Stewart Priest

Hello 2010

// January 29th, 2010 // No Comments » // General, Twitter, Web 2.0

Crikey, has it been three months since my last post? It’s been a very busy few months.. new job, new stage in my life, and new… well, I can’t think of a third ‘new’. (more…)

It’s been a while…

// October 11th, 2009 // No Comments » // News

…but hopefully you’ll forgive me. I started a new job a few weeks ago, and I’ve been finding my feet. It’s full of new challenges, and I’m meeting each and every one of them. For now.

It’s always interesting starting a new job. Meeting new people, remembering their names, finding out what they like/dislike… just being sociable in general. Luckily, I’ve gone full time in a place where I have been temping. Same department, different job, and different location, so the transition from old to new hasn’t been the upheaval it might have been if I’d switched employers. By and large, I’ve managed to hit the ground running.

I appear to have found a niche in the work that I do, but I’m not going to allow myself to become to comfortable. After all, this is only a 12-month contract. I need to push the boundaries and go beyond my comfort zone if I want to pick up new skills. New skills which may help be find a new job if, after 12 months, this temporary position isn’t made permanent. Intertwined with that, I need to start studying again. I’ve been talking about it for long enough, but it’s time that I actually got that Microsoft certification I’ve been planning. I’ve got all the training materials – I just need to start using them.

I’ll be tough not to let this diminish my other interests. I’m still a keen photographer, and I really want to forge ahead with some radio work. After all, the long-term goal is to move abroad with the missus where she can get a nursing job, and I can proceed in radio. However, I need to pay the bills now, and the IT industry is paying. Radio is not (for the most part).

So that’s about it from me for the moment… I’ll try to write again soon, but as you’ve already seen, that may be a problem for me.

I’ll leave you with the video on the right. Courtesy of @RadioPaulo.

Democracy in Action

// July 20th, 2009 // No Comments » // Charity, Twitter, Web 2.0

One of the great things about the web is that it empowers all sorts of people to go out and make a difference. Sometimes that difference isn’t world-changing, but it’s a difference all the same. We get the chance to air our views, and with the birth of the blog, we have a permanent platform for any issue we wish to shout about.

Today, I’m calling on the readers of my blog to help a charity which is very personal to me: No Strings Attached (Scotland). The reason I’m using my blog to promote this charity is because I’m trying to drum up enough votes to enable them to be appointed as the official charity of the Glasgow Twestival. What’s a Twestival? It’s a Twitter Festival. Basically, there will be an evening of music and fun at a venue in Glasgow city centre which will hopefully raise lots of money, and I’d love for No Strings Attached Scotland to be the recipient of the proceeds. It’s a very worth charity.

No Strings Attached (Scotland) aims to help children and young people with asthma better control their condition through playing wind instruments like the flute, clarinet, etc. It helps increase lung capacity and stamina, and I know from personal experience that it works. They also aim to educate children and young people about their condition, and steps they can take to help themselves.

Please vote for No Strings Attached (Scotland) here, and you can listen to my personal plea on the charity’s website here.