I am a Sponge

Starting work at 10am felt a bit cheeky but I'll never say no to an extra few minutes in bed! Gently ingratiated myself into the new job, like a sponge in a vast bathtub, I just sat inside and gradually soaked up everything I needed to know. A coworker is already popping off on a long weekend as if tomorrow so I'll be covering for them a little bit and picking up where they left off. Plenty to keep busy with and a decent run up of time to do it in. Very happy with my team too, all signs point to a nice first week.

Little Blue

With my bags already packed I had oodles of time to mope around the house before my coach trip to London. I'm starting up my next job as of tomorrow with a familiar company, while I'm very much looking forward to the work I did feel a little guilty about leaving Rebecca behind once again. You can only glean so much company from a cat so I'm aiming to be back in Bristol for the weekends. I felt oddly morose walking to catch my coach though, as if I was homesick even as I walked down our street. Once my head is in the job I'll be fine, but today I'm just a little blue.

Coffee Concerns

Rendered the house spotless and ready to receive Rebecca's parents. I've kinda become the unofficial barista for their visits so expectations for delicious coffee is always sky high. To the best of my human abilities I try to make them something delicious but there's always a worry in the back of my mind that sometimes not to their liking. Naturally they're too polite to say otherwise, but on occasion they leave mugs with more than just dregs in the cup. One day I'll nail it.

So Much Hummus

Made reservations for a legit falafel and hummus place that opened up recently on North Street. In my infinite wisdom I ordered a huge platter of hummus, once that put it on the table with two plates I quickly realized I ordered a sharing platter all to myself. No man or beast could eat that much goodness so I had to take it away with me in a little pot - that's tomorrow's lunch right there!

We have Rebecca's folks heading round tomorrow so we got the house more or less ready for a royal visit. It's Rebecca's mum's Birthday trip so there was a fair bit of cake baking going on too. They always enjoy our hospitality so it should be a nice visit.

Revisiting Writing

A time old writing technique suggests that after something is written, you should put it in a drawer for a week or two, then rethread it with a fresh pair of eyes. I revisited a script for an Eyebrow Owl video I haven't made yet and I was honestly pleased with what I'd done. Did a tiny tweak here and there but otherwise it's off to the races. When I get another spate of free time I can finally get around to editing it all together.

Met up with a chum for drinks tonight that I haven't seen since early Spring - such is the nature of adult friendships, especially in my line of work. I need to make more of an effort to keep up friendships these days, increasingly I find that's the best spent time.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Sent off my Youth for Europe report, hopefully it won't get cut off mid sentence again like in a previous newsletter. Begun mentally preparing myself for 6 weeks working in London soon, gonna be a lot of MegaBuses. If only they had a loyalty scheme, I reckon I'd be a patron at this point though. 

Today's film was The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, a Coen Brother film that slipped through the cracks for me on release. Usually I'd be a sucker for 6 Western short stories but for me, the project failed to coagulate, outside of being a showcase for the Coen's penchant for genre and dialogue (which is always a treat). Every now and then there's a good moment or image and the shorts themselves are generally fun and occasionally absurdist in all the right ways, but after they're over they don't echo in the mind. Not even Tom Waits as a curmudgeonly gold prospector managed to win me over which is really saying something.

The Act of Killing

Got to work on my Youth for Europe report and very nearly finished it. Mostly looking for photos now so I'm combing through the many hundreds of snaps the group took and uploaded into a big shared folder. About 90% of them are shots of the oven or blurry images of Oxford gardens so they're pretty unusable but we'll make something work. 

I'm using this week to get through some more films from my backlog and no documentary has been on my watch list longer then The Act of Killing which was a disturbing yet toothsome watch that's still running laps around my mind. The more I think about the crazy film the mass murderers tried to make and the main perpetrator's relationship to cinema the more I begin to ponder the limits of humanity and the power of karma. A documentary with a dreamlike narrative - Excellent stuff.

Unamusing

Eagerly rolled into the day with the same high ambitious as yesterday. Watched a film early on (The delightful Top Hat with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers) but then faltered a little bit as I struggled to find meaning in the rest of my day. As luxurious as it is being a temporary man of leisure, I always hit this roadblock where my amusents fail to amuse. I need to turn back into myself to find something truly satisfying to do - a brief return to writing may we'll be just the ticket.

House of the Dragon

 With a free week staring back at me before I start my new job I decided to make the most if today. Played a few games from my backlog and forced myself to complete them. Read a few more chapters of my book and watched Hoop Dreams, a 3 hour basketball documentary that's been on my watch list for almost a decade. So it was a weirdly productive day off I suppose? 

Oh yes. We also watched the first episode of House of the Dragon... Twas pretty good. if memory serves I wasn't so hot on the pilot of Game of Thrones so it'll take a few episodes to come into its own. That said, it was about as good a first episode as anyone could have hoped for.

