Today’s post will be a short one because I’ve no time to spare even though it’s ridiculously early in the morning – very soon Leftwing Idiot will be here and then we’ll be heading off to Ireland.

We’re going to Dublin because I’ve been invited to be a guest on RTE’s Saturday Night Show.…

Last night, as I tried to settle back to sleep after waking up for no particular reason, I started to shake gently. I wasn’t worried by this because it’s something I’ve done since childhood when I’m going to sleep. In fact I can’t remember a time when I’ve been able to lie still and to go to sleep without it happening.…

For the last few days I’ve had a new musical tic that draws heavily on Belinda Carlisle’s late 80s pop classic ‘Heaven is a Place on Earth’ for inspiration. True to form though, my ticced version has much more surreal lyrics than the original:

“Oh biscuit is a place on sheep.”…

I love swimming! I’ve got into a good routine of going to the pool twice a week now, once with Poppy and once with Zoë. Swimming’s much safer for me than most other forms of exercise and I love the tired feeling I get afterwards.…

Today was the start of Fun-time Tuesdays.

This isn’t yet an officially recognised holiday, but it’s how Fran and I have re-branded our days together for the next few weeks. I’m taking a load of Tuesdays as annual leave and Fran will be supporting me, funded by my personal budget rather than by Access to Work.…

I spilt some water on myself first thing this morning and soaked the kneepads I wear to protect myself when my legs tic and I drop to the floor. I took them off, popped them into the wash, and put on fresh pair.…

I went to the loo earlier and slightly misjudged the distance while I was positioning myself on the seat. This reminded me vividly of another, terrifying, toilet-related near miss the other night in the pub.

There wasn’t an accessible toilet so, leaving my chair at the entrance to the Ladies, I walked in with Zoë’s help.…

On 13th December 2010 I wrote a post entitled ‘Not Much Choice’. In light of what I’m about to describe, that title now seems eerily prescient.

In the post I gave a brief description of a conversation with a man in a pub.…

I haven’t been to the cinema in a long time, largely because I feel uncomfortable about the amount of noise I make while the film’s on. I think the last time I went was to see A Prophet and that was years ago.…

A couple of weeks ago I realised with some alarm that I still have twenty days annual leave to use up by the end of March. I’ve been putting it off because when I’m not at work I don’t have access to the same level of support.…