Here to Listen

Im in an odd sweet spot in my job where I'm relatively important, but still not high ranking enough to sit in on a lot of meetings. Imagine my surprise when I was sat in a room with literally all the important people as they hashed out the next steps of prep. I think we all had different expectations on how that meet would play out, turns out I had nothing to input so I kept quiet and listened. Back at my desk it didn't quite feel like a Friday, and not just because I only worked two days this week. I guess the office hasn't been moulded by us enough just yet to support some big fun vibes from time to time. We'll get there though.

Back 2 Studio

Day one back at the studios and in a weird way it felt like I never left. All the old hands who run the site are still there and we're chuffed to see me back, same goes for all the familiar faces in my crew. I had a really lovely day getting back into the groove, slowly warming myself back up and starting to onboard all of my old responsibilities. Nice and easy two days week too, as far as first weeks go, I couldn't ask for more. 

Scaries in the Sea

Felt like the last day of my Summer holidays. We said goodbye to Bournemouth and its ocean with one last swim. It was overcast and grey but we still made the most of it. We gave the house a tidy and signed off, til next year.

I got my work bag ready for tomorrow, I start on my next gig which runs from now til Christmas. Going to feel a bit surreal heading back into the world of semi regular employment. It was a bit odd to get the Sunday Scaries in the sea earlier too. But there's always an opportunity for one last hurrah, we got in another session of Big Walk, this time bringing in Lucy and her brother, making our squad a six. The added chaos was a lot of fun, lots more of us got lost in total darkness which made their eventual return to the group feel like a real homecoming.

Seaside Snaps

Our last full day in Bournemouth which we spent out on the shores of Mudeford, taking in the smell of the sea and the taste of the local ice cream. Rebecca brought out her small digi camera to take some beachy photos, she got some really cute ones if the two of us, plus some moody pictures of the water. We're planning on having one last swim in the sea tomorrow before returning to reality.

Hengistbury Haunt

We took Matt and Ben up to Hengistbury Head for a walk up the cliff side and round the banks. They managed to squeeze one more dip in the sea before their train was due to take them home. The house is noticeably quieter now with just me and Rebecca pottering about. 

A newer tradition in Bournemouth is the annual 'visit the Korean supermarket and make a dinner using mostly their stuff'. We had some chicken left over from yesterday so a makeshift ramen/broth bowl was in order, plus a soft boiled egg and some kimchi from the literal 1.2kg tub we got in the shop. It turned out hilariously well.

It's a little weird to consider today is the last day of the Summer. The never ending heat waves, droughts and scattered jobs. With it effectively comes the end of my Funemployment. I have a few days left now but the long holiday is all but over. Time to buck up my attitude, tuck in my shirt and put in my biggest smile. Showtime soon.

Swimming in Gravy

We went into this Sunday with two objectives:

Go in the sea.

Have a roast dinner. 

I'm delighted to say that we smashed our goals. The weather was looking a tad dicey, but we timed it well and arrived at the beach in a perfect window of opportunity. The weather meant the water was a bit more 'fun' than usual too so the four of us had a good lark as waves knocked us over. 

Back at the ranch Matt and Ben took over the kitchen and whipped up a roast chicken and a apple & blackberry crumble pudding. I haven't had one of those since the heatwaves started, the first of many I'm sure, but I doubt any will top what we had for dinner tonight.

Sideways Rain Seaside

The sound of the rain roaring through the drainpipes was loud enough to wake me up this morning. The forecast was already bleak but seeing it with my own eyes was something else entirely. There was sideways rain for all of breakfast, we waited for a break in it before heading out into Bournemouth town centre for a jaunt. Each time I go there I'm always taken back by how ramshackle it all is (in fairness, the weather didn't help the situation) but it was just so unappealing. We got the measure of it all quickly and headed to the beach, the sea was fierce on account of the wind, but that didn't deter Ben from going in for a dip. We all watched in awe as he ran straight into the water as we tugged our raincoats closer to our chins.

We barely dried off at home before heading out again to a few pubs in town followed by a fish and chip dinner. Ben's mantra is that fish and chips should always overwhelm you when it's all on your plate and I have to say I think I agree with that. I don't think I'll need to eat again til after the Bank Holiday is done. 

Sand Like A Thousand Razors

Bournemouth rituals continue to go unshirked over here. Every year I try to go into the sea at least once, and looking at the weather this week it made sense for us to go today while the sun was still out. Well, it wasn't raining, but the wind was too strong to even lay a beach towel down in so our dreams of reading on the shore were dashed, but we still got to bob around in the water. 

At least one portion of KFC must be consumed too - an annual treat to the high street for the tasty chicken was locked in for tonight, the house only just reset to it's non-greasy aroma just in time for our visitors Matt and Ben to arrive. Matt was brimming with nostalgia too for the area, having studied here with us all those moons ago. Hopefully the rest of their stay will be a pleasant trip down memory lane. 

Wasgij High Street

Went to Lidl not once, not twice, but three times today to collect all of our individual meals. Hey, we're on our holidays and it's nice not to have to make plans for everything and live a little hand to mouth. Rebecca was technically still working today so I busied myself with games and aforementioned walks to supermarkets. We did a very quick walk up the high street, mostly to see what's changed and what stuck around. Mum has a penchant for those Wasgij puzzles and I mostly like the 'Destiny' ones where you get to peek into the past and the future of a classic English setting. Winton High street will forever feel like those jigsaws to me, living in a simultaneous start of then and now in my mind.

Back in the old House

Did the slow packing thing where I knew I had all day to get ready so I spread it over the course of the morning and afternoon. Rebecca are back in Bournemouth for our annual visit. The house still looks and smells the same. In recent years I get a miniature out of body experience whenever I walk through the front door. It's lived a lot of lives since I've known it, from my childhood, Uni, COVID and now - each life smashes together all at once like the floodgates of nostalgia opening up. Time to make new memories.

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma

Felt quite emotionally heightened and subsequently, drained after today - entirely thanks to the games and movies I ended up spending time with. I finished my Donald Duck and anime kids game which ended with a lot of big imagery about doors being closed and friends left behind (all thematically ham-fisted by the writing, but somewhere deep inside it rung true). In the evening we met up with some film friends to check out the new meta horror film Teenage Sex & Death at Camp Miasma which operated on about three levels higher than something like Scream. Self-Referential, genre savvy and morbidly entertaining, it's a film that actually quite exhausting because of how it thinks and presents itself. My head feels full after having watched it, especially because it gets mighty interpretive by the end but it was a great way to end a Tuesday night.

Supermarket Schwoops

A truth as old as time is that we all eventually turn into our parents.

Growing up, Louis and I would frequently have to do a run to a corner shop after Mum planned to make a midweek dinner (let's say carbonara for the sake of this example), only to realise she forgot to buy the spaghetti. 

And the eggs.

And the bacon. 

Well today I did the meal planning and the big shop and only had to go back to the supermarket twice to get the ingredients I flat out forgot I needed for it. Time and genetics catch up to us all. 

Frozen Feast

Jamie took us out to a very alternative Indian fusion brunch spot where we got a spicy rice bowl to kick start our day. We saw a little more of Jamie's ends then packed our bags and jetted out from one city to another. We got back a touch late so we wanted some real 'brain off' food so fish fingers won out. I left Tesco Express with a frozen feast and we unashamedly left no crumbs. Two more weeks of freedom, what could they have in store I wonder?

South-East Londoner's

Took Rebecca's Mum back up to London then continued on to meet Jamie and his partner in their London home. After a hearty lunch we went on a very big London walk, exploring London's South-East side. The Cutty Sark made an appearance (last time I saw it the ship was a burnt out husk). We did it all while the sun slowly set on the city that never sleeps. We dropped into a pub for a quirky pint then headed to a microbrewery for another round of drinks, pizza, games and a chats galore. Jamie has clearly found a part of the world to love and call his own, it was a pleasure to enjoy every part he showed us, while he was beaming from ear-to-ear.

Donald Duck and Friends

Rebecca's mum is staying with us just til tomorrow morning. She did a solo trip out to town centre armed with all our knowledge of local buses and came back relatively unscathed. While she was out I could play video games without feeling self conscious - the one I'm playing right now has Donald Duck fighting alongside anime tweens and I could have lost years of my life trying to explain to her why the internet and a few friends tell me it's better than Citizen Kane. Rebecca's mum thankfully has an appetite for medical dramas and was happy to rewatch a few episodes of The Pitt as Rebecca and I make our way through it. Nothing like finding common ground between families while watching patients get breathing tubes shoved down their throats.

Running in the Drizzles

Now the weather has cooled off significantly I thought now was a good day to get back I to running. I inadvertently ended up jogging during a rainstorm in the sunshine, I spent most of it wiping the water off my sunglasses.

Part two on my unexpected things was finishing up Final Fantasy. I knew I was on the final boss and my characters were all very well leveled and ready to rumble. Shouldn't take more than an hour... Then my whole morning went in the blink of an eye. I'm relieved it's all done and dusted now, this one started to get a bit too long in the tooth.

Client Dinner

I went alongside a PM friend to get wined and dined by a vendor for a camera equipment hire company. I've never really been to a client dinner of sorts I suppose, I was just delighted to find I was sat across from some actually very normal people who didn't push anything on us. It was just friendly networking, plus moussaka and vine-wrapped halloumi. 

I left the lunch to go meet a Canadian Cousin who was spending the day with Mum in Bristol. They mostly went thrifting in the nearby vintage shops and to see some nearby sights the city has to offer. I very much joined during the tail end of their day out but it was fun to show off the spots I hold dear to new eyes. 

Old Town, New Routes

With the temperatures down a smidge and an idle hour or two at my disposal I decided to hit the town. I've been sitting on a cheque to cash in for a little while now, it's just annoying my nearest bank branch is such a schlep away. But I turned it into a fun walk, going along avenues and shortcuts I didn't know existed til today. I have some family coming to visit Bristol tomorrow too so I considered today a little recce of sorts. 

Jamie came to stay with us again this evening and lavished us with compliments on the new shelves. Those things might as well be my life's work, I don't know if I'll contribute much more to humanity after them. 

