Deaf by dawn

I’m feeling a little lonesome today, so I thought I might drop by for a quick gossip.

My multiplayer gaming membership has expired at last, so I’m currently adjusting to it no longer being a social crutch. I’m not feeling much of a difference. Yet. That standalone DVD/Blu-ray player arrived, so I can now watch films without even being tempted to solo-game quite so much. It’ll be nice to keep the two separate. I’ve been concerned that gaming has been too good of a procrastination tool for me, to the extent that other hobbies and key chores around the house aren’t being done. Well, they definitely aren’t being done, but I was beginning to wonder whether lazy/passive gaming was part of the problem. I did get some stuff done today (instead of lounging in my armchair catatonically button-mashing the PS4 controller), so that’s something. It wasn’t a lot, just breaking down empty delivery boxes and creating space on a shelf in my bedroom to store film/TV boxsets. Simple tasks, but doing them made a difference and helped me to feel better about myself. Now I just need to haul all that cardboard down to the recycling bins.

Pain. In. The. Arse.

Oh well.

Rather embarrassingly, I had so many empty boxes piling up in the living room that I had failed to notice four unopened cans of beer sitting in one. Score! So I’ve just had those with my dinner. It felt like a nice little reward for my “hard work”. Still, I would have preferred to have found them on my birthday when I needed them, but hey-ho.

I made a simple curry yesterday out of some sausages that were going out of date. They were quite fancy pork, apple & black pudding ones too. I cut them up into little coin-shaped meatballs with the kitchen scissors and fried them, before adding in some leftover onions and chillies from the Chinese takeaway I had the other day (I carefully ate just the beancurd out of a “Salt & Pepper Tofu” dish, saving the veg for use later). I then added the usual chopped toms, peas and spices. It turned out to be a really hot one, so much so that I was genuinely concerned it may have been inedible. But it wasn’t. I downed that mofo over two days. It’s not my first time. I had it with some brown rice, which made a change from basmati, of which I’ve been working my way through a 4kg sack. It was the only quantity they had.

The ex sent a quick text the other day, but our conversation was very brief. I didn’t want to encourage a deep discussion. I’m really not capable of that right now. I’m finding it too hard to stay afloat (emotionally speaking) myself. I’ll check in at the weekend.

One of my aunts sent me a quick “hello” email, which was nice. I wasn’t even too sure she was still alive, as I had heard she was very ill a while ago. She’s also in her late 70s/early 80s. Around the time that I heard she wasn’t well, she ominously went quiet on social media and I was too afraid to ask anyone how she was. I don’t know why. Maybe it was just something I couldn’t face. If the worst had happened, that is. She’s a really fun person, who always reminds me of a Julie Walters creation. A proper Merseyside eccentric. I hope she stays around for many years to come.

Two of the women who live in this long block of three sets of six flats decided to have a private conversation outside last night. The only thing was, it was 3am and they were at opposite ends of the building. This didn’t stop them though. Oh no. They just shouted to each other for half an hour. I really should have recorded a video of it, as it was so surreal. I wouldn’t have had to go near the window to do it, just lying in bed holding my phone normally would have captured it clear as day. The funniest bit was when another neighbour got fed up of it and slammed his window shut, which caused the two women to complain about the noise he’d made. The hypocrisy was completely lost on them. Anyway, apparently one of them is currently having an argument with her boyfriend, while the other is out of weed. Jeremy Kyle hasn’t been cancelled around here, you only have to open your window to get a new episode. Sigh.

I’m still watching The Office, which means I’ll probably be buying the DVD boxset once my Prime trial is over. I’ve laughed out loud many times. The embarrassment humour still isn’t my cup of tea, but at least it’s not mean-spirited. All the characters, even the most dislikeable ones, get a moment of redemption and sympathy. I know that might seem like the quintessential American schmaltzy thing to do, but I’m totally fine with it. I like my light entertainment to be lightly entertaining. So sue me.

I managed to get six episodes into Transparent, which is very compulsive viewing. I mean, it’s hardly edge-of-your-seat stuff, so maybe I was just in the right mood. It’s a little soap opera-ish and familiar, but there’s enough charm to it to keep me interested. It's also not as predictable as I first thought it was going to be, indulging instead in slightly shifting where the audience thinks things are going to go. Not in a revolutionary fashion, but just enough to make you go "Huh. Ok. Interesting!". I really don’t like the character of Josh, but I guess I’ll just have to put up with him. I’m not sure whether it’s how he’s written or acted. Maybe it’s a bit of both. Anyway, everyone else is great. I think I caught what’s about to happen with the character of Ali, as I suddenly noticed about three episodes in that Gabby Hoffmann kept changing her hairstyle, almost to the point of confusion. I was all like “Is that Ali?”. But then I realised that her character might end up transitioning like Maura. I’ll try cracking on with it over the weekend.

Oh, I did actually manage to watch all three original Evil Dead movies in one go, which surprised me. I don’t know why it surprised me, but it did. Maybe it’s because they’re so familiar to me that I assumed that halfway through I’d get bored. Who knows. The new Blu-ray copies that turned up are very nice, especially Evil Dead 2. Even though I’m visually impaired and struggle with fine details, peripheral information and dark scenes, I was still able to notice the clearer image and more vibrant colours. I enjoyed the first film a lot more than I was expecting. I used to find its shabby, student-like quality too distracting, but I really got caught up in the drama yesterday. Actually, this time around, I felt real sadness for Ash as his friends were possessed one-by-one and he had to kill them. Erm, spoiler alert. Films can affect you differently at different points in your life. I remember not enjoying Withnail & I when I was in my mid-teens but, after I’d lived away from home for the first time and lived in similar drunken squalor, it finally connected with me. Good times. Anyway, yes, I didn’t regret rebuying the Evil Dead set. I was especially glad that the version of Army of Darkness was the American one, the ending to which ties in better with Ash vs Evil Dead. The action ending to the American Cut is just a lot more fun too, instead of simply echoing Evil Dead 2’s dark twist of a last scene, which the International Cut does.

I’m currently watching The Mysterious Cities of Gold before bed at the moment. It never gets old, and I’m always transported back to my childhood when I watch it. I’m trying to do about a disc per night. I wonder if anyone’s cut together the mini-documentaries that end each episode to form one long feature. I guess a quick check of YouTube would answer that but… you know… effort.

Right, I’m starting to get a bit hot sitting here typing over the laptop, so I best go cool down on the bed. I’m hoping to drift off to sleep earlier than 5am tonight. That’s really getting old. I guess turning night into day doesn’t really matter much at the moment. There’s nothing to look forward to at either end of the clock.

On that positive note…

Hail to the king, baby.

Toodles!