Extinguishing the midnight oil

At least trying to.

I must say, there are few more successful tools for fighting insomnia than… well… more insomnia. Yesterday I got up at midnight and was still up and about by 7 pm. This would usually be frustrating, but it meant that I was able to sleep (in short bursts) until 5 am today. I hope that that will mean the end of this period of skewed sleep.

I’ve just gotten out of the bath after being on the exercise bike, and I’m feeling very energised and positive. I listened to Kylie whilst riding today. I created a playlist of her hits that lasts around my preferred 45 minute cycling mark. I’m going to make a second for her next three albums, although I’m not expecting to find much material. Bless. She seems to have briefly retired, or had a voluntary “hiatus” as they say nowadays, between her fifth and sixth albums, so that doesn’t bode well.

I’m trying to think of other artists that might be good to have a static ride to. I may just stick on one of my usual playlists and set the timer on my phone for 45 minutes. That literally just occurred to me as I typed the words.

I’m also compiling a playlist of that Dutch nonprofit music thing called Kinderen voor Kinderen, which consists of songs suggested by kids and sung by kids. The actually songsmithing, instrumentation, and production I assume is all adults. Anyway, I’m finding it to be aiding my mental health considerably. Not only do their one-album-a-year-fo-40-years contain some genuinely great power pop (although they started off by doing bizarre music hall pastiches, which I can’t imagine kids in the 80s having any interest in listening to), the singers are cute as hell, and obviously lack the grim cynicism of older performers. One song in particular is so adorable that I was literally crying by the end. What a silly person I am! So, yeah, give them a listen, should you ever need cheering up.

Don’t worry, it’s not weird.

I hope.

I made some nice dinners yesterday. The main event was a Keith Floyd recipe, something he calls in the episode “Peas Passole”. I think. There are no subtitles on the DVD to confirm its name, and the word “Passole” exists nowhere on the internet. Perhaps he misheard a local chef whilst being told the recipe. There is a “Pazole”, but that’s a spicy Mexican stew, far from the chicken in peas and milk that Keith mades. Anyway, the dish was a bit of a let down, and I have a small portion of it left in the fridge. One significant thing about the experience cooking it is that it was the fist time I’ve ever managed to successfully cook carrot without having to boil or roast it first. I just made sure to fry it off early, which mercifully resulted in no crunchy bits.

I also used up the rest of the marinated pork I had prepared a couple of days earlier. The first portion I used in a stir fry, this final one I just made sandwiches out of. Very nice! Think I’ll definitely be doing that again. It was like a tikka kebab from a takeaway.

Today I’ll be making a homemade pizza. I just hope the flatbread is still ok, as it’s been in the fridge for days. Oh I’m sure it’s fine.

What else? Oh I’ve started feeling a mild craving for booze, so Tuesday can’t come soon enough. I think I’ll keep it simple for my first trip out in ages, by just going down to the pub at the train station. Not only do they do great beer, but there are convenient cash machines inside the station (my eyesight doesn’t permit use of outdoor ones anymore), plus eating establishments to soak up the fine ales. I best get some cans in ahead of time, just to combat the hangover.

My brother texted me asking why I hadn’t replied to his last two highly detailed reports on mother’s declining health. This should highlight his level of narcissism, as he is clearly annoyed that he isn’t getting enough attention from our mother slowly dying. I wanted to just reply “What do you want me to say?”, but I just explained that I hadn’t been well. I’m sure he’ll do some serious pouting. Martyrs are usually more modest than this.

He probably wants me to clap for him.

Fucksakes.

In other news, I did a little more writing yesterday. Like my session the day before, I rewrote the first chapter of yet another new tale. I wonder whether these will all work as short stories that I can publish as an omnibus. Hmmm. Well, this one is a historical fantasy type thing, set in ancient Mesopotamia. Although it begins in Egypt. Fingers crossed my sudden burst of creative energy persists into more than just two chapters, like all my current projects.

“Projects”, lol. As if I’ve earned the right to talk like that.

Anyway, I best go chop some vegetables for my pizza topping. Or maybe I should just do a batch of chips to snack on. Regardless, I’ll let you know how I get on.

Do stay in touch, darlings.

Toodles!