Finally, Final Fantasy

Felt oddly woozy for most of the day and considering the rest of my week is looking busier by the minute I thought I'd rest instead. This time six years ago I was deep into a Final Fantasy game before heading back into work, felt only right that I'm repeating the trick now. The monsters, the music, the spells - even when the game is new to me it always feels like a homecoming. The temperature finally feels like it's broken too, fingers crossed that's the last heat wave of the year. I've never been more ready for a 19 degree day in my entire life.

The Day After the Feast

Been a while since we did the North Street shuffle, lots of new shops and pop ups to explore. The best one was a new Vietnamese sandwich place that packs their buns to the brim - just what I needed after a groggy morning following yesterday's feasting and drinking. But we had another dinner party tonight - much more civil mind. Some friends turned up to ours for a very sweet little board game night. They brought round a tiramisu that, no word or a lie, rivaled my own. We got some leftovers as well so I'll enjoy it all over again tomorrow.

Nostalgia Dinner

The common thread for all my time in the kitchen making mayonnaise, ketchup and now chicken nuggets from scratch is that it's literally not worth the extra effort. Guess that's why they call it convenience food.

I did this all in aid of the Nostalgia Dinner party - a friendly competition between some TV friends in a cook off of sorts. The best part of the day was seeing everyone's interpretation of the brief. We had two people make potato smilies, an Angel Delight and a mug cake. But there could only be one winner according to the jury and I ended up winning the night with my nuggets! 

Guess it was worth all the time and effort. 

Ketchup and Mayonnaise

Something that wasn't on my Funemployment bucket list but was something I needed to do ahead of tomorrow was make my first ever batch of mayonnaise and ketchup. 

Mayo first. I watched a whole bunch of videos on how to make it, while the ingredients stay the same there's some differing opinions on method. Jamie Oliver has never failed me in the past - a bowl and a hand whisk while drizzling in oil. Except I got a bit scared on how slowly I needed to mix in the oil so I did it at a snails pace. I ended up overwhisking, the mayo split and I got a blister on my finger from mixing - cheers Jamie. Take two was everything in a tall vessel and a hand mixer. 30 seconds later I had mayonnaise, it was perfect.

As for ketchup (a condiment I've never cared for) I just threw all the ingredients in a pan and slow reduced it for like four hours. It makes me chuckle how much sugar you have to put in it to offset the vinegar, basically adding two contrasting flavours to cancel eachother out. My final sauce has a bit of an acidic zing to it, I always hate how sweet ketchup tastes but I might need to mix in a touch more sugar to keep the masses happy.

Both staple sauces ended up being much more complex than I expected, lot of fun to make though. This is all in aid of the dinner party I'm bringing some bits over for. The theme is nostalgia so I'm making homemade chicken nuggets with the aforementioned sauces. Hope they go down well.

Maximum Booch

Every now and then I walked up to my jar of newfound kombucha to give it a taste. Louis warned me this one had a zing, what I was not ready for was how quickly it would be ready. Previously I waited 3 weeks to get my sweetened tea to taste a little vinegary. This new batch was ready in less than 24 hours. Now I have a backlog of sour soda to drink before the next load is ready... Bottems up I guess.

We did have someone we could rely on knocking back a few glasses of the stuff coming over. Good old Dan was with us this evening for a hangout and a board game. Dan's basically the only chap we've shown Obsession to - which is basically Downton Abbey the board game and he seemed to really jive with it. We got a few more virtual sessions to book in with him over the next few weeks now too, looking forward to spending more time with him.

The Eclipse of '26

The whole day I was getting hyped up for a generational event: the eclipse of 2026. I met up with Louis and headed up into our park to secure a good spot. We didn't have the special glasses, not did we bother to put a pinhole in a cereal box, we just went up to be a part of it all. While chatting I was slowly unlocking my memories of the last eclipse back in 1999. I was barely cognisant then but the day still made an impression, guess the novelty of it dimming at midday stuck in my memory. It's also funny to think that I've seen two eclipses, both in green spaces called Victoria Park, albeit in different parts of the country.

The actual covering of the Sun part was rather underwhelming. I was expecting the park to be shrouded in an eerie twilight, for dogs to start barking and birds to loose their circadian rhythm. In reality, things just got a little less bright, a pre-dusk before the real dusk. Guess that's on me for not getting the special glasses to enjoy the true majesty of the moment, but it was cool to be a part of something - I'll have an answer to the question 'where were you during the last eclipse.' 

Don't let it Die on the Vine

Made the aforementioned bucket list for my funemployment. At first I peppered in the usual 'watch X number of movies' and 'finish this big video game'. But I realised that I'll still have mental bandwidth to do all those things even with a job. I stead I want to focus more on writing and developing the ideas that I don't want to let die on the vine. 

I got one more video essay to finish writing up, if I think it's good enough I'll commit to making the video too. I want to do another Cowboy D&D campaign with my usual posse. It's so or die time for all that, and when I have a deadline I feel the burn.

 

Last Days of Rome

The call came, the five months of funemployment is coming to a close. By early September I'll be getting stuck into a new job so now I'm treating the next month like the last days of Rome. I did some writing, I watched a Japanese movie from the 50's and while Rebecca was out tonight I played not one, but two short narrative games from start to finish. Gotta maximize the remaining days I have and finish everything I wanted to during this gap on my resume. Maybe I need to make a bucket list of sorts...

Bye Bye Balloons

Scrounged some more blackberries on my return trip to collect my newly sharpened knife. I was so ready to give it a test run on a tomato or cucumber but we had to pack down and leave our Air B&B as soon as I got back. 

We brunched in an overly twee little breakfast parlour, the kind of place that had three cuckoo clocks, none of them kept the right time. Still, the food set us up for a revisit to a walk round Symonds Yat Rock to enjoy the viewpoints. Then it was time to return to Bristol. Just in time to march up the the park to watch the final bout of hot air balloons going over... But they cancelled it. We rolled up our picnic blanket with a heavy heart and returned home to contemplate the week ahead.

Blackberries on the Vine

Visited a familiar English Heritage site, Goodrich Castle to show Rebecca's parents the ruin that's in pretty good condition. We bought some mead in the gift shop (something to enjoy when the Summer finally breaks), then we ventured into Ross-On-Wye for a nose about.

In the early evening I headed out on a solo jaunt. A chap who offers a knife sharpening service lives a half hour walk away from our Air B&B so I made the uphill trek. Because I was running a little early for our appointment I took my time on the walk and foraged a mountain of blackberries. Every bush I found I basically had to eat one from. I'm reading a book all about malnourished and shipwrecked people so being able to scrounge for my own sustenance felt amazing. Just hope my fingers weren't stained too purple as I handed my knife to the fella.

August City Break

Did some pottering around and some slow motion packing for our weekend away. I have no idea why we always end up in the Monmouth area for a city break, but this time Rebecca's parents wanted to experience the piece and quiet that only the Wye Valley can offer. It always takes a few minutes to adjust to the idea that your local post office is also your butchers, bakery and grocery shop. The only pub in town (that isn't a scary looking social club) usually has a food menu but because they don't have a chef at the moment we had to go to the chippy (which is still a win). It really is peaceful out here though, no doubt we'll sleep soundlessly.

With a Paddle

My Summer of 2026 can be mostly associated with boats. Boat parties, holidays and hangouts. Now the season is beginning to draw to an end and all good things must pass. I joined my friend who owns a small riverboat for one last cruise to stash it back in the marina til next year. Just the two of us (and a Bluetooth speaker) on a tepid August day. We did a pair of locks then cruised into the pack marina. The water was full of algae and other nasties, which is what we think clogged up our engine and killed it. Just meters away from our mooring point we found ourselves up shit creek, thankfully we had a paddle... One very small paddle that is. Somehow I managed to row the vessel back towards the docks (my friend was low key freaking out, but I was determined to make it work). So despite it being a fun Summer send off to begin with, it turned into one of those bleak endings that will probably cost my buddy a bunch of money to fix. 

I had a great time though. 

Bookshelves Complete

The final push to complete the bookshelves. All I needed to do was to screw everything down into place and lock it all in. The literal second Rebecca finished work she came downstairs and started making piles of all her books - assigning post-its to label each stack. I was playing games online with some chaps tonight so I didn't get to see her wave her magic wand, I only saw the 'Ta-Dah' photo she sent up and it looks wonderful. There's room for everything, plus space for a handful of small photo frames and knick-knacks. It really completes the room and makes for a great talking point for guest. 

It was only 18 months late in the build... But I reckon it was worth the wait. 

Desirably Uneventful

I let Rebecca sleep in for a couple of hours while I pottered around, she needed the rest so we could make it back home to Bristol in one piece. Time back was desirably uneventful, we played games, read books and ordered take out (we deserved it). Rebecca had a theatre show to catch in the evening, leaving me at home to play a horror game that eventually got under my skin. It didn't help that the cat kept chirping during some especially creepy moments so I couldn't tell what was real anymore. One to resume tomorrow when the sun is up and the lights are on.

Funeral - Dorothy

It's been almost five years since I last wore my funeral attire. I know this because I found a COVID facemask in my trouser pocket from Granny Sue's funeral. But today was to commemorate Rebecca's Grandmother, Dorothy who passed away recently.

I got ready with Rebecca and her family, dressing in all black and waiting for the funeral directors to collect us from the house. We followed behind the hearse in the escort vehicle and filtered into a lovely little service. The wake followed at a nearby pub where select friends and family retired to where stories of Rebecca's Nan were passed around. 

In my mind there's two types of funerals. The kind where you get hugs and the kind where you give hugs. I was mostly there as an emotional pillar for Rebecca, doing all I could to make the day a bit more bearable for her. There was a lot of trepidation heading into the day but she's very glad the day went as it did. She's a very brave lady and I was proud to stand by her side throughout the day.

Book Club Basher

I forgot to mention that a couple of days ago I officially became the owner of a car. Rebecca transferred ownership of her old and faithful Vauxhall Viva over to me (after I gave her a couple of quid of course). Rebecca has recently acquired some new wheels which took us up to London today. Because it had air con and that new car smell I was half convinced it was an airport rental vehicle... Hopefully that magic lasts for a long time.

