December 30th 2020 Today I dressed up like an arctic explorer on a North Pole expedition to go for a run. Seriously, I’ve put fewer layers on a lasagne than the amount that covered my torso today. I wore gloves. I wore a snood. I wore a hat. I wore leggings underneath my shorts. I’ve only just realised that because all of the clothes I was wearing were black, I must’ve kind of looked like a burglar running away from the scene of a crime. I wouldn’t have looked like a very good burglar, however, because I was empty handed. … Continue reading Snood

December 28th 2020 Today I rediscovered a dimension of chess I’ve not previously faced in my two weeks losing repeatedly to either the AI or real players on chess.com: gamesmanship. I played three games against my dad, on an actual, real board. With real pieces and real squares, in real life — remember real life? I soon found that as well as tactics and smart play, reactions and expressions were a key part of any attempt to beat my Dad. If I reacted too soon to his move — before he’d had chance to take his finger from the piece … Continue reading Bishop

December 24th 2020 Today I’m starting to think Santa’s not real. Somehow, when I got to my mum and dad’s house this afternoon, my stocking was already full of presents. Maybe that’s because Santa is working overtime in order to maintain social distancing during his present delivery route — i’d imagine that’s be difficult, given the circumstances. Or maybe it’s because the whole thing is a sham. I reckon mum and dad prefilled the stocking with presents before I arrived and made up the sorry about Santa having already been. It sounds suspicious. If it was a book, I wouldn’t … Continue reading Sham

December 23rd 2020 Today I was accused by a friend of being “quiet recently”. And perhaps that’s true, but also, I’m always quiet. I’ll check in when I need something, but the rest of the time I am pretty distant. And that’s what I’ve always been like. I don’t get involved in the group chats, or send memes to my friends, but I know that when I need them, they’re there. And that’s how I like it. I’m not a great digital participant, but any time I’m invited to a social thing I almost always show up. It’s actually a … Continue reading Quiet

December 22nd 2020 Today apparently I just don’t sleep before 2am anymore. Also now I wake up at like 5 desperate for either water or a piss. It’s a very stuttered sleep. And then I wake up 20 minutes after my alarm goes off. I assume it went off, at least. I wasn’t awake to hear it, but there’s no reason to believe that it didn’t go off. I just didn’t hear it. It’s that time of year where people forget what day it is, but also what time it is, I’m sure a lot of people would like to … Continue reading Stuttered

December 21st 2020 Today I’ve worked from bed the entire day — loosely defining the term ‘worked’ in doing so. Let’s just say, I’ve had many days in my job where I’ve added more value than I did so today. But a few things… it is the last Monday before Christmas, over half my team had booked the day off on leave (including my boss), I’m a bit hungover, I’m very tired. There’s like maybe a 50% chance my boss will read this, so in the event that she does, please disregard everything I’ve just said. I added much value. … Continue reading Value