Welcome, Blank Slate...

Hello 2024! Is it true? Are you real? Do we really get a blank slate? 

That's what the New Year is. A blank slate. Whether you've been binging your arse off for the past fortnight, or been full-on at work; whether you're someone who doesn't celebrate Christmas, or someone going through a difficult time so partying isn't a priority, we've all been gifted a new start. How lucky we are! The turning of a corner, a new leaf, a clean page! The flip chart has been whipped over the stand. The Etch-A-Sketch knob has been slid to the left. The smartphone has been wiped and is back to factory settings. Now's the time to regroup, draw a line, and start afresh. Was this a desired outcome during the invention of the Gregorian calendar? Who knows? Who CARES? It's all to the good.

Now, you know me by now. I'm not a resolutions kind of woman. I've no truck with any of that. If you want further explanation, check this out from January 2021. (I'm currently LOLing at the one NY resolution I did make that year. Did I stick to it? What do you think!) But cast your mind back to January 2023. My first blog of last year was much healthier. Instead of the Weekly Update format, I used the same categories to share my hopes and dreams for the year ahead. It's here, if you want a refresher. What's lovely is that rereading it back a whole year later, so many of my dreams came true. I'm not even trying to be funny. They really did. Can you believe it? I'm not saying I manifested them. Many were simply things that were happening anyway. But reading it with the benefit of hindsight, has been rather satisfying. 

So to finish this opener to 2024, I'll briefly repeat the exercise. Here are my plans, dreams, and hopes for the year head - with Weekly Update headings. If it works again, I'll be very happy.

Writing News

Drum roll please! My next book - the second in the Leeza McAuliffe series - will be out this year. Let me be more specific... it'll be out this Spring! Title and cover to be revealed soon. I cannot WAIT to share it with you.

Deacon Blue  
Liverpool Arena 2023

Culture

I want to see more live music. I tend to favour theatre over gigs. But last year I went to three - Pet Shop Boys, Deacon Blue, and Noah Reid. Each one took me out of myself and made me feel brilliant. More please.

Food and Drink

I enjoy being a non-ideological pescatarian. But now and then - because for me it's not about the animals - I have a bite of something meaty that looks nice. (Tee hee!) I'm looking forward to continuing to discover great veggie/vegan recipes, and then, every so often, having the odd scotch egg. (There's no decent replacement. Trust me, I've searched.)

Out and About

Oh, Canada!

I want more holidays please! What with the blow-out Canada adventure last year, it'll be a calmer travel year for sure. What would be good is a couple of days away where I can practise my 879 day German Duolingo streak. Tbh, Germany springs to mind.

So there we are.  A few thoughts about my personal dreams for 2024. What are yours? What's in store? Of course, we all learnt our lesson in 2020. Making plans means bugger all when the world can literally stop. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't dream. Because to have no dreams, aspirations, or plans means you're absolutely satisfied with your life. And if that's how you feel, you're definitely lying.

Have a lovely week, folks.