Leftwing Idiot and King Russell enjoyed several competitive rounds of their favourite game this evening: Tourettes Bingo.

This involves them secretly choosing tics and marking them off as I say them, until someone gets a full house. There are several versions of this game and sometimes they play without me even realising.…

I’ve been to an amazing exhibition with Leftwing Idiot’s mum, Liz. It’s the Museum Of Everything, a temporary exhibition in Chalk Farm. It was the last day and the queue to get in was massive, stretching a long way down the street.…

It’s freezing. Leftwing Idiot and I headed to Greenwich to see a film that someone at work had recommended. The film was sold out when we got there so we warmed up in a restaurant and had some noodles instead. We sat at a long shared table.…

I often underestimate how much I tic, and overestimate my ability to hold them down.

This evening I made a reckless bet with Leftwing Idiot. I said I’d give him a pound every time I ticced if he’d give me a fiver for every tic-free minute.…

Before I moved into the lair I lived with Emma. We were flatmates for nine years. She’s probably the only person other than Fat Sister who’s always unfazed by my tics, although her approach is different. Fat Sister never really seems to notice them but Emma calmly talks back or shares random related facts with them.…

I‘ve had a lovely lazy Sunday evening. King Russell made a curry from scratch and Leftwing Idiot, Harry and Ollie joined us to eat it. I sat and entered some of my tics into the database, absorbing the chatter around me at the same time.…

“Dot, dot, dot, dash, dash, dash, dot, dot, dot.”

Not an actual SOS, this. It’s just that I’ve spent too much time with King Russell who would speak entirely in binary code if he had the chance.

I’ve been delivering training with a colleague. We were teaching a group of professionals who work with children with Autism on how to support positive behaviour

The group included a couple of people I’d worked with for years in other settings and considered close friends, as well as people I hadn’t met before.…

Last October the shower broke at the lair. Since then I’ve had a series of tics pointing the finger at possible culprits (including King Russell, which I’ve mentioned before).

It broke again, for the third time, this morning.

“Russell broke the shower.”…

Leftwing Idiot’s back in London. He’s been away for a bit, so to celebrate his return I took round too much Indian food and his Christmas present. Leftwing Idiot’s been a good friend for many years and he’s given me masses of support.…