Norfolk? Nahhhhhh...

We've spent the last week on holiday which is always a joyous occasion! No thoughts of work, far away from theatre life, the post-kitchen mess and the five million jobs we have stacked up on our to do list. B L I S S

As we often do, we decided that it was the perfect time to try out somewhere new. I've never been to Norfolk before I said one evening, let's try there. So try we did. We booked us up a former fisherman's hut that had been converted into a teeny tiny house - perfect for two weary humans and their big yellow dog. 

It was quite literally in the sand dunes. See that gap between the bigger hut and the small shed with the red door? All you had to do was pop through there, climb up a vertical set of steps, run down the sand dune and the golden, sandy beach was right there. Absolutely flipping brilliant! Perfect for big yellow dogs who love to roll around in the sand, swim in the sea and generally lollop about in a big lollopy kind of way! 

What was not so perfect was Norfolk itself. I mean, how does one say what I'm about to say without sounding insulting? I don't mean to be offensive...but to be honest, it's just a bit behind the times. And when I say a bit, I mean like somewhere around 1984 behind the times. Retro if you will, but without that cool vibe that tends to accompany the retro-vintage thing. 

Our biggest problem was how long it took to get there. Approximate journey time going down there: 6 hours. The return home journey? Clocked in at almost 8 hours. Whaaaat? Yep, we're talking long. Funnily enough, so many people messaged us while we were there saying, why did you go to Norfolk? Takes forever to get there! Wish someone would have told us that sooner...

But! Enough of the endless journey and 1984-vibe. We did have a fun time which is all that counts (even if there is nowhere to get a decent cup of coffee - first world problems or what?!) We went on heaps of walks, from coast to countryside. We stood within almost touching distance of a giant pile of seals (is there a technical term for this I wonder?) It was so warm we sat outside and read our books! In t-shirts! In October! We found Autumn gold and toasted sandwiches the size of our big yellow dog. And we did eventually find that much coveted cup of coffee, and as if that wasn't enough we also found donuts that were made in heaven! Should you ever find yourself in Stalham, head to the High Street and go straight to Daddy Donuts - I can promise you, that you won't regret it!

Blue skies! A whole week away from the normal daily grind! It might have taken forever to get there (and back!) but it was exactly what a couple of weary souls needed. We're restored, refreshed and kind of ready to head back to work tomorrow. And we're starting to plan 2019 holidays - where should we go? Do we do 2 weeks together? Do we do three separate weeks in like June, July and September? Decisions, decisions... 

Summer Twenty-18

Ahhhh summer. You absolute flipping beaut! You've been long, H O T, utterly glorious and I'm still finding it hard to believe you're officially over. 

I checked the calendar and today is officially the start of Autumn. Summer twenty-18 is done and dusted. Seeing as though I've had such an absolutely crackin' time I decided that I had to say a proper farewell - do it up right, you know? A few words, a whole heap of photos and so.many.memories! Please can we do it all over again in 2019? 

Can we though? 

May
The nights got lighter, someone turned up the thermostat and summer was ON! First thing I did was chop off even more of my hair. 

June
Eating and drinking every meal outside became the new norm. The pink wine was flowing, the skies were vividly blue, the freckles started to pop out and if I had to wear more than two items of clothing it was becoming a challenge. 

France
After what felt like forever (actual time: 5 years) we finally returned to France for a holiday. 16 days of absolute bliss and soaring temperatures. The hairy hound came with us for the ride. It took approximately 30 seconds for me to fall in love all over again and start plotting the retirement to a tiny French hamlet. 

The World Cup
For the first time since 1966, football almost came home and it was amazing! We were in France for most of the England matches but somehow Dave managed to find some internet to tether to so that we could listen and share the utter joy of the whole nation! United in that tantalising possibility that the shiny golden cup might actually fall into our grubby hands it was most definitely a summer of football! We listened to one of the games as we travelled back through the Tunnel and as they scored the first goal everyone in our carriage heard us cheer! Oh it was magical! 

The final England game was quite simply unbelievable. People cancelled everything so that they could be somewhere to watch it and we all sat glued to our seats, hiding behind the cushions, yelling, shouting, gasping out loud and literally biting nails off until the bitter, bitter end when it was very certain that it was no longer coming home. 

The next day at work was brutal. The tension while watching it had me so wound up that I couldn't get to sleep (I know, right?!) and then one of my much loved work colleagues was leaving and I was honestly bereft. I'm still not sure I'm over it, both the world cup and Anya leaving 😪

July
The hair changed again and I decided to add a cheeky fringe. Perfect timing for an extremely overheated office and a season of high humidity...

We spent a whole lot of time walking the dog just as the sun was coming down, and golden hour every single day was a breathtaking sight to behold...

I attended loads of random work events but I honestly didn't care, as long as there was the promise of blue skies, sunshine and a beer outside to go with it...

