The End of April (for real this time)

I woke up this morning with the sudden realisation that there were several things I was supposed to have done by the end of the month, which still remain unfinished. I mean, don't worry, it's not as if I've forgotten to order vital medication for dying children, or neglected to clean the safety valves on a nuclear reactor or something, so there will be no serious ramifications from my lack of actions. But it's a big indicator of how my mind has been working recently. Which is to say - it hasn't. Things that normally get done without reminders have failed to pop into my thoughts, and tasks that normally feel easy and quick have become cumbersome and time-consuming. And that bothers me. I would like to blame overtiredness and end-of-Summer fatigue, but unfortunately neither of those things are applying. So it's back to my old fears of depression, early onset dementia, or a brain tumour. And I think we know which of those is the most likely explanation...

RC 30-4-26

The End of April...

 
Not wanting to fall into my old trap of typing about Time, but in a little over 24 hours we'll be in May... Next thing you know, I'll be wrapping Christmas presents and moaning about the fact that it's dark!
I think I'm going to put our tent up in the garden this weekend and give it a good airing. I'm sure, at one point this month, I was aiming to have been camping, and have swum in the sea, by the end of April, but it looks very unlikely either of those will be achieved; unless I dig out the tent and sleeping bags tonight and risk the cold night air for a sleep-out, which I don't fancy doing.

In other news, I've reversed my decision to reverse my decision about card tricks. So originally I wanted to learn them and get better at them, then I changed my mind and opted to just enjoy watching other people who were good at them, and now I realise that the doubts and lack of enthusiasm are just part of the process and I still want put in the effort and rise to the challenge. So I've ordered some (admittedly expensive) card decks that are endorsed by The Magic Circle and are apparently ideal for cardistry and sleight of hand. Because I'm sure that's the most important thing when it comes to getting good at a new skill - making sure you have pricey equipment. So from the point they arrive, I'm sure I'll be dedicating time to it undistracted and seeing myself improve exponentially. Hopefully, by this time next year, I'll be able to book myself to appear as a magician at my own holiday centre. That may be self-serving, a conflict of interests, and possibly illegal, but so what?

RC 29-4-26
1715 BST

Can it be that simple?

Before I go any further, I would just like to add a little afterthought to Monday's blog posting. It strikes me that, were I ever to be adopted by a Native American tribe in a 'Dances With Wolves' style storyline, then 'Black Cloud' would be a great name for me to be given.
Having said that, I do feel slightly perkier today. I ate very, very healthily yesterday, restricted my caffeine intake and avoided sugary stuff as much as possible. As a result (possibly, assuming it's not just a coincidence) I am less anxious and less depressed. So maybe my whole 'mental health' issue can be alleviated by turning my back on indulgent unhealthy food stuffs and giving my body what it needs nutritionally.

RC 29-4-26

Black Cloud

I have been struggling with things over the past few days, I must confess. There is no particular reason why, I just seem to be mired in my own thoughts and finding everything ten times more difficult to do than normal. I'm always going to be honest about this stuff, as too many people put on masks that hide what they're truly going through, and if me being honest inspires someone else to be honest when they're having a rough time, then that's great. So here I am - surrounded by sunshine, bathed in warmth, doing a job I love, father to two incredible boys, and with a supportive wife who is somehow with me despite being the most amazing woman I have ever met and far out of my league - and yet I'm still feeling crap. Mental health is a curious thing, and I've studied it lots and I've spoken to experts and I've chatted with lots of long-term sufferers and still I can't even begin to get one per cent of my head around it. Why do some people feel the same way every day with barely any change to their mood, whilst others can be extremely up and down as often as they're feeling stable? Why can some people deal with cancer with barely a drop in their hopefulness, while others can pick up Covid and sink into a 3-week despair? Why can I go months on end without finding anything difficult, and then suddenly have a 3-day spell where putting on a pair of socks takes every inch of mental effort I can muster? Is it, as suspected, the pace of the modern world and our inability as cavemen to cope with the onset of technology? Are there too many people to compare ourselves to and therefore more opportunities for self-criticism? Are we obsessed with happiness and contentment these days, and any moment where we don't feel we are 'living our best life' we are going to feel unfulfilled and worthless?
I don't know. But I do know that trying to work this stuff out is just adding darkness into an already dark mood. The more I think about it, and the more I try to think my way out of it, the more my thoughts are stuck in it and the longer it tends to go on, and the deeper I'm likely to sink. Past experiences of this kind tell me that I need to accept it and relax into it, and let it pass. Which it will. And in the meantime, I can be good to myself by drinking lots of water, eating well, getting on with what's in front of me, keeping it in the moment, and doing the things I know I enjoy.
So I am now going to put on one of my favourite movie soundtracks and get on with writing some reports.

