There aren’t that many places in the world that have experienced conflict within my life time that are now deemed relatively safe to travel to, on the scale of which Sarajevo experienced. The scars of which can still be seen today.
A few years ago, I wrote Glastonbury: The Unofficial Survival Guide. This was something I shared with a couple of friends who were going to be coming with me for their first ever Glastonbury who asked for some information on what it was like and some tips on how to get by. It must have done its job as they both survived
An ex-colleague, and member of my beach swim club alerted me to the fact that the yoga studio that she attends around the corner from me was doing a day of free trial sessions. I had done yoga before and thought it was alright but preferred Pilates. Partly because it felt like a workout while resolving my flexibility issues, partly because a friend is an instructor and therefore have to prefer it and partly because previous yoga instructors I had been in contact with fit the stereotype of hemp wearing vegans who could feel the universe flowing through a haemorrhoid if the planets were in alignment. I thought I would give it a go anyway. A free class is a free class after all.
Like half of the population, I dipped a metaphorical and literal toe into the world of cold water swimming during lockdown. The reasoning for this was partly because a couple of friends and people I follow on the gram participate, partly because the health benefits are well documented, it was free and partly out of boredom and needed a new activity to involve myself in.
Today marks a year since the government announced its first national Lockdown. In some ways it feels like the longest year ever experienced by anyone ever, in other ways it really does not feel like it’s been that long at all. It is funny thinking back to that time when no one will have predicted that we would still be here a year later.
A couple months ago I wrote my first contributing article for The Riff Raff about writing as a dyslexic. This is the original version but should you wish to read the original or see what else The Riff Raff has to offer you can read it here!
This time last year I was at Glastonbury (although it was a Wednesday). I have been lucky enough to experience the Glastonbury three times in a row from 2015-17. And while this may not grant me Glastonbury Veteran status I think it allows me to bestow on you tricks, tips and advice on what to expect and how to survive this festival of festivals. Even for regular festival goers “Glasto” can be a daunting prospect for your first time. So, if you battled through the pain of hammering the refresh button into a ticket position for the first time, these next few points may come in handy.
Today is the start of Mental Health Awareness Week. The aim, the bring about more awareness about different conditions, how to help those who are suffering and to break the stigma that surrounds talking about the topic. This is my story.
I work in an industry that lives off health and safety, thrives on it even. There is a form and procedure for anything and everything you could think of. We have the:
· Poolside Daily Matrix (Ops-F5)
· Cashing Up Sheet (FIN-F48)
· Record of Conversation (CON-DISC-F-1)
· Witness Statement (OPS-F23)
· Birthday Party Terms and Conditions (Ops-F25c)
As a man and an official member of United Kingdom Zombie Defence League on Facebook it's only natural that I would have a zombie action plan. I formulated one for when I was at Uni in Swansea which consisted of raiding the Tesco that was conveniently opposite the marina where I planned to commandeer the lighthouse boat and party it out in the middle of the bay until it blew over and hoped the flesh-eating critters didn’t learn to swim. This is of course dependant on the realistic probability of zombies being real and whether they are Shaun of the Dead style or World War Z type of zombies.
My first blog post! Some may say scary, others may say exciting stuff. I would agree with both. It's a scary thought for me to write something on such an open platform for it to be publicly judged. This comes from five years of English lessons where every piece of work handed in was returned with more written on it in red pen than by me. I will also admit that when it comes to blogs I’m rather naive, being new to the scene as a writer rather than a reader. I’m a little unaware as to how the the community of bloggers operate.
