There’s a light in the darkness of everybody’s life. And during the pandemic, one such beacon for me has been the impending return of musical theatre. So when things finally did open up again, I was delighted to see an audio described performance had become available for a show that I’ve been eager to see for ages. And so last weekend I finally saw The Rocky Horror Show live in person. Suffice to say, it was well worth the wait!
I’ll tell you all about that on Halloween itself. But to build up to that, and to turn this into a special Halloween trilogy, I thought I would take a deep dive into my love of Rocky Horror first, by talking about the film, stage productions and other remakes in this post, and then tomorrow I’ll share my Rocky Horror music collection. I was going through all of that stuff in preparation for seeing the live show anyway – not that I needed any excuse to enjoy it all yet again in the first place – so I figured I may as well write about it too. So allow me to take you on a strange journey, and I hope you enjoy!
Happy New Year! Well, as happy as it can be in the circumstances. Let’s face it, 2020 is the year that nobody wants to look back at. Referring to perfect vision as 20/20 will forever carry a certain irony with it now. And if you were to try and sum up the year with a word or phrase, there isn’t much that’s family-friendly that truly does it justice – other than dumpster fire perhaps, which I’ve seen a lot of people use very accurately.
Granted, 2021 hasn’t started off any better, but that’s because we’re still experiencing the fallout from the damage caused by its unruly predecessor. 2021 has its work cut out trying to repair that, and it will undoubtedly require the assistance of 2022 and beyond to achieve it. However, 2021 is giving us a lot of reason to be hopeful, so there is definitely light at the end of this long, dark tunnel we’ve all been stuck in.
But I need to wrap up 2020 nevertheless. It was a strange and difficult Christmas without a doubt, not the sort any of us wanted, and it’s going to be a hard winter for many, especially now we’re in lockdown again. There’s a big ray of hope with the rollout of the vaccines though, so the future’s looking good, and many thanks to all the health workers who are doing their utmost to dish them out as quickly as possible.
My thoughts also go to everyone in America after the recent terror attack amid the fallout from Trump’s defeat. Biden’s inauguration on January 20th can’t come soon enough. Best wishes from across the pond, stay safe!
Those challenges aside, however, I hope you were able to find some enjoyment and comfort during the festive period, insofar as the rules allowed in your part of the world.
Mum and I are doing fine, I’m pleased to say. We’ve enjoyed lots of nice treats, and have had plenty of fun things to watch and listen to, all of which has been a welcome distraction from the news. I continued to have a few long walks around my local area during December as well, as that was the only way I could get out and about, so it was important to make the most of it. Mum’s had a bit of fresh air too of course, but doesn’t go on the long hikes like I do, and we’ve made sure she stays well away from other people apart from her sister (and even then they keep their distance at the front door, she hasn’t been in the house).
So we did pretty well this Christmas despite the limitations, and here’s my festive post and video to round things up. I’m not going to mention absolutely everything we filled our stomachs with, or every little bit of entertainment we watched or listened to. I’m just going mention my favourite things, as is the purpose of these posts. Nothing here is sponsored as usual, and any gifts are just from friends, not the people behind the products. So I hope you enjoy!
Well, what a year this has turned out to be, huh? Perhaps we should just rename it 2019B or 2019.5 and start 2020 again next January. It’s like we’ve had a faulty software update in the calendar that needs serious debugging and virus-checking before it’s rolled out again.
Obviously I’m not dismissing the tragic side of things by saying that. My heart goes out to everybody who has lost loved ones or been severely affected in some other way, and I sincerely hope you all stay safe and well as best you can. Please follow the guidelines on hygiene, distancing, isolation, etc, because it really will save many lives. It will take a few weeks at least before we start seeing the impact of such measures, but they will help, and we will get through this. Huge thanks to all our incredible health and care staff, as well as the many other people providing essential products and services.
Beyond this introduction, I have no desire or intent to write posts about the situation, as it’s not nice and there’s enough about it online already. However, I have created a Covid Resources page, where you’ll find many links for information, advice and support, plus many ways to stay connected and entertained at home, which I hope you find useful.
Clearly this is going to change what I’m able to do and post about for a while. So in this post and video I want to wrap up my recent museum and theatre visits, as well as disability related updates and TV favourites, for both February and March. That way, I can move forward with a clean slate as I settle into a temporary new routine.
All of which means there’s a fair amount to cover here, making it a good distraction from everything that’s going on. I haven’t been sponsored or gifted by anyone to mention them, and all opinions are my own. So I hope you enjoy!
Here’s another brief journal entry from what is proving to be a very quiet year, along with a couple of jokes I’ve been sent to pad things out a bit. June was very uneventful, so I’ve waited until now before writing another update, talking about a bit of building work, some great news from a friend of mine that will give me a lot more to do next year, and the sad passing of a hugely popular comedian. So I’m sorry this is quite short, but I hope you enjoy!
Here we go with another year of my journal entries. These early weeks have been mainly focused on arranging trips away in the UK and abroad in the months ahead. But I also met up with some friends in Exeter, we had a bit more work done on the house, and there are other bits and pieces like TV shows, news stories, etc that I’ve decided to mention as always. So I hope you enjoy!
We’ve reached another significant month in my life with these journal entries, as I’ve learnt the outcome of my first ever job interview! Hurricane Katrina has also embarked on its path of destruction in America, and so given its inevitable dominance in the news it would have been remiss not to mention it. And amongst the various bits of entertainment I’ve been buying, watching and listening to, ITV have been celebrating their 50th anniversary, including a rundown of their top 50 shows. So I hope you enjoy this latest mixture!
We’ve made it to the end of my second year of journal entries! I figured I may as well combine the last 2 months here, as there wasn’t much to say for November. As usual I talk about university, the latest DVDs I’ve been buying and the TV I’ve been enjoying. Plus there’s another top 100 list and a few of the stranger news stories that have caught my attention, and of course there’s Christmas. So I hope you enjoy!
Here’s my next instalment of journal entries. This month I got the result for my latest group project, enjoyed a lot of Queen’s music, bought various comedy DVDs, and watched the Queen Mother’s funeral on TV, among other things. so I hope you enjoy!
Welcome to my first ever set of personal journal entries. This is the first time I’ve started keeping a diary, and the first time I’ve written anything about my life online. I just thought I would start these during my first year at university to see how it goes. I’ve edited entries where necessary to protect the privacy of myself and others, remove out of context references, etc. But I’ll be adding relevant links, photos and videos where possible too.
For those who are curious, I am using assistive technology at university, funded with help from the Disabled Students Allowance, as I use magnification and speech software, a CCTV video magnifier, and a scanner with OCR software so I can import typed notes and pages from books. I don’t often use speech generally, but it’s essential when you have a ton of stuff to read! I’m also living at home, as I’m close enough to commute by train, which saves a huge amount on accommodation costs.
But anyway, let’s get on with the journal, which I hope you find of some curious interest and a bit of fun!
Well Eye Never 