________________

Week 1: Phase 1

Week 2: Phase 2

Week 3: Phase 3

Week 4: Phase 4

Week 5: Phase 5

Week 6: Recovery Week

This week I've started work on redesigning the logo for Silver Dragon Studios, as I prepare to work on the next iteration of my personal blog/portfolio site. Thanks to We Are The United I got myself a pretty sweet dragon silhouette to work with, and made a variety of cool logos which you can see down below.

 I'll admit, some of these look a little cumbersome or even rushed, but I'm quite pleased - not to mention a little surprised - that I was able to make all these in the space of two days alone. Whoo, go me! So I'll be working on these a bit until I can come up with a logo that I'm pleased with.

No ETA as to when the update will happen, but it'll be soon after Sweet Apple Acres and Realm of Eternal Rain are both complete. But I'm hoping "soon", at the very least.

Until next time...

Concepts have been drawn for both, and development for the former is underway. I'm hoping to have it completed by the end of the summer so I can start work on RoER. In the meantime, here's a little preview of Sweet Apple Acres. Enjoy!

So nothing exciting happened over Christmas and New Year's, apart from drinking more than I usually do. Partly because I've only just recently discovered a few drinks that I like (Jack Daniels, bucks fizz, red wine, etc.) but also because 2013 was a pretty terrible year. I'm glad it's all done and over with, now that 2014's just passed around the corner, and I've got a few plans in the works for this year :)

First off, I'm going back to using P90X. I tried it last year, but having relationship commitments, a nasty cold and some questionable eating habits meant having to cancel the program mid-way. This year, I'm starting all over with a clean slate. My plan is to ditch the nasty foods and do a six-month training plan, starting with the Lean program to shed the fat before bulking up on Classic. It's my most ambitious training plan yet, and this time I really do plan on sticking to it, no matter what.

Second, I'm going to redesign both Silver Dragon Studios and the Realm of Eternal Rain. I already planned on adding responsive support for both sites after having worked on Pets Overnight, but I'd also like to redesign them with a more more cleaner look, and improved PHP functions. I'd also like to make an effort in updating both more frequently - they've been neglected a bit over the year and it shows. Maybe once I start pulling in a bit more traffic I can start doing that.

I also have a couple more projects lined up, like a second fan shrine and that massive huge writing project I've been pimping for a while. I'll release more details as the year goes on, but if you want to keep an eye out for more information, don't forget to check out my DeviantArt account, since that gets updated more frequently than here.

That's about it for now. Hope you're all having a great 2014. I know I am, and I know it can only get better from here on out :)

Well, it's been four months of sporadic work, but at long last, the Pets Overnight overhaul has been done and posted on the portfolio site. As this is only a basic front-page template, I won't be adding any further content until a later date, as I have other project ideas that I need to start on. So I may come back to this and turn it into an e-commerce site at a later date.

You can view a live preview of it at petsovernight.sean-powers.com.

First of all, work-related stress got in the way - As some of you know, I work as a cleaner at the local hospital. Sounds like interesting and fun work, right? Well, it can really get hectic at times, especially whenever winter looms around the corner and we get more patients coming and going, and lately I've been having to deal with infection/terminal cleans almost every night during the past couple of months. Now, there's nothing inherently wrong with terminal cleans per se, but lately they've all been coming in far more frequently than usual, and I'm just unfortunate enough to have to do them an hour before my shift ends. And because of this, I've been coming home too mentally drained to do work on websites.

Another reason for the lack of updates is that I've been playing far too many videogames than I should. Namely, Grand Theft Auto V, and Bioshock Infinite. Both are amazing games (especially GTAV - been meaning to do a review on that, which I'll get around to once I've completed my second playthrough), but again, last thing I want to do after coming home from work is to force myself to do even more work, so naturally I just resort to switching the PS3 on and go at it for a few hours.