RC 27-4-26

Torment (a poem)

I cast aside a book I see
that centres on philosophy
and read instead a diary
with every page a memory
that links the past to you and me
and our intended prophecy
of endless times of being 'we'

I notice, with each page I turn
that once I've satisfied a yearn
my heart performs a swift U-turn
a kind of hatred starts to churn
I cast aside the love I earn
the things I have, I tend to burn
I wonder if I'll ever learn?

My book of life is filled with days
of failing in a million ways
existing in amongst the strays
ignoring all the work that pays
hating music as it plays
thinking that the world betrays.
I must accept it as it lays...

RC 25-4-26

Another weekend is upon us

We have a busy few days ahead at work. Unusually for us, we have a big, block booking: from a large group of religious fanatics from Shropshire. Sorry, let me rephrase that - 'religious fanatics' has certain connotations and might put a certain negative image in your head, so let me say instead that we have a large group of devotees descending upon us.
Although, to be fair, I do get the impression that this lot might be a touch on the fanatical side. I can't quite work out which denomination they are affiliated with; it seems to be more in the realms of astrology, wicca and the occult. They've asked for exclusive use of one of the ballrooms, they want the windows covered by dark curtains, and they're bringing their own chefs (and happily paying us to allow them to use the kitchen). All very odd, but nothing too worrying. I do have a slight uneasy feeling though that once we get them here they might be difficult to deal with, and possibly even difficult to get rid of. There's just something about the guy I've been communicating with that makes me think he could be the sort to take over everything and tell me how to do my job.
Oh, Good Lord, I've just realised something! A while ago, I joked about starting a cult on the site and barricading ourselves in against the outside world. Is my fantasy becoming reality? Is my foolishness about to be revealed as a premonition?
Am I a prophet????

RC 24-4-26

St George's what?

As it's the day of our patron saint here in England, I thought I would help out those of you who are unfamiliar with him by writing a brief (and fictionalised) account of his life:

Born on 23rd April 1077, he was named George Aristotle Benevolent by his loving parents, who had been completely surprised by his birth, thinking the pregnancy was just a weird case of stomach gout. He could read by the age of two, which is even more impressive bearing in mind there were no printed works within 250 years of him. He had a younger sister, Dorothy, who would grow up to be the first female Pope, although it was kept quiet at the time and they pretended she was only at the Vatican to peel bananas. When he was 10, he accidentally stepped on a grass snake and was convinced it had sunk poisonous fangs into his ankle. This led to his 'dark years' in which he threw himself into a debauched lifestyle, believing he would imminently die anyway due to the venom (which he presumably thought was very slow-acting).
He was married four times - including twice to the same woman, an abnormally tall seamstress named Dell Twigg, who would go on to be the inspiration for the character 'Malvolio' in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, and who appears, in cartoon form, on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
George only worked for three years throughout his life. He was a goat herder on a meadow in what is now Walthamstow. The rest of his time was spent 'wandering and wondering', much to his parent's dismay, who dismissed his claims of religious pilgrimage as 'a pile of dung to disguise his constant laziness'. It is thought that the legend of George slaying a dragon arose from an incident in Turkey when he accidentally sat on a wasp.
He died in poverty at the age of 47, having achieved little besides bringing the concept of tattoos back to England from his travels in Mesopotamia.

RC 23-4-26

Better late than never...?

It has been pointed out to me that I missed International Haiku Day last week!
So, belatedly...

A day for haiku
Here's seventeen syllables
to celebrate with

RC 22-4-26

Time doing Time Things

I really don't like the pace with which the Spring months are disappearing. Especially as they haven't been feeling like Spring recently. It's been weird, right? For every step that you take bathed in warm sunshine there is a moment where a biting wind cuts through you as you walk around a corner. And we're now closer to May than March, which depresses me. Anyway - years ago I promised never to blog about the passing of time again, so let's move on...

I'm really getting into seeds at the moment. Eating them, I mean. I hate to sound like I'm jumping on a hipster bandwagon and 'being kind to my gut biome' but one of the cheaper supermarkets do these lovely packets of 'Meditteranean Style Nuts and Seeds for Salads' that are just gorgeous. I have them sprinkled on fruit and yoghurt as a second breakfast most mornings now. I also have them in a drawer at work to snack on as-and-when during the day. I have also put them between two store-bought scotch pancakes as a kind of nutty, nutritiony sandwich, floated them on top of the foam on a luxury hot chocolate, and had them on rice cakes with a coating of peanut butter. As you may have noticed about me - when I really like something, I really do it to death, and when I find a new culinary taste that thrills me, I tend to try it with everything.