I brought my laptop and microphone along with me so I could attend my virtual book club. Everyone rated this month's book 4/5, minus me who gave it a significantly lower score. I didn't want to dunk on the book too hard though because I didn't want to make anyone feel too embarrassed for enjoying it - I kept circling back to 'and that's why I personally didn't get much out of it' which absolved me of a lot. These days I'm in the business of speaking my mind but not cruising to rustle feathers. 

Impressionable Stranger

Dropped in to my usual barber up the road for a trim. I've been seeing him for almost a year now and we've seldom said more than a dozen words to eachother in that time. It was only when I mentioned I was getting it cut for a funeral that he tentatively made conversation. A lot of my life I think about the strangers that have made an impression on me - I wonder how many people's lives I've touched who don't know my name.

People that aren't strangers though are Mark and Lucy, whom we shared an almost twelve hour Saturday with. They had a board game they were eager to share with us called Eclipse - an epic scale space war game which took us from lunch til dinner to play. I got trounced, but I didn't mind because they put on an immense spread of food for us. Homemade pizzas, strawberry mess, a light salmon dinner and simmered peaches with ice cream - what a bloody treat. The day went too quickly though, we looked up at the clock and the next thing we knew we were catching the night bus home. 

French New-Wave Nemesis

Caught up on writing my Letterbox reviews for all the films I've seen recently. I also made a little list of all the remaining films I haven't seen from Roger Ebert's 'The Great Movies' volume one. There's only nine I haven't seen so I'm quietly using that as a North Star whenever I fancy an old movie with gusto (there's a pair of hefty pick from the 1920's which will be fun). There was a short Jean-Luc Godard one I glossed over so I gave that a watch today... In doing so I remembered why I don't like his movies. I guess I just struggle with French New Wave, thankfully that's not a problem that affects my day-to-day. Only 83 minutes long and I was still counting down the seconds... Maybe I need to read Ebert's thoughts to see what he sees in it.

Obsession

Did a top to bottom house tidy, which was much needed after a week of DIY, but especially important because we had a bevvy of guests over for another movie night. This group has kinda turned into a 'lets all watch a modern horror film together because there's safety and comedy in numbers'. Obsession was tonight's film which was a remarkably intense viewing. It was virtually all in the central performances which were spellbinding, I didn't want to look away... Until I had to because I was too chicken to keep my eyes on the screen. We all had a hoot though, that was the key thing. It's always fun doing group movies sessions, always takes me back to the days of Film Friday.

Glue, Clamp, Oil

Operation shelves has entered it's final phases. I took some of the excess wood to get trimmed down into bookends which I then glued & clamped. Once bonded, Ioved onto oiling them all. I basically had a little assembly line of bits that I checked on every half an hour as I did other stuff. As a byproduct of this however I never really settled into anything. Even when I was done for the day, my mind couldn't settle on one thing for more than 30 minutes. I was antsy and fidgety for no good reason. The shelves will all be done tomorrow though as a result of my hustling - we can't wait to see them in action!

Manchester Motorhead

A very early night yesterday set me up well for my day of paid courier work for a TV job... At least, I'm cheaper than a courier and I get to keep all the profit! My car was packed out with costume returns heading to Manchester for a pre-9am drop off. This meant my alarm went off at the same hour you might expect when you go to catch a cheaper flight. Even in the middle of Summer I found the nighttime and was even driving in it for almost an hour. I low-key wish the trip out was actually worthy of an anecdote, but I drove there, dropped off, and drove home. Considering I'd been driving for seven hours and messed up my eating pattern I felt close to ok when I got back. The key lag bit me just before supper, but nothing a long sleep won't sort tonight.

Better yet, when I got back my Screwfix order was ready for collection. Rebecca's shelves needed some boards glued together which was a new experience for me, but now they look more robust and premium now. Our replacement internet box also arrived so after three days off grid I can finally doomscroll to my heart's content! 

The Incident at Galley House

 Got totally engrossed in the hottest detective game of July. The Incident at Galley House is a very cool little murder mystery game about stepping into the past to figure out the timeline of suspects and victims. It's plays around with the Agatha Christie whodunnit formula while peppering in a we'll judged amount of Sci-fi. The end result drip feeds 'ah-HA' moments to the point where it's hard to put down... I was so absorbed I almost forgot to drill in Rebecca's bookshelves!

The Odyssey

We bucked our circadian rhythm, had a big, late breakfast and headed to the cinema at 11am. The Odyssey was almost booked up when we went to get tickets yesterday, but this early screening actually was a blessing in disguise as we got to see the movie on a massive screen and a thumping sound system... So much so that I think my ears are still ringing a bit after watching some of the more intense action sequences. The film was ace though, I actually enjoyed it substantially more than I expected which is always a treat.

Speaking of treats, we decided to keep a good thing going after the film and went out for pizza and then a taproom for a drink. I realised one of my favourite things about our city break holidays is trying out the best foodie spots, and it's nice to treat my home city in the same way sometimes - makes you appreciate it all over again. Lastly we did some prep work on building Rebecca's bookshelves. I'm now ready to drill holes and mount everything on the wall. It's been a long time coming, but I'm really excited for the results.

WiFi Woes Part 2

Wifi is down in the house again, it won't get replaced til Tuesday at the latest. I never realised how shoddy the data coverage was in our home til today either. Internet in the living room? Fuggetaboutit! I spent 45 minutes on the phone with a technician unplugging and replugging wires into boxes behind bits of spider web caked furniture to no avail. All that was left to do was wait for the new router to arrive. 

Thankfully we had a big evening activity tonight that soaked up our WiFi free existence: a friend's BBQ - specially her Book Club BBQ (but partners were allowed over too). So we just hung out and socialised, surprisingly I didn't get roped into the grilling this time so I just sat back and drank beer. 

Farewell Brolly

Did my final day as a Travel and Accommodation assistant out in Cardiff. I did the last of my TMO's and left with a tiny fanfare from the Production Team. I got a bigger response from the Transport Captain who gifted me a really good umbrella just as I was leaving the studio. Old friendships always bear fruit. I'm waiting to hear back on my next set of ventures now - I got a day's work next week, but otherwise I'm freewheeling til I hear back from another big gig I've been optioned for. Things are slowly rejuvenating in Bristol it seems.

I was low-key invited to a wrap party for a job I only worked on for 8 days. Free bar was tempting but the driving this week really took it out of me so Rebecca and I just went up to our local board game place instead. I stayed behind after hours and got a rum in the house - everywhere I go there's a free bar.

Flimsy Firestick

Penultimate day temping and I got to do a but if a fun one today. My colleague and I went to the hotel where one of our cast members is staying so we could say hello, check out their room and make sure they were comfortable. Things came to ahead though when we plugged in a brand new Amazon Fire stick into the hotel TV, we brought it with us so they had access to Netflix etc and to help them set it up. Trouble was we connected to the slowest internet option known to man and the thing had a monster update to do right out the box. So we all just hung out together while we waited for a tiny progress bar to fill. While the activity it took us away from our desks, it was actually quite a bizarre and fun hour out of my day. One more day now, I reckon most people will want to scarper off sharpish on a Friday, fingers crossed I get to join them.

Bye Bye Bear

Back out West for me, putting in my time out in Cardiff. It always tickles me how many friendly faces pop out of the woodwork on jobs. The 1st AD made a point of coming over to me to shake my hand and I've rekindled an old relationship with the Transport Captain. I'm staving off the tiredness more and more too, as if my body clock is re-adapting to long shooting days and the associated drives. 

Down time this week has mostly been dedicated to finishing off the final series of The Bear, which has been a real delight. I was firmly in the crowd of 'I'm glad they're ending this show' before watching it, but this last season was a great homage to everything that came before, reminding us why we all fell in love with the show.

Travel and Accommodation Intern

Been in travel and accommodation for two days now and my head already feels hot with information loading. Massive respect going out to my boss and all the others who get people from A to B. I'm just hoping I'm doing my part enough to support those guys. I'm still booking trains, writing movement orders and filling up logs. It's like I'm on an intensive training course though and I'm trying to make it count.

Cardiff Calls

Ah yes. The early get up. The hour long drive to work. The ten hours without a break. Then driving home for another hour. Welcome to the glamour of working in TV.

In all seriousness, it's actually been quite nice to be back inside a production office again. I slowly remembered all the steps and got into the swing of things. I'm only doing cover work so I don't need to be mega onboarded with all the job's various ins and outs, which is a little refreshing. The drive to and from Cardiff is a bit of a bore though, I blazed through the one podcast I was excited to listen to, now I need something else... 

Gourmand Cat

We felt a bit guilty once we got home only to find the cat's automatic feeder didn't go round for her while we were away for 24 hours. We opened up the case and just let her go mental and gorge herself on a buffet of wet and dry meaty bits. Otherwise I did the routine packing of my work bag before starting on another few days of work. I'll be up in Cardiff next week doing some days in a Production Office, hopefully it all goes well. I've had the Sunday scaries for most of the week now, I've been off the wagon for a while now and I just want to do a good job.

Stasis til Curry

Back on a London bound coach to meet up with Rebecca and her family. I managed to finish up the last few chapters of my book club read on the journey and while enjoying some quiet time in the living room. Mostly I was in stasis til the main event if the evening: a curry with some family friends. When the meal was all done they came back round to the house to watch the football game, and the post match commentary. I can't say I was especially excited by the footie but it was a fun evening.

La Dolce Vita

There's an evolving answer to 'best film I've never seen'. Until today I suppose I would have said La Dolce Vita (I guess I'm doing pretty well if I'm scraping the barrel with Italian Neorealist works). I'm working again next week so I thought I'd sieze the day and give the film a shot. I've always heard it's either a self indulgent mess or a masterpiece, and thankfully I lent rather favourably to it. 

I rode that high for most of the day til the evening. A few jobs in Bristol were preparing to wrap up this week and by proxy I got invited to drinks. Somehow I ended up at a wrap party for a job I didn't even work on, I couldn't help spending the whole time giggling to myself about how the hell I got to free karaoke, but I didn't question. It sure is a sweet life I'm living.

