Party like it's 2019
It's perhaps tempting fate, with a relatively unknown new covid variant now circulating, but I want to record how good it feels, now that social and entertainment events have been starting to get back to normal.
Friday pub socials are now happening two or more times a month, and we're getting a pretty good turnout. It's great to be able to relax and spend time with each other over drinks once again.
Just over a month ago, I went to see Tim Peake talk about his career at City Hall. Much of it was things I already new, but some of it was fresh (I'd never previously thought about the difficulty of getting to sleep in zero-g!), and there's nothing like the personal touch of having Major Tim talk through it all in person. It was basically the best PowerPoint presentation ever!
November saw two big birthday parties on consecutive weekends, for Cis and Liz's 50ths. I only paid a brief visit to Cis's, at Trippets Lounge Bar, but it was great to see so many people there and catch up with faces I'd not seen in a long while. Liz's do, at Walkley Community Centre, naturally featured an enormous buffet, as well as party games and dancing into the night (well, 11pm). I had a wonderful time.
A week later, I went with Gillian down to Telford for Wales Comic Con. I'd never have spotted this was on if Gillian hadn't mentioned it to me, and I'm glad she did. We went to a Q&A talk with Doctors 5 through 8, and racked up a few autographs and photo shoots between us. There were a lot of cosplayers to admire too (We were ticking off Doctors). It was a good day out and fairly, if not entirely, successful - The organisation of the event left a lot to be desired and we had a long delay on the trains back. You can read Gillian's post here.
On Monday this week, I was back at City Hall for another space-themed show, this time Return of the Jedi in Concert - the film, up on a cinema screen, accompanied by a 70-piece live orchestra. It sounded fantastic, though at times I had to remind myself to pay attention to the live music, not just get lost in the film!
This coming weekend will also see my final running event of the year, the Percy Pud 10k. This one is a bit of a Sheffield institution. I've never entered it before. The course is through familiar territory, but it'll be a different experience running it as part of a big event, with celebrations (and Christmas puds!) at the finish.
Looking further ahead, I remain hopeful for a much more fun festive season than last year.
Friday pub socials are now happening two or more times a month, and we're getting a pretty good turnout. It's great to be able to relax and spend time with each other over drinks once again.
Just over a month ago, I went to see Tim Peake talk about his career at City Hall. Much of it was things I already new, but some of it was fresh (I'd never previously thought about the difficulty of getting to sleep in zero-g!), and there's nothing like the personal touch of having Major Tim talk through it all in person. It was basically the best PowerPoint presentation ever!
November saw two big birthday parties on consecutive weekends, for Cis and Liz's 50ths. I only paid a brief visit to Cis's, at Trippets Lounge Bar, but it was great to see so many people there and catch up with faces I'd not seen in a long while. Liz's do, at Walkley Community Centre, naturally featured an enormous buffet, as well as party games and dancing into the night (well, 11pm). I had a wonderful time.
A week later, I went with Gillian down to Telford for Wales Comic Con. I'd never have spotted this was on if Gillian hadn't mentioned it to me, and I'm glad she did. We went to a Q&A talk with Doctors 5 through 8, and racked up a few autographs and photo shoots between us. There were a lot of cosplayers to admire too (We were ticking off Doctors). It was a good day out and fairly, if not entirely, successful - The organisation of the event left a lot to be desired and we had a long delay on the trains back. You can read Gillian's post here.
On Monday this week, I was back at City Hall for another space-themed show, this time Return of the Jedi in Concert - the film, up on a cinema screen, accompanied by a 70-piece live orchestra. It sounded fantastic, though at times I had to remind myself to pay attention to the live music, not just get lost in the film!
This coming weekend will also see my final running event of the year, the Percy Pud 10k. This one is a bit of a Sheffield institution. I've never entered it before. The course is through familiar territory, but it'll be a different experience running it as part of a big event, with celebrations (and Christmas puds!) at the finish.
Looking further ahead, I remain hopeful for a much more fun festive season than last year.