roll on 2015!
And here we are again – already! Horrible cliché though it is, it barely seems like a month since 2013’s NYE Godfather marathon on Film4 (no such luck last night, although they’re putting in an appearance tonight and tomorrow, I think) and the start of 2014 complete with drizzly weather, Mary Poppins and the first stages of packing for the Isle of Man getting underway. Just like today, in fact…
I’m crossing my fingers that the extremely fortunate roll that (with a few hiccups, admittedly) I’ve managed to stay on for the last year can continue unabated; I’ve had a lovely time! There’s been fabulous trips to New York, horror film festivals aplenty and as most will know, I finally found my lovely new flat after a few technical hitches and a lot of time spent on Rightmove. Whilst there’s still a lot to think about, the thankfully not-too-lengthy (even if it didn’t seem it at the time) carrying on with estate agents, solicitors and general red tape for my shiny new base in town is long since finished, even if the DIY and decorating job list isn’t.
At the time of writing it’s also three weeks to my birthday and the 22nd is, coincidentally, the day when the passes for Glasgow Frightfest go on sale; the last three days of February will be spent whiling away the afternoons and evenings at the Glasgow Film Theatre and sprinting back and forth from the big Tesco round the corner for pies. Prior to that there’s the first (working) London trip at the start of the month to look forward to; all my upcoming trips are planned to the end of April – not that there are many – and I’ll be updating the awaydays page soon, so do keep an eye out. May all the train rides be as uneventful as the last few.
Despite the large-scale winding down in travelling the occasional trip blows away some cobwebs and keeps things interesting, and none more so than a January visit to the Isle of Man – yay! I will be in Douglas next week from Wednesday evening on, and after a somewhat self-sabotaged trip last June when the World Cup got in the way not just a bit, but a lot (the requirement to arrange accommodation roughly a year in advance at TT time should really have been a warning to give it a miss this year) I’m very much looking forward to business as usual with some bracing walks and possibly a trip to the pictures thrown in too. Again, fingers crossed for the trains…
In the coming days (not really including this one, since I’m still in my dressing gown at 6pm), it’s the steady and gentle pace of an increasingly wintry Scarborough; there has been frost on the ground on the way down to the bridge each morning, and the daily potter down to the flat and back home in time for tea is suiting me fine. In the event of the sun coming out, I’m hoping to (finally) get some new pictures sorted – sorry! For what it’s worth I still look just like the current ones, it’s just ten and a half years since I last set foot in a hairdressers rather than nine and a half.
More soon – The Wizard of Oz is on, and in this house we observe the proprieties. Before that though, a genuine thank you to everyone – punters, prossie pals and assorted others – who helped make the last twelve months what they were; may we all have another good one!
Happy New Year to everybody.