RC 21-4-26

Graham Norton - an un-appreciation

I've always been a big fan of Graham Norton as a presenter. I think he does great interviews and has always been witty, natural and enthusiastic. I don't watch much telly, but I'd put him in my Top 3 of TV 'personalities'.
His current stream of adverts, however, have turned me right against him. Not only am I determined to avoid anything he appears on from this day forth, but I am also trying to invent a way to wipe out all existence of any previous material he has been involved in. I know celebrities can earn a ridiculous amount of money for very little work when they sell themselves to companies, but my God they torpedo their own credibility with me when they do it. How much money can you really need to earn?
A question I would also ask Dame Judi Dench after her questionable foray into the world of advertising recently...

RC 20-4-26

Counting Crows - an appreciation

I've been a fan of the band Counting Crows for years, but I've only just got round to listening to their 2025 album "Butter Miracle - The Complete Sweets!"
It's now become my favourite release of last year.
Adam's voice has never sounded better, and the lyrics are just breathtaking. Throw in some absolutely killer melodies - in almost every song - and it's a collection that sounds like a Greatest Hits playlist. And I love the fact that the songs are all in different styles and are all unique. The stand-out for me is "Virginia Through The Rain" but that's because I've always tended to prefer the slower stuff. And the medley at the end deserves a special mention too. A very special mention. Has anyone blended a sequence of songs together this well since The Beatles? That might sound high praise, but I would challenge you to provide me with better examples...

RC 19-4-26

The Confusing Nature of Genealogy

We have a family birthday thing tonight. Not my family - Philippa's. I've been with her for many years now and I still can't get my head around the family tree. She seems to have more cousins than blood cells. Comparing my family to hers is like comparing an isolated village in the Amazon to Tokyo. She has a LOT of relatives. And most of them are based in the local area, and most of them will be there tonight, because it's a 50th birthday, so it's a big one. Why it's on a Friday, I don't know, but I believe the birthday boy (I think it's a male, it might be Aunty Penelope now I think about it...) is being taken off on holiday tomorrow, and that's a Saturday to Saturday affair. So poor old Rory has to schlep up to North Norfolk after a busy day at work.
I'm sure it'll be fun, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it when I'm there, but I do always find myself a bit apprehensive before these things. Family dynamics are always so difficult to keep up with, and I normally manage to ask about the one cousin who is currently out of favour, or mention something to someone that it turns out I was never supposed to have knowledge of in the first place.
So tonight my plan may be to keep my mouth shut as much as possible, unless I'm answering a direct question or ordering a drink.
And I really hope everyone wears name tags, and that I'm given a detailed diagram highlighting who is whom and how they relate to everyone else.

RC 17-4-26

all or nothing

What a week or so it's been. It's only really sinking in now just what an inspiring, emotional, joyous few days I had over the weekend. Artemis II, a cracking final day at the US Masters, lots of time with my sons and a successful busy spell at work all coming together in a glorious, awe-filled culmination of loveliness. And it was wonderful weather too.
Today, by comparison, feels almost like a non-entity.
I have no onslaught of tourists about to arrive, no last-minute schedules to rewrite due to illness, no Moon missions to keep updated on, no major sports events to keep track of, and both my sons are at their places of education, being safely looked after by professionals. And I don't have a desk-deep backlog of work to catch up on. I am in a rare state of relaxed up-to-dated-ness.
So I'll be sitting in the sun playing 'Balatro' this afternoon. And getting paid for it. Go me...

RC 16-4-26

Changes and comparisons

I don't think there is quite as marked a difference at work as the second week of the Easter Holidays, and the week that follows it. We have ups and downs during the year, and we have long spells where we're flat out and then it peters out a bit, but with Easter we go from 100% capacity to a ghost town in the space of two days. It's bizarre. It's like we've piloted a plane full of passengers halfway round the world, then dropped them all out of the fuselage at the same time. Except we have many more people than could fit on any plane in existence. And they don't parachute off together, they slowly drift away in cars over the course of a few hours. But hopefully, you get what I mean.
I can walk from my office all the way across the complex and only see about 12 people. Last week at this time, you couldn't take two steps without tripping over a toddler or being asked for directions by a parent. We now just have a few pensioners here for a Spring excursion, a couple of families who refuse to pay the peak time prices and would rather take their kids out of school for a week, and our permanent residents, who tend to look after themselves, unless they're having issues.
So I can catch up with a few things and take my time getting to know a few new members of staff who have joined us this year. I can also crack on with setting up our Open Mic night, which Gavin is determined to make a success (well - he's determined that he's going to make me make it a success) and which he hopes will be established and running in time for the busy Summer months. Probably because it would mean free entertainment. If we have locals dropping in to play for free, he's saving himself a few quid on the budget. Tight sod.

