Three years on...

I can’t quite believe that it’s been three years without my brother and I can’t really say how this time has gone. I can still barely believe he’s not around, but the space gets harder to ignore.  And with that comes the ability to learn to live with it, I suppose.

Anyway, it has been bugging me that another year is rolling round and I haven’t completed my challenge. Once I got thinking, I realised, I probably have… with a little extra push this week I’ve made it all the way to… 51. So so close…

Go to Japan: crazy, crazy place, and I loved every minute of it. And of course, it brought with it some more firsts that could only happen in Japan…

Akihabara in Tokyo... crazy, crazy place

Visit a Maid Café: awkward… but an experience (if you don't know what a maid cafe is, Wikipedia has some answers for you). 

An Explosion of Firsts... A Poem

I know it has been a while since I last updated this blog. And even longer since I last updated my list of Firsts. But in the last few weeks, there has been a 'First explosion' in my life that I thought I would share with you… in poetry form.

Here goes…

Try a Regional Delicacy...

For this First, I went all out on a trip to Scotland. I shall let the pictures do the talking...

Haggis. Technically not a first, but definitely not
something you eat outside of Scotland...

Loved the Islay Single Malt Scotch. Despite being told repeatedly
how 'unusual' it was for a lady to choose the smokey ones...

Cranachan. A proper dessert. 

Deep Fried Mars Bar. Yes, this picture
does a lot of talking...

Four Quick Fire-Firsts and my Movember Mo...

This week I have mostly been contemplating the fact that this Friday would be Nathan’s 21st birthday. I know I have a lot to say, but I’m not sure that I feel like writing it at this very minute.

I also know I have a tendency to waffle when it comes to writing (who am I kidding, and speaking too). And we have something of a first backlog on our hands here. So, I give you four firsts, each described in less than 50 words…

Give away a book with an inspirational quote written inside

Ali Smith's Boy Meets Girl on its way to Norwich

Left a book that uses Blind Date’s Cilla Black as a metaphor for interchangeability of gender roles on a train to Norwich. The quote came from Dr Suess. No idea whether anybody picked it up, but I like to believe it’s making someone happy!


Spend a day somewhere new in the UK 

The (blurry) pier of Brighton lit up at night

Took Glenn to Brighton for his birthday (completely selfless act). Loved the independent shops in the Lanes, loved the free deckchair use on the pier, loved the pebbled beach and the bars’ laid-back atmosphere. Did not love the pressure to buy an engagement ring or the price of cockles.


Try a new sport 

Perhaps looking the other way would
have helped with my technique....

Went to a driving range (the waffle potential here about whether this counts as a sport is endless - good job I am limited). Provided quite a few comic moments for my fellow golfers but was surprisingly good by the end (i.e. the ball actually left the floor). Top Golf fun is highly recommended…. 

My high score of.... 42!

Eat sushi off of a conveyor belt

Overpriced novelty, but I still love sushi. That is all you need to know.

If you’re looking for any other details, you will just have to ask!



Now, onto a first in the making…

I thought November would be a good time to start learning how to knit and to complete my first of knitting something; Christmas gifts are usually cheaper homemade. So I downloaded a few books for knitting for dummies onto my Kindle, including one called Manly Knits. Inside, I found this little gem of a knitting pattern…

Now, November is also a good time to grow a moustache and take part in a campaign to raise awareness of issues that affect men. While I would struggle to take part in Movember in the traditional way (do not even jokingly suggest otherwise, please), I thought I would hijack the Movember campaign as part of my efforts to raise awareness of another issue that affects thousands of men (and their families and friends) every single month.

So far, I have just about learnt to cast on, knit, purl and bind off. I will keep you all updated on my Movember Mo as it starts coming along… 

Visit a new country

What springs to mind when you think of Amsterdam? Coffee shops and cannabis? The red light district? Or perhaps tulips and canals? For me, the one thing that jumps out as the defining feature of the trip there is the people.

I could tell you all about sitting on a beach with Darth Vader, an astronaut and the Dutch Prime Minister (actual reality, not any drug induced hallucinations).* But obviously I know you would much rather me ramble on about how nice people are.

Get out the way fellow tourists! I <3 amsterdam.
Thanks to my personal photographer Chloe for the pics

Harry Potter and the girls who never grew up

Flying on a broomstick…

Ok, I admit, this one was not on the original list but this is definitely a first for me. And while it is not technically flying, it’s as pretty close as you are ever going to get to it – there’s wind machines and everything. 

If I'm going to embarrass myself by writing about it, I may as well go all
out and give you pictorial evidence. And, yes, I was very excited to wear the gown. 

I should probably warn you that I might suddenly switch to gushing teenage nerd girl mode while I tell you about my time at The Making of Harry Potter tour at the WB Studios near Watford. But please don’t turn away so quickly. I can assure you that this is not just a place for 25-year-old children who love HP but for film buff ‘kids’ of any age. 

My first 'first' completed....but I feel like a cheat

Picture by James Cridland

Yesterday I completed a first. As I was sitting in a curry house in Brick Lane with my friend, we were talking about how this was something I had wanted to 'cross off my list' when I was living in London and never got round to it.

The lamb bhuna was delicious, and made all the more satisfying by the appetite we had worked up walking round the streets of the East End looking at street art (I highly recommend the the Alternative London Tour to anybody visiting the capital).

All in all, a very nice new experience.

But it was only this morning that I realised that could actually class it as this week's 'first' and I felt like I had cheated a little bit. Not only in that I had planned to do something to help somebody as my first official 'first' but also that I had no intention of it being part of this blog at the time.

In order to try and gain maximum satisfaction from this task, and a proper sense of accomplishment, I've decided it is necessary for me to decide in advance what it is I want to do each week. So I will get started on making a list (I do love my lists) of things I want to do and to keep a records of 'firsts' I have achieved. Watch this space.