De-hermitting

With Rebecca out of town I found myself home along (minus the cat). While I always manage to find ways to busy myself, I must confess that I felt like I've become a mite reclusive this week and needed some human interaction. I was delighted then when Lucy said she'd be in my neck of the woods this afternoon and wanted to grab coffee. We're both going through small patches of unemployment, but as chance would have it we also both just caught wind of some very promising opportunities. I expected us to commiserate over coffee, but we actually did some early celebrating which was lovely. As a double whammy, I played with a group of 12 other people online to do some social deduction. There were a bunch of new people tonight but I got stuck in and chatted away with everyone (when we weren't trying to murder eachother). 

Consider myself de-hermitted.

England VS Argentina 2026

There was electricity in the air all day leading up to the big semifinals. Just moments before kickoff I waved Rebecca goodbye, she's heading up to London before me so I'm staying home with the cat for a couple of days. The first half hour I spent figuring out which device had the most 'live' version of the match. Eventually I settled on the iPad because I remembered that I live in a neighborhood where everyone cheers loudly at their TV's. If anyone started shrieking, that was my cue to turn my head and watch the next time-delayed 30 seconds to see what all the fuss was about. Our goal caused a ruckus, our defeat caused groans, then silence. England's dream died once again at the semifinals. 

Baby Steps

Jamie is currently staying over at ours for a few days and we've both been enraptured by a game I picked up called Baby Steps, in which you control a blubbering man-child up a treacherous mountain. Catch is, the controls and the obstacles are designed to test your patience. You operate each of his legs individually while also influencing his centre of gravity. This means that every step is an ordeal, and every fall while going uphill is a potential catastrophe. In spite of it being intentionally infuriating, it's compelling in a bizarre way. We filled all of our spare time playing it today it felt like. Laughing when we made a slip, undoing several minutes of progress.

Operation Bookshelf, Continues

Operation Bookshelf continues at full force. I went to collect the wall brackets from a nearby Screwfix, I already knew they were too long to take in the car so I had to go by foot, all the while carrying home a pair of 2m white rails. Thankfully it's cooling down a lot around here so it wasn't too nasty a trek. All that's left to do is mark and drill some holes, all the while I'll remember that age old maxim: measure twice, drill once.

I have a week of quite intense sounding work coming up next week so I'll take this opportunity to be kind to myself prior to pulling my hair out. Got some movies to watch, games to play and bits to write - all of my favourite things. 

Ever Expanding Social Circles

Left Newbury with our usual gaggle of four in the car and pootled back to Bristol. The remainder of the Sunday was the definition of lazy in all the right ways. Rebecca and I had depleted a lot of our social batteries recently so this afternoon was a chance to recharge fully. Right before going over to a friend's house for board games! We're slowly making friends with a couple who live up the hill from us who we met at the board game meetup we go to each week, it's been really swell hanging out with them from time to time. They say making friends past your 30's is tricky, but my social circle has literally exploded in the last year or so it feels. Guess we're just lucky people.

Long Distance Family Garden Party

Did a fair few miles today, all in the name of making it to my Uncle's 60th birthday party. It's been a long time since I've been to a family garden party, the kind where all generators mingle and kids splinter off to find their own amusement. I mostly stood in the shade, enjoyed some drink and nibbles and made small talk with relatives, pretty dreamy event all told.

Coming home we discussed watching England play in the Quarterfinals. I couldn't bring myself to acrew the sleep debt required to watch the whole game so I slunk off at halftime to bed. I'll wake up and learn if we went through or not. 

Bye Bye Boat

Enjoyed our final breakfast on the boat before packing our bags and returning to dry land for good. For the rest of the day we felt the phantom pain of motion, even when standing deadly still the urge to rock gently from side to side was powerful.

Rebecca and I drove back to Bristol to check in on the cat (and to cut our cat-sitting bills right down). The rest of the day was spent doing the classic 'recovering from our holiday' - a chance to recompress and return to the world of land lubbing. 

Hardships: Endured

We all set our alarms for an early rise in a bid to beat the sun. Sure enough though, it found us. We somehow managed to endure every hardship we could on this holiday. A heatwave, running around, getting stuck on the wrong side of the boat, shearing off our TV antenna. But we all did it as a unit, emerging stronger, but just a little more battered each time. 

It's our last night on the boat, all the while temperatures continue to soar. I'm still shattered from all the work of the day so hopefully the rocking of the water will lull me off to my slumber.

 

Working on the Waterway

You know in old American movies they show chain gangs all bashing rocks together on the highway. That was us today, in the unkind heat as we laboured through more locks than we would have liked. We also clocked onto the fact the boats topside is basically sheet metal, the perfect conductor for the heatwave so sitting inside was akin to bring in a greenhouse. We muscled through it though, in spite of swing bridges and no shade. Once we finally moored up we somehow stumbled into a really remarkable curry place that threw a big reversal in our once dour mood. Same again tomorrow, at least we know what's coming though.

Lazy Accusations

Rebecca heckled me virtually first thing this morning for not leaping out of bed the literal second she did. Called me lazy, so I spent the rest of the day proving her wrong. Today I:

- Made her porridge (I didn't have any so it really was made specially for her).

- Finished reading the second half of my book.

- Did 30 locks back to back, in the full blast of the Summer heat.

- Undertook a pilgrimage to a supermarket to help carry some groceries back to the boat (Rebecca napped while we did this).

Spite, as it turns out, is a powerful motivator. 

Summertime Hibernation

Exhaustion gripped me throughout yesterday, even as I tried my best to style it out. It was the first day of our family holiday out on the canal boat, the first step was a drive out to meet Mum, Dad and Louis who already had a couple of days out on the water. I just slept the whole car ride and once we arrived I made a bee-line to the nearest coffee shop. That made me feel slightly more human, but news that we were about to ascend the biggest flight of locks in Europe (30 back to back) sapped my strength. I put on a brave face though and helped out where I could. Once all was said and done though, I collapsed into bed and never wanted to wake up again.

I end today in a similar stupour, not because I'm tired but because I ate so much fish and chips that my body has entered a hibernation period. Unusual for Summer I know. I'll sleep it off though and we'll be back chugging along the river... Back on the return route now. An encore for the 30 locks. 

Background Check

Alongside an entire cohort of ex-co-workers, I played wingman today. We share a friend who had a potential new romantic partner come over from the States just to spend the 4th of July with her. It was a sweeping, romantic gesture that demanded the call to arms. Or maybe it was just a good excuse to get bladdered on a boat. Either way, I played my part in day drinking and getting friendly with a perfect stranger from the US. We gave a glowing character assessment back to our friend and kept a good thing going by boating all the way into town for more drinks and dancing. Walking home now and I've held hiccups the whole way home.

On the Horizon

Halfway through my day of not working I got a text asking if I could jump in to help out on a project in Wales for a week. I ain't got much else going on so I said yes and now I'm starting to really look forward to it. The only other big job to do before then is sort out Rebecca's bookcase and we"re making even bigger strides now. I sanded down the boards so their ready to use, I got a ScrewFix basket full of all the other bits and bobs ready to collect after our holiday next week.

 Lots to look forward to. A week of work, a boat holiday and some new shelves. 

Superb Shelves

I actually ended up doing one little bit of work for people first thing this morning, but after that I basically took the day off to good off. We're all off on a family holiday in the next couple of days so my attention is being drawn to packing and prepping for that. I also went over to Lucy's brother's place to go pick up some pieces of plywood. A very late Birthday present from me to Rebecca was a set of shelves for her ever growing library of books. What I really struggled with was finding bit of wood that fit the bill that didn't cost the earth and it's moon. As it happens, Lucy's brother has access to a few off cuts and very generously offered to cut it all down to size for us. We're thrilled with how it looks, now it just lies with me and a power drill to make the dream a reality.

Day's Up for Daily

Finished up my last day of temp cover on a shoot. I surrendered my access card and my spot on the production truck, I ate my last crew lunch and waved farewell as I collected the rushes. It wasn't super impactful of course, they're still going on for a little while yet, but it was nice to have joined them for a spell. Back to the yonder of naught for me now. 

Truck DJ, Encore

My main responsibility today was being truck DJ. I'm fast approaching the end of my tenure so it doesn't make much sense to be given any more long term responsibilities, instead I'm just dealing with everything as it comes in. I'll mostly be doing my receipts tomorrow and get ready to hand the reins back to the real team member. Been a fun couple of days though, nice to get a few more pennies in the bank too. I'm feeling the sting of sleeping less hours though, as if I were on a long job. How the hell did I do it all when I was younger? I crave sleep now like I yearn for tiramisu.

Under Everything

Everyone at work had a thousand yard stare. I'm just a daily and I still felt the second-hand exhaustion of it all. Personally I was a little under slept and undernourished. The milk in our fridge curdled and I didn't find out until I poured it all over my precious Fruit & Fibre. Even now I'm back home enjoyingy evening I just feel like the husk of a person. A proper night's sleep will set things right, and right now that sounds better than a paid holiday.

Healthy Competitive Streak

The social weekend continues. I got a chance to rest up after last night's exploits, which put me in good stead for a a pair of back to back board game sessions. We met up with Mark and Lucy for a BBQ and board games lunch, as we packed down the last game Rebecca and I whizzed across Bristol to head to a new friend's house for dinner and more games. Both old and new chums today basically, all united by a healthy competitive streak and a love of games.

Delicious Sweat

In spite of getting 8 hours sleep, I still woke up groggy. And in my living room. We're still down there in the heat wave and it still caught me off guard when I woke up. Rebecca felt identical to me, headachey and in a stupour. So we both took it super slow, careful not to overexert ourselves in the heat. I had a long Birthday blowout party to go to later and I wasn't in any state to head out without a midday nap.

15 minutes later I was a whole now man. I was then at the pub have chats, on a boat having pints, watching England play in the world cup, then onto a bar for a final bout of drinks and dance. About 5 years ago as the mist of COVID was starting to lift I remember going out to dance with some crew, one of them was especially eager for a real session. "I just want to taste somebody else's sweat in my mouth". That was the line that always stuck with me - a true measure of how hard you're looking to go. I daresay a few innocent bystanders may have gotten a few droplets on their tongue.

Base Runner

Did more of my thing on set today. Wrangling ice and all other manners of things that land in my lap. We all thought the heatwave would be subsiding but we were still in for a warm one but we just about got through it all. I inadvertently ended up doing a spot of Base Running this afternoon. I stood by for cast, put them in the chair and grabbed lunch orders - all in a day's work for little old me. 

