A busy week of home updates, social events, and reflections.
Week commencing Monday, 20 January 2025
Taking pictures of lights
Quantified Self
This week: Stand 6/7; Exercise 4/7 and Move 5/7. (71%). Morning walks: 0/4 (days in the office don’t count). Office days 2/5. Total steps: 49,575
Life
Monday, a new fridge freezer was installed. Feels bigger but is the same size. Unlike the one that disappeared in the van, the fridge bit works as expected. Now, we can shop properly again.
Same day, I cracked and started doom-scrolling the news. Then I remembered, and I went back to being calm again.
We got another door quote. £4,000 cheaper than the last one. Then we got references because we’ve never used the second quote company. Came back good.
I had two office days this week. Tuesday ended with more leaving drinks for Andy. This time I made the train home.
Related, tired by the end of Wednesday meant I skipped my Tai Chi class. That’s a non-resolution broken.
Getting home after being in the office on Thursday, a day with no evening work social event, was nice. But I am reminded how short evenings are after I have commuted and opened the door.
I thought I might check up on my pension transfers. This is a blood pressure-raising moment as money has gone from one provider, but the new one says it’s waiting. They told me not to do it, but I did it anyway.
I am consolidating a number of providers with one of my existing ones. They sent a note to say it was going ahead because they’d detected the new provider wasn’t a scam. It’s the same company; good to know they consider themselves safe.
Winter Light at Canary Wharf is always interesting. But, goodness, a lot of people.
We made a Burns Night dinner and watched a related BBC Scotland show. It included whisky, and it didn’t give me indigestion.
A dinner for Chinese New Year in Covent Garden on Sunday evening. Lots of steamed dumplings.
This week: Stand 4/7; Exercise 4/7 and Move 4/7. (57%). Morning walks: 0/4 (days in the office don’t count). Office days 1/5. Total steps: 38,460
Life
Got the quote from one of the big London firms to fix the rotten wood around the door. I am not sure what else we can do with £5,000, but it won’t be this. I assume they don’t want the work. Alternatives are being searched for.
Pub quiz is back. It was great fun, as always. Most frustrated I could not remember Carl Douglas’ name (the singer of Kung Fu Fighting). Somewhere in the middle again!
Big corporate thing on Wednesday. I watched it remotely. It was very well done, but it took most of the afternoon.
Thursday to the office, followed by a leaving do. Fun evening that ended up in a pub where the karaoke accompaniment was a live guitarist. We watched. Nice to see MB over from Japan.
Related, a very jolly member of Shepherd’s Bush station staff told me I’d missed the last train. I don’t think the big smiles were due to my predicament. Uber to the rescue.
Relatedly related, talked football all the way home. Felt vaguely knowledgeable because the family WhatsApp keeps me up to date on events at Goodison Park.
Relatedly, the Christmas tree is still up— and illuminated— in the middle of Shepherd’s Bush Green. Do they need to leave it up all year now?
A mainly quiet weekend, a decluttering of books went to charity. The weather has been terrible. Sunday, friends for dinner. A lovely afternoon.
Media
Watched the first episode of The White Lotus. The plot is based on new guests arriving at the White Lotus resort, bringing their own set of problems. They felt disconnected. But not a lot happens, and it’s slow going and felt like hard work. The characters, however, are fascinating but not likeable at all.
Randomly watched a YouTube video about the end of Southern Television, the ITV franchise for the south of England, and one about a man who lives in a tiny house on wheels, hidden inside a truck. It looked quite smart.
This week: Stand 6/7; Exercise 6/7 and Move 6/7. (86%). Morning walks: 1/4 (days in the office don’t count). Office days 1/5. Total steps: 67,017
Life
I guess we are fully in 2025. Can I keep this going for another year? I’d like to think so.
The first day back at work was hard. Although I did get out for a walk beforehand – and afterwards – so the week started well.
Watching TV one evening, I wondered what is the point of saying they are ‘live’ when BBC One continuity announcers introduce themselves in the early evening? Do any viewers care (I understand TV people might)?
Tuesday, to Robin Hood, this year’s Palladium Pantomime. Julian Clary starred as the titular character, with Jane McDonald as Maid Marian, and a supporting cast of panto regulars. All in all, a spectacle of extravagant costumes, celebrity cameos, and a thin plot. Absolutely brilliant.
Saturday, first delayed train of the year to Birmingham, primarily to see the Ikon Gallery’s partnership with macLYON: Friends in Love and War; works by over twenty artists from the British Council Collection and macLYON that explore the theme of friendship. I’m trying to see more art because I don’t understand it. This was wonderful, but I am sure I didn’t appreciate it properly.
Later, the Cuban afternoon tea was great, but there’d been a mix-up and we’d been booked in when the main service finished. The Sri Lankan dinner was excellent, and we’re on the hunt for a local equivalent.
