Writing Off the Week...

When I was a student, I was expected to be in Uni for nine hours a week. OMG, the stress! Three of those hours were on Monday morning from 9am. The thing is, if I didn't feel immediately filled with energy at the sound of the alarm clock, I'd roll over and give the lecture a miss. And once I'd missed Monday? Well it made sense to give the rest of the week a swerve too. No point being half-assed. I'd wait for seven days and give it another go the following Monday. (That routine happened more times than I can remember and it's only down to my sheer street smarts that I got a 2:2.)

My University alarm clock.
I will never find the words to
adequately convey how
loud this clanged.

Fast forward to last week, and something similar happened. On Monday, I had to drop my partner at work in Chester. We were sharing a car while his was getting fixed, and if I didn't want to be housebound, I needed to give lifts. By the time I'd done the 1.5 hour round trip, my routine was out the window. No early morning walk, no breakfast by nine, and no being showered and dressed at my desk by 9.30am. The week had gone to pot on day one so I wrote the whole thing off. THIS week, I'm hoping things will be better. I've got up on time and I've done my Monday walk. That bodes well for the next seven days. Now, the rest is up to me. 

The corner of Chapter 3's
plan and my messy desk.

Writing News

What with my giving last week a swerve attitude, I didn't start Chapter 3. No matter. It wasn't a complete waste of a writing week. I went back into Chapters 1 and 2, and neatened up a couple of plot points. As I did, I noticed that I've been doing a lot of telling and not showing, instead of the opposite way round. That'll need to be ironed out in the edit. But for now? It's onwards and upwards with draft one. Hopefully.

Tori from Heartstopper
and Solitaire

Culture

I've started reading more of Alice Oseman's novels. The Heartstopper author and illustrator has written four novels featuring some of the same characters. When we talk about writers creating a world, it often means sci-fi or fantasy. I love it when the world that's created is realistic and relatable. I've started with Solitaire, which focuses on Tori. She's in 6th form, is irritated by much, and I like her a lot. I also rewatched Beetlejuice and The Truman Show, listened to this pod about The Truman Show, and watched Netflix's The Perfect Couple, which was a hoot. Oh, and now that Only Murders in the Building is back, I'm cosily entertained every Tuesday once more. 

Not my actual pie
but a damn good
representation of it.

Food and Drink

It's not all Instagram recipes and fancy schmanzy ingredients. No sireee! On Sunday, after a particularly cold and blustery week, I was craving gravy. It's been months since I've eaten anything approaching a roast, and I still wasn't ready for the full meat, veg, and potato two ways. I was also NOT up for summery salad nonsense. There was only one option. Chips and pie! The chippy by mine sorted me out, and in no time at all I was picking out the pieces of steak* of a Hollands, and leaving the thick gravy to be dunked in at will. It was FIT.

St. George's Hall

Out and About

This is technically Culture but so be it. On Friday I was at St. George's Hall for a Backyard Cinema showing of Baz Luhrman's Romeo + Juliet. It's a great film, natch. But the soundtrack? Oomph, the soundtrack! I mean, it's great on Spotify, but can you imagine a live gospel choir and band performing the songs throughout the evening? Can you? Can you? Because I can! It was marvellous. An invigorating and life-affirming experience for a Friday night in town. More of that sort of thing please. 

Reading this back, it's not all bad. Considering I wrote the week off, I did get some stuff done. And hopefully this week will be all the more industrious because of it. Yes? No? Who's to say? 

Have a lovely week, folks.

*Regular readers may remember I don't eat meat. I do, however, eat meat products. Just as long as they're not solid flesh. Gravy, it's transpired, is the perfect non-solid meat delivery system.

The Awesome Ache of Adolescent Angst...

Folks, I've fallen down another rabbit hole. 

I was well jel of Molly here

This time, it's a mostly wholesome obsession with 1980s teen films. Since I've had the power to tape them off the telly, I've watched many of them, repeatedly. But over the past weeks, I've gone deep. I've fed myself a concentrated diet of Andrew McCarthy, Ally Sheedy, and Rob Lowe, to name but a few. Think The Breakfast Club, St. Elmo's Fire, and Pretty in Pink. Even now, they make me ache with teenage angst. Crazy, huh? And as someone that was technically a child when these films were being made, the aspirational coolness that they exuded, hasn't diminished with age.

Me, aged 16. As far from
cool as it's possible to be.