RC 15-4-26

lifelong wounds

April is already half over. I'm not gonna dwell on that, except to say, "Time, huh?"

Mathew has gone back to school with the enthusiasm of a turkey being asked to walk itself into the Bernard Matthews factory. I think he enjoyed his time at home during Easter and he's finding it hard to go back to the normal routine. I can't blame him. I remember myself how joyous it is to have the whole day long to do whatever you wanted, then being forced back into the classroom and realising that by the time you get let out again, you'll be too fatigued to enjoy the evening at home. You have a catalogue of fun things to do with your time, but you're not allowed the freedom to indulge in them. And it's worse at this time of year, in a way, because the day feels so much longer, but you lose so much of it to your studies.
Is that any different to being at work though?
Most people are still on that conveyor belt of dragging themselves out of bed to sit in traffic to reach a job that sucks their soul out of their bodies, returning to a home they can't afford without the job they hate, to waste their evenings recovering from the horrors of the working day. Then rinse and repeat. When you're 7, or 10, it's lessons, rules and homework; when you're an adult it's shifts, rules and exhaustion. The location may be different, but the mental state is the same.
I guess the whole purpose of the education system is to institutionalise you into a certain kind of life, and to brainwash you into thinking that that's your only option.

On a lighter note - I've given up trying to learn card tricks or cardistry in favour of just admiring the people who can already do it. There are thousands of clips online, and I've decided that I'd rather spend hours enjoying the skills of those who have already dedicated years of their time to getting good at it, than spend years trying to get that good myself.

RC 14-4-26

poem from the first night of a relationship

One day we'll sit and talk of this
to pass the time a while
We'll snuggle up and reminisce
and look back with a smile
These early days of love and lust
are moments to enjoy
and as our bodies turn to dust
they'll blanket us with joy
Every star, each golden ray
each cuddle and caress
will be there on our final day
to ease our aches and stress
So be with me, my love, my friend
and cherish every part
For when we're closer to the end
we'll look back on this start
And every single memory
and very single kiss
Will then remind both you and me
That one day we had this

RC 13-4-26

Possible Ode Overload

I have been disappointingly lax on the poetry front again, and I think it might be down to this blogsite. Not blaming you for my laziness, you understand, but I do find that if I commit to a month of poems here, it fires me up and inspires me and I start noticing things I can write verses about, and getting on with them. When I'm just churning out 'normal' posts, that inner part of me that fuels my rhyming gets lazy. So I might just commit to an extensive output of new poems and see if that gets me going again.
Or maybe I'm just a 'bursts' kind of guy naturally. I'm never going to be one to be able to sit down and produce endless streams of creative brilliance, I'm just going to have little spells every now and then where I'm able to hit a daily target. Maybe I need the downtimes in between to recharge my poetic batteries and allow me some processing time within my central hard drive. Maybe The Way Of The Rory is that I can't be contained within a certain structure or schedule, I have to let things flow naturally, and therefore fitting this stuff in around other stuff in my life can be constrictive. Or maybe the commitment is exactly what is required to push me into a pattern of production.
I have no idea what I'm typing about now, so that's another reason to concentrate more on poetry, to stifle this waffle...

RC 12-4-26

Genuine wonderment

They're back. Four explorers safely returned to the Earth after a journey of three quarters of a million miles. Through a vacuum. The whole thing still blows me away, but also fills me with a sense of pride that is immeasurable, at a time when I really feel I needed it.
And if you get, you get it, and if you don't, you don't; and I decided a long time ago to stop trying to convert people or to dissuade them from their views. If you want to doubt the achievement, or call it a waste of money, or believe the many conspiracy theories, go ahead. I choose to revel in the incredible sense of wonder that I feel every time I see one of the images, or hear one of the astronauts voices as they explain the view from their window, or think about the thousands of people who dedicated years of their lives to the accomplishments of the past 10 days. It truly has been remarkable. And to be able to follow it so closely, and in such detail, has given me a sense of connectivity to something that I haven't felt in years. Maybe since the London Olympics. And that ability to follow it so closely is down to technology that only exists in the first place because of the human drive for discovery and exploration. What a wonderful loop of awe.
And the official NASA flickr page has more than 60,000 images to get through, so I'm going to make a start on them now. 60k+ images, all in the public domain, because everything in this is being shared with everyone, and that's the most amazing part of it all, I think.