Having said all that, I have been working on my redesign for Pets Overnight. I wasn't too happy with the direction I wanted to take the site, so I scrapped the previous layout and wanted to try making a responsive site instead. I'm telling you, it's caused some serious headaches so far, but I've managed to finish the mobile version. I still need to make it cross-browser friendly, and of course decide what jQuery features to add (if any), but I'm proud of how it came out so far. :)

So other than websites, I've been thinking about resuming Chronicles of Gaia, my FF9 fanfic project. First of all, I need to draft out a full overview of the story, and of course revise the first few chapters. When I last worked on it, life worries took over, and I just lost the inspiration to write. And being the perfectionist I am, I wasn't happy with how it was coming out, so that contributed to it, too. I've got a few good ideas on how I'd like to restart the story, however - I don't want to reveal much, but let's just say there'll be quite a bit of bloodshed from the very start, and leave it at that ;)

So sorry for the lack of updates during the past few months, guys. I'll make a proper blog post sometime in the future once my plate clears up a bit. Like maybe the GTA review like I mentioned a couple of times already. Until then, stay safe, and do nice things to other people. Or naughty things. Whatever floats your boat. :P

Day 1

Rode to the starting point in Southport where I said farewell to my hometown, before getting my first stamp at the Southport Eco Center. From then on I rode on all the to Aintree before stopping off for some lunch at Subway before carrying on. Saw some beautiful scenery along the River Mersey and St Helen's Canal, before stopping off at the village of Lymm for the night. So that's 50 miles on the first day. Had to stop a couple of times to take a break, as my backpack was weighing me down a bit, but I did alright for day one :)

Day 2

Day 2 was a bit easier, as my body was soon getting used to carrying a heavy load on my back. It was also the most stressful, as I kept getting lost -a lot-; First time it was looking for a stamping station that no longer existed, and again when I was trying to make my way to Didsbury. It was also the hottest day of the trip, which resulted in my arms getting horribly sunburnt. And finally, to top it off, my bike's sixth gear broke, so I couldn't go at full pelt any further. I did, however, promise myself that I would cross the Pennines today. And I did. Even when my body felt like it was going to collapse, no matter how tired and hungry I got, I still kept on going. I made it to Penistone at around 8PM, where I stayed at the Cubley Inn for the night. There I promised myself I would make it to York the following day.

Day 3

Day three had been a bit kinder to day during the first half - I opted to go south via Wortley, passing through the Huthwaite tunnel as I did. There, I found a total of three stamping stations along the way; the Tankersley Manor Hotel, the Elescar Heritage Center (which I stopped off at for some lunch) and the Threeways Cafe along Willowbridge Lane. It got harder as the day went along - I was feeling a sharp pain in my right hip as I kept on riding, and my legs were starting to feel sore beyond belief. And to make matters worse, I was running low on food and water. It didn't look like I was going to make itto York, or even Selby, after all, so I had to stop off at the Royal Oak Inn in Hirst County for the night. For a £30 stay (with breakfast thrown in), it wasn't that bad of a choice to make.

Day 4

Today was the day that I finally decided to ride all the way to Hornsea with no stops inbetween. I left the Royal Oak about 9ish, and cycled through the Hirst farmlands before reaching Selby at 10:30. There, I got another stamp and some more food for the joourney, before taking a snapshot of the Abbey before heading out. As I rode along the River Ouse, my legs started to give out again, but I kept on going anyway - even as my body burned in agony, I still kept on riding, determined to make it to the finish line. I was surviving on Boost bars and Lucozade to keep me going, even after being struck with diarrohea for most of the day, just enough to get me to Hull at least.

Sadly the Humber Bridge path was closed, so I took a detour through the surrounding towns, where I got lost -again-. With time running out, and the overcast chill starting to take hold, I went off course and sped down Anlaby Road, hoping I'd eventually find my way back on the Trail again. Which I did. From then on, it was a straight path down the Hornsea Rail Trail, 15 miles away from my goal. My body was beyond it's limit, my legs were close to giving out, and the pain in my hip worsened, but I still kept on going, and at 7:22PM, I finally made it to Hornsea. I took a photo of the finishing marker, and booked myself into the Admirality Guest House for the night.

I can honestly say that Hornsea was very disappointing, when compaired to all the previous towns and villages I've visited and passed through along the way. To me, it gave off too much of a typical smalltown seaside resort, with chip shops, guest houses and amusement centers dotted along the coastline, like I saw in Blackpool. But then I look back at all those miles I've cycled, and everything I've been through, and I realize that the whole point of this trip wasn't about a day's visit in Hornsea, but the journey that led me here.

