🎄 In 2025, I thought a lot about dancing sober
I get chatting to someone at a party who shares their plans for the following morning. They’re going to a sober morning rave. “You should try it”, they say,...
🎄 In 2025, I thought a lot about constipation
This year, I have been dwelling on constipation. To be truthful, it hasn’t been all year. Just the last few months. Since August. Since my niece, Sarah, died...
🎄 In 2025, I thought a lot about finding the space to belong
Does moving to another country change everything? Does a new place reset your life or simply teach you new habits? These were some of the questions I asked...
🎄 In 2025, I thought a lot about Aftersun
Aftersun (2022, directed by Charlotte Wells) is a visually gorgeous and emotionally brazen semi-autobiographic film about a young girl called Sophie and her...
🎄 In 2025, I thought a lot about Christmas, my way
In the early days of our relationship, we spent our Christmases traveling between families. Both sets of parents are divorced and remarried so we did a few...
🎄 Christmas is coming...
The countdown begins tomorrow.
🌟 Wanted: contributors for this year’s essay advent calendar
👋🏼 Hello again, friends. We hope you’re well. One question: what have you thought about a lot this year? Tell us! 🎄 We’re looking for contributors for this...
🎄❤️ In 2024, I thought a lot about my first love
Between the ages of about 13 and 15, I loved Oasis. I knew their b-sides. I knew their birthdays. I entered a Daily Mirror competition and, inexplicably, won...
🎄 In 2024, I thought a lot about muscles
A flexed bicep, to me, is as symbolic of manliness as a moustache or calloused hands. It represents hard work – a ritualistic tearing of muscle in the name...
🎄 In 2024, I thought a lot about my mum, her Alzheimer’s, and the Gregg’s sausage roll scam
Mum was diagnosed a couple of years ago. I’d been worried about her memory for a while and after she’d succumbed to an outrageous banking scam, I’d...
🎄 In 2024, I thought a lot about why I am embarrassed to be human
Towards the end of last year, I saw a bloodied, dead baby outside a hospital. A couple of days later, I saw another one, outside a different public building....
🎄☄️ In 2024, I thought a lot about markers in time and space
This year Halley’s Comet has been heading back towards us. In 2061, it will be visible from earth again – just as it was in December 1985.Two significant...
🎄 Bag a book (and bag a bag)
Festive greetings, friends 👋 🌟 Here is your last-post-before-Christmas warning!🌟 We have a few copies of the I Thought About That A Lot book left, so, if...
🎄 In 2024, I thought a lot about ghosting
When I say I’ve thought a lot about ghosting this year, I'm not talking in a romantic or dating capacity. This is not about the fuckboys in your DMs. I mean...
🎄 In 2024, I thought a lot about creativity and self-discovery woo-woo
We decided to embark upon ‘The Artist’s Way’, a practical book written by Julia Cameron in 1992. For the uninitiated, The Artist’s Way is a 12-week programme...
🎄 In 2024, I thought a lot about why my dad was like that
I’m 66 and I’m no psychiatrist. Before this year, I believed behaviour was largely a matter of choice and that some people simply made bad choices. Then, in...
🎄 In 2024, I thought a lot about caring and my selfish soul
To care for my partner, I have to care for the selfish core of myself. I care for it by spending too much money in cafes because I love someone else bringing...
🎄 In 2024, I thought a lot about my top right canine
I’ve never really had a good relationship with my teeth. Or rather, I’ve never really had an OK time at the dentist – not since The Incident back in 1971 at...
🎄 In 2024, I thought a lot about friendship in my child-free forties
"What time did you get up today?" One of my friends is obsessed with asking this, hoping to hear tales of endless lie-ins and indulgent brunches. He imagines...
🎄 In 2024, I thought a lot about Taylor Swift
For a very long time, I considered my taste in music to be ‘cool’. Twenty-one-year-old me (who worked in an indie club, wrote music reviews and listened...