Tales From The Crypt - Thursday 8th July 2021

Thursday is the new Friday (or it is for me this week, at least!)

Work dominates the day - no training course today, but quite a lot of work towards the final presentations we have to do on the penultimate day of the course.

Mid-after I attended a work sponsored talk titled 'Finding Your Brave', given by Suzie Lavington. Suzie was an actress but has become a coach helping people, especially girls and women (but aimed at everyone), strengthen their self-esteem and use that to build their confidence.  She was a great speaker (as you might expect) with some excellent tools and techniques to help do what she promotes.  (She has also written a book 'A Girl's Guide To Being Fearless' - see here)

All the usual stuff I'll not bore you with, at least until the last Idler drinks, but one, before they take a summer break (and go on the road).  Tonight's guest is comedian, broadcaster and general grumpy old bloke, Arthur Smith.

Arthur Smith was very funny - lots of laugh out loud moments - but also with some poignant tales about his father and his mother. I stayed for the post-drinks chat, which was interesting though I didn't get as involved as in previous weeks.  Guess it just depends how the chat goes!

The final talk next week is with author and activist Michael Pollan, who is a great advocate of the benefits of specific psychoactive drugs, especially mescaline and LSD.  There's a lot of research being done into the psychological benefits of controlled doses of such drugs, especially as a cure for extreme forms of depression.  It'll be interesting to see where that discussion leads.

Tonight son #2 and I are making huevos rancheros for dinner, something I'm looking forward to eating.  As is often the case the recipes estimate of 10 minutes preparation time and 15 minutes cooking time is way off.  There are so many ingredients, many of which need preparation, that I'd challenge a professional chef to have all the prep done in that time. Who writes these recipes???

In the end the result was delicious and we sat down and watched the first in the second series of 'Spooks' together.

Gradually the waking day gives way to partially chemically-induced sleep.

Patti Smith Group / '25th Floor' / 'Easter'

[[]]