It's probably no coincidence that Saturday was thirty-five years since I started high school. Or that this month marks the thirtieth anniversary of starting sixth form college - a developmental marker that saw the dawn of the person I am today. It may have happened a decade later than those childhood films depict, but I was still uber-conscious of the coolness I hoped/failed to exude; of the me I was trying to project. Despite the coolness that had been modelled to me by those films, the startling jolt of realisation - that I was not cool in any way - would come and go at regular intervals. But the aim was always there. I wanted to be one of the Brat Pack. I wanted to be Molly Ringwald or Ally Sheedy. I wanted to date Andrew McCarthy.

Blane from Pretty
in Pink 💖

It was whilst looking for my next teen-angst fix, that I found the documentary, Brats.(Disney +) Andrew McCarthy, crush of my youth and of Brat Pack fame, has made a film about the effect the label Brat Pack had on him as a young actor. He interviews his fellow teen-actors, now in their early sixties, about the way that term diminished them and possibly closed doors for their careers. The actors who appear to have had the most therapy (Demi Moore and Rob Lowe) seem the most accepting and upbeat, but for others (Emilio Estevez) the pain lingers. Funny, isn't it. Even the so-called cool kids didn't feel so cool. Not then, nor now. Perhaps there's a lesson here. If we each went back and made a documentary about our own peer groups, maybe we'd realise the cool kids weren't cool at all. Maybe we'd get closure about the insecurities of our past. Maybe we'd walk taller and be more accepting of our lot in life. Or maybe I'm overthinking everything as usual. Hey ho.

Writing News

Chapter 2 is done. I repeat Chapter 2 is done. Because of a busy end of the week (see Out and About for deets) I haven't started Chapter 3 yet, but like winter, it's coming. I did, however, use my writing group meeting for a suggest-fest*. In this book (Leeza McAuliffe Book 3**) I want Leeza to have more rows with her mum. She's an everyday 'normal' teenager so it's perfectly standard for her to hate her parents at regular intervals. The problem I had was thinking of things they can clash over. It's dawned on me that I've made her mother too damn reasonable. Grrr. Why didn't I foresee this? I should have known I'd want her to be the antagonist to my protagonist at some point. Happily, thanks to my fortnightly writing gang, I've got a slew of reasons why Leeza and Molly can have regular showdowns. All within character, and all - I think it's fair to say - based on our collective teen experiences. 

Culture

I've already told you the vast bulk of my viewing week. Teen films for the win! But all this high school navel-gazing reminded me of the excellent documentary, My Old School (2022). It's the story that broke in 1995 of Brandon Lee, a Scottish seventeen year old who turned out to be a thirty year old man. Directed by one of his classmates, Jono McLeod, it's a fascinating look into the motivations of why Brandon (not his real name) made the choices he did. Former classmates are interviewed, and the voice of Lee is heard throughout. (Lip synced by Alan Cumming.) It's filled with hugely relatable high school nostalgia, whilst telling a hugely unrelatable, compelling story. On top of that, the simple exercise of gathering a former peer group, a few decades after they've known each other, to share perspectives of the same period, is fascinating. I rented it from the Sky Store (the trailer's here) and it's well worth your time. 

My muesli jar of joy

Food and Drink

When I was at school, if you'd have asked me to rank all the cereals then CocoPops would've charted at #1 and muesli would be below the bottom of the list. Muesli, which my mum ate, was pointless and disgusting. Its only redeeming features were the dried bits of banana that were stingily allocated to each box. (Obvs I'd pick them out before they made it to my mum's bowl.) Fast forward to now and WHO HAVE I BECOME? I LIKE MUESLI. Before we spin ourselves silly with that about-turn, I have caveats. It has to be my homemade muesli. It has to have zero currants/raisins/sultanas. It must have texture and crunch, rather than a preponderance of oat sog, and it must be tasty. So are you ready? Here's my recipe and method, all in one. 

• Get a big jar with a lid.
• Add a packet of sunflower seeds.
• Add a packet of pumpkin seeds.
• Add a packet of chia seeds.
• Add a packet of flaked almonds.
• Add a load of oats. About the same volume as the nuts and seeds combined.
• Put on the lid and vigorously shake.

Ta-daaa! Serve with Greek yogurt, or milk. Add fresh fruit if you want, or a drizzle of honey. I use this date syrup but you do you. It's been my daily breakfast for a few weeks and it's boss.

Out and About

I'm just back from London. A friend was having a get-together so I braved Avanti and had a couple of nights away. It was utterly marvellous. Catching up on our grown up lives whilst remembering our shared memories is always good for the soul. And even though I've just made a sarky comment about Avanti, isn't it cool that I can get from the North West of England to Central London in two hours? Despite the pull of youthful nostalgia, things like that remind me it's SO much better being an adult with agency. 