We definitely ate too many of these...

And I enjoyed a fantastic mini break in Newcastle with Debs and Kyle at FriendsFest! 

My parents celebrated 50 years of marriage - 50! We had a huge family weekend that involved lots and lots of food, bubbles and laughter. It was beyond lovely and I can't wait until we can all do it again soon!

August
By the time August appeared we were on a total roll and we just kept on going out! We had a fantastic weekend at SIRF, I worked at the Middlesbrough Mela (but it's one of my fave events so never seems like a chore) and I took my mam to the Bowes Museum for her birthday to see the Catwalking exhibition.

I was still only wearing two items of clothing and spending practically every minute outside! By this point it felt like it was going to be summer forever and I was overjoyed 😎

September 

More sun. More fun. We've been to the beach, we've eaten our body-weight in food on far too many occasions, I've been covered in powder paint at the Colour Run and shared 25 years of memories at our art college reunion! 

And now here we are. Day one of Autumn. I know it's all crunchy leaves, comfort food, hot chocolate and getting snuggly in layers, but it's also long. And last year it got bitterly cold so quickly and you absolutely could not only wear two layers cos you might have died from being frozen...but so it has to be. It's the way it works. Unless you move somewhere like LA and that's not realllly on the cards so...

Farewell Summer. I am absolutely going to miss you hun. But I've had a smile this wide for the entire time and for that I will forever be grateful... 

Soft on Stockton

Usually when I'm out and about I'm in Middlesbrough - it's where my work is so the events and activities are generally based around there. Tonight though I'm absolutely flipping delighted to be talking up Stockton. My home town and absolutely, positively where my heart lies. As the hashtag goes, #ilovestocktonme 💓 

In an ideal world this post would have been up and at 'em about two weeks ago, but meh, here we are. Better late than never as we say! 

First up, let's talk Stockton Contemporary - a celebration of original and exciting art from all over the North! There was a map, and a treasure trail of art, and it was absolutely wonderful. I found myself in places I didn't even know existed in Stockton. I saw the BIGGEST TALLEST cake I have ever seen in my life and basically had an absolute blast wandering around the town with my ladies, Andy and Ruth. 

I didn't get to see the whole thing sadly as it only ran for a limited amount of time, but what I did see was oh so worth it. The most unusual thing was on the top of the Castlegate Shopping Centre - probably the most unimaginative, 1970s concrete block you might ever imagine, but upstairs...oh! The reflections! The bright blue sky! The billowing, coloured parachute fabric draped just so! The two artists, also musicians, who climbed on top of the billowing parachute and played haunting music. So unusual. So unique. So definitely not Stockton. Which was absolutely, 100% what made it so special. 

There was only a couple of weeks to wait before it was the Stockton International Riverside Festival (SIRF) which is one of the highlights of the town for the year. Essentially it's a huge festival that's free to everyone, and performers from all over the world come and bring their weird, wacky and wonderful creations with them. The magical thing about it is that the people of Stockton, who would generally be all grumpy and throw around "no way am I watching that rubbish" type of comments, totally and utterly embrace it. Mainly I think, because it belongs to us. It's been running for 31 years (!) and nowhere else in our region has the same offering, and that friends, makes us super proud. 

We basically did after-dark SIRF this year. Well, almost dark. On the Friday night we saw the absolutely amazing Hyde Park Brass. There were people marching, dancing, kids running in and out of the water fountains, someone kicked off a conga line...they basically ruled the town for about 45 minutes and it was truly awesome! The atmosphere was incredible and the whole town felt completely ALIVE. I love that kind of stuff - it totally gives me all the warm and fuzzies. 

From there we had a cheeky drink before heading to Trinity Gardens for The Glass Ceiling by Periplum. I was dying to see this for three reasons: 
1) there was the promise of a fire show
2) it was all about the Suffragettes movement in Teesside 
3) it's coming to Middlesbrough in October and I couldn't wait that long!

Wow. Just wow. What a truly brilliant, awe-inspiring performance. Moving around the space, and taking the audience with them, you were basically drawn from one sight to another and then a noise behind you made you look there and then you couldn't decide where to watch. For an outdoor performance it was fully immersive and completely captivating. A very, very clever and innovative way of making a serious subject come to life in a way that drew everyone in, of all ages. 

As I said, it's touring across the Tees Valley from now until Autumn and I urge you to go and see it. You definitely will not be disappointed and I can't wait to see how they're going to use Centre Square - so exciting! 

On Saturday night we saw La Tortue de Gauguin (Gauguin's Turtle) by Luc Amoros. The description sounded so intriguing and it definitely did not disappoint. I've never seen anything like it and I'm not sure I ever will again. Try to imagine a 9 metre high, 4 storey structure - on the bottom level there's a narrator and a musician and then each floor houses 2 artists behind transparent screens. As the story was narrated the artists painted - sometimes the pictures were individual designs that were ripped off and flung into the crowd. Other times each section formed to make a whole and honestly, each one was more stunning than the last. You could hear the audible gasps all around us as the final reveals were done for each section. 