In Closing

The total journey was 215 miles, from coast-to-coast, a couple of wrong turns on occasion but nothing too drastic, no flat tyres, a broken bike gear, no major injuries and an amazing experience overall!

So that's one of my life goals finally achieved, after three years in the making! It turned out to be far more difficult than I had anticipated, but don't forget that I had originally planned on doing the trail by foot, once upon a time. Imagine how tough it would've been if I did it that way? Not to mention the amount it would cost for basic bed and breakfast accomodation! Because of these reasons, I've decided that this is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime achievement for me, and I won't be taking on the Trail again*.

I'll post a revised version of this entry on the TPT site itself, with any hints for anybody wanting to take on the trail themselves. For now, I just want to sit back, relax, chow down on some real food and bask in the awesomeness that I took on one of the longest - and hardest - cycling routes in the country.

*Note: I may do the occasional cycling trip to Aintree or even Liverpool for kicks, or to get some extra cardio in after an easy week. Nothing further than that, I assure you. I've already did a fine job getting my leg muscles ripped apart as it is.

Before I begin, I would like to say that fitness and exercise has always been one of my biggest passions in life. Ever since I was in highschool, I loved cycling around Southport and the surrounding areas, exploring new places I've never been to and experiencing a good thrill from racing along the coastline. My love for cycling was also one of the reasons why I never ballooned out from eating so much McDonald's food and KFC during that time. Then I was almost killed in a road accident in 2001, which put me off cycling for over a decade. And got fat from eating fast food as a result.

Fast forward a few years later, and I discovered this fancy place called the Gym (or a Gime, as Homer Simpson would call it.) Went there for a few years, got bored with it, then ordered P90X and Insanity on DVD and decided to work out at home from now on. I got back into shape after years of abuse and neglect, and after moving further away from work, I started using a bike again - first as a means to get to and from work, before I rediscovered my passion for cycling.

So what does my history of cycling and exercising habits have to do with this post? This:

This coming Monday, I'll be taking on the Trans-Pennine Trail, starting at my hometown in Southport and cycling all the way to Hornsea along the east coast. I've been planning to do this for years, having originally planned to walk there by foot (mad crazy I know, but it -is- possible, if not a little overly long, and several cross-country hikers have done it before). Now that I've gotten back into cycling again, I can take on the route by bike instead - much faster that way, and I won't have to put up with any blisters forming on my feet as I go along.

The route itself is 215 miles coast-to-coast. I plan on being gone for about 3 - 5 days minimum, longer if I decide to take a detour to Leeds and Chesterfield. I've already planned on stopping by at York whilst I'm gone, but that depends on how much ground I cover during the day, and whether or not I go sightseeing along the way. We'll see.

So tonight and tomorrow, I'll be busy packing and making some last-minute preparations for my journey. I would also like to mention to people that I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO TAKE JOB OFFERS WHILE I'M GONE. I'll still have limited internet access with my phone, but I won't be able to respond to any emails sent to me until I return around on the 13th or 14th of July.

See you guys in a week. Hopefully I and my bike will come back in one piece, and maybe some photos depicting my amazing journey across the Pennines :)

After almost a week of slaving away at Dreamweaver and Photoshop (not that I'm really complaining mind you - I love this job!), I've finally built my first customer's website, Effinjay.com! The clients Jeremy Works and Marc LePine - better known as musicians Frogg and Jaycatt (or Effinjay for short) - wanted to replace their old site with something a bit more modern looking, and asked me to bring the design up to modern standards. I wasn't planning on gaining customers so soon, but I know Jaycatt personally from Second Life, and was happy to give him a hand in redesigning his site.

Needless to say, both clients are happy, and I'm quite pleased with how the final design turned out. Almost too well, if you ask me - I still feel a bit weirded out by how a website I made for a client looks better-designed than my own. Not that it's an inheriently bad thing, but hey - at least I'm improving day-by-day, right? ^.^'

Anyway, if you'd like to visit these guys, go over to www.effinjay.com, and tell them I said hi!

On a somewhat similar note, I plan on opening a Testimonials section in the near future. If you've been a past client, you will be able to leave feedback about my work and help spread the word about Silver Dragon Studios. Good reviews are great, but constructive critism is just as appreciated, and I'm always on the lookout for any areas for improvement I can find. So if you've worked with me before, you can tell everyone how awesome I am and give others a recommendation, or if I stink of beans and hammers* and tell everyone to avoid. Depends if you like me or not. :P

And in case you are wondering, I am still available for work, but only for small projects only. I want to build some level of confidence before tackling bigger, more complex projects (such as e-commerce - eeek!) and earn enough so I can quit my day job and get this freelance job off the ground at last. I have no idea how long that will be given the situation explained earlier, but with my first customer website completed, it looks like I'm already one step closer to making it a reality. :)

- Sean

Just letting you all know, I'm slowly catching up on a -massive- backlog of projects, jobs and a number of fixes I need to make both on here and RoER. Things have gotten a bit busier since completing the blog portion of this site - in addition to preparing/gearing up for an upcoming coast-to-coast cross-country trip (more on that in a future post), I've also been negotiating a website deal with my first ever client. Hurrah!

Now, I know I told myself that I wouldn't be going freelance yet, but as I mentioned, I'm always on the lookout for projects I can add to my portfolio, and I just couldn't possibly turn down an opportunity such as this, especially since I already know the client personally. It isn't that much of a huge project to undertake, either - just a small, simple website for a music duo that needs updating to a more modern look. Sounds like the perfect job for a new web designer like me! :D

So I'll be working on that within the next week, hopefully before I go away on my trip. I just hope my old gaming habits don't spring up and distract me too much, like they did a few years back. I already wasted a year of my life playing Oblivion non-stop - not going through that again.

Getting back to the original topic at hand though, I've still got a long list of jobs that also need my attention. They're not priority like my website projects are, but they still need doing at some point, and this post is to help me keep track of what's been done, what needs doing and for me to remind myself of all the things I've forgotten over time as more and more projects come underway. So it's mostly for my benefit, but they're also here to let people know what it is I'm working on.

So here's the rundown on what I still need to do:

Silver Dragon Studios

• Meta tags for google searches Done!
• Possible font change for headings and body text Done!
  
• New About section
• Revamped Portfolio section
• Possible pricing guide for sites (Under consideration)
• Testimonials Done!
• Mobile and tablet support

Realm of Eternal Rain

• RSS Feed Done!
• Complete Freya's equipment page
• Complete Burmecia section
• Move Origami Hats and Tshirt to Projects
• Add Burmecian Second Life avatar mod to Projects
• Skin the forums

Other Website Ideas

• Possible E-Commerce site - maybe remake of Petsovernight.com
• Possible Applejack fansite - custom forum project?

Final Fantasy IX - Chronicles of Gaia

• Character bios
• More character sheets (3 of 7 done)
• World building
• Backstory
• 1st draft of main plot
• Hire a beta reader/editor

Other story ideas

• Short story featuring Declan and Serylis
• Story adaption of Heart's Desire
• Possible adaption of Robin Hood

So there you have it. The website fixes are obviously a priority, but I'd also like to see most of these side projects become a reality (especially Chronicles of Gaia - been planning this for almost three years now, and after two false starts, I think I might have an idea on where to take this one at last). There's probably a few more things I've missed out, but I'll cover those at a later time. Or I just might go back and edit this post when needed. Good thing I'm quite OCD, this shit is hard to keep track of!

This question has been haunting me for some time now. For almost over a year now, I've been relearning everything I've known about web design since earning my NOCN certificate last year. The motive behind it at the time was because I was way, way behind with updating the Realm of Eternal Rain, and I wanted to at least polish up my server-side scripting skills when (and if) I got back to it. That was the initial idea. Later, I expanded upon it and decided I wanted to further my learning in web design in general, picking up a few more books about PHP, E-Commerce, HTML5 and CSS3. I thought at the time that, since I don't have that many qualifications, maybe if I built up a portfolio and offered to build some websites for clients, I -might- be able to get that web design job I've always wanted.

