Doug visits Hebden Bridge and thus provides an opportunity to get him on the blog for, I think, the fourth time. As usual he wears fewer clothes than any other person would in similar grim weather. Then again he does have a certain amount of natural insulation. Good to see him — as it always is…
Work to do tonight in my occasional moonlighting role as a football journalist, seeing me in the press box at Pride Park, Derby, and afterwards, with work to do to make a crap game of football (Derby 0 Stoke 0) sound interesting. As did these other guys, many of whom exuded a sense of ennui about it all. Does it matter that the principal subject of this photo is not reflected in the screen of his own laptop? If so, well, that’s just the way it worked out.
Tomorrow — or today as I post, that is, 4th March — is Joe’s 16th birthday, so it’s about time he made a reappearance here as it’s been nearly four months (12th November) since he featured. As one of his birthday gifts today we bought him a new suit, as it’s getting to that point in life where some form of occasional sartorial elegance will do one no harm. Eventual choice not pictured here, but he does look dapper in it. I know I would say that, of course.
A rather precarious place to be positioned on a breezy day. But they did get to see the mighty Brighouse Town march to a 3-0 win that keeps them second in the table. And, I won the Golden Goal sweepstake, £30 return on a £1 ticket! Result!
Up and about again today, though not very far nor very energetically. This is the kind of vibe I am trying to affect at the moment.
The liquid refreshment has arrived, at least. A slightly late lunch…. but it’s nice to be on a weekend away. These two factors explain C’s look of contentment.
So how do I feel at the end of 2018? Well speaking personally it’s not been a bad year but then again nothing has really been achieved in my life; jobs and projects both work and personal have just been going on all year without reaching any real resolution. But I did have a couple of very nice summer holidays in August (Channel Islands, Berlin). My favourite photo of the year? This one from the football at Flint on January 27th did get used in the Flintshire Chronicle the following Monday (Headline: “Pride in Defeat for Heartbroken Flint”) and was a real right-place-right-time moment; it also epitomises my year’s non-league footie habit. So I’m going with that one.
And today’s shot? It’s been a while (2015 to be precise) since I could raise it to go out on the evening of 31st December, so there wasn’t much to depict. But feel free to compare this with the shot remaining on the “About” page, showing me on day 1, 26/8/11, and evaluate what the passage of 2,685 days has done to yr. humble blogger. Wherever you are and whatever you might be doing in 2019, Happy New Year.
Sat by the river, as I often am, and pointing my camera across it to take random shots as I often do, this guy walked into view at just the right moment. I have no idea who he is, but the shot works for me (in black and white to mitigate the impact of the bright yellow ‘CCTV’ sign in the background). I have often speculated about how many such random photos I appear in, in the background perhaps, all unknowing. Maybe there’s a universal rule that applies, like everyone appears as a stranger in twelve photos in their life, or something similar.
In the UK Boxing Day (or St Stephen’s Day, or whatever) is traditionally a day for sport, and we were amongst 413 people enjoying the football at Clitheroe FC on a very mild and pleasant afternoon. So were these two — but their levels of enjoyment are less palpable.
The post-dinner Christmas Food Babies were walked off beside the melancholy greyness of Morecambe Bay. Clare serves as the model for the second time in a week. I hope you had a happy day, wherever you are, whatever you were doing.