Sleeping Downstairs

 Got into work early to get a handle on the shoot day, wrangling ice and waters at every turn. The temperature in my car just climbed up and up and up. Good thing I was sat in it all day, slowly cooking myself.

Rebecca and I moved the mattresses downstairs this evening so we could sleep in the comparitivly cool living room. I slept so badly recently that I'm about ready to drift away. 

The Ice Man Cometh

Back on a Production truck, sorting out problems and making dreams come true. For the most part I was sourcing ice for the crew, money is apparently super tight so the gold prize is getting ice for free from local venues. A bowling alley obliged us for a Google review, but after that it was tough pickings. When I got home I batch made iced tea for myself and Rebecca - I sampled the tester and ended up drinking all of it. Now we got three liters of the stuff! 

At the tail of of the day we caught wind that our local board game place was hosting an impromptu evening, mostly to flaunt their new air conditioning. Like lizards who just wanted off their hot rocks, we made the pilgrimage up the road to enjoy feeling a normal temperature for a couple of hours. 

Ice for Days

Just been batch making ice cubes for most of the day, hording them like a squirrel. Every 4 hours, cubes come out the tray, into a box, tray refilled, rinse and repeat. Got enough for doomsday now, also known as tomorrow.

Only twice in my life now have I seen a Red Weather warning for heat, and of course it's those two days where I'm going to be driving around in a car without air conditioning. I'll be careful mind, plenty of water etc, but it's just a sorry state of affairs we find ourselves in. Just before bed tonight I played some online games with Louis while I sat in the hottest room of the house. I kid you not, the heat started to get to my computer, causing all sorts of problems. Guess I'll just back off for a couple of days.

I'm back on a job for just over a week now, parachuting as a covering member of the Production team. It ain't glamorous, but it pays the bills. 

Toy Story 5

With a couple of days work coming up I treated today as a mini finishing things up day. My current game and book were completed before midday and as a small bonus I taught myself how to make a decent iced tea to combat the heat. I nailed it right out the gate I'm pleased to say - and I don't even like tea! Better still ai think I cracked open the writing project I'm doing, I had one of those epiphany moments on how to restructure it to make my conclusion hit harder.

And EVEN better yet, we took Louis and Rachel up to see Toy Story 5. If you thought the fourth one was unwarranted, then you may want to skip this one. The franchise formula is a bit long in the tooth now and the sense of danger and creativity wanes with every entry. I know it's folly to believe that a long-standing sequel to something that should have probably ended years ago might still have the magic, but Toy Story 5 is inessential. 

How Many Toy Stories?!

Sunday's a meant for lazing around and catching movies on the hoof. We're heading to the cinema to watch Toy Story 5 tomorrow, so Rebecca wanted to refresh her memory with the fourth one. It sure is the black sheep of the bunch (maybe 5 will be even moreso, TBC). While it still has all the heart you'd expect, the pacing and sense of humour is way out there, disconnecting it all from the previous movies. I mean, it's still a good time, but it ain't exactly hall of famer. Guess we'll see how 5 holds up tomorrow.

Calm Before the Warm

The calm before the warm today. It's also one of the only weekends we have coming up without any plans so we enjoyed being coach potatos. I was playing games and reading my book for the most part, quietly chipping away at my hobbies. Since it wasn't so hot we roasted a chicken today so we wouldn't have to put the oven on to cook so much over next week. That and we stocked up on ice creams. Bring it on heatwave.

Backrooms

Bided my time today doing all the usual bits and bobs. The main event was a trip out to the cinema with Rebecca a couple of my old work gang to watch Backrooms. We've done quite well in getting through some modern horror films together now, I guess we all just commiserate together in our fear. This was our first attempt at a big horror film on the silver screen though and it was a huge success. It helped the film was just the right amount of scary. Lots of disconcerting imagery, liminal spaces and handheld cameras. Considering most of the film consists of great actors looking concerned as they silently navigate a labyrinth, the tension was maintained throughout and it went by in a heartbeat. We've been really treated to a lot of horror films that don't fit into the 'quiet, quiet, bang' category in the last couple of years and I'm a firm believer that horror should delight more than it scares.

Ragu

Set my focus timer (the one that plants a little tree on my phone and tells me to not look at a screen for a couple of hours) and got to writing. I'm tugging at a couple of threads that have been left dangling and fraying for a while now. Things I've wanted to work on for a while but convinced myself I didn't have the time. Well, as luck would have it, time is all I have. That and a set of notepads and some fountain pens. 

When I wasn't focused I was hanging out with Rebecca. It was our 'anniversary' last weekend so we marked the occasion today with a trip to a very nice restaurant. Wine, fried artichokes, aioli, ragu and a pistachio panna cotta. What dreams are made of. Bristol in the summertime is a wonderful time and place, Dan and Jamie felt it too because they were nearby getting drinks out so we joined them to enjoy the cooling summer evening. 

Jetlagged at Home

My eyes jolted open a little after four this morning. I had no cause to be awake at that hour but my brain decided to kick itself into gear and start thinking about nonsense which made me restless. Defeated, I got up and got a very early start to my day, but it meant I was totally sapped of energy. I knew I was in for a late night too though as I signed up for some online games this evening, it was someone's birthday so it was bound to be a blowout. In fairness it was very much worth staying up for as the games of deception and teamwork was played with the perfect crowd. So ready to start the day properly tomorrow though.

Consolation Work

Thought getting up early was the secret ingredient to siezing the day but instead I hit roadblocks everywhere. Sat down to write but nothing came naturally. Went for a run but ran out of steam too quickly. Played a game but couldn't get past a tricky bit. I was half convinced that the day was out to get me. It 'almost' didn't feel deserved when I got a message for a week of work coming up. Naturally I jumped at the opportunity but I still couldn't shake how it felt like a bit of a consolation prize.

Bank Holiday Anyone?

Set myself out on a power morning to do a speed run of all the errands that went on ice over the weekend. Freezer defrosted. New toaster collected. Cat food pouches recycled in store. Brake light bulb replaced. Weekly shop completed. I managed to do all this before the coffee in my travel mug was cool enough to sip. With the chores done I gave our new TV a spin with some games and two movies. It basically sounds like I invented a Bank Holiday Monday today.

MS Paint Me

I aided Rebecca's parents in cooking a slap up breakfast for us. That was the hearty meal I needed before lifting out their old TV into our car and later loading it into our house. Did a little cable re-arrange and spruce in honour of the the living room centerpiece. At long last, we join the modem era and have access to HD live broadcasting. No more will Bake Off nights or Eurovision be witnessed in standard definition! 

I actually wanted to play around with it a bit more but I got suckered into some online games with some chums. We were all influenced by social media to get this new game where players hide themselves in a funny map, then paint themselves so they match their surroundings. I outdid myself by recreating the texture of a wooly jumper, all with the same tools as MS Paint. We had so much fun that we lost all track of time too. Only our yawns betrayed us and made us realize that sleep is probably a good idea.

There's a Plane

A bus and a train was all it took to get us to see some planes. The royal fly past took place today and it's become semi-traditional for us to join Rebecca's folks in doing some plane spotting. I mean, they already knew the order of every aircraft that would be going overhead so it was hardly spotting, but it was still a day out. Rebecca conked out asleep when we got home so I got to reading and pottering around, it's kinda nice being bored in someone else's house, it's like being on vacation but your phone already knows the wifi.

Fast Paced Friday

Tended to my cowboys briefly then went out on another quick run. I'm getting to a point now where my old pace is returning, I was dying the first time I ran a little quicker but it keeps getting easier. I packed a bag too as we were back off to London once again for a weekend celebrating Rebecca's Dad's Birthday. I'm mostly just here for vibes but it's always nice enjoying a change of scenery.

Cowboy Problem Solver

Had a pair of back to back bad night's sleep this week and now it's payback time. I slept in til a bit too late, but even Rebecca knew I needed the rest so she let me kip. At least I felt good and fresh for attacking my writing desk again. This time I was determined to crack the next Western campaign I've been cooking up. I hit a couple of roadblocks recently that kept me from really running with my idea. I nailed the setting and the scenario, but the actual activities for the players was a little up in the air. I got my problem solving hat on though and ironed those kinks into a crisp, clean line - these cowboys shall go to the ball.

Writing Spree (Thanks Stephen King)

Perhaps I internalized Stephen King's 'just lock yourself in a room and do some writing' mantra a little too much. I went to bed with a short article idea about Zelda last night and typed it all up this morning and afternoon. A thousand new words, written and edited in just a couple of hours, easily one of my best ever writing sprees this year. 

You can read the piece here - it's intentionally tounge-in-cheek and is more statical and jokey than anything else. But it was a joy to write, which is what it's all about.  

Ocarina Remake

Got up early to finish up playing a massive and flabby game about being a Yakuza in the 80's (aptly titled Yakuza). At times it has the heart of a John Woo Asian Action piece, with dramatic moments of bromance and bravado, but in between that it's a lot of tapping A to get through the dialogue. I also just about finished up ready Stephen King's memoir 'On Writing' which Rebecca thoughtfully got me as gift a while ago. There's lots of nuggets of wisdom in there, chief amount them being you just gotta listen to your gut and get writing. Good advice and always nice to hear one of the modern greats saying it. 

I did a little run now that the weather has cooled off a bit. All of this was to bide my time as I approached the  start time of the latest Nintendo Direct. The rumour were true, the final announcement of the show was a remake of Ocarina of Time. My heart has already decided that I'll always prefer the original, it's dreamy art style and sound design. But I look forward to seeing how they approach this remake and what bells and whistles they could add to the greatest game of all time.

Cereal Box Boy

Still watching the rain roll down the window as we enter June. I had to time my trip to the supermarket carefully so I didn't get soaked, but instead I got too hot carrying everything back. I realized last week that the bulkiest thing I get in the shop each week is my jumbo box of Fruit & Fiber. Most weeks I can't fit it in my bags so I end up clutching it through the park. I really hope I don't get a reputation as the cereal box boy.