Pretty clever of me to think that, right?

Well, sadly, no.

After showing some friends my websites and asking for advice on how much my rates should be, I was told by a few that my work had no basis for comparison, and that I would be better off working for a web design consultancy agency instead. I was a little shocked and surprised at hearing this, but looking back at my antics now, I have to agree - I have only built two personal websites for myself, both in what little spare time I could muster, and I have zero, as in, absolutely no real-world skills in building a site for a client.

It's a little frustrating coming to terms with the truth like this, though hopefully not as frustrating as what this guy has to go through:

So where does this lead me to now? Well, I've got two options.

Option 1: Continue to build up a portfolio. This is the easier option for me, as I can continue to build sites and improve my skills in my spare time, fitting it around my already hectic schedule. What's more, I won't have to worry too much about meeting any deadlines or specific targets. I've already got two more websites I'd like to make for myself; an E-commerce site with user ratings and feedback - most likely an updated version of PetsOvernight.com - and a fansite dedicated to Applejack from the current iteration of My Little Pony.

Option 2: Look into doing some volunteer work in web design. This option seems better than option one, because it will allow me to work with clients (hurrah!) and build up a list of contacts and references, which will look good on both my resumé and my portfolio (double hurrah!). This also means having to deal with deadlines and meeting client targets - two more things I'm not normally used to, but hey, I'm always on the lookout for a challenge, so there's no harm in stepping outside my comfort zone for a bit, right?

I've not ruled out going back into college/university, as I do not like to pay obscenely high tuition fees, nor do I want to live in debt for the next ten years or so. And even if I did go back and earn yet another degree, the job market is still terrible and my chances of finding a goob job in the field of web design are as high as finding a landmine in my bathroom cabinet. I'm sorry, but this is my choice on the matter, and as stubborn as it sounds, I would much rather go about this my way rather than being told which "correct" route I should go with my life.

So there you have it - my somewhat crazy, possibly unrealistic vision for the future. I still plan on becoming freelance, that is my biggest goal in life, but as I've mentioned before, it's not going to happen for the next two or three years. Not unless I take action now and start planning for it, at least.

Can I make it work? I sure hope so. A lot of it will depend on how much support and patience I can get from my friends and family, especially my uncle who also happens to work in the IT field himself, so that's a good source of possible contacts/clients at least. As long as he doesn't "encourage" me to quit my current job and work in an office before I'm able to put my plan into action, I'm fairly confident that I can make my dream job into a reality.

I just hope that it comes true sooner than later.

My name is Anthony Greenwood, better known by my online moniker Sean Powers, and I'm a web designer based in Southport, England. I've been designing and building websites as a hobbyist since 2005, until some friends convinced me to turn my hobby into a career. In addition to web design, I also do a bit of writing in my spare time, as well as manage my Freya Crescent shrine, the Realm of Eternal Rain.

This website was originally designed for a proposed freelance business that I wanted to set up, after an e-magazine took interest in some of my work and offered me advertising space in return for my services. Unfortunately, the freelance idea fell through, and I was forced to pull out of the advertising deal, so for now sean-powers.com will serve as an online portfolio for my work, until I've gained enough real-world experience in the field and decide which direction I want to take my career in.

In addition to my web design hobby, sean-powers.com will become my new depository for my doings on the internet.  All of my writing (finished and works-in-progress), my misadventures in fitness and exercising, as well as movie and gaming reviews. Heck, I might even make a blog post or two about my mom's bakery (assuming it doesn't kill me!). Everything will be right here for your viewing pleasure.

This website is still under construction, as I've only created enough dynamic content to allow blog posts for now. I do intend to add more feature in the future, such as an RSS feed, a more dynamic portfolio, social sharing tools, among others. I don't know yet. But what experience has taught me is that the more you talk about doing something, the less likely you're going to do it. So in this case, I'll leave you all in the dark about the future of this site.

Rest assured, dear readers, the best is yet to come. That's a promise. Or a threat. Or both. I guess it depends if you like me or not ;)

Excelzior and all that gubbons,
- Sean Powers