Wednesday 2nd September 2020, 4.15pm (day 3,296)
“***!! Goddamn asshole!”
“It’s OK Bob. I’ve got you. Hang in there. Hey fellers! Did anyone get his number plate?”
Being 42
Life, one day at a time
Category Archives: Urban scene
Chapel Walks, Manchester
Tuesday 1st September 2020, 9.15am (day 3,295)
Into September, and Manchester still seems mostly dead. It’s the cities that seem to have been hit worst by the mass lunacy. Manchester City Council puts up signs saying “Help Manchester on its road to recovery — by staying 2m apart!” This is doublethink. The only way that cities will be helped to recover is when people decide for themselves that they are going back to work there. As I have.
Necessary wear
Friday 28th August 2020, 3.35pm (day 3,291)
A foul day of almost constant rain, on which even the ducks were taking shelter, unconducive to any great inspiration. The only saving grace was that it was a Friday, and the forecast is better for the weekend to come.
Birthday sign
Wednesday 26th August 2020, 7.15pm (day 3,289)
“But how shall I know the day of my birth in future years, O Holy Seer of Signs?”
“Drew, stand beside the river and look for the day on which the sun sets between the two pillars. Thus shall you know it.”
I’m 51 today. This is now the tenth year of the blog. And life goes on, one day at a time.
End of my 51st year
Tuesday 25th August 2020, 9.25am (day 3,288)
It’s my birthday tomorrow, meaning today’s post marks the end of a ninth complete year of this blog. Am I feeling morbid? Not particularly, I just thought this grave (in Bunhill Fields, London) was kinda cute actually. The hair is getting greyer but I am still an old Goth at heart.
Pavement café culture (Yorkshire style)
Sunday 23rd August 2020, 4.15pm (day 3,286)
I have been thinking about this, and have decided to declare this the one and only positive outcome of lockdown –‘this’ being the emergence of a UK pavement café culture. We don’t necessarily have the weather for it, but hey, pubs and restaurants can invest in some umbrellas, as they do elsewhere. On sunny afternoons like this one, it doesn’t matter, and we can give it a shot.
Waiting
Thursday 13th August 2020, 11.25am (day 3,276)
In the last 145 days, this is only the third picture in Manchester. Which considering I nominally work there, shows the impact of lockdown. But today I went into campus as is normal and occupied my office and generally hung out in the places I tend to hang out when down there. The amount of re-motivation this gave me was very noticeable. Those vested interests who want to keep us locked up, who profit from it, not only don’t need to account for this kind of thing, they strive to actively ignore it. Always ask — cui bono? Who benefits?
Study in blue, yellow and social distancing
Thursday 6th August 2020, 3.00pm (day 3,269)
Somehow the little guy on the pedestrian crossing sign just adds to the concept. We are now all islands. Or, supposed to be, by official decree.
Beer garden, the White Swan
Wednesday 5th August 2020, 4.35pm (day 3,268)
An innovative approach to keeping oneself, one’s beer and one’s smoking materials free from moisture. The weather could not decide what to do this afternoon.
In St. George’s Square
Monday 3rd August 2020, 3.45pm (day 3,266)
The square reflected in the roundel, these posts standing outside the Shoulder of Mutton pub, happily reopened, after not just the c*r***v**** crap but the floods of Feb 9th as well. You see, we need economic activity here. Which is why this new ‘local lockdown’ has had no discernible effect at all.
This is a kind-of self-portrait: look closely enough into the mirror and I’m there in the background.
Being 42 