I did a couple of other life admin but today, including putting in for the couple days work I did yesterday. As I sat dreaming about what my newfound riches could get me, a letter from HMRC came through the door. Inside was a massive tax rebate! I flipped over the Chance card of life, and it smiled at me. Thought Monday would be gloomy, but things are on the mend.

Book Club... Today?

Our plan was to hit the road back to Bristol pretty early after breakfast, but a overly long lie in altered our plans. It was just nice not to have a little cat attacking my feet for once so I slept without fear. We got back in good time ultimately AND I got to do some prep for my impromptu online book club meeting tonight... Which turned out to be in two weeks time. I'm just a man out of time these days. 

House Cooling

The cat attacked my feet at the exact moment in my dream that an unspeakable horror was chasing my through a ever-shifting corridor. Needless to say I was jolted awake with a newfound fear of God. Otherwise it was a calm morning. Porridge boiled on the stove and Don't Tell the Bride re-ran on the telly. 

Rebecca hit the streets in search of some final Birthday gift bits for her friend we were due to visit this evening for a 'house cooling' party (they're moving out). Rebecca and I split the drive up to London and caught the trains the rest of the way. All I know is that four hours somehow passed and all we were doing was chatting, now I'm on a night bus en route to bed. Today was our dutiful day, tomorrow we'll veg out on the couch. 

Rivals Episode 6

 Did part two of van driving, going back and forth to a handful of bases and dropping kit off. I bumped into even more familiar faces today, we've all been scattered across the four winds since Rivals but people still remember their work besties.

Speaking of Rivals, my old colleague invited Rebecca and me over to watch the mid-series finale episode tonight. Ever since reading the script for this particular episode I've been ravinous to see it put to screen. Today finally came and we all laughed, cheered and gasped at all the big moments. I had a silent smile the whole way through though as one thought kept turning over in my mind: 'They bloody did it.' 

Almost No Van

Had the morning to myself to do my usual spate of pottering and trying to do some writing. Come midday I was off to work! First point of call was going to pick up a van the Production team hired for me. I cruised up to the hire place, sunglasses on ready to take on the world and make some dollar. Then they declined our reservation as it needed a payment off a 'credit' card, not a debit. So I broke the bad news to the team and we were sent off to another hire house, where we faced the same trouble. This repeated a few more time as the daylight was burning, all the while we had no van to do the kit ferrying we were brought onto do. Nearly three hours into the day we scrambled and got a van for me to drive, then we were off to the races. Got to see a bunch of old faces along the way, and I'll get to do it all again tomorrow. 

Van Man? Sign Me Up

Got a stroke of luck today when an old colleague offered me a few days work for tomorrow and Friday. It will just be driving a van but I will be doing it for a Bristol shooting crew which means I'll keep my hand in. I mostly stayed indoors otherwise, marvelling at how quickly the weather flopped from rain to shine. All the while sharpening various writing projects, as one does when sat at the writing desk.

Commiserating Pint

Tomorrow was a new day. I made some bigger steps forward and made sure I abided one of the golden rules: Be Kind to Yourself. I gave myself some time for work and some time for games, not giving too much of a damn about the silent judgement I impart upon myself. 

I also had something to look forward to in the form of a pub trip with some old colleagues. A couple peeled away closer to the time but that left a distilled group of us that had a good laugh at the pub and commiserating where appropriate. 

Monday Monotony

Walked into this Monday with some lofty ambitious for getting some things done. I'm trying to tackle another small writing project amidst a few other things. What ended up happening is I just over thought my next moves and paralyzed myself. I shook off some of the guilt by going on a run and ticking off some to do jobs but I still reckon I could have done more with the day.

When you write a daily blog it puts into perspective how you always need to try doing something noteworthy each day. Every moment is precious and it's a mite frustrating when you go to bed feeling the same as when you woke up. We'll try again tomorrow though.

Summer Thread Shopping

With the whole of Sunday morning free Rebecca and I wanted to head into town to do a bit of clothes shopping. Specifically some Summer threads as last week was a real omen for things to come so I got myself a new pair of shorts and a very fetching linen shirt so I can stay breezy. We had a bit of time to turn the house around before some chums cam round for a Sunday hangout. It started off as a movie night, Speed was on the menu - but then it migrated into a couple of games as well. In stark contrast to last weekend, I spent a lot of time with other humans the last couple of days - the Ying and the Yang.

UK Games Expo

Gathered our clan in the car and drove up to Birmingham for the UK Games Expo. It's my first convention that I've attended in a while and this one was all about board games. Walking into the first hall was nothing short of overwhelming, the sheer amount of stuff on display, ready to buy or play was actually staggering. We wanted to try and see everything on offer first before we settled into anything so we embarked on what can best be compared to an extended amble around a Christmas market... All about board games! That ended up taking most of the day, but we snagged a few good freebies before setting into a couple of quick and easy games - some with demonstrating staff and other just by ourselves. 

If I went again I would definitely carve out more time for playing games, but I wouldn't change a thing about my first time there - we saw a lot of cool stuff and I got to do it with some good friends - is there a better way to spend a Saturday? 

Mina the Hollower

A game I've been eager to get my hands on finally launched today and there's seldom anything I love more in life than waking up early to get a head start on a new release. Mina the Hollower is from the same team who gave us Shovel Knight and we are continuing to eat good - mostly because this new game is inspired by the Gameboy Zelda I remember playing too many moons ago. I was hooked on this new game though, I actually did very little else today than play it which is a rare an honest treat. I'll pace myself better after today of course, but let a fella have his big blowout day.

Albert Chat

I continued to get my money's worth out of the earplugs I brought for our Canadian flights. Rebecca is still working in the only cool room in the house while I beaver away at little bits. It feels like she's always on work calls on in meetings, thankfully my handy earplugs made her voice sound like she was about four rooms away from me and I could focus up on my work. 

An old colleague got in touch with me tonight about sustainability paperwork which I was only too happy to sit down and go through. Before we knew it two hours had flown by as we were just catching up and venting about projects. Didn't expect my evening to be hoovered up with chatting but it was actually a really nice time. 

Venba Gets Food

Forgot to share out my latest YouTube video here. I'm pleased to present Venba Gets Food - a video essay about a recent cooking game and why it deserves its place alongside the great foodie stories. I wrote this one back in 2024 and it felt a shame to let a good script go to waste, with a bit of time off I had the chance to get it ready for the world - hope you enjoy.

 

Hot Bones

The bones of the house have heated up now. No amount of curtain closing will save us now. Only thing for it is to camp out in the coolest room in the house (the dining room). Just a shame that Rebecca has the same plan, and with two bodies panting in there it ain't much better than the other spaces we have. 

But we got an excuse to head out in the early afternoon. Rachel's birthday was today and we all headed into the park to sit under the biggest tree we could find and have a BBQ. Since I brought 16 burgers to cook I ended up being the fella with the tongs who smelt like smoke. The food went down really well though - a lot of Rachel's buddies are foodies and they all said to the group how good the grub was. I was just glad to do my part in making Rachel's birthday memorable. 

Love Exposure

I mentioned that the curtains have been drawn in my house for most of this long weekend in order to combat the rising temperatures. It worked perhaps a little better than I had anticipated because when I stepped out into my garden to gauge the heat it was like stepping off the plane on holiday! I suggested hanging out with Dan today and even he was like 'arw you sure?' I opted for the lowest effort thing possible - a pint on his doorstep and an ice cream chaser before retreating to his flat for a board game. 

Before all that though I woke up early to catch the worm. Specifically to watch the final long movie of my weekend marathon, and no film is more fitting than Love Exposure - a four hour work of bombast and depravity that was too intoxicating to deny the joys of. The four hours melted away into nothing but I still felt like a different person when I emerged on the other side of it. I spent virtually the rest of the day processing exactly what I just bore witness to - when I eventually construe my thoughts on LetterBoxd I'll hopefully be a little wiser to my own opinions.

Curtains Drawn for Films

Employed the Spanish technique of keeping the curtains drawn to keep the heat out. It also helped massively reduce screen glare as I sat down to watch two pretty lengthy movies. Last night we did a Marvel Movies Tier list with some people on a discord server I'm part of. I haven't seen a Marvel film for almost five years now, but a conversation last night encouraged me to jump back in for a few of them because they bucked the formula. Eternals is almost a different flavour of superhero flick, but it's still shackled by its involvement with the MCU. Which is a pity because Chloe Zhao know what she's doing but she wasn't really given carte blance to direct.

Barry Lyndon was the other one which was fab. That's sat for far too long on my watchlist (Mash Potato May remember) but it was a real treat. Just classy filmmaking from head to toe.

I noticed only after these movies finished that I hadn't spoken a word today (minus babbling to the cat). I've already fixed a hangout with Dan tomorrow so I can expell my social battery a bit, otherwise I'm going to really develop cabin fever.

Short on Shorts

Unexpectedly, the cat let me sleep in this morning. So much so that I actually overslept and felt a bit wretched for most of the morning. Still, I pushed through and put the finishing touches onto my latest YouTube video. I even exported it and sent it over to Rebecca in Poland to watch and give feedback on (she's good like that). I did her tweaks and now it's ready to go live next week.

I wore my shorts for the first time this year as I headed out for a lunchtime walk, it's heating up over here now. It also exposed how much I need a new pair of shorts... Perhaps it's time to treat myself.

Toasty Edit

With just me and the cat knocking around in the house I had no excuses not to lock in on editing my video. I took the project from 70% to 95% in my eyes, just a little bit more feathering (as I call it) and then it'll be out in the world. Just as well too because the back room is starting to get toasty in this mid-May heatwave and I'd rather not be sitting up there in my pants rendering out footage.

Return of the Summer Movie Night

It was in the Asda confectionary where Rebecca and I shared a romantic farewell. There she was, packed and ready to visit Poland with friends, popping into the shops to grab a colleague's birthday cake. I was there to grab snacks for the upcoming movie night I was hosting. I got a good deal on M&M's which I piled into my basket - it hasn't been since October that I hosted a little film viewing and I was keen for it to go down well. We actually all ended up meeting at the pub before hand, a lot of them hadn't been to my neck of the woods before so I took them to the most presentable little watering hole in the area before walking back through the park to mine. The sun had his hat on tonight too, first Summer evening all year... Perfect to watch a horror movie indoors with. The night went really well though, I always enjoy hosting movie nights (ever since the days of Film Friday). More and more I realize that someone needs to be the person to suggest or initialize a hangout, that's the scariest bit for everyone but nine times out of ten people are delighted when some makes the first move like that.

