November 2024

I think I ended last month's blog saying 'hope I'm less sick in November!' — guess that was kinda tempting fate! My body sucks!! (Maybe I need more vitamin C?) — still, it's not been the worst month.

First off though, here's a drawing of an oil tin I saw left in the street that I loved the design and colours of

My partner is probably sick of my grossness by this point (and I wouldn't blame them). The good news is that once this cold worked its way out of my system a couple of days later, all of the fatigue I experienced throughout October also left, which had been worrying me — I guess it was just a long, slow virus which needed another virus to boot it out?! Is that how things work?!

Jessie likes to roll in things but for the first time ever she rolled in something truly disgusting and we had to just avoid her for a couple of days

For once this year I'm actually not HATING it being winter. I genuinely credit a lot of that to my heated sofa throw. Darkness sucks though. 

Ran a workshop with my students to think about what their dream studio space would look like, and designed mine while I was at it (one day?!)

The day after the US elections I was part of a job interview panel on the top floor of the LCC tower during a terrible grey cloudy day, and in between every candidate me and my colleagues were just utterly despairing of it all (good candidates though!), sorry not sorry for this horrible drawing

Did another exercise with my students which involved giving them a large number of celebrations chocolates. That's pedagogy!

Occasionally V comes over to my house or I go over to V's house and we just hang out together and work on whatever we're working on, and as a freelancer it turns out that is a really nice thing to do with another freelancer sometimes. V showed me a really cool book of these patterns with originate in African folk art, wherin the creator would draw a grid of dots in the dirt and then use a finger to draw a continuous line between them in a wide variety of different ways, and the skill was in not hesitating or making any errors. I traced this and it was still hard! They're all really gorgeous.

Between teaching, freelance work, and completing my PG Cert, I am VERY BUSY at the moment, but sometimes it's important to find a couple of hours to go to Ikea and get plant balls for lunch. (I love living so near Ikea)

Me and Lucy went to visit some open studios near her house — mostly to see a fellow Brighton uni alumnus, Kaye Blegvad, but we were also lucky to bump into Alex Simpson and Claude D'Avoine as a bonus! We also saw a load of incredibly cool artists studios, including this one.

The open studios were near New Cross Gate and I was very enamoured with some of the typography I saw in signage there (especially Uncle Wrinkle Chinese Takeaway), so the next day I made this fun photomontage and typography. I have been playing a bit with using photography in my visual diaries sometimes — I can't escape the feeling it's a bit like cheating (obviously I could never do that when I was doing them by hand) but it also feels like something fresh to experiment with, and I do take a LOT of photos, so it's nice to have an outlet for some of them.

Crystal Palace Station is weird and beautiful, and even more so at night

Still having A BIT OF A TIME as I rediscover my glorious (!) natural menstrual cycle which I had switched off/muted for the last 20 years thanks to the pill. I stopped taking the pill to see if it improved my mood (after a particularly bad mental health summer). I DO feel better, but not like, dramatically transformatively so, but I am also sort of loathe to go back on it again in case it has made a difference. I've definitely been doing periods on easy mode for the last couple of decades though. On the bright side, I am hopefully WELL over halfway through all the periods I will ever have...

One of my freelance clients invited me to a christmas party at their offices on Regent Street 'to see the lights', but hilariously the one set of lights outside their window were not working. This is a bad drawing of some lights not on (which is actually very hard to draw?!)

A couple of months ago I agreed to spend this weekend dog-sitting for a friend in Brighton, but they decided not to go away, and I found myself a little disappointed about not getting to go for a mini break... so I took myself on a different one! And a great opportunity to visit more piers!!

First, I headed to Clevedon, (and many thanks to old friend Peach who drove me there from Bristol as there's no train station in Clevedon). Clevedon pier is BEAUTIFUL (and it was a totally gorgeous day). I really enjoyed myself.

Then I stayed in an Airbnb in Weston-super-mare, and the next day I visited the UK's shortest pier (Burnham-on-sea), and the two piers in Weston-super-mare, one of which is derelict. I walked a huge distance and had another glorious day by the sea (even if it was very grey)

The journey home was a bit annoying due to engineering works and an overtime strike at GWR, which sent me somewhat round the houses and on more trains than I would have wanted. Got back okay in the end though.

 

My friend Vicky took me to the sauna! I was too much of a baby to plunge pool so I overheated and felt like I might faint. Sauna amateur! I think I prefer the type of spa that has lots of pools instead, though I do feel like I'd go back again if asked...

(I like my teaching job)

 

ANOTHER FUCKING COLD!!! CURSED!!!

Feeling very crumbly and fragmented. Time to take a day off I guess. (I mean I never REALLY take a day off, there's too much to do, but sometimes at least I can do it from bed)

And then, in the midst of my horrible cold, I dropped my phone directly, precisely, on the toe I broke three years ago, and felt pretty convinced I'd broken right through it again. Felt thoroughly miserable at the prospect of being severely limited in walking AGAIN (having sprained my ankle in summer). CURSED!!

Dog always needs walking though. And actually I could still do it, if I took it slow and wore very forgiving shoes. The weather was AWFUL.

This LOOKS bad, but actually at this point I started to think maybe the toe wasn't actually broken again, just severely bruised. Phew.

Felt better enough to go visit some of my partner's friends all the way in exotic Leyton

I've been having therapy for the last 3 months or so and it's been super helpful in working through a whole bunch of messy brain stuff, but I simply cannot afford it any more. I plan to return in a few months, having finally found a therapist I don't hate. (This is a drawing of the waiting room at Crystal Palace station, where I sit and wait before going to therapy because there's no waiting room at the therapy place so I have to arrive bang on time. It's really creepy)

There she is! Not the dog I wanted, but the dog I got. We're still doing our best. She's a good girl (very) deep down.

Had an extremely nice night out with pals Ellis and V at a fairly-nearby boardgames cafe where we played FIVE games! Always delighted to find cool places and see nice people like, 20 minutes from my house.

And then the next night I had two of my three fav boys over for dinner!!! Davey all the way from Montana and Dav all the way from York! And both with absolutely stinking colds, so I am probably doomed to get sick again now, but it's worth it.

And today I walked another (part) section of the London Loop, from West Drayton to Uxbridge. I really enjoyed it (toe feeling almost totally better now!) though is was a bit of a mission getting there and back, to the far north west. 

On balance it's been a nice month of being quite focussed on my work, seeing lots of nice pals, hiking around lovely wintery places, and occasionally not even being sick!! I wonder what December has in store...