If you are still with me after the last couple of sad sack notes you’ll be pleased to know I am in a slightly better head space this week. Here is a list of things that might have contributed to my improved mood;
I had an appointment at the hospital with the Diabetes Consultant and while things aren’t exactly where they’d like them with my current results, my arms are pretty bruised after more failed blood draws and there was a strong suggestion I should seek some therapy to deal with the PTSD I seem to have from the trauma of it all it was also made clear that I’m doing fine in the circumstances and that they are confident of getting things on track in the medium term.
The doc also gave me the all clear to travel abroad next week so I am off to Paris for a few days. The weather looks 🔥🔥🔥which will be an interesting challenge but I am really excited about the break. I’m staying at the 25hours hotel at Gare du Nord (again) which I love and have tickets to the Zoo and Beyond the Streets exhibitions as well as a walking tour of Belleville street art. Heat permitting. Might also cheat (a little) and have a baguette or two.
On the subject of Paris Jay Z announced he is doing a one-off concert there in September. I don’t really go to concerts much and struggle with crowds but this was too big an opportunity to miss. So I swiftly signed up for a virtual Mastercard credit card via my Monzo so I could access the pre-sale, got a couple of laptops set up on my Francais Ticketmaster account and crossed my fingers! Anyway my luck held and I got tickets so I’m going with a little crew…and am staying at 25hours (again, again). By coincidence I was already planning to be on holiday in Cologne so I am going to jump on a train from there to Paris on the day and then Eurostar it home after that.
I finally dragged myself south of the river to check out this year’s Upfest outputs. It is a TREMENDOUS year. So much stunning art, some brilliant new spots and just generally a great way to spend a morning.
Went to the cinema to see Disclosure Day…which I seriously loved. It is classic Spielberg sci-fi – full of heart and thrills and plot leaps that do not really stand up to scrutiny 😄 The whole cast are fantastic – Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson and Colman Domingo are all wonderful but Emily Blunt is a force of nature in this movie. Just ridiculously good.
Somebody from a genuine, legitimate publishing company got in touch to ask whether I was interested in pitching a book. Might not go anywhere of course but it really did feel great just to be considered. Maybe I will finally do that ‘Make Things Open’ book and justify the tatt.
For a while last weekend I remembered how to read and thus finished, and really enjoyed, Hench. Looking forward to the sequel. Not sure what I will land on for my holiday book. Whether to dive straight into said follow-up, Villain, or mix it up with a bit of a palette cleanser.
I’m not much of an NBA fan but I am loving all the coverage of the New York Knicks. All the celebs, all the watch parties in the streets, the ‘my mayor is Muslim, my bagels are Jewish, my Christian Dior – Knicks in four!’ chant. French Montana & Remy Ma giving it large. My TikTok algorithm is always pretty NYC heavy – I’ve always wondered if it is because I set up the account when I was in Brooklyn – but at the moment it is 90% of it.
The whole Trump of it all obviously casts a cloud over the whole thing but I’m still excited that the World Cup has started. I have no expectation of England doing anything much to be honest but I will dig my Three Lions shirt out (alongside my Melchester Rovers, AFC Richmond and Wu-Tang football shirts!) and watch an unhealthy amount of games – for teams I have no interest in the rest of time.
Work was decent this week. I felt more like myself. More useful and like I was contributing. Some of that was just the kind of challenges that popped up were the kind of thing I am good at. Someone said I was a ‘reassuring presence’ and they trusted me to ‘have their backs’. I’ll take that. Be the umbrella. Still an awful lot of AI background noise though.
Some lovely people got in touch to check in on me after my recent posts. I really appreciated that. Some of you are just lovely and I’m lucky to know you.
…on the downside I watched ‘Office Romance’ on Netflix. I guess fair play to Brett Goldstein for writing and starring in a movie where he gets to be with JLo (who somehow is older than me!) but frequently saying ‘cunt’ because it freaks out Americans does not a comedy make.
Digital by Default 