Mash Potato May

Laced up my running shoes once again for a morning jog. I'm slowly getting to that point now where I'm actually quite enjoying the runs, I'm less of a wheezy mess when I get back and I feel emboldened by the thought of pushing myself to go just a little further. Rebecca is getting ready to head out for a long weekend in Poland with friends, leaving me behind with the cat. I've already quietly regressed back to my uni meal planning to cover the time (spag bol 2 nights, then curry 2 nights - hey, it worked for me then and it'll work for me now). I'm throwing out some feelers for some weekend activities with folks, but if I get no responses I've chartered a lengthy list of movies to watch.

Rebecca introduced me to 'Mashed Potato May'. A mashed potato being a book or a movie that has sat dormant in your backlog for so long it's a source of embarrassment. I've mostly got long movies in the list now, the kind that I have to really plan into my day - looks like this weekend is the perfect excuse to mash some potatoes. 

Will the Universe Care?

Locked in once more to trim footage and match it up with my voice over work. There's that point whenever I work on a new video I hit the point where I start to ask myself 'is this good?' and 'will the universe care?' takes a while for me to eventually settle on the optimisticly nihilistic answer of 'it doesn't matter'. They are mostly the culmination of several thoughts in my head and sometimes it feels awful not to get them out in some way. I enjoy adding to my portfolio a bit too, just another digital footprint in a way, but I make my mark little by little.

Retuning to the Editor Seat

The one job-limbo bucket list item I'm still yet to tick off is to put up another YouTube video over on my EyebrowOwl channel. I wrote one about two years ago and even recorded the voice over for it, and now I finally have the time to edit it all together. It's a shorter one than my recent outings too so it should come together a little quicker (so far that's held up as true too). I'm getting back into to swing of using the software and making my eyes square again but it'll come together just fine.

5K in May

Stuck to my all week running plan and ventured out for a 5K. Rebecca joined me for the first little leg before she splintered off, leaving me to do the remainder. I was low-key glad to be alone towards the end as I was working up a real sweat, it's the furthest run I've done in a couple of months but hopefully I'll keep the effort up now and maintain some regularity.

With big exercise come bigger rewards. There was a LOT of leftovers after Eurovision last night so for lunch and dinner we basically just reheated various yummy bits to enjoy all over again. A ying and yang Sunday basically. 

Eurovision 2026

I found my flow in the kitchen once again as I prepped the, now signature, Mexican feast for our Eurovision party. Rebecca and I were cutting up sweet corn, slow cooking pork and baking nachos. In between that though we did a little taste test of a margarita. I've never owned a bottle of tequila in my life so it felt right to get some practice in before serving them up to guests. Immediately half-inebriated myself in the process and there was still loads of prep work to do.

We got everything sorted through and things ran like clockwork once the usual suspects came through the door. We settled into the night and crossed our fingers as the results came through - then all let out a belting cheer as the right people won. Another year down - feels like such a whirlwind and it's odd it's all over.

Porky Prep

With Eurovision on our doorstep I headed out to grab the elements of our feast. I was armed with a handful of coupons and free money from sign up schemes so I felt a little rich heading into the supermarket. 'Only the finest tequila for my margaritas' thought I, reaching for the mid-shelf stuff. My cart was full of coriander, limes and avocados, which I kept nestled next to the pork shoulder from the butchers. Made lemonade and pickled red onions too this afternoon, so now all the prep work will go down tomorrow.

In the meantime I was hanging out with Rebecca and the cat at home. Watching films and quietly playing video games in the corner for the room while Rebecca takes work calls.  

Cowboys Ride Again

With a few of my fellow Cowboy Tabletop players heading back into the world of work I wanted to offer them a big blowout game for their send off. A rootin' rootin' bank heist felt right somehow and that's been something I'd been working on for a little while in the background over the past week.

I drew out a big blueprint for them to plot their caper and I gave them a roster of hired guns they could bring on the adventure, each with their own little stat sheet. My guys were very impressed with the effort I put in and the session ended up being a big success - I dare say it's been my best one yet. I doubt I'll match this level of prep anytime soon, but the guys made me think on my feet a lot this time so there was a lot of improvisational push and pull. Best part though was we also made it a build your own pizza kinda thing! I made some pizza sauce yesterday and the host made pizza dough from scratch. I really kicked myself for not taking a picture because they were legit. 

Just an all round awesome Thursday. 

Flat Runner

Popped out for another run this morning, clocked in just over 4.2K without running out of puff. Since we moved into our house I've been trying to do a running route that takes me up a steep hill quite early on. Only now I noticed how that killed my motivation whenever I picked the sport back up so now I go along a nice flat route (for the most part) and I already notice how much happier I am about the prospect of going out again.

Tomorrow I'm running another tabletop Western game with my gang, one of them is heading back into the world of work so I'm trying to make this a memorable one. A Bank heist ought to facilitate some fun and chaotic moments, as long as they make it out alive that is.

15 Years of English Rain

Hung out with a friend for most of this afternoon, just sitting on the coach playing games and eating handfuls of crisps and those chive and onion coated mini pretzels. Man life is good sometimes. 

The real centerpiece of the day was going to see Gabrielle Aplin in Bristol city center this evening. I was first introduced to her music when I was trying to impress a girl I had a crush on about 15 years ago. It was pretty nuts to see her perform only about 7 people away from me in a crowded but intimate venue. The show was actually really good, she brought great energy and the audience were clearly passionate. Hearing those songs again took me back to a past life, but they're tracks that Rebecca and I often play in the car so now they'll mean something a little more when we hear them again.

Mixtape

Wanted to get a real grip on my week so I started off strong and with a plan. First up was the weekly shop which stretched my calf muscles enough for a run when I got back. I'm aiming to do at least two runs this week now and I've already plotted my next route to extend my distance. With Rebecca out this evening, I had the perfect opportunity to do one of my all time favourite things: play an entire new indie game in one sitting. Mixtape is the current gaming flavour of the week, and an early nod for a lot of end of year lists. It's a coming of age, 'last day of highschool' piece that's ruled by its needle drops. Smashing Pumpkins, Roxy Music, Joy Division, Portishead and The Cure make up the more obvious line up but there's some deep cuts here too which delight. While light on actual 'game', its highlights brush close to delivering euphoria. It might well make it onto the most prestigious end of year lists going... Mine.

A Face from A Decade Back

It feels like every time we go to the Sunday market I bump into someone from my past. It certainly wasn't on my bingo card to run into a colleague from my days at Rubber Republic (where I first worked when I moved to Bristol). Despite the fact that almost a decade had passed they still recognized me and hailed me down for a catch-up. They were one of my favourite co-workers there so it was a swell reunion, he's since left the company to work for a model train place (a fact he was beaming about). Glad to have that moment today, puts into perspective the length of time I've been in the city now and how far I've come. 

Rebecca and I enjoyed a quiet day again otherwise, in contrast to what our social calendar is looking like in the future. Most of today we've actually had to turn multiple people down for plans because we're already doing other things. Nice to be popular for sure, but trying to slot everyone in becomes the side quest of doom. 

Good Vibes Only Saturday

Enjoyed a near perfect little Saturday that we kickstarted with some scrambled eggs and hand ground coffee (every morning should start this way). I got a haircut so I don't feel like a shaggy dog anymore and we showed my new trim off to the fine people of Dunelm Mill, where we bought some more kitchen bits, aka new roasting pans after I nuked the last one by over roasting some pork. Speaking of pork, Rebecca and I really wanted to try out a small plates grill place up the road for us. We sipped margaritas in the sun and tucked into a mini BBQ banquet. We got home a little half cut so just flopped out and played games and watched a film. Good vibes all round.

1 Week til Rivals

It's thrilling to see all the Rivals marketing coming into play around me. Social media has all the cast interviews and pictures, trailers are dropping and Rebecca even saw a bus poster today. So weird to think that little show we all worked on is coming back with a vengeance, so excited for the next series to come out this time next week.

The weather still can't make up it's mind so we did a bit of a precursor BBQ indoors today, cooking burgers for our special guest, Dan. We lined our stomachs and headed up the road for board games together - ended up staying out  a bit later than we had all expected because we were having such a hoot.  

Think of the Grilling Season!

A moment of silence for our ugly garden...

It's gone now, replaced once and for all by the construction team who gutted the garden waste in literally 15 minutes, then paved it over with zero fuss. I keep catching myself doing a double take when I look out the window now - the sight of our garden is totally unfamiliar, but exhilarating. It looks so much bigger now, and we'll never have to fear trampling in hidden cat poo ever again. All told, we're chuffed with the improvement. It'll accommodate loads more people now and it's already got me buzzing about BBQ'ing again.

Bye Bye Mud Square

Rebecca and I walked towards our work this morning. Well, for her it was a full day, for me it was just a quick trip into town to do some returns, I was back home shortly after to enjoy a home without WiFi for a couple more hours at least. The new box did get delivered late afternoon, in the meantime I sat at my writing nook and dreamt up my next cowboy campaign. Sometimes coming up with new games and stories is more gratifying than playing them.

I took one final look at our garden today too. That wretched patch of mud and weeds is at long last getting the old heave-ho. Classic me though, I almost got nostalgic for it. It's been a thorn in my side for so long now that I don't know what I'm going to complain about once it's gone. That said, I am excited to get such a big renovation done tomorrow - a little house upgrade that'll make it even more our space. 

Where WiFi?

Two immediate curve balls for me when I got up. First was my boss's car broke down yesterday and he had to ditch it on the side of the road, so I had to do one extra trip to ferry back some filming equipment. No biggie. What was a bigger biggie was the fact our WiFi box decided to give up the ghost. A replacement is en route already but for now, we're flying blind (even our mobile data is patchy in this house). Thankfully I still had some movies in the back pocket and the lack of any streaming services meant out choice was funneled tonight. It was like enjoying simpler times once again.

It's quaint now, but tomorrow I'll be desperate for some brain rot. 

