Typecast

The Future Is Bright... The Future Is Orange! I was gathering together my planning 'equipment' for 2016 - just a few bits I had accumulated over the past couple of months; some review items that I had saved, a couple of pens that I wanted to start using, notebooks that I had already used and wanted to continue using and a few accessories that needed using up (first world problems for a stationery addict...). It wasn't until I flat laid all the items for an Instagram picture  that I realised I'd unintentionally created a colour theme and I was rather enjoying it. The Hobonichi Techo is going to be my main diary that I carry around with me (I'll explain why I have moved into a Hobonichi in a minute and I talk about it in more detail in the video). I've managed to switch to a smaller planner because I'm now in a job that I can leave at the office, i.e. no planning or updating at home (*phew*) and I have a desk diary that stays there. I'm stil...

I was just casually watching television on Sunday night - laptop on my knee as per usual, waiting for the final of The Apprentice to start when that tweet scrolled through my timeline (yes I follow James Jordan - feel free judge me because I deserve it - however, he does offer good commentary on Strictly Come Dancing). Anyway, I couldn't help but reply to him, wondering if it was a badly placed 'joke' to start off with but it so obviously wasn't.  Quite surprisingly, James replied to my aghastness so I expanded further, explaining that (a) he had a world famous search engine at his fingertips if he chose to leave his Twitter app for a couple of minutes and that (b) Eddie Izzard has done a huge amount to bring cross-dressing awareness to the mainstream. I believe you have had to have had your head in a box not to have even even had Eddie Izzard on your radar at some point.  I'm actually still waiting on another response from James but he continued bein...

I may have pestered Kate for a while to provide another Listography prompt (I love them so much - they give me the inspiration I need to get out of a writing funk most of the time) and then when she shared one I got all busy and put it to one side 'to do later'.  Anyway, this is my 'doing things later' moment. This Listography is all about songs that transport me to a particular time or place  which is very similar to my own Soundtrack To My Life series ( quick plug: this is starting again in 2016 so get your choices in if you want to be involved ). Music is a very evocative language to me; almost all my favourite tracks are connected to memories for one reason or another so to narrow it down to just five is nigh on impossible unless I choose a theme within a theme. So I've decided to select the tracks that send me back to my teenage years. Tiffany - I Think We're Alone Now  A classic track from the late 1980's but, because of the 'dance...

Do you remember that time that I had my own quiz show on a community radio station? It all came to an abrupt end due to time constraints and recording logistics but it has always been on the back burner, waiting for a time to come to life again. Not so long back, one of the original team members and show producers asked if I'd like to be a part of a Christmas recording of his own radio show - Wit's End - and, if there was the opportunity, to record a one-off special of The Big Cheese.  So we sorted some dates out and some willing participates and got both recordings 'in the can' in November. For first time listeners, The Big Cheese is a regular cheesy quiz show with Christmas-related questions that aren't all that difficult (feel free to shout out the answers and let me know how you get on) and Wit's End is very much a satirical panel show. Both were huge fun to record and this was the first time that The Big Cheese had been recorded in front of a ...