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| 525, 600 minutes, how do you measure, measure a year? |
Writing News
Here's a PSA for writers. It's something you only know until someone tells you, so I'm doing my bit and passing it on. Register with ALCS. (Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society.) That's it. That's the tweet. If you've ever published a novel, a text book, poetry, scripts, any writing of any description, then register today. Because up to twice a year, for reasons I still don't understand, you might receive money. I know. Free money! Who'd have thought? According to their website, it's money that's owed to you for secondary uses of your work. I cannot fathom any secondary uses for my silly little stories, but for the last three years, I've been paid for them. Like magic. Last week, I received the latest payment; the biggest so far. Presumably because my back catalogue has continued to grow. So that's the writing news. Register with ALCS. It's a nice reminder that typing words in an interesting order can sometimes reward you financially.
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| Give or take the odd word (Staubwedel!) I got all the gist. (It's feather duster, btw.) |
Culture
Stop Press. I've completed 235 days of German Duolingo. It's an odd dichotomy. On the one hand, doing five minutes of German every day, in a format that provides a repeat button, a slower button, and the option to hover over an unknown word to check its meaning, can't possibly give a true German speaking experience. But on the other, I'm getting more sentences correct every day, the last week has seen my first 100% scores - which felt massive, and I successfully translated most of a newspaper report about a Chris Bryant article from the Guardian. That's progress, baby! So with my confident linguistic prowess, I decided to watch Queer Eye Germany on Netflix. Look, if you like Queer Eye it's more of the same, so that's marvellous. But blimey, do they speak fast! This is my problem moving forward. Translating a written report in formal, newspaper language was achievable. Understanding speedy, modern German spoken by cool people, with all the colloquialisms and slang that entails, isn't what Duolingo's prepped me for. I'll press on with Queer Eye Germany because it's great. But I shall cling to the subtitles with my life.
In other news, I watched Is It Cake? on Netflix which is as batshit and joyous as the name suggests.
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| Nigella's Basque Cheesecake. (I didn't bother with the sauce.) |
Where to begin. Frig the diet, if there ever was one, is one way to open proceedings. Turning forty-four seemed the perfect time for a chippy tea. So that's what I had. I made Nigella's Basque Cheesecake for my official birthday cake, as well as her Guinness and Chocolate cake for a household birthday the day before. I did mention March is all go round here. A Friday night meal to Mowgli on Bold Street and then a family meal in a local pub, rounded off the weekend. Thank goodness I don't have kids or I'd have had to eat all sorts of celebratory shit yesterday as well. Shout out to all you muthas out there.
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| Taking awkward selfies alone, knowing Monday's blog would demand them. |
A non-lockdown birthday was lovely, but until the day before, I'd forgotten to make day plans. Everyone was at work, but the thought of staying in and pottering around the house felt like a waste. I'd done enough of that in the previous years. In the end, I picked up my favourite novel (that I hadn't reread in a while), chose a pub that sold my favourite lager (hello Camden Hells!) and bagsied the comfy sofa in the alcove. As a way to pass a few hours, it was an utter joy.
Right then. Enough self-indulgence. It's time to get the year back on track. I've got a rough draft to finish, a sensible eating and drinking routine to rediscover, and the start of a Eurovision season to embrace. It never stops, does it.
Have a lovely week, folks.
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