You're Square

Do you remember in Year 8 when some spotty little creep in your English class sneered 'you're square!' because you got a good mark for your homework or were asked to help the teacher do something?

I remember thinking, 'God, I don't want to be square', like it was something really bad and not forgetting, endlessly uncool, to be doing well at school.

To be honest, that underlying fear of being considered square was probably half responsible for me ticking over at school at such a steady, unextraordinary rate. Not overly excelling in anything too much (bar English A* at GCSE, boo ya!) and not flunking too badly (apart from a quite horrific 11% in a Year 9 Maths test. So bad that my Mum wrote in asking the teacher what on earth had happened. At least I got 11% is all I can say).

So, some 13 years later I'm square again, but this time I want to be. Tomorrow marks my return to being a student (kind of). I have signed up for Squared Online, a Digital Marketing Course from Google. 

Late last year I had a meeting with someone I hugely respect at a local marketing agency who we do a lot of work with and I asked him 'what is the most important thing you need to be a success in marketing today?'. Without hesitation he said 'digital'.

Digital marketing exploded in to the consciousness of businesses and marketers about the same time I finished my Masters. Which, wonderfully, didn't have a digital marketing module.

So armed with the knowledge that digital is only going to get more influential (and nearly every job I apply for explicitly mentioning it), I've decided to start learning again.

The course isn't cheap, but I managed to get a 'part-funded award' which saves me 20% which is nice. I'm excited about starting, and I am excited about going to Partners and buying some new pens and paper. Maybe even a folder. 

*Yes, I am aware of the irony of buying pens, paper and a folder for a digital course. 

Time for a quick job hunt update and it is slow going. I have now applied for 35 jobs and I don't have an awful lot to show for it. I had a positive call with a recruiter about 10 days ago, but frustratingly nothing since which is disappointing. But who knows, it might still be a possible lead.

In the ever boring world of running I am really ramping up my preparation for the Reading Half which is in less than three weeks now. The problem with ramping things up is that I remember how painfully dull it is to run for over an hour. I ran a tick over 11 miles on Saturday and I felt like my brain was falling out of my head. Physically, I feel significantly fitter than I did three weeks prior to the Robin Hood half in September. So that's good news.

I'm also at a sort-of-incredible 135 miles for the year after a 70 mile push in February. 22%! 

Books. Books. Books. I'm getting pretty good at the reading now. I've convinced myself my reading speed has upped from that of a 12 year old to that of a 15 year old. Book #6 has been vanquished, all 680-odd pages, and it was good!

'N0S 4R2', or 'Nosferatu' - the German word for Vampire - it's not really about a vampire in the Buffy Summers sense, but it is about a creepy old bad guy who steals children and kills their parents for one reason or another. It's well written and a good story that I enjoyed. Think I gave it four stars on Goodreads. 

Book #7 is 'The Quiet Game' which I have been recommended as very good by a good friend. And so far, it is very good. So kudos to you sir. 

Finally, not too much happening on the get-BQ-to-South-Africa front. Apart from me reconsidering spending a fortune to watch England be absolutely pathetic at cricket. 

Not really, it'll be good to watch AB de Villiers hit the quickest ever Test triple ton and get drunk on £1 beer in the sun come January!

Until next time, which may or may not be before I drag myself round 13.2 miles in Reading, cheers.