More next week if you're game. Yes? No? There's no need to commit now. Take your time, have a think, and I'll see you when I see you.

Have a lovely week, folks.

*I can only apologise. Something in the back of my brain told me 'we don't use brainstorm anymore'. I Googled 'alternatives to brainstorm' and got suggest-fest. I'm not sure any of us are better off.

**Fun fact! I called Leeza's mum, Molly, because I pictured current-day Molly Ringwald playing the role, and I called Leeza's brother, Blane, because of Molly Ringwald's love interest in Pretty in Pink, played by Andrew McCarthy. Doesn't it go deep!

Everything is Copy...

There's always room for a Nora Ephron quote. That's a law I'd make if I were in charge. Nora Ephron quotes, all the day is long, please! No vote required, the ayes would have it. Back to the matter in hand, the quote I was thinking of was... 

Click link for photo source.

'Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.' 

Let's delve into that. Firstly, it's not Nora Ephron who says that herself, but a character she co-created. Tom Hanks' Joe Fox in You've Got Mail types it to Meg Ryan's Kathleen Kelly, as they embark on some email correspondence. In 1998, that's bang up-to-date. Trust me, as someone who got their first email address in 2005, it felt madly futuristic. 
So, there they are, in New York, typing away. And doesn't it show that some things are universal? I'm not in New York. Nope, today I was in Calderstones Park in Woolton. I was listening to a podcast, natch, (The Nazis in Power: Hitler's Road to War from The Rest is History) so my mind was fully occupied. I trudged through fading mulchy leaves dappled by a determined sun, feeling the bite of 12℃ air as I walked. And then it happened. I had a moment of mindfulness! Fully present, ignoring the horrors of history in my ear, and aware of every bit of my surroundings, I felt hugely thankful. It felt like Autumn. I'd made it through the summer!

Ready to GO

This week, three of my five nieces and nephews are starting big school - Reception and Year 7 specifically. It's a new term, it's a new season, it's a fresh start. And even though there's talk of a resurgence of warm weather this week, and even though it's still balmy enough for T shirts and sliders inside, my state of mind is thriving. I don't have a bouquet of pencils. I have only one. But it's newly sharpened and ready to go.

Writing News

We've broken the ground of Chapter 2. So far it's going swimmingly. I've stuck to my schedule (one chapter per ten days-ish) and my writer's block is at a minimum. Of course, Nora Ephron said, 'The hardest thing about writing is writing.' Obviously, OBVIOUSLY it can't nor won't last. The mental blocks will come, the pace will slow. But for now? Hurrah for me, hurrah for us all! Leeza McAuliffe Book 3  currently stands at 9115 words. I'm very happy.

Culture

A week ago I went to HOME - the beautiful arts venue in Manchester, on Tony Wilson Place. Rob Madge's one-person show, My Son's a Queer was on for the last few days of its run. It was stunning. Such a beautiful, funny, and moving tribute to his parents, and parents everywhere who let their kids be who they are. That basic premise of parenting shouldn't need to be said, but watching grown men leave the auditorium in floods of tears, showed that perhaps some people's childhoods weren't quite as supportive. I loved it. It reminded me of a few of the lovely kids I've taught, and the regular 'I hope they're doing OK 'wish I have when I think of them. In a complete handbrake turn, I've been binging Designated Survivor on Netflix. From 2016, with the pace and high stakes of Kiefer Sutherlands other big hitter, 24, it's completely batshit. I'm finding the constant peril, piss-funny and have thoroughly enjoyed the whole shebang. I've got two more series to devour and I will. Finally, a funny and charming BBC sitcom that recently dropped is Daddy Issues. David Morrissey and Aimee Lou Wood play father and daughter working out life together. All six episodes are on iPlayer. 

Perfection

Food and Drink

Whilst I was at HOME I ate in their restaurant. The whole menu looked great but my all time favourite dessert was featured - pistachio ice cream. Forget your sticky toffee puddings, your tortes and your crumbles. Pistachio ice cream is the sure-fire way to force a pudding down my throat. 

Out and About

There was a goodbye-summer-get-together at my gaff on Saturday including all five nieces and nephews. This is the first time we've done something en masse since the littlest NextGen Bond was born. Much of the day was spent herding cats into a variety of photo ops. With every new baby, a new screensaver is required. It's the law.

Whether you're dealing with new screensavers, Chapter 2 of your current project, or the joys of pistachio ice cream, thank you for reading. As our friend Nora says, 'Reading is everything. Reading makes me feel like I've accomplished something, learned something, become a better person. Reading makes me smarter.' You're now a shit-tonne smarter for having read this. Well done, you! 

Have a lovely week, folks