This has been a crazy year. Up until June I was basically tying up the last threads of my old life. After four years, my ex has her own place, the old house got sold, I spent lots of time clearing out the garage and the loft, and going through old memories, which is always hard to process.
The biggest relief was finally being able to buy my own place again rather than renting the tiny place I have been since 2020. That happened in June, and was a hectic two weeks of decorating (it had previously been a rented place, so everything was just white, so got to put my own stamp on the place).
I stacked a van chock full of new furniture from Ikea and finally have somewhere to call home.
June also had an invitation to the British LGBT Awards where my friend Fi won the Champion Ally Award. It was a great night and was a much needed counterpoint to the chaos caused by the EHRC after the Supreme Court ruling…
There was also Sugar - Trans Comedy Gala at the Pleasance in London, a showcase of some amazing Trans & Non-Binary comedians raising money for Trans Legal Clinic.
I also squeezed in a Trashfuture live show and there was a rare chance to catch up with my Sister, we had a really lovely lunch, talked for hours and we need to do that more often.
July was Trans Pride in London, always amazing to see the turn out growing and with over 100,000 people this year it was a wonderful experience.
August included a trip to see Alice Fraser’s A Passion for Passion tour show at Soho Theatre, the book is delightfully funny and so was the show.
I then finally got my new bike, after getting a proper bike fit done last year, I got organised and order a new bike that properly fits me and it’s been a revelation, although work and chaos has stopped me riding as much as I would like, 2026 can be the year I get fit again.
September had the now regular work trip to India, I always find it exhausting and this was no exception, I need to find a way to take better care of my mental health on these trips as it is overwhelming and takes me weeks to recover from. Once I was back there were fun trips to see Penfriend at the Garage in Highbury and Milo Edwards recording his new stand up special in Soho.
October had some more comedy with a work in progress show from Olga Koch at The Bill Murray in Islington and Glue Factory live in Balham.
I rounded out the year with a trip to Devon to see my Mum and Sister, had an early Christmas with them and then back home to have time with the kids which is rare these days with both girls away at Uni.
Threw in what I hope is going to be a regular thing now of Nine Lessons and Carols for Curious People. Been for the last two years now, and always learn something interesting.
Overall it’s been a crazy year, work has been harder than ever, and finding time to do anything always seems to be a challenge. For 2026 I need to prioritise rest more, and use my holiday time wisely (rather than getting to November and trying to figure out how to use it all up before the end of December).
I’ve done pretty well on books this year, with a nice mix of fiction and non fiction, and a range of subject matter. Robin Ince’s Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal stands out in the non fiction group.
In terms of music, I’ve not really listened to much but when I do it tends to be on vinyl, just because it feels more real. The new albums from Garbage and Biffy Clyro were stand outs for me, and I got some old favourites as well.
Podcasts, Trashfuture and Kill James Bond are still absolutely top of my list.
YouTube consistently features PhilosophyTube, That Pedal Show and Well There’s Your Problem.
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