Greyson Perry Bristol

Accidentally put Rebecca and myself in a flap this morning as I totally dropped the ball on learning when my parents were coming over to visit. In my head we had oodles of time for a cooked breakfast chased by The West Wing. In reality I was still in my pyjamas with egg quietly crystalizing on the front when Mum and Dad were only 10 minutes away. Nothing a good rush about couldn't fix and an hour later we were all laughing and drinking teas and coffee.

Their visit was thanks to the touring Grayson Perry exhibition at the Bristol Museum - a series of artwork all about coping with lockdown done by mostly nonprofessional artists. The art was generally playful and quirky in all the right places, often my inner Brit smiled at niche cultural references towards a period of shared middle class suffering. Many nods to home baking projects and Deliveroo driver's as modern day superheros basically. Other pieces offered moments of quiet personal reflection, the epitaph for each artwork drew out plenty of meaning to support each bit of art and they were all a pleasure to read. A jolly good exhibition in all!

Before we bid Mum and Dad farewell a visit to a unfamiliar restaurant called to us. Lona is a Lebenese joint with a solid juice bar in the back. A near pint of grapefruit juice followed by a mixed grill large enough to redefine the term 'meat sweats' landed in front of me, and I had no choice but to consume. In bed now and still digesting, every tummy gurgle a reminder of a Sunday we'll spent.

The Hungriest Cat

The respite continues albeit while taking care of a hungry little cat. Think she missed us a fair bit while we were away, or more accurately, she missed begging us for food. Trying to tuck into a take away pizza with a food-motivated cat pottering around is the antethisis of a good time. Though she may be cute, even Rebecca's patience was tested today (but she'll never admit it).

Broken Sleep

First few hours of my morning feel a bit blurry. I got up very early to drive the Belgian visitors to catch their coach, then hightailed it back to my bed to rest up again. I reckon I'm coming down with some kind of exhaustion based cold, nothing some Netflix, coffee and video games can't cure though! Now that we're all back safe and sound in Bristol I can finally sleep in my own bed and be a potato.

YfE Newbury Day 7

Goodbyes are always tough, especially after spending so much time with Youth For Europe friends. They become a second family almost and we all just started to get really good at living together in the madhouse. Just about tidied it all up before kickout time, spent hours hoovering and washing up to get it back into a passable condition. I was so hungry and exhausted after finishing I went up for a short nap and ended up almost missing dinner! I got one final job to do tomorrow: drive the Belgians to their early morning coach. How early I hear you ask? Well, my alarm is set for 4:25am...

YfE Newbury Day 6

 Weather reports weren't optimistic for our water sports day. Heavry rain was due to occur throughout our paddle boarding and dragon boating sessions but luckily it held off. Many people were initially apprehensive but the water charmed them and everyone had a great time. We held the final meal in the evening and hosted a very small party in our accomodation. Already a lot of people stepped up and said they're sad to be leaving. The feeling is mutual, but I am eager to getting my bodyclock back to normal.

YfE Newbury Day 5

Free day means late breakfasts and card games... At least for everyone else. Rebecca and I were running the behind the scenes, doing big shopping runs again and I even got to go on a jolly to Swindon to pick up a mobile phone that got left behind. Think we all needed a recharge though, though today offered everyone a chance to reflect and realize it's all over in just another day or so.

YfE Newbury Day 4

The coach pulled up at our accomodation - guess that means it was time to go to London! Rebecca and I planned out a good old route to take everyone along, starting with a trip up the Mall to Buckingham Palace. What we forgot to account for was the changing of the guard, a terrific photo op for our guests but a nightmare in wrangling for us. It was honestly like herding cats at times but it was well worth it because everyone said today was great. We've got a nice lie in planned for tomorrow so people can recover. I did 30,000 steps today so I need my beauty sleep.

YfE Newbury Day 3

Off to Oxford for our group! I took them on a decidedly abridged tour of the city as I know very little about it but once the free time came around people made the absolute most of it. Back at base the Polish impressed everyone with their Hunter's Stew, mostly because it was 24 hours in the making. No meal from the Polish would be complete without genuine vodka though, always a fun compliment to any meal they make.

YfE Newbury Day 2

Sports Day was the theme of today's festivities. The organizers and myself dreamed up a handful of quirky team activities and we made a day of it. People were surprisingly competitive and that made the end result a little bit spicy. Lot of people from the Twin Town and a local archery club pitched in to help out and I'm eternally grateful for that - the day would have fallen flat without them.

YfE Newbury Day 1

 A day out in Newbury town was on the cards for our group on this baking hot day. Perfect climate to go on a treasure hunt! I provisionally allowed 80 minutes for the teams to complete the task but one group ploughed through my questions in just under 40 minutes! They mush have sprinted half of it. A meet 'n greet with Newbury Mayor came after which went down well. Mini golf was closed so we hit the pub instead, few things motivate our group like raw alcohol.

YfE Newbury Day 0

Now at 2am I'm delighted to say we have a full house for Youth For Europe in Newbury. Everyone made it in good time and were delighted with the curry dinner we made them. Just a very easy breezy day as people get over their jet lag and long trips. Lot of old faces to welcome back, but even though it's been three years, it feels like no time has passed at all. Familiar laughs, mannerisms and voices all flood back to me and I'm proud to be hosting them here.

