Well folks, we've made it. The last days of the year are upon us. A time for contemplation, reflection, and continuing to push the most basic of admin tasks to the New Year, even though that's only three days away.
Last week saw the annual Writer's Ramblings Christmas message, and this week continues in tradition. It's our yearly round up of monthly Long Rambles! Yay! Hurrah! Unbridled joy for us all!
Now, as is also tradition, it appears there's one missing. It's never my intention, but come the end of December when I look back at the year's posts, I always find a month I forgot. This time it's February. I'm blaming it on there being less days, and the fact I was up the wall. Do you remember my sewage treatment upgrade in the early part of the year? How could any of us forget! Clearly I had no time for fleshing out extended thoughts on a random and interesting subject matter. Despite that, we'll carry on regardless. Below, for your end of year pleasure, are the Long Rambles of 2025. Simply click the month and reread your faves. Enjoy!
Let's kick the year off with some feel good vibes. Because of the awfulness going on at the time (the US presidential inauguration) I tried to redress the balance. Who were the decent people to whom I chose to give a platform? Click and see!
March saw the wholly expected demise of my laptop. What started as a tongue in cheek memorial for a bit of dated tech, became an honest to God eulogy. According to the family WhatsApp group, people were moved to tears! Ten years is a long time to rely on something. This month I shared the journey that me and my laptop made together.
The rise of AI continues to trouble me, and seemingly most people who work in the creative industries. I'm not keen on abandoning my critical faculties for speed and ease, nor do I want to engage with the product of those that do. Here's my two-penneth.
Like night follows day, the May Long Ramble is devoted to Eurovision. I wonder if that will be the case in 2026? This year, I wasn't feeling the joy at the time of writing. Also, I failed to even mention the eventual winner, Austria. Look, I never said I was psychic.
Remember I had my Aussie cousin staying with me? Well her visit prompted me to dust off my Ancestry.com account and look up some dead relatives. Basically, we wanted to find the grave of our Great Auntie Kit. That's what started it. Now, months after my cousin has returned home, I'm still regularly logging on and finding out all sorts of family history. Maybe I'll write a 2026 Long Ramble about that. For now, here're my thoughts on my new found love of graveyards.
July saw the 40th anniversary of Live Aid, and with it, the 40th anniversary of one of my favourite days ever. Reading this back has given me chills and made me want to read my old copies of Smash Hits. If you feel similarly, by all means, click the month and read!
August saw the launch of me and my mate's podcast, Lights, Camera... Aggro? It's a cracking concept, albeit with slightly dodgy execution. Series two (starting in the New Year) will be better than the first. (We've moved away from our coffee shop setting so ditched the background noise.) So far I've been made to watch Rocky, Superman, Jaws, Stargate, Beetlejuice, and Die Hard. The good news, is I've been able to foist my own film choices onto my mate. Phil's had to watch Clueless, The Sound of Music, Shirley Valentine, Peter's Friends, Clue, and Single All the Way. Should you wish to, you can catch up here.
Over night, flags went up all over the village that I live near. It depressed me to my core and I had to write about it. Flags in support of something - a sporting team or a marginalised group - feel positive. Flags to dominate and control or to push a cruel agenda, have no place in my life. I ranted.
Jilly Cooper died and I was gutted. In the same week, the Nobel Prize for Literature was announced with Làzló Krasznahorkai being the lucky winner. Two very different authors and, I'd imagine, two very different sets of fans. But isn't that the point of books? Something for everybody!
I had a minibreak to Bruges and it got me thinking. Mainly about the film, In Bruges, and other locations of films I love. Where would I set my own stories about Leeza McAuliffe? Have I taken you to Applemere Bridge through my writing? Hopefully, but no need to tell me if not.
Finally we reach this month - the month where the EBU met to discuss the increasing tensions about 2026's Eurovision Song Contest. Not going to lie, this one's not especially festive. Unless you read through to the last three paras, where you'll find some interesting links that provide a bit of seasonal escapism.
So there we have it. Twelve months, eleven Long Rambles, and another year over. What'll be on the cards for 2026, I wonder? The exciting thing about life is we just don't know. Even our most educated guesses can be blown out of the water with a random turn of events or twist of fate. All we can do is try our best, seize the day, and be kind. It's a plan!
Have a lovely week, folks, and a very happy 2026 to us all.
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