2010: how did I do?

Phew! Another year has rattled past quick-sharp. They never quite pan out how you expect, do they? 12 months ago, in the spirit of making resolutions for the new year, I published a ‘to do’ list for 2010. So, how did I do on the to-dos?
1) Attend more grands prix. For various reasons (hosting at Renault, working in other series, not being organised enough to sort accreditation in time, etc) I only went to one GP in 2009. Yes, the travel is expensive, but going to races and keeping busy during the weekend is the only way to properly keep up with what’s going on.
Ah. Er. Fail! And, humiliatingly, for many of the same reasons as 2009.
2) Watch Michael Schumacher in action at a big-balls corner, preferably during qualifying. Love him or hate him, MS is a fabulous sight on a hot lap.
Oh, the perils of building one resolution on another. Still, MS was a bit of a dud in 2010. If he does better next year, I will…
3) Read a Thomas Hardy novel. Mrs C suggests Jude the Obscure.
Success! Courtesy of a month’s booking at the Red Bulletin back in January, necessitating a train journey hither and thither to ‘that London’, this one went straight in the back of the net. Perhaps ill-advisedly I followed this notoriously grim and depressing novel with Norman Mailer’s The Naked and The Dead, a similarly gloomy read.
4) Learn how to do a bow tie. May just be a very useful life skill…
Fail, fail, fail. They say that the Queen can spot a clip-on bow tie from a mile off. Still, since hardly anyone from motorsport ever picks up a new year honour from HRH, I’ve got plenty of time to practice.
5) Comment on more blogs. It’s the polite thing to do.
Hmm. Qualified success.
6) Finish reading A Man In Full. This is a failed resolution from 2009 (in my defence, although I’ve had the book 10 years, I bought it in large-format hardback from remaindered stock and it isn’t very portable).
This is now a failed resolution from 2010 as well, but for the best of reasons: I haven’t had any long layoffs in which to sit down and read the wretched thing.
7) Deliver my second book on time.
Ahem. Well, the good news is that it’s finished and it looks great. Judge for yourselves in April 2011!

Phew! Another year has rattled past quick-sharp. They never quite pan out how you expect, do they? 12 months ago, in the spirit of making resolutions for the new year, I published a ‘to do’ list for 2010. So, how did I do on the to-dos?

1) Attend more grands prix. For various reasons (hosting at Renault, working in other series, not being organised enough to sort accreditation in time, etc) I only went to one GP in 2009. Yes, the travel is expensive, but going to races and keeping busy during the weekend is the only way to properly keep up with what’s going on.

Ah. Er. Fail! And, humiliatingly, for many of the same reasons as 2009.

2) Watch Michael Schumacher in action at a big-balls corner, preferably during qualifying. Love him or hate him, MS is a fabulous sight on a hot lap.

Oh, the perils of building one resolution on another. Still, MS was a bit of a dud in 2010. If he does better next year, I will…

3) Read a Thomas Hardy novel. Mrs C suggests Jude the Obscure.

Success! Courtesy of a month’s booking at the Red Bulletin back in January, necessitating a train journey hither and thither to ‘that London’, this one went straight in the back of the net. Perhaps ill-advisedly I followed this notoriously grim and depressing novel with Norman Mailer’s The Naked and The Dead, a similarly gloomy read.

4) Learn how to do a bow tie. May just be a very useful life skill…

Fail, fail, fail. They say that the Queen can spot a clip-on bow tie from a mile off. Still, since hardly anyone from motorsport ever picks up a new year honour from HRH, I’ve got plenty of time to practice.

5) Comment on more blogs. It’s the polite thing to do.

Hmm. Qualified success.

6) Finish reading A Man In Full. This is a failed resolution from 2009 (in my defence, although I’ve had the book 10 years, I bought it in large-format hardback from remaindered stock and it isn’t very portable).

This is now a failed resolution from 2010 as well, but for the best of reasons: I haven’t had any long layoffs in which to sit down and read the wretched thing.

7) Deliver my second book on time.

Ahem. Well, the good news is that it’s finished and it looks great. Judge for yourselves in April 2011!

2010
12/31
CATEGORY
Random thoughts
6 comments
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  • Comments (6)

  1. I think I purposely *forgot* to make any resolutions for 2010, in the same way I may *forget* to do so in 2011.
    Happy Ne Year Stuart
    :)

  2. Thanks for taking the time to keep us amused and enlightened with your blog posts this year, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed them. Wishing you a successful 2011

  3. Ahem. Well, the good news is that it’s finished and it looks great. Judge for yourselves in April 2011!

    Cool! What’s this one about?

    • Stuart C
    • January 5th, 2011

    Thanks all. You can see the cover of the new book on Amazon:

    http://tinyurl.com/2v2mpuf

    • graham smith
    • January 23rd, 2011

    In your otherwise excellent book Art of the Formula 1 Race Car,how did this horrendous error get to be printed on page 53.The spec of the Lancia D50 ‘ engine 2496cc MERCEDES-BENZ STRAIGHT EIGHT’ !!!

    • Stuart C
    • January 23rd, 2011

    @graham smith

    Glad you enjoyed the book, Graham, and I hope the typo didn’t spoil your enjoyment too much.

    There are a couple of similar errors here and there in the spec data of the first edition. I would imagine that they came about as a result of the designer using spec boxes from other pages (in this case the Mercedes) as templates, followed by the correct details not always being flowed in. I don’t know.

    The typos were corrected for subsequent editions, although I realise this doesn’t help the one you have in your hands! Apologies again.

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