I have to say, though, that the first person to speak at the official NASA post-splashdown press conference this morning (I think his name was Ahmit?) gave the least inspiring reading of an inspiring speech I've ever heard. Not a criticism - just a realisation that some people are better at expressing themselves vocally than others.

RC 11-4-26

Genuine excitement

Wow. Suddenly, as if from nowhere, the US Masters is back on our TV screens. An event that I have always felt some kind of weird affinity towards and affection for has somehow crept up on me unnoticed and here I sit, genuinely taken by surprise.
I could go into one of my oft-repeated "Time, huh?" rants here, but I'd rather not. We all know that, despite the laws of physics, time speeds up as soon as we hit the first of March and months fly by quicker than a bat flying by your ear at night when you're looking up at the moon dreaming about the fact that there are currently human beings closer to IT than to US; but that's not the point. I think my surprise this year is as a result of me being distracted by other things of personal importance, whereas in the past these annual landmarks felt more significant to me. And maybe my lazy style of Buddhism is bearing fruit a little. If you're keeping life in the current day and focusing on the present moment, it's hard to notice things getting closer on the calendar, right?
Or maybe it's just dementia.
Anyway - I have no clue on the form or recent success of any players, so I'm just going to make a blind prediction and say that Jon Rahm will win. And that's my final decision.
Although Rory McIlroy might retain it...

RC 10-4-26

Imitation Meat Loaf Review

So, our visiting act for Bank Holiday Monday was on a bit of a loser from the start with me, really, because I simply didn't want to be here to watch him. I wanted to be at home with my sons, enjoying more of the Easter Weekend and trying to be a 'normal' dad. But I have to say, despite not being a huge fan of the music, that the guy put on a really good show. His name was Gary, and he was from the Scottish Highlands somewhere, but he chatted to the audience in an American accent and, as far as I remember, he really had the voice and mannerisms down to a very high level. I was going to introduce him as 'Tofu' (which of course is itself a substitute for a meat product) but thankfully my inner comedy filters kicked in and persuaded me to bin that line and instead I let one of our enthusiastic twenty-something hosts do the onstage bit on my behalf.
It was a good night, I have to say. The place was packed, our sound system really is a thing of wonder, and Gary did a good job of keeping the music flowing, but keeping the crowd engaged. He was on his own, too, with everything being played from backing tracks on a laptop. (that's the only way we could afford him, really, I can't be booking in big touring bands with 4 or 5 members, with our budget). What worked really well, I thought, was that he dropped the Meat Loaf persona a bit as the second half went on, and talked as himself, sharing stories of why he loved this music so much and why he wants to keep the songs alive for people. So you started the evening with a full-on, in-character tribute act but ended it singing along with a fellow fan and a real enthusiast, who has been very open about his enthusiasm.
And he hung around afterwards to chat to people and have selfies, which is always a nice touch.
You do meet some absolute w**kers when you're dealing with performers, so it's a lovely change when you meet someone down-to-Earth, not up their own arseholes and genuinely nice. So I told him we'd like to have him back again and maybe make it an annual Easter appearance, which he was thrilled about.

RC 8-4-26

Meaty

We have a Meat Loaf tribute act onsite tonight, which I have ended up having to stay on for, as a sort-of Supervising Manager. I'm not overly enthused about this. I understand his albums are amongst the biggest sellers of all time, but the whole thing was always a little lost on me. It struck me as a mixture of opera, rock, pantomime and drag; all very cartoonish and not really serious music. And his 1990s output "I'd Do Anything For Love' made me want to drive a large stake through my own heart rather than ever hear it again, and it was EVERYWHERE. No. 1 for about 9 weeks and constantly polluting the radio and jukeboxes, wherever I seemed to be at any given moment. Mind you, a lot of that hatred might have been to do with a young lady that I was enamoured with at the time, despite my young years. But I don't want to relive that particular past-Rory horror here.
Is it possible, I wonder, for my entire opinion of a performer to be formed around my dislike of just one song? Maybe. As I think I've said before - Paul McCartney is an undoubted genius, and I am in awe of his consistency and quality over the decades, but if I met him I would probably punch him in the face and say, "That's for 'Ob-la-Di, Ob-la-Da' you bastard". So yeah, maybe my thoughts can be clouded by one action that I dislike, but I don't think it's just that. Meat Loaf just always struck me as very over-rated, and it flummoxes me that people would spend an evening watching someone pretending to be him.
Anyway, I don't want to judge the act ahead of time, clearly...

