“Dwayne heard a tired voice from somewhere behind his head, even though no one was back there. It said this to Dwayne: Oh my, oh my.” Not my words but those of the late, great Kurt Vonnegut, a man who looked so much like me as a young man that I can’t be entirely sure [...]
Still here.
It’s been two wonderful weeks away from social media so far. I know I will return and I know I will pick up bad habits all over again but the reason I am doing this is to take stock of where I am at. It has meant that I am more present, I have no [...]
Starting it right.
With two days left of 2018, I booked a flight to Spain. My Shoe Brother had made a vague offer of lodging and that was enough for me. I have mixed feelings about the changing of the year but I have good feelings about travel. I know what you are wondering. What is a Shoe [...]
More of this in 2019.
Travel In 2018 I got to see new parts of the world. In 2019 I want to push that further. We are fortunate enough to live in an age when international travel is attainable. It might be expensive but it is possible if it is something that you want. Travel makes me feel good and [...]
10 things I didn’t see coming in 2018.
This year has been weird and unexpected in fantastic ways. As it draws to a close, I wanted to point out some of the many things I did not see coming. 1. Freddie I am a dab hand at being an uncle now. I have three godchildren, two nephews and a niece. For some reason, [...]
Top Ten Films of 2018.
The following is by no means a definite list. I definitely haven’t seen all of the films released this year so you can’t get mad at me for not including You Were Never Really Here in my list, because that’s all it is. It’s my list. I’ve also avoided seeing certain films because I don’t [...]
Listen…
We live in an age when we have access to all the entertainment we could ever need. It can be a little overwhelming. At the start of the year I realised that I was drifting away from the music I actually owned and committing more of my time to streaming through Apple Music and Spotify. [...]
Throwing myself into it.
This month I have really got into performing improvised comedy. It's been seven years since I was first tricked into taking a class and then suckered into taking part in a show. Now, for some reason, I'm taking to it. I can't help but think taking part in a 24-hour show at the start of [...]
Life, uh, finds a way
There are many phrases I would use to describe myself as a child. Chief amongst them would be scaredy cat. I went through a phase of waking up in the night and going from room to room, checking on my siblings and my parents to make sure they were still breathing. I was scared of [...]
An Open Letter to Tim Rop (Bellhop)
Dear Tim, I am sorry we had to part so soon. I would like to thank you for occupying my body for a day. It was really something. I just wanted to take the time to talk about what you went through and how awesome it was for me to be a part of Southend's [...]