In between, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra: CBSO Explores: Friends in Love and War, featuring the world premiere of Héloïse Werner’s siren suite for soprano and orchestra. Not the usual type of performance we’d see, but really interesting to experience.
Sunday, to see the National Trust’s Birmingham Back to Backs. It’s the last surviving court of back-to-back houses in the city. The houses, built back-to-back with shared courtyards, offer insights into the lives of ordinary people in the 19th and 20th centuries. A really well-done and recommended tour.
Media
More ‘talking shop’ about radio, as Dermot called it. Paul Gambaccini, broadcasting for 50 years, has a neat story about Sir Elton, also Scott Mills and Rev Kate Bottley. Lovely listening on BBC Sounds.
New Year activities, media, and reflections on personal moments
Week commencing Monday, 30 December 2024
Here comes 2025
Quantified Self
This week: I blame the holidays: Stand 5/7; Exercise 3/7 and Move 3/7. 52%. Office days 0/3. Total steps: 33,288
Life
The last one with a 2024 start date. I am filing it under 2025, regardless.
I worked Monday and Tuesday. Not many people in: quiet. Thursday was busier, but I got away for the first train south of the year.
Tuesday, while in my study, I switched on Radio 2 where it was Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Kitchen Disco, which seemed a bit too much of a party for me starting at a screen for work. I let it play into Tony Blackburn and then into Bob Harris’ Sounds of the 70s, opening the show with the very sad news that DJ legend Johnnie Walker had died. JW had a remarkable presenting career spanning almost 60 years, from the pirates to today. While not the 70s party playlist scheduled, it was a show full of music and memories and seemed very fitting.
New Year’s Eve was with friends and a lovely evening was had. Somehow, the clock jumped from 1am to 3am remarkably quickly.
Queer (at the BFI) on New Year’s Day. Daniel Craig’s portrayal of a 1950s gay man grappling with loneliness and addiction is really good – different from Bond – but the ending confuses. PY found an explanation.
Friday we had an aborted walk on the Isle of Wight: the narrow country lane we needed to start the journey was busy with cars going too fast.
Sunday, it rained a lot. Just in case parts of Ryde flooded we left a bit earlier than planned.
Media
Radio 2 All Stars: Mark Goodier, Owain Wyn Evans, and Angela Griffin. She still worked in Burger King whilst starring in Coronation Street.
“The left’s greatest sin seems to be, and I speak as a sort of leftist, is that it would rather be right than effective”, Stephen Fry guesting on Triggernometry
As the new year allows these moments of self-reflection, here comes my 2024 Yearnotes: a way to look back and be grateful for the interesting things I was able to do.
Lanzarote, 2024
Bananarama, 2024
Starlight, 2024
Green Day, 2024
Corfu, 2024
Paralympic Games 2024
I didn’t do my yearly self-review at the end of 2023. I have no recollection why. When I restarted the weeknotes in mid-2023, I allowed myself the flexibility to be late publishing, and I think that enabled me to keep the streak going. I hadn’t considered that one of the consequences would be I’d write something every month of the year in 2024, something that hasn’t happened here since 2005. I think the weekly writing habit was good for me as I wrote a whole bunch of other things alongside the weeknotes. As the new year allows these moments of self-reflection, here comes my 2024 Yearnotes: a way to look back and be grateful for the interesting things I was able to do.
Two of the things I am happiest about this year don’t fit neatly into the categories I use here. I am delighted that we were able to keep our monthly Pub Quiz attendance going; it’s such a nice way to see friends regularly. And, a random comment in the summer led to the discovery of €25 tickets for the Paralympics and a hastily booked train. It was wonderful to immerse myself in some sport for a day. Even the power cut at the hotel the night before our early-start departure couldn’t spoil the joy of the event.
And there was a sixth wedding anniversary, an eightieth birthday celebration, a fiftieth birthday party, and a King’s Garden Party that I haven’t written about but must be highlights.
Moving
At the end of ’23, I started to suffer with a frozen shoulder. It went through its most painful period in the first quarter of 2024. As a result, I didn’t even cross my gym’s doorstep for the first seven months of the year. And then I only went 6 times between then and now. I should insert the usual new year wish to do better. But, who am I kidding?
If I look at the amount of exercise I actually took, irrespective of time in a gym, my trackers say I took 3,131,527 steps for a cumulative distance of 1,407 miles (and burning 268,888 in the process). That’s 12 days and 17 hours of exercise-like exertion.
2022 in music
I try to make Last.fm the source for this data, but Apple Music’s failure to natively sync means I am dubious about the numbers. Last.fm says I scrobbled 5,170 tracks (down 24% on 2023). Of those, there were 3,093 unique tracks compared to the 2,906 songs that Apple says I played. While Last.fm thinks Lainey Wilson’s Wildflowers and Wild Horses was my top track, Apple says it was No Caller ID by Megan Moroney. To be fair, they both have the same count at Last.fm, so I am unsure why one was picked above the other. They’re both great songs.
