Wet No Legs

I convinced myself I was wearing my waterproof trousers, yet when I stepped out the car only the blue of my jeans greeted my eyes. Same goes for my wooly hat and I was gutted to not have either on a day like today. We were doing a bunch of car stuff today which often means I'm warming the bench due to seating space on the following vehicle. It made for an easy breezy first day at least, a chance for us all to refund our feet and run the last few miles over the finish line.

Gotta remember my hat tomorrow.

See Ya Tree

It's funny how quickly we can go from delight to disgust in seeing Christmas stuff at the supermarket. The season is officially over and I was in Asda, phone in one hand, tape measure in the other as I talked with Rebecca to figure out how big a storage box we needed to stow away our decorations. We didn't want to leave anything to change so I walked a 64L box back - if it were any bigger I could have used it as a boat to get back home in through the rain. 

De-decorating the tree is always a sordid affair, but it was nice to look at our ornaments one more time. A couple of new ones came to stick around this year, and each and every one of them has their own story to tell. I look forward to recalling them again next December. 

Back at work for me tomorrow. Hope my body remembers what it's like to be jolted awake at 5am.

NY Slice

It feels like a different lifetime since I was at work, it's only just dawned on me that I don't have another week off, I only have another day. I did my best to spend it well by offering to hang out with a chum from work - a golden opportunity to play some social games and to get my head back into the filming headspace.

Then this evening it snowed! Rebecca and I had planned to grab some takeaway this evening and merged it into a wintery walk. Heading back home at night with a carton of hot pizza in the snow as police cars passed us by, it was almost like strolling through Manhattan. Then we munched our slices while working together to solve whodunnit murders - basically the perfect evening.

Best Games of 2024

I pulled up a chair and got to writing, finishing up my best games of the year article which you can check out here. I had a good time getting back into the swing of typing up quick paragraph pitches of games and condensing my thoughts. Increasingly, I'm trying to write about why games have stuck with me which is a fun thing to meditate on - anyone can say that they liked a thing, the hard part is quantifying how it made them feel.

Keeping Up the Resolutions

I gave a lift to our New Year guests up to the train station and gave them both a cheery hug goodbye. I felt bad not staying outside the car to wave them off properly but the sudden cold snap forced me back into shelter. True to my mini resolution, I did a bit of writing today - I'm cracking on with my best games of last year list that I'm so fond of doing. I got more done than I'd anticipated which is great so hopefully I can publish it very soon indeed. I'm back to reading too, I picked back up The World According to Garp, my Kindle delighted to inform me I was 11% of the way through it so I picked up where I left off. I also wanted to make a habit of wearing a watch more often so I wouldn't have to glance at my phone to check the time... Of course my watch battery died this morning though...

Happy New Year 2025!

So, here we are. On the dawn of another new year. Yesterday Matt and Ben joined us in Bristol for some early merry making before heading off to Mark and Lucy's for food, festivities and friendly games. We met Harold, the giant octopus that was won at a Christmas carnival. His 8 arms meant we all had an extra hand to hold during Auld Lang Syne, and an extra glass to raise as we rung in the new year.

New Year's day was naturally spent sleeping off said champagne, the chilly rain outside gave the perfect excuse for us to have a duvet day with our guests. We spent quality time together playing games and appreciating little things - basically doing the things that I want to do more of in 2025.

Looking back on 2024, it was a bit of a placeholder year for me. I blinked and I missed it, especially after landing my latest gig which hoovered up all of my time. If we're talking achievements l, suppose the job could be considered one. I got my first Assistant Script Supervisor role and continued to develop my skill set. The small uptick in salary meant that Rebecca and I could visit Rome, something that's been on our list since New Year's Eve of 2020. 

My watched movies list ballooned too, resting on 107 new films to me this year - My favourite of that bunch was 1999's Human Traffic, loveable for it's rough edges and commentary on the unbearable weight of being rudderless your 20's.

Perhaps I sound a little down about last year, but I'm treating it as a wake up call. Going into 2025 I want to ensure the year doesn't pass me by. I want to do more things that I want to sing from the rooftops about. I want to write more, read more and create more. I want to feel a marked growth between myself today and the person I'll be in 364 days. 

Til then, Happy New Year!

Tiramisu for Tomorrow

With New Year's Eve, Eve upon us, it was time to return home to Bristol. Tomorrow night we'll be off to a New Year party at Mark's place but we didn't want to come empty handed so I made a mammoth portion of tiramisu using my fool proof recipe... Only I learnt there's still some imporments to make on my method. I tried for nearly an hour to pull a good shot of espresso using my, somewhat alternative, coffee machine. In the end I sacked it off and used my trusty Aeropress for a strong brew to dunk sponge fingers into. It's always better the next day so I'll see how the pudding has set then, but if licking the spoon gives any indication of flavour, then we're in for a treat.