[005] Happy Christmas 2023
I'm travelling in South America. Here's what I'm up to, some photos and other bits
Now I have a newsletter with ten/s of subscribers (once you include my mum and dad), I'm able to write a christmas message. I'll be short.
I hope your 2023 has been magical, filled with moments you look back on with joy.
My year has been full of changes - some of the biggest in my life. My six year relationship ended, I moved flats, left my job, and switched my dental floss (Dentalux - the orange one, pick it up in Lidl, it's a dream to use). I also experienced a new kind of grief when my friend and colleague Alex died suddenly.
I'm going to dub 2023 the year I became braver. I'm not a courageous person so making big changes is hard for me. I still don't know if my 2023 changes were good for me, but I've realised that sometimes taking risks and trying different things can help one learn.
Amongst the challenges my year's been peppered with beauty, some highlights including:
- A morning swim off Vallon Des Auffes under a fading moon - I feel very grateful to have lived my July in Marseille
- St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City - I couldn't be arsed with the queue but Mum persisted and I'm glad. This church is seriously breathtaking
- A blue-skied May weekend fishing the Usk with my buddy Phil (we caught jack shit)
- Moules Frites and Basque Cake (it's not cheesecake, it's soo good) on my holidays in Hossegor, South-West France
- The Italy and Orient collection in the Musee D'Orsay (I finally found a way to enjoy art galleries - noise cancelling earphones, whack on some Chopin)
- Watching geese take off Abyfjord Sweden from my solitary wild camping spot
Some favourite things I watched this year:
- I Think You Should Leave - you gotta persist with it, it's bloody weird
- Picasso: The Beauty and the Beast (three-parter on BBC)
- This Country - I rediscovered this classic. Daisy May Cooper's looks to the camera, so good
My favourite books:
- The Art of Travel, by Alain de Botton - some great ideas from philosophy and art
- Civilwarland in Bad Decline, by George Saunders - OK, I stole his name, but these stories are so original and make me chuckle out loud
- Magnetic Field: The Marsden Poems, by Simon Armitage - poetry which took me right back to West Yorkshire
- The Dharma Bums, by Jack Kerouac
- All Quiet On The Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque
Music I've been obsessed with:
- Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To The Sky, by Porridge Radio - my album of the year (one year late, it was released in 2022)
- Cub, by Wunderhorse - an incredible performance at Kentish Town Forum where I learned that balcony tickets can be great
- Ants from Up There, by Black Country New Road
- In My Own Time, by Karen Dalton - there is a BBC documentary on her life which is worth a watch
So that's it. Many pieces of magic this year. On we go.
I'll finish with my 2023 christmas song, which isn't a christmas song, but is sung by The Pogues and mentions angels so therefore is a christmas song. Plus, if you listen through the album you'll get to Fairytale of New York at song four - a true classic. RIP Shane MacGowan and Kirsty MacCall.
The Pogues - If I Should Fall From Grace With God (click on Shane for Youtube)
Have a beautiful Christmas
Love,
George
P.S. do send me your own lists like the above, I'd love to hear them
