What I’ve been doing:
The month got off to a bang, in the sense that I literally walked into a lamppost walking through Manchester City centre. And to this day, a month later, I’m still treating lampposts like they’re out to get me. The reality is I should just stop looking up at buildings when I’m walking… Anyway, after a day or two I felt better, although every silly mistake I made the following week got blamed on the bang.
We had more snow. Literally, every time I write that, more comes. What it meant this month was that my family couldn’t visit, but that wasn’t going to happen anyway as some rats had got inside my dad’s car and chewed his engine to pieces. Yes, this happened. So instead of spending a weekend of Hygge with my family, me and Nat (my partner) went walking around our area. One thing I’ve noticed already is how much easier long walks are becoming since joining the gym. My breathing has improved a lot.
Work started to settle down somewhat. When I joined there were literally 10-20 massive jobs that had been ongoing since the end of last year. We’ve been able to sort most of those out, bit by bit, but it’s been hard work and exhausting. I never knew when I changed jobs that I’d be coming home and lying in bed at night worrying about the amounts of work I had, but towards the end of the month things started to settle down and I’m looking forward to April (already halfway through it now of course as I’m late writing this thing).
I watched Liverpool progress into the last 8 of the Champions League, which was probably always going to be the case after winning 0-5 in the first leg. That was fun. I think one great thing that’s happened to me over the last few months is how much I’ve changed as a football fan. Maybe it’s just because we’re playing good, who knows, but I just try to enjoy the moments now if and when they come. I’m much more relaxed. All teams lose. That’s football. What I want to see is commitment, and the wanting to improve. At the minute I’m watching bucketloads of that.
And to top the month off Nat’s family (mum, dad and brother) flew over to stay a few days. We hired a rental car from Avis (a nice Hyundai i30 that I didn’t want to give back) and drove up to the Lake District. It was a lovely little break away. The house we rented in Kendal had everything we needed and in the 3 days we were there we visited Keswick, Ambleside, an old broken down Abbey (pictured), a roman fort and Calfclose Bay where we had a big walk. In between all that we ate. A lot.
I’ve probably done more this month but with being away the last weekend of the month I didn’t have time to write this thing so now I’m writing it 2 weeks late. I’m 29 now so my memory isn’t what it used to be. Or maybe it was just that damn lamppost.
What I’ve been reading:
I started February with Fierce Attachments by Vivian Gornick, a book Nat got me which I enjoyed a lot. The good thing was it was like a homage to New York and it made me want to visit. The bad thing was that at times it felt a bit too personal and I struggled to connect.
I then read Spring by Karl Ove Knausgaard which I picked up in Lincoln last month. These things either just keep creeping out, or time is going too fast. This was by far the best one so far in the Seasons Quartet and I loved every single word, paragraph, page. It is the most similar to the My Struggle books and reaffirmed Knausgaard’s high ranking in my top authors ever.
And I finished March with Man Up by Rebecca Asher, something I’d been meaning to read for a while. I hate ‘lad culture’, and I hate this idea that all boys have to wear blue, and stop crying ’cause it’s girly’ and ‘be a man’. Literally, it annoys me even writing about it now. Clearly it bothers Asher too, as she wrote this book all about it, and now I’m just terrified to send any future kids to school, (where any work I’ve done at home in raising any future kids as gender free will be destroyed within minutes). It’s a great book, please check it out.
What I’ve been listening to:
Woah, another terrible month for music. Hardly listened to anything. I did go into Fopp though one Wednesday after work and pick up two albums, both debut albums, one from ALVVAYS and one from Daughter titled ‘If You Leave’, both of which have kept me company in the car for the last few weeks.
But whilst in the shop I also had a look for another band Sunflower Bean, that have been recommended to me by a few people based on my liking of ALVVAYS. I found their album, and it was a tenner, and the album cover looked terrible, so I thought I’d leave it for another month or two, but on my drive home after Spanish class that night, their latest song ‘Twentytwo‘ came on on the radio, and the next day I returned to Fopp to buy the album.
I’ve probably listened to this track more times in these 13 days of April, than I did in March, but it’s my choice of the month by default. They’re a bit of a weird band and the jury is still out on whether I actually like them or not… The album goes a bit punky at times (I think I like all genres of music except punk) and when they’re not being punky, they’re sounding a bit too similar to Fleetwood Mac (listen to ‘I Was a Fool’ by SB and then ‘Dreams’ by FM, you hear it?). Still, if they’re sounding close to the Mac then they’re on the right track. No rhyme intended.
What I’ve been watching:
A great month for TV, I think I enjoyed almost everything I watched. First up was the Netflix series Mindhunter which, the more I think about it, the more I like it. It’s an original series with a great cast and the most perfect pacing. The ending is perhaps spot on and I’m seriously hesitant about whether I want a second series or not. It’s not required, but it will most probably happen, it’s Netflix.
I also watched First Team: Juventus which again is on Netflix and consists of just 3 episodes, following the Italian side around in their first few weeks of that 2017/18 campaign. In it, we get close to a few of their star players, as well as a glimpse into everything that goes on behind the scenes to make the club as special as it is. Turin looks absolutely beautiful and I definitely want to visit there soon, and the Allianz arena. This was like Being: Liverpool but better. Much, much better.
I also started and finished (in April) The End of the F***ing World, which yes, you guessed it, is also on Netflix. Only now, as I’m googling it, have I realised that it’s based on a comic, which to be honest has made me like it even more. It makes all the sarcastic one-liners make complete sense. At first, the series wasn’t anything special and I felt too old to be watching it. But stay with it and by the end you feel satisfied. The episodes are only 20 minutes long which means you can watch 3 in one go quite comfortably.
In terms of cinema, I got through 11 films in March, with Ladybird being the standout work. It’s what I’d watched before walking into the lamppost. For me, it’s a 10/10 film, it ticks every box. I laughed, I got chocked up, I felt. It reminded me a lot of Boyhood in the sense that it’s a coming of age story and we see how a child growing up is not just all about the child, the parents have to go through such big changes too. It made me reflect on leaving home for University, and how my parents must have felt that day when they drove away and left me in Winchester. And that’s what a good film does. It makes you think.
I also watched Jackie (which was fantastic once you get over Portman’s accent) Land of Mine (interesting and charming) and Fences and Fantastic Beasts, both disappointing. My full list of films and ratings so far this year can be found here: https://letterboxd.com/mgmckenny/films/diary/
What I’ve been playing:
I did start to play Dark Souls 3 at the beginning of this month, but I don’t think this section of the blog is going to grow very much. I just don’t have time to play video games any more, which is a shame. I guess though it’s also an indication of how busy I’ve been, and often busy can be good. I’ll try and get back into it, because the Dark Souls franchise is probably the best and most rewarding I’ve ever played, but we’ll see.
Thanks for reading, I’ll try be on time next month.
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Mark McKenny
word gets around; 