Gym or Gin?

It's that time again, folks. Not Chico, not Hammer, not 'Of the Month' but far more excitingly, Blog Time!

Hard at work. Or am I?

Now that I am knee deep in all the messy creative juices once more, I am working full whack at the laptop every day. This looks very industrious. The reality is that it can be quite patchy. Some days I am tippy-tappy-typing all the day is long, and others I am forcing out a word or two between the Guardian crossword and a continual scroll of Twitter. (I also find The Pool a very informative way to distract me.)

In order to stay on track and manage all those pesky creative juices (let me know when that metaphor gets too icky) I have a weekly writing target. The new book takes the form of a dairy, so I aim to write at least ten days worth of entries each week. If I stick to that, draft one is done by Christmas. It's not an onerous amount of writing but rather it's the thinking and self-doubt that take up the time. Regardless, whether I write continually and create a constant stream of literary magic or whether I stumble around and force out crap more laboriously, the fact remains - I am mostly sitting down, mostly staring at a screen, from getting up in the morning to cooking my tea at night.

Aches and a hunched back require daily and immediate attention. What I should be doing once I'm done for the day, is going for a run or hitting the gym. That would be an ideal answer to straightening out my spine and blowing away the proverbial cobwebs. But as anyone who has met me will know, that would be ridiculous. It would be ludicrous. It would be as if.

Mmm. Taste the relaxation.
Taste the pint of gin!

So instead I have other means at my disposal to unwind quickly come evening. First off, gin! Yes, a large gin and slimline tonic is ideal. It is kind of healthy (as in not so very fattening) and it's refreshing and lovely. And one (very large) drink is enough to ease the transition from work to leisure. No, don't thank me. That tip's yours to keep.

The other way to unwind that happens most week nights is of course, the telly. Yep, the relatively recent phenomenon of binge-watching a new release is the perfect antidote to tense typing for the preceding hours. And so to my new favourite programme. Schitt's Creek.

It's a comedy - a laugh out loud one - written by Dan Levy. The set up is simple - a monied socialite family lose their cash and have to relocate to a tiny rural town with fish-out-of-water/culture-clash situations that result. Think the Kardashians landing in Cabot Cove. Admit it, that would be a hell of a show.  

But back to Schitt's Creek - it is marvellous. All three seasons are on Netflix UK, and at thirteen episodes a season with each one lasting 21 minutes, it is surprisingly easy to finish in a few days. Which is what I did. Then I went back to the beginning and watched again.

But here's the thing. I don't know anybody else that watches it. I only heard of it because Dan Levy was interviewed on What's the Tee - RuPaul and Michelle Visage's podcast. It's the funniest thing I've seen in ages and I have no one to talk to about it. A travesty! 

So now I've spread the word, watch it. You won't be sorry. And in addition, I am happy to pass on that the second season of Master of None (also Netflix UK) is as clever and endearing as the first, and at the time of typing, season three of The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is being 'dropped' today! Woo - say it with me - hooooo.

In the meantime, I'll crack on with the writing and work my way through all the excellent unwindy TV on offer. And the gin. I'll work my way through the gin. Natch.

Have a lovely week, folks.