Joyce was supporting me today and we got chatting about theatre. She’s not a regular-theatre goer but she did come to the Brewing In The Basement cabaret night we held at The Barbican Centre last November.

Joyce, who’s Jamaican, said she was keen to go to the theatre again, and I remembered there’s a new show at the National Theatre about the Jamaican tradition of Nine Night.…

Almost exactly three years ago the children’s organisation Kids Company suddenly closed. A couple of days later I was introduced to Rachel who’d worked for them as an occupational therapist. She’d lost her job out of the blue and was looking for work she could do while she searched for a more permanent post.…

Eight years ago to the month, Leftwing Idiot and I started Touretteshero. We’d been friends for many years and he’d provided me with vital support when my tics intensified. At times adjusting to them was tough – I found it hard to talk about without tears and I used to put a lot of effort into stopping my wiggly body making me stand out.…

In thirty minutes Lily will arrive to do my night support and as soon as she gets here we’re going to head straight out for a swim. But by the time she gets here I want to be out of the melancholy mood I’m in at the moment.…

When I started this blog just over eight years ago I pledged to tread the fine line between honesty and self-pity. The post I’m about to write is going to be one that tests how well I can do this – if I fall off this tightrope, apologies in advance but I think it’s worth the risk.…

Over the last few months I’ve seen a number of groups calling for a ban on disposable plastic straws. Campaigns such as ‘Straws Suck’, ‘The Final Straw’ and ‘The Last Plastic Straw’ are but a few of them. Petitions putting pressure on big supermarkets to stop selling straws have hundreds of thousands of signatures, and politicians, including Environment Secretary Michael Gove, have put their weight behind the cause.…

Over the last two years I’ve been experiencing increasing pain in my back and hips as well as in other joints, including my wrists, ankles and shoulders. Along with this almost constant pain I’ve also been having difficulties with nausea and, most recently, tiredness.…

A few months ago I wrote about how much I’d been enjoying listening to writer Bill Bryson’s adventures as I went to sleep. My chronic pain over the last couple of years has been having an increasing impact on me, and on how much time I spend in bed, and audiobooks help me feel relaxed and less lonely in the early hours.…

I’ve never had a strong bladder. One of the most agonising experiences of my
childhood was trying to hold back an urgent wee on a trip to Ikea with my dad. And
the time I pissed in his construction site helmet on a motorway has become a family
legend.…

While it may sound a lot like a ‘crap boast’, one of the things that used to wow my friends was how quickly I could go to the toilet. I used to pride myself on my powerful pissing – I could be in and out of the bathroom surprisingly quickly thanks to my strong stream.…