2013: the missing months.

After such a busy and enjoyable run of social/cultural excursions in 2012, I wasn't certain whether or not I could keep up the momentum of activity throughout 2013. There was no need for doubt however, as my ingrained enthusiasm to continue onwards ultimately ensured that, by year's end, I had actually managed to surpass the total number of outings of the year previous. Many of those experiences I would have liked to blog about; indeed, with some I did and with others may still attempt to, but most will probably now go unrecorded, as there were just too many. Suffice to say, it was another busy year and I treated myself to a wide variety of activities. 

To give you a flavour, here's a brief summary of just some of the things I got up to last year: a visit to the London Short Film Festival at the ICA; Stargazing LIVE event at Regents Park; Fuerzabruta at the Roundhouse; Helen Keen's Spacetacular! at the Leicester Square Theatre; The Architects: Shunt at The Biscuit Factory; Light Show at the Hayward Gallery; Rich Hall's Hoedown at the Soho Theatre; How Do Surgeons Learn to Operate? at The Dana Centre; Sandi Toksvig in conversation at the Stratford Picturehouse; Have I got News for Thee! at Dr Johnson's House; several days in Norwich (taking in a number of historic venues); In the Beginning was the End at Somerset House; Helicopter experience over London; An Evening with William Russell (Doctor Who companion) at The Cinema Museum; Music, Ho! Shakespearean Music Concert at The Underglobe; Kino #50 at The Horse Hospital; Surgery by Gaslight at The Old Operating Theatre; an evening with Lucy Worsley at the Banqueting House; Bullet Catch at The Shed; several visits to Wilton's Music Hall; Zoo Lates at ZSL London Zoo; Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor at Elstree Studios; Oedipus and Antigone at The Scoop at More London; several events at The Royal Institution of Great Britain; several events at Barts Pathology Museum; Twelfth Night or What You Will at The Rose Theatre; candlelit viewing at Sir John Soane's Museum; a visit to the Museum of Brands in Notting Hill; Aldwych Underground Station Tour; Ernest at the Etcetera Theatre; The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable at Temple Studios; Gliding experience in the skies of Oxfordshire at Bicester Gliding Centre; a couple of days in Brighton; and many, many more examples ... 

For now, it's the end of February and I've already notched up the same number of outings as this time last year. I was out pretty much every night for the first couple of weeks of January and am now settling back into a slightly calmer schedule as the weeks progress. As the rest of 2014 beckons, there's hopefully lots more ahead.

Back in the world.

When I started writing this blog, a friend of mine, who'd been instrumental in helping me set it all up in the first place, told me I shouldn't attempt to blog about absolutely everything I do, as it would simply be impossible to keep on top of. And, while I certainly took that advice on board, inside I kind of considered it to be something of a challenge: of course I could do it if I really tried ... couldn't I? But ultimately, the truth of the matter was, my friend was right. With two jobs that collectively take up six days of my week and a social life that once prompted Matt Brown, founder of the Londonist website, to once remark to me "Even I don't go out that much!", it was always going to be an uphill struggle finding the time to write about my activities.

Initially, the blog writing started fairly well, but then tapered off a bit as I became busier and busier. This continued for a few months, and then, something terrible happened. Completely unexpectedly, in the middle of last year, my mother had a fall at her home and was taken to hospital. A very difficult period followed, culminating, sadly, in her passing away in September. She never made it back home. I was devastated. I had spent the last six days of her life by her bedside. In the months leading up to that moment, I had endeavoured to continue with my cultural/social pursuits. I was aware she derived pleasure from the fact that I wasn't taking life for granted and that I was always out and about and this knowledge kept pushing me forward, as I tried to continue with normality. And it was nice from time to time to be able to tell her all about my activities and she seemed to enjoy hearing my stories. Now, she has gone, and it's more important than ever that I keep busy and continue doing the things I love.  

In terms of the blog, which had already been quite a demand before, after my mother's fall, it naturally dried up altogether. But now, here we are, a new year just begun, and I have finally reached a place where I feel ready to begin writing some new entries again. 

People still seem to be reading the older entries, which has been a very pleasant and unexpected surprise, but I hope I can now provide some newer posts for those who enjoy them (and it appears there are one or two of you out there). I hope you'll bear with me while I get back up to speed. 

It's good to be back in the world again.