31st July 2014 - July reflection

Hello again. Firstly, thank you all for the lovely responses to yesterday's blog; there were people who have never liked one of my Facebook posts before who liked that post, which really meant a lot. I was thinking that I would spend today writing up a more extensive "part 2", but I decided I'd do that at another date, after I have had a bit longer time to think it over. Today's blog, on the 31st of July, will be a look back at my month. I thought this would be a nice idea for the final day of each month, so I could one day look back and say "hey, check out what happened in October 2016! I ate 3 packets of Mini Cheddars!"

The main thing that happened in July? A holiday to with some of my closest and dearest friends (Dan, Matt, Jon, Dean and Stu). We'd been planning this for what seems like forever, so it was lovely to finally do it, quite frankly. Our location of choice was the Peak District, for a week of relaxation, laughter, and Stu doing impressions of Batman. As holidays go, it was probably the best one I've had; the weather was perfect - apart from one day that it was too hot, but hey, 6 out of 7 ain't bad (as Meatloaf sung in the 7" extended version of his song); the scenery was beautiful; the accommodation was lovely, and very well priced; and, most importantly, the company was brilliant.

Here we are enjoying a BBQ. Matt is enjoying it more* than the rest of us.

*More flamboyantly.

In terms of my creative pursuits, it was a pretty dead month (until this challenge started right near the end). I am hoping I will have more to report on this front come the end of August!

As for leisure time, I spent what was arguably too much time playing various Pokemon games on my Nintendo 3DS - I would happily argue for just as much time that it was incredibly well spent, however. This was spent partly on Pokemon Y, but mainly on a port of the GameBoy Color game, Pokemon Trading Card Game, which has recently been re-released as a download on the 3DS' eShop. It has been a wonderful hit of both nostalgia for one of my childhood favourite games, as well as genuine enjoyment for it as a videogame. I have found it to be more challenging than Pokemon Y, despite (or perhaps partly helped by) the more limited game mechanics.

Before you judge me: POKEMON TRADING CARD GAME GOT 4 STARS IN THE GUARDIAN, SO IN A WAY PLAYING IT IS VERY CULTURED.

Also during this past month, I have met up with a local published writer named Lesley, and we have been discussing the possibility of starting a stand-up comedy night in Berkhamsted. I'll give you more details of this once those details are more set in stone.


In terms of days out, I went to see a very enjoyable football match (my team, Chelsea, beat Wycombe 5-0 in a pre-season friendly), and I also saw plenty of comedy previews as part of the Tringe Festival, and all (apart from one) definitely went down as an hour well-spent.


August has in store for me: another meeting about the possible comedy night; a handful or so of gigs booked in; the Edinburgh Festival; birthdays of a couple of brilliant people; last but not least, the Cheddington Cup. This is an annual football tournament that myself and 5 friends play to see who will be crowned this year's Cheddington Cup Champion. Now in its 4th year, it's pretty much bigger than the World Cup. Also, I have 31 blogs to write in August. That's a whole lot of writing, and a whole lot of travelling. August, you are going to be fun, but shattering.

Thanks for reading.

Tom.