Because Spring isn't yet sprung - some cheer that gets me through...
AND it's free or under a tenner!!!
Smartless the podcast. Okay, okay, it gets a bit actor-y love in and gushy on occasion (just listen to the David Beckham one to hear Bateman and Hayes flounder as they know nothing about football and Will Arnett has to take the wheel). BUT the George Clooney interview right back near the start, is perfection and made me laugh out loud. Granted this is not a Paxman interview and we will learn precious little about the guest, but with Bateman’s sarcasm, Hayes’ warmth and Arnett’s SUPER sexy dulcet tones, mixed with their ability to rip the piss out of one another - who cares? It’s easy listening, they clearly love one another and it warms the cockles of my wintery heart. And did I mention Arnett’s tones? I mean, he could read the phonebook and we’d all still wet our pants.
A bunch of daffodils. A friend kindly dropped in two bunches to cheer me up the other day and they smelt amazing. For £1 a bunch you can afford to treat yo’self. Plus they are everywhere. Between their yellow sunny heads and the simplicity and perfection of snowdrops, nature is giving us plenty to love.
Slow mornings. The one luxury of working for myself, is that I can get up, throw on trackies and walk my dog, (sans make-up, sans hair brush), get into nature and then come home and write a Substack. Sure, I have script deadlines etc. - but more than ever I realise that stressing and rushing are doing me no favours. Savour that coffee. Enjoy that tea. Allow yourself an afternoon nap. These are things I dreamt of when my kids were small. Really, what is the freakin’ hurry?
Hacks. There is no better comedy ever. End of. I love Jean Smart beyond words. Her delicious character Deborah (who gives more than a passing nod to Joan Rivers) is an egotistical, self absorbed, fame hungry bully, who also has a heart of gold somewhere deep, deep, wayyyyyy down. Hannah, the ultra woke, exhaustingly righteous, needy writer (I mean who could ever imagine a needy writer??) is the yin to Deborah’s yang and it makes remarkable viewing. Season 3 is bafflingly now on Sky but you can also catch seasons 1 and 2 on Prime.
Cold water swimming. Don’t go reader!!! I won’t wang on about the benefits - but I swear if you wear the boots and gloves and a bobble hat (it really is a good look) and count for 30 seconds it is blissful. Swear on my kids’ lives. It is around this time that my buddy and I
break insneak in to a local quarry and it is heavenly! Our usual haunt opens up end of March. Then all the bloody ‘proper swimmers’ in their wet suits come back for their mid life crisis triathlons. They do the front crawl and don’t stop to look up. People! See the birds! The sun! The geese! The trees blooming. I got in on Saturday after a few weeks away and honestly, it was heaven. Why everyone isn’t doing it is beyond me. In May I’ve been swimming weekly for 6 years… I deserve some kind of patch to sew onto my dry Robe to be even MORE a dry robe wanker.
Fruit chia compote and greek yoghurt. Take a bag of frozen fruit berries - put them in a pan and cover with water. Add a feck tonne of chia seeds. Plus honey. Lots. Simmer for a good 30 mins until it has all reduced. Put in a glass jar and keep in the fridge to cover your greek yoghurt with. It is heaven. My daughter showed me how to do this and annoyingly every time she does it, hers tastes better.
Embryolisse Hydra-creme Legere. I put this on every morning and my skin drinks it in. Nothing feels so good. I need SPF on top obvs - but this is the best cream I have ever used. It is under a tenner in France, but over here might be a tad more… (Do not buy on Amazon - as often they are fakes…) Go to the French Pharmacy or get someone in France to get it for you, if you can. Or swim there - whatever, but trust me it will be worth it.
Sleep. Not exactly revelatory - but going to bed by 10pm is a game changer I wake just after 7 and I’ve had my 9 hours. I am a normal human being - or as close to normal as I get. If I drink alcohol - more than 1 glass of wine OR 2 G&Ts and it is game over. It is 3am awake up. Oh yes the menopause isn’t horrific enough with it’s anxiety, stress, brain fog, overwhelmed feelings, teeth moving, sore gums, aching joints, thin skin, hair loss, night sweats, memory loss, loss of self confidence, heart palpitations, lack of energy, weight gain, mood swings, anger issues and lack of concentration - it also means if you imbibe, then you will suffer. So the only route to a good night’s sleep is to abstain. Then you get sleep. And sleep is just AMAZING. I’m doing everything now to induce good sleep.
Avoiding industry. Granted, this may not be a mention on my list for you dear reader - but hear me out. At my Uncle’s funeral in his eulogy there was two lines tops about his career - and he had a very esteemed career. But that didn’t define him - in any fashion. No one gives a toss about what you do really. Most folk I know from pilates buddies, schoolmates, local folk - all haven’t got a clue how telly works and have no interest. I try and avoid anything network-y or anything where folk talk about the industry in general - because it makes me feel I SHOULD be interested, or at the very least ambitious - and frankly I’m not.
I love to write, I’m just not sure that the whole TV model is exciting me in any way any more. I used to watch the Oscars in the late 80s, 90s and think - wow - it is all so glamorous and glitzy and exciting and how amazing it would be to be there… (Plus John Rivers bitched about what folk wore and Sharon Stone wore a t shirt from Gap - it all felt pretty wholesome). Now, I can’t watch because clips of indulgent boring celebs like Adrian Brody wanging on like he has reinvented the wheel in a smug, tedious, self-obsessed fashion make me see how these folks’ lives depend on validation. They don’t need an Oscar they need years in therapy and to go and heal their Father wounds… Never has anything felt so vacuous, boring and out of touch. A bit like the whole industry….. (Soz).
Cake. I have found the best, most addictive cake/treat/bun things in the world. Eating these with cup of tea watching the genius that is The White Lotus or my guilty pleasure: Married at First Sight Australia - GIVES ME LIFE. MAFSA is back - series 12 - with a whole host of folk who sign up for instant fame and fortune and then are shocked to discover they have been edited to make them look completely insane. Er - didn’t you watch the 11 previous series? I mean, you knew what you signed up for? It is addictive telly. Grab yourself a box of these Aldi bad boys and cozy up until the sun finally shines and winter ends. Not long now folks!
What about you folks - what is getting you through? Pop a comment down below…