RC 6-4-26

Moonshot

I have to say I'm so excited by everything that's happening with Artemis II, and I'm pleased that a lot of other people seem to be excited too.
I sat up for the launch the other night and it was more exciting that the start of a Super Bowl. I wanted to have Mathew sit up and watch it with me, but Philippa firmly put the block on that one. My argument that it's an historically important project that he could look back on with significant memories fell on deaf ears. "He can sit up and watch it when they land" was her response. I tried to make the case that he's on a break from school for Easter and would therefore be pretty unharmed by the late night, only to be told, "He wants to do an Easter Egg hunt and paint faces on eggshells, he doesn't want to sit up til midnight just to watch a rocket with his dad."
She may have been right, but it would have been nice to share it with him.

RC 4-4-26

Happy Easter, y'all

I'm never sure whether Easter proper falls on Good Friday or the Sunday, but I think I've gone on about that before on this blogsite (possibly even last year?) so I won't retread that path today. But I will wish you the happiest of Easter weekends, and May The Gods of Chocolate Bestow Their Many Treats upon Thee.

For me, the weekend is about supervising four days of activities where we not only have a full allocation of holidaymakers, but also day visitors coming onsite for our special Easter shenanigans where every child gets a photo with a character and gets sent away with some goodies. So I have the stress of making sure we have enough prizes to go around and enough DBS-checked staff on hand to make sure the hundreds of little ones don't wander off places they're not supposed to go and end up neck-deep in pondwater or stuck underneath an arcade machine. So, as you can probably tell by the tone and content of this posting, my anxiety levels are a little raised!
The lovely thing (well, I think its lovely) is that my sons get to come and see me at work and enjoy the fruits of what I do in my day-to-day life away from them. Well, I say 'fruits' - in this case, of course, its unhealthy snacks, but I think you see what I'm trying to say. it was lovely to have them come and visit last year, and they're excited to do it again this year. And I've managed to wangle a couple of days off next week so I can actually spend some time with them before they go back to school.

RC 3-4-26

Good Friday Eve

I think Easter would be quite low on my list of Holiday Favourites, but it's nice, I suppose. It's probably the wandering nature of its date that puts me off a bit. If I knew when the weekend would fall each year, I could get into a rhythm with it and look forward to it. When it leaps around the calendar like a kangaroo in a minefield, I find it hard to get enthusiastic.
But it's here, and it's an excuse for indulgence, and it means my children are having a break from school, so that's all good. Not that I'm getting to see much of them, of course. Too busy providing entertainment and activities for other little ones to spend time with my own, but there we are - that is the reality of the life that Philippa and I inhabit at the moment and so we just make the best of it, as best we can.
Personally, I am not going for a big Easter Egg this year. A weird thing seems to be happening with my taste buds and my metabolism and I seem to be getting less and less attracted to chocolate. I still have my favourites, of course, and a packet of Munchies will sing to me from a supermarket shelf as loudly as a siren from The Odyssey, but generally speaking I can happily go weeks without even a square of Dairy Milk entering my mouth. Maybe I ate my lifetime allocation of chocolate back in my teens and twenties, and now it's time to cut it out completely. My wife and children, on the other hand, seem able to inhale greater quantities of sweet stuff every day without any hint of nausea or weight gain. So our kitchen treat cupboard at home currently has rather a large amount of Easter-relevant goodies, chief of which is a collection of Biscoff Creme Eggs. I have been reliably informed, by more than one correspondent, that they are 'better than orgasms'.

RC 2-4-26

TROPES

Things I am sick of seeing used in movies or TV because they've just been done to death:

1. Characters singing along to music while driving.
2. The phrase "I'm sorry for your loss" - especially in shows set in times when it never would have been used.
3. People saying 'come on, pick up' when they're waiting for someone to answer the phone.
4. People throwing their head back after putting pills in their mouth to signal that they have swallowed them.
5. Actors crying in emotional scenes to show off the fact that they can cry on demand, while displaying zero other emotion beyond the tears themselves.

RC 1-4-26