No Other Choice

Totally didn't twig that today was a Bank Holiday and that I need to go into work again tomorrow. In the meantime Rebecca and I took it slow, we enjoyed the delights of Lidl and time to catch up. We headed to Louis and Rachel's again for another movie night, this time I wasn't a 'so bad it's good' vibe, rather we got round to No Other Choice, a film which we universally quite enjoyed. It's a good thing we all kinda get the Korean sense of humor and style, there were some undeniable highlights despite the overlong runtime.

Ultimate Headache Cure

The only thing louder than my pounding morning headache was the meows of our cat asking for food at the crack of dawn. No nausea, only brain cramps on account of not drinking enough water yesterday, so I had a couple pints of clear and another of coffee to medicate myself. Part two of this friends birthday celebration was a trip to the movie to catch Devil Wears Prada 2, a cosy sequel which was cute to watch with a big audience. The film wasn't a patch on the original (which I already don't rate especially highly) but in all fairness it was better than I expected. Turns out sitting in a dark room for two hours cures all headaches.

Feline Morning Call

Was looking forward to a lovely chill morning and a nice long lie in. But in classic fashion our cat had other plans, meowing loudly and loudly re-arranging the bedroom furniture with her head til I had no choice but to get up. No matter though, it gave me a great excuse to get up and crack on with me day. I watched a film early doors, then headed out to join a friend at the food market on the road near me. The rain started as I came back though, leaving me soaked before adding the finishing touches to my tiramisu to take up to another friend's birthday party. It was a very chill flat hangout, few beers, few group games and catching up with everyone. 

In a way, the cat gave me a good headstart for the day - guess I should be thankful. 

Wee Shoot Day

Completed a bonus little filming day which had me loading up our little car full of kit and taking round long, winding country roads. All our real work was kinda done over the course of last week, so today was just making sure everything went roughly according to plan. I low-key forgot how long a shoot day feels when you haven't got much to do, and the day only dragged when I stopped, that and when I had to drive back home. I'm shattered now, but nothing a three day weekend can't solve.

Where WiFi?

Back to the offices today to do the final bits of prep ahead of our one shoot day tomorrow. Saw lots of old faces, and with a lighter work load all round, we had plenty of time to chat and enjoy the day. My biggest contribution to the effort was actually buying tea table supplies for tomorrow, a crew moves on its stomach and without snacks and hot beverages it'll all fall apart. 

The only missing piece of the puzzle for tomorrow was the wifi. I tee'd up our supplies to drop a satalite dish to us today but the chap couldn't get to me til midnight tonight. So I got to making some homemade goods for a party I'm going to this weekend - lemonade and tiramisu. The Wi-Fi actually arrived early, just as I was putting everything in the fridge to chill overnight. I'd better get to bed now too so I'm not too tired for tomorrow. 

Deep in the Crate

Headed back to the old studios to have a nose around in the crate we put into deep storage. It's full of all the stuff that might be handy if the next series gets the full greenlight, we thought we wouldn't have to crack into it for another couple of months. Instead I found myself digging through boxes for tiny bits which were all, predictably, at the back of the crate underneath all the other boxes. Ah well, it got my muscles working again, lifting and shifting, so much so that I went in a run later on today just to keep a good thing going. I'll be heading into the office for just one day tomorrow, a toe-dip into office life once again.

SFX Road Trip

Day two back on the short term work beat had me driving out to an SFX house to grab a smoke machine. A labyrinth of road closures meant that I was on the road a lot longer than I was anticipating, but I knew the guy at the place as it turns out so we had a good chin wag. 

I'm also continuing to moonlight as a script editor for a young filmmaker, offering gratis advice on how to sharpen their story. I'm lucky they're actually very good at writing so it's a joy to help them out on it. Keep my brain whirring in all the ways I like it too as well.  

Remembering how to Email

I got a weeks worth of work starting up from today so I set up my downstairs desk and got to emailing. We basically have a single day shoot to prepare for on Friday which we're all gently scrambling to get ready for. I spent most of the first hour reclaiming all my work credentials so I could sign into our various platforms. From then. I just had to get back into the swing of phonecalls and emails. Nice to be useful though, even nicer to get a little bit of cash in my pocket.

Stifled Heart Attack

Got up a little early for two reasons. 1) the cat woke me up and 2) I wanted to crack in with my day. I settled into some more cosmic horror nastiness early in the morning, wearing my headphones so the noise of scraping, rusted metal mixed with shrieking wouldn't wake Rebecca. Instead, it left my dead to her footsteps and then slowly opening the door to say 'good morning'. I just about stifled a heart attack and kept composure in the moment, but her silent appearance rattled me to my core. 

Rebecca and I did share a more wholesome moment together later by taking our lunch to the park to enjoy in the sunshine. I took my book on our picnic (True Grit, for anyone who is asking, yes I am in my Western Era) and finished it up just now before bed.

I also headed out to see some more old work friends. We shared some time in a cafe before grabbing a bite at a steak restaurant (a bit off brand for me, but hey, I'll try anything new). Best part was they were handing out free ice cream so as we left we all enjoyed an early summer cone. 

Twilight

For the first time in my life I wasn't enchanted by my Ikea visit. It's always been a place where some little kooky thing sparks joy, or where I can envision a piece of furniture slotting right into place somewhere in my home. But today all I found was cheap and not especially cheerful tat in the Marketplace. We left with a few more photos frames and an idea in new garden furniture, but didn't scoop up the 'home level up' feeling that I've come to know Ikea for.

What wasn't a disappointment was Twilight. Rebecca and I popped over to Louis and Rachel's for a movie night, and we wanted something iconic and could fit in the 'so bad it's good' category. Well, 2008 vampires scratched the itch for us. Tonally the film struck a good balance of not taking itself too seriously, but when it did it fell on its face in fun ways. By no means a masterpiece, but a good time with a good crowd anyway.

Planning the Pave

In between a bit of prep work for my upcoming work week I made time to go for a small run and to do a spot of gardening. Rebecca and I have made the executive decision to cull our plot of soil that's bang in the middle of the space. We tried in every instance to do something nice with it since owning the house. First we tried uprooting the clover lawn to replace it with grass. Grass didn't take so we tried making an arranged flowerbed out of it. That didn't take either, so Rachel tried to use it as an allotment. Til nothing grew there. I'm convinced the soil and the ground is frankly cursed, that and our lack of green thumbs but no matter what we did nothing gained traction. So we're going to pave it over so we can enjoy it as a space rather than a mud patch that looks a shambles. It's for the best.

Sandwich Party

 Locked in for a full sandwich making session ahead of tonight's dinner party. I made Cubanos and in lieu of any legit Cuban bread close to me the Internet told me a French stick would work just as well. So I took my pork out its brine and into its marinade which was basically oil, citrus, garlic and a truckload of coriander. Then it was into the oven while I watched a film. It was only 20 minutes before it was due to come out I realized a smokey smell. Turns out the recipe has cook times for a 'large' piece of pork while mine was distinctively 'Mama Bear's sized. So it was a little charred on the fringes, but the centre was tasty as anything. So I bundled it all up and hopped on the bus where each of the 8 of us presented our interpretation of a sandwich. Many offered 'tasty stuff in a bun' which were all very good, others offered up a Victoria sandwich, someone else brought their fire pit to make s'mores. The most creative by a longshot was the 'Bready, Steady, Sandwich' round in which we were paired off and given 90 seconds to make the tallest and tastiest sandwich. When the votes for the winner came through I couldn't believe that I came first! Glad all the hard words paid off during such a fun dinner party.

April Pints

As I sat playing one of the most gruesome horror games of 2008 at full volume, our cat just sat on the bed snoring loudly. Occasionally I had to pause the game just to check if her snores were parts of the sound design. 

I did my pork shoulder prep this afternoon, building a brine that left my fridge smelling fantastic. While that did it's thing I popped out to the pub for some early Summer day drinking with a few old work friends. But the Sun poked in just after we sat down so it really was just a normal April pint. It'll be Summer soon though, and the drinking sessions will be ever present then. 

Prepping Pork

 In a few days time I'm attending a 'Sandwich Party', in which the guests must bring a sandwich of their making for judgement. The brief is intentionally a bit vague but I'm going a little off the beaten path by making Cubanos. For that I will need to slow cook a pork shoulder after a bit fat overnight marinate in orange juice and garlic. I bought all the stuff today, so he's ready for dunking tomorrow.

While I waited to baste, I figured I should go hang out with some friends. I drove out to Mike's paddock for a afternoon (that spilled into an evening) of games. He introduced me to Lonesome Dove so we thought it would be funny to start watching the 80's TV show. It's certainly a product of it's time but it's a cute little show. 

Pampered Princess

Without trying to sound like a pampered princess - I was knackered after this weekend! Rebecca and I had a bit of yesterday to recoup, but today was all about the 'me time'. I ended up just catching up on video games and doing the weekday chores. I also walked into today with zero plans for the week. By lunchtime my calendar was full with hang outs with chums. My social battery is about 85% full now, ready to go out and see people again.

Mark and Lucy's Wedding

Yesterday I rolled up to an Air B&B with Dan and Mark so we could have the Groomsmen getting ready together experience. I was handed the rings on arrival and safeguarding that little box was my biggest responsibility because it was Mark and Lucy's big day. We arrived at the venue, were invited to pin flowers on each other's buttonholes before helping usher in the guests. Mark and I were pulled into a room for official wedding paperwork business, but otherwise we were with the main group getting prepped for the ceremony. I stood with Mark and my team at the altar, tentatively checking my pocket for the ring box every few minutes up until I was summoned to pass the on. Before we all knew it, Mark and Lucy were wed.

I couldn't relax just yet though as I still had a speech to deliver. I kept telling myself no alcohol til it was over, but I needed something to calm my nerves. The speech itself went about as well as I hoped for, and for the rest of the night people came up to me to congratulate me on it which was lovely. We danced the night away and I woke up today with sore legs (always the mark of a good evening).

So surreal to be at the first wedding of my close friendship group but I obviously couldn't be happier for Mark and Lucy. They've been together for so long now and it was such a pleasure to be part of their celebration and they finally decided to tie the knot. Seeing all my old school chums all dressed up to share the happy day was a delight too. 

It really was the perfect day for the perfect couple.