Lived

Highlights

• Six by Nico: Childhood
• Still surviving Bootcamp, into the last couple of sessions now
• Signed up for Pedal for Scotland
• Bought some plants because ‘greenery’
• Bought some fab new cushions
• Had a tattoo consultation (and booked in for August, wooop!)

Aside from that, whilst I had a lot of things on, almost every day, it felt like a quiet month. Admittedly a lot of my focus has been inwards, my physical health and fitness have driven a lot of my decisions (not drinking on nights out for example), and my mental health is definitely improving but obviously that too takes a lot of hard work. Meditating as a ‘habit’ as pretty much in place now too so, whilst not busy, I feel I achieved a lot.

In other news, the hunt for a poster sized version of the yellow Saul Bass designed movie poster of The Shining continues.

Stepcount: 271,702.

Read

The Sellout by Paul Beatty
Didn’t even finish this book, and didn’t make it to book club either. An intriguing idea, and there is no doubt the writing is very clever but there in lies my problem. It’s a little too clever at times, and felt a bit like the author was showing off. Maybe I should’ve stuck with it longer than I did but, Booker Prize winner or not, it was a struggle to get through the third or so that I managed. No doubt I will pick this up again and love it, but it was just too hard going and not engaging enough to keep me reading.

Watched

Fargo (TV series)
Only just realised I didn’t make it to the cinema at all in May, but as I was completely besotted and gripped by Fargo on Netflix I’m not sure I noticed. I’ve rattled through Season 1 and already a good way through Season 2.

Martin Freeman in the first season is excellent when give a little more freedom, and as he ages I’m liking him more and more (and seeing him in grittier roles helps too), add in a superb cast, some wonderful subtle and very dark humour, and Fargo the TV series matches up well to the iconic (and one of my favourites) movie.

Season 2 feels even stronger, and whilst it has the same core setting, it is presented with clever visuals and some stellar performances all round. Loving it!

Also good

• North by Northwest – not my favourite (Cary Grant is just a little too ‘ham’ for my tastes in this role) but it’s Hitchcock so still worth a watch as the tension gets racheted up and up and up.
• House of Cards – Season 5 is out on Netflix, need I say more?

Listened

Chris Cornell
A larger influence on me than I think I realised, one of my favourite ‘rock’ voices and a sad loss. The acoustic covers sit heavy on my heart, and Superunknown has been on repeat.

Also good
Slowdive, The Amazons, Perfume Genius, Julie Byrne, and MUNA have all hit my playlist but, as of yet, none of them have really stuck.

The real question is, where is the album of the summer??