Last.fm says Breland’s Cross Country was the most listened to album, Apple says that was number 3, while Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter was top. Are you spotting the trend is country music again?
All of that is somewhere between 12 days and 14 days listening in 2024. I think that was pretty good. I just wish somebody did the same for podcasts.
All the socials
I (still) have a Mastodon account but I have yet to pontificate there. Ditto Bluesky, although I keep promising myself I’ll move to a custom domain.
There were 28 Instagram grid pictures. There were 84 stories. It still remains my favourite format, but that’s a 42% decrease on 2023. There is a highlight selection from 2024 stories. Also, although it’s not social media, it is photos, I posted a collection of pictures from God’s Own Junkyard, the warehouse tribute to neon: All lit up.
There are now 98 feeds in NetNewsWire, notably new in 2024 are London-themed newsletters that I read via RSS. London Centric has just published a ’best of’ and The London Minute is becoming a daily read. London Spy, The Londoner and, nearer home, The Wimble are all worth some time. Given that London’s newspaper, the Evening Standard, had to drop the ‘evening’ portion of its name this year because it’s become weekly, these are more than the name ‘newsletter’ might imply, and are all recommended reading if you live – or are interested in goings-on in – the Capital.
Books, TV and Cinema
I failed my reading challenge, managing only 9 of the promised 15. However, they were all excellent and I don’t know which to call out as my favourite.
I also saw All of Us Strangers, but skipped the cinema to watch it from the comfort of my living room. It takes time to work out the timeline of the characters, but I loved it.
Many of the things I’ve posted about here are tracked in some app or other, or I’ve been able to use my own weeknotes as a reminder. I’ve tried using setlist.fm as a gig tracker. And, while it’s great, there’s no easy way to see 2024, and every artist at a festival is a separate entry, which is fair but, perhaps, does not enable an easy count of gigs. I enjoyed the Isle of Wight festival, Bananarama, Grace Jones, Stevie Nicks and even Bucks Fizz. At the Stevie Nicks gig, I saw Brandi Carlile and am now a fan of the music. In mid-December, I saw both the Lightning Seeds and Paul Heaton; two fantastic evenings.
I’ve not used anything to track theatre shows, so I am reliant on my own notes. Aside from Starlight Express, mentioned below, the best theatre included the immersive Guys and Dolls, Stranger Things: The First Shadow (which can be watched even if you don’t know the Netflix show); new musical Operation Mincemeat (inventive and hilarious) and The National’s Coriolanus was great: I surprised myself following the plot, having never read the play.
I’ve always loved listening to the radio. This year, however, I found more and more podcasts to keep me entertained. My current favourite is the cooking-interview show, Dish, but I caught up on a lot of Kirsty Young’s Young Again, which is also great.
Broadcaster Steve Wright died at the beginning of the year. There were plenty of wonderful tributes, but I particularly liked Steve Wright in his own words.
There were a couple of things that surprised me this year; I tuned into Test Match Special while Mum and Dad were at Lord’s for the first day and really liked the company. Timmy Mallett’s Radio Oxford show from back when John Lennon’s died was a nice bit of retro audio.
James O’Brien’s Full Disclosure is one of my favourite podcasts. It’s hard to pick favourite episodes, but I went back in time to the Andy Burnham episode (which was great). Full Disclosure hired an actor to voice The Secret Barrister, and that was an excellent episode.
Other writing
Possibly inspired by the forced regularity of weeknotes, I found myself posting a lot more to my blog. In On diary writing, I talk about how I want to improve my ability to articulate feelings and emotions in writing, which is a goal for this year. That was a follow-up to something from earlier in the year, My digital history, where I think of my personal website as a historical record of my life.
Another blast from the past was ‘Mine is the last voice you will ever hear’, a bit of a wander down memory lane reminiscing about “Two Tribes” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood and how, when we played the song repeatedly at school, we thought it was a form of rebellion.
I also blogged about a couple of events I’d been to this year: Hidden Holborn was another in the Hidden London series where the public is able to go to areas of the London Underground that are usually off-limits. Once again, I went to the Isle of Wight Festival, this year keeping a record of what I did: day one, day two and day three. And, earlier in the year, I was lucky to get tickets for the first real public performance of the new-look Starlight Express and I wrote up my thoughts.
Other counts
I am always fascinated by the stories people who count things in their lives can tell. There are 2,518 photos in this year’s album, but only 15 made their way to Flickr. Thanks to TFL, I know I made 373 journeys on the London transport network, 30 of them were buses. They didn’t tell me I took 6 flights this year, JetLovers did. And on 1% of my mornings in 2024, I woke up in Edinburgh.