Each chapter got louder and more dramatic, and the artists became even more animated and the brush/hand/roller strokes became more intense and it was absolutely a journey towards a massive climax! 

Even now when I think about it I get goosebumps. It was a performance for all the senses and it was just amazing. I remember sitting on the grass in the Parish Gardens and thinking how brilliant it is that this kind of thing is available in my home town, for FREE, and it comes back year after year... 

So. Much. Love. 

Our weekend ended with the SIRF finale on the Sunday - always a night to remember, it well and truly went out with a bang this year. The firework show was an absolute belter, turning the river golden and the crowds said goodbye to SIRF on a total high. 

I wish it could be every weekend! But then I guess it wouldn't be as special...but it definitely did reinforce how much I totally do love Stockton. She might be a bit rough around the edges with a lot of empty shops, but she's got spirit and soul and that's what makes her so flipping fabulous!

Work funk

Anyone who's been around these parts for a while won't be too surprised to read that I find myself once again in a work funk. To be honest, it's probably more regular than it should be and I'm still trying to figure out why this is. 

It's not you...

It's me...

I'm just not ready to commit...

Sound familiar? I honestly think these days that work funks are a thing for everyone. Working life in the 21st Century is tough. Your employers want everything from you and for very little in return. Right now I'm battling with several challenges at once but if I had to pick three they would be:

1) the job I was originally hired to do is no longer my job. I've been restructured. And in this restructure I was essentially pacified and patted on the back and told exactly what I needed to hear to be willing to go along for the ride. Turns out that gut instinct I had about it all going pete tong was definitely the right call.

2) they keep using the word "resource" to refer to people. This boils my blood and makes me want to rage. I'm not a flipping resource! I'm a person! With feelings. And right now, calling me a resource makes it feel like you no longer think of me as an actual human being. I'm a number. And that pretty much sucks. 

3) I spend a lot of time sending emails asking how much it costs to print things. I'm pretty sure that in that whole restructure conversation (refer to number 1) I was told that to remain "creative" I would need to go down this route with you. And now I'm basically a glorified admin assistant. Which would be all fine if that's what I'd originally applied for. But it wasn't. And so here we are. Oh and yep, in case you were confused, printing costs does not equal creative. Nope, no, not at all. 

If you sense anger from me you'd be pitching it about right. I'm angry, I'm frustrated, I'm tired and most of all I feel so let down. I genuinely LOVED that job when I first started. I was working in a great team, the job I was doing was exactly what I had always wanted to do, I was passionate, totally engaged and the number one ambassador. 

Now I mainly want to move on. But I'm worried that if I move on I'll find myself in yet another honeymoon period that will end another two years down the line. 

So my question has to be: is it bad to move on so frequently? Does two years even count as frequent? Back in ye golden olden days people stayed in jobs their whole lives. I honestly don't think that's a thing now, and the voice inside my head tells me that a two year stint is a good solid innings. What say you? Genuinely I would love to know. 

Should I stay or should I go? 

Should I wait it out and see if the work funk turns around on its head? 

I'm a firm believer in following my gut instincts (they're pretty finely tuned after this many years and I have to say are rarely wrong) but this time I'm floundering around a bit. Mainly because I want to believe it will all be okay. 

But I'm not sure it will be. Because it's not me this time. And that's where it gets very, very tricky. 

Do you think it's time to make the break? Answers on a postcard...

Travelling to France with your dog

I got a good few questions when we came back from France about how it had been travelling with our dog so I decided the best way to answer them all was to just write a blog post about it. If you're not planning a trip to France with your dog sometime soon then please be assured that I won't be offended if you don't stop to read. But for those of you who are interested, I hope you find it useful! 

I also thought it would be useful to give you a little bit of background in case it helps you to make your decision about taking your pet or not. Our dog, Bob, is a golden retriever. He's 3 years old, has never had any problems travelling in the car with us and has been on several UK holidays since we've had him, with varying travel times of under an hour to over 4 hours. Whenever we know we're going any distance we generally plan to drive for 2 hours and then stop to let him have a break, stretch his legs and so on. He sits in the back seat of our car, on a large hammock type cover that protects the entire back seat and is generally attached to a harness that clips to the seatbelt holder. 

It's probably also worth adding that he's super chill and just goes with the flow. He's also a big lad weighing in at 42 kilos and takes up a LOT of floor space! So now you know a bit more about Bob, let's get into the useful information! 

Before leaving
The first thing you'll need to do is get a pet passport. You organise this with your vet - we made an appointment approximately 3 weeks before we were travelling as dogs are also required to have a rabies injection which will cover them for returning to the UK. The whole appointment took almost an hour as the vet has to fill out all of the details in the passport, