Part of my 2010 project is about getting back out with my camera – or at least trying to. And as part of that, I’m going to work on Amateur Photographer magazine’s “Amateur Photographer of the Year” competition.

The first round of it is due to be in next Friday, so I’m planning to take some time today to go out and see what I can do.

It’ll mean taking Hound out too, as I’m off to the coast – the project is about the interaction of water and land, and there are some fantastic environments for that kind of theme around here.

We’ll just have to see what comes out of the day. I hope it’s worth the time.

Actually, I’m sure it will be – even if it doesn’t come up with the results I want, there’ll be something from it.

This may be a really really bad idea, but I’ve signed up for this year’s Script Frenzy in April.

The challenge is to write 100 pages of screenplay in the 30 days of April. Should be interesting – assuming I can get my brain and motivation into gear.

Anyway, I’ve signed up, and we’ll see how it goes.

So – the first month. (OK, six weeks)  I’ve been working on starting a number of projects as part of this big “Finger Out” plan. There’s a long way to go yet, and work has also kicked in heavily over January, which has meant I’ve not been able to do as much as I planned to.

However, what I have achieved so far is :

• Started a new online writing project, which will either work out or won’t.
• Started the photography business on a new site, although not done anything with it yet.  It’s been going prior to this on a different site, but I’ve never been overly happy with it, so it’s time to re-do things.
• Written a couple of spec letters for getting some photography projects in order to build up the portfolio
• Started organising myself for the Amateur Photographer “Amateur Photographer of the Year” competition. I’ve done little bits of this before, but again I’m hoping that I can complete the entire thing this year. I don’t expect to win, or even place, but I’m going to at least try.

There’s other stuff coming up too, but things have changed and/or delayed a bit so far this year.  There’ll be more progress updates as we go on, along with anything else I can think of.

Ah, Digit Extractum. What a lovely idea – somewhere to be a repository for me, where I detail my plans for getting my finger out (for, of course, that is what “Digit Extractum” is meant to mean)

I’ve written on a previous site about my five-year plan which I’m currently three years through. But that’s going to migrate over here – or at least the new stuff about it will be done over here, rather than on the main site.

The original five year plan will take me through to 2011, when I turn 40. However, this site’s plan may go on a bit longer, and get me through to 2016. We’ll see what happens in that time.

As it is, a big part of the plan will be to launch a number of websites through Ozbon, my web-design/development company. They’ll be promoted through both Ozbon and here, and we’ll see where things go from there.

There’s going to be a lot of work, and a lot of updating from the 1st January 2010. In the next few days I’ll work out what the hell I’m going to do, and what the plan really is.  When I know, it’ll be written here.