Twas the Night Before YfE

After one final mad dash to Wilko (and a surprise last minute dash to Pets at Home after our automatic cat feeder stopped working), we were off and away to Newbury. Day one of Youth for Europe is looming over us and all we need to do before heading to our site is one massive food shop. Rachel is making a homemade curry to introduce English cuisine to the visitors and will be needing plenty of fun ingredients. I'll just be buying reconstituted sawdust for the lunch bread to save the budget. It's go time as of noon tomorrow - wish us luck!

Youth For Europe... 24 Hours Remain

Second and triple guessed my own Oxford Day activity list into oblivion. I basically over thought and overcomplicated it so I took a step back and just made it easy breezy... And now everything is ok in the world. Final day of Youth for Europe prep tomorrow, I'm trying not to overplan/regiment things because then nothing will feel organic and fun, but at the same time I always think there's more stuff I need to do to ensure things move smoothly. Basically, I care too much and that's always been my downfall when I'm too close to a project - just hope everyone has a good time.

Newbury Treasure Hunt

 Got stuck into crafting the Newbury treasure hunt. Photoshop, Google Doc and Microsoft Paint were all called upon to make 12 questions for ours youths to enjoy this Friday. Spent significantly longer making it than they will playing it, but nothing in this life is worth doing in half measures. Got all that stuff out the way today, onto planning Oxford Day tomorrow which should be fun, I've only been there a handful of times but some Harry Potter like sights and some free museums are all we need there for a good time.

No Wasted Sunday's

God may have rested on Sunday, but Rebecca and I sure didn't. We hit the road nice and early to head to Newbury. Objectives: go on a recce for the Youth for Europe accomodation and to plan out the Newbury treasure hunt activity. We fought through the heat and totally smashed through our to-do list. Plus Dad made a great curry lunch for us to enjoy which really lifted our spirits.

A Zoom call cemented all our efforts for the YfE planning. It really is falling into place now. I'll be going into beast mode to finish it all up over the coming days but it'll be good to get stuck into something.

And, and, and... I bought a secondhand Bluetooth speaker off the Facebook marketplace. From £109 retail price to £35 off a random, shirtless stranger - what a bargain!

Fool-proofing London

Saturday's have a habit of going too quick. Rebecca and I did a lot of extra planning for the London day for Youth for Europe, just making it foolproof and so no kids get stranded in the capital. I'm heading back to Newbury tomorrow to do a recce of our site and to finish mocking up the town treasure hunt. Should be a fun, work day out... Like a field trip.

Chicken Piccata

One of our Youth for Europe activity days is a literal Sports Day event where we put on a selection of team tasks. We got a fun and solid line up so far and I did a bit of work polishing up and laying the groundwork for an original game I came up with on the fly. I wanted it to feel almost like an escape room puzzle, the whole thing is themed around minesweeping so I made up a bunch of 'classified documents' looking hand outs to flavour the task. Super chuffed with it.

Louis and Rachel popped over and we prepped them a dinner to say thank you for looking after our cat. I made a chicken piccata which came together super well and Rebecca picked the apples from our tree to make a very wholesome crumble. Clean plates all round so I think we did well!

Cat Sitting Milestone

Waited the clock tick down before I could hop into enjoying the new Mario Kart levels. The first batch of them arrived on the day we got our cat, how things have changed since then. When we first got her we were walking in eggshells, making sure she was settled and the TV volume wasn't too thumping. Now, Rebecca and I play Mario Kart full blast and she still swaddles up to us. Guess we got a good one.

Introverted Battery

Me and the cat again... While babbling to the moggy it dawned on me that I hadn't left the house for a few days. No sweat though, it's been a few months since I went to the nearby board game meetup. After dinner I mentally prepared myself to say hello to strangers again but once I got there the place was a locked up ghost town. Chap's on Summer holiday it turns out but that left me drifting in space a little bit. I'll be meeting plenty of new faces at Youth for Europe soon so maybe it's better I recharge my introverted side this week before diving in.

Croissant Cat

 With Rebecca out working in the office it was just me and the cat today. When she's not yowling for food she's sleeping on the sofa... How am I meant to get any work done when she's being so adorable?! I did some more prep work for Youth for Europe and spoke to a few of the team leaders about the food their cooking for us all. Excited to eat them - less excited to buy all the ingredients but we can make it work.

That's Asda Price

 It's a little embarrassing to admit that it's been a fair while since I've had to do a food shop for Rebecca and myself. Filming away and being on holiday means I haven't samples the delights of Asda Bedminster for a hot minute. But the geography of the aisles slipped back into my muscle memory, my feet traced the linoleum floor, remembering the feeling as if I was walking through a childhood home. Screaming children snapped me from my dream state and still unfavorable prices made me grimace further. Always a pleasure to leave there, and with enough food for the week I shan't have to return again in a hurry.