April 2023

Well, I forgot '30 days has September, APRIL, June and November', so I have left this blog writing a little more last minute than I would like, ho hum.

April started off nicely — I enjoyed going up the silly Battersea Power Station chimney lift with my mum and aunt so much (even though it's a rip off), I persueded my friend George to come up it with me again. And then we had a delicious curry date, very good.

My partner was away for a few days at the end of March and they have very high standards domestically, so they realistically end up doing most of the housework. I did lots of domestic labour before they came back to try and get things up to their exacting standards (they didn't immediately start complaining about things when they got back so it must have been okay?!) They were away nearly a week so it was lovely to have them back again (they don't normally go away that long, usually I am the one jollying off and leaving them with the dog)

I'm having a bit of A Time work wise at the moment. I work some of my week with a tech studio, and at present we're sort of between bodies of work that require my expertise. So I'm feeling like a bit of a spare part — trying to help other people with their things but mostly just getting in the way and annoying people. It's left me feeling a bit grumpier and more disatissfied than I usually would with my work (though everything else is going fine, in terms of my freelance and teaching work, which have both been fun and satisfying)

Had a couple of different 'receiving critique' situations around this time... Little bit of type 1, little bit of type 2...

I bought her a plastic basket with a new more easily washed cushion because her incontinence is still not entirely fixed and she still sometimes has accidents in the night. I THOUGHT she liked it because she got straight into it but nearly a month in and I think she really misses her old, squishier (harder to clean bed), waaaaaah I feel like a big meanie :(

Very much enjoyed visiting annual games exhibition 'Now Play This' at Somerset House with pals George, Dan, Ellis and V (also bumped into old aquaintance Siobhan!) Played lotsa fun stuff, had lotsa good chats

Every week before I go to my Samaritans shift I treat myself to a tasty dinner beforehand. For a long time I was going to Wagamama but I got bored of that. Then I went to Island Poke for a while which I still love but it's nice to have something hot. Now I go to Marugame Udon every week and I am obsessed with it, I love the chill vibes and canteen style service. Was very excited to try their blossom season special, vegan takoyaki! (Fried octopus balls)

Working on a Saturday agaaaaain (this is what happens when I take time off in the week to do fun things like Now Play This)

My friend Hazel and her friend Danni came down from Cambridge and we went to Queer Mart, a cute lil makers market in Deptford! Then had some very overpriced Bao in Borough because everything else was closed on a Sunday which I had NOT forseen

I had planned to take the bank holiday Monday off to make up for working the Saturday, but then got a stressful work related message first thing that morning which I proceeded to spend the entire day thinking about, SIGH

Getting sick of all this rain

Chase likes to dip her belly in the muddy puddles though

Had a VERY BUSY DAY — teaching all day, and then getting the train down to Brighton straight after to cat sit for a friend for the weekend! I've been struggling a lot with my lungs/throat/breathing again recently (on and off for the last couple of years). Gonna go bother a doctor about it again soon, though it has eased a little since this especially bad few days. My triggers seem to be cold temperature (walking outside in winter), physical exertion (like running for a train), spicy food, dry air (air conditioned or over-heated rooms), and possibly also some pollen. Also it's worse at night and first thing in the morning. Just like, a hacking, phlegmy cough right down to my chest. I want to be cured!

I was super excited to have a whole weekend down in Brighton — my first proper 'away time' there since I lived in Yorkshire way back in 2019! (I've only made day trips these recent years now I live in London). Sadly my first day there it rained ALL DAY (but I guess that was mostly okay as I stayed in the flat and worked a bunch while Pog the cat cuddled me)

As always, ipad drawings while I am away from home. This day was much nicer weather and I enjoyed doing a digital painting of the sunset over a street near where I was staying.

On my last full day there I went to visit some old special places. (Also ate a vegan scotch egg and saw the ridiculous Simpsons House)

Said a fond goodbye to Pog before heading home

Still trying to decide if I care how heavy/big I am at the mo. Since lopping most of my tits off I like my body in general a lot more, but I do not much like being unfit (though as previously mentioned, I am struggling with exerting exercise as it's quite hard to breathe through it). Keeping up the swimming as much as I can and trying to go back to the gym for some slow high resistance bike and fast incline treadmill walking too.

As a bonus I watch some dude on Youtube playing through the entirety of Yakuza 0 as my silly fandom continues.

Gave our students some somewhat unhelpful materials to try and realise their ideas (including coloured sugar paper, what is this, preschool?!) was hugely inspired by one of the students use of coloured pencils on sugar paper, so made my own take on her style.

...SO I DIDN'T!

Went to John Lewis for a browse and found a big cosy jumper I'd coveted reduced down to £20 from like £90. Yessss, roll on winter again! (This design is based on the colours and the pattern on it)

Oh there's that regret

I get some meal kits to help me cook when I'm tired and they're usually great or at least good but this one was probably in the top 10 worst things I've ever made.

My girl is lonnnnnnnng

Misread the time I had to go to Samaritans for a training meeting and got there an hour early, livid. (Made this while waiting with the limited art supplies available)

My partner became obsessed with the idea of creating a new deck of cards with 4 additional suites, and we spent a long time debating what they should be

Turned on tiktok for the first time in ages to check something and couldn't resist trying out a horrible 'beauty' face filter I was immediately bombarded with, which was kind of alarmingly high quality.

Went to visit my parents and other family in Chichester, because my 'first cousin once removed' (we had to look it up) was visiting from New Zealand, and she bought my great aunt (who is 91) down to see everyone. I don't normally go in for big family stuff but all of these people are quite agreeable and share a similar brusqueness to me, so it didn't all take too long. AND I got to visit Bognor Regis pier for the first time! It was a gloriously sunny day and I had a blissful moment of zen like calm sitting on a bench soaking up some of the first warm sun of the year in silence next to my great aunt. 

I got the train to Brighton to go to Vegfest today — this was a much loved event for me, c 2014 – 2018ish. A big, packed convention centre full of all the latest vegan food innovations, I'd always come away sustantially cash poorer, with bags full of weird new cheeses and unusual 'meat'. 

I went today to their first event since the pandemic, and... it was really shit. 

Half (if not less) as busy as it once would have been, and probably with half the number of stallholders too. I'm entirely in it for the food, but none of the big exhibitors come any more, because they're all stocked in supermarkets these days! (Which is great, but probably like, the death knell for 'specialist' events like this given veganism isn't really like, a niche hobby any more)

The remaining stallholders were mainly hocus pocus health woo, unrelated stuff like crystals, and loads of angry animal rights activists (which is fair enough I guess). I still got some weird meats but NOT ENOUGH. 

Anyway, I'm home now and suddenly it's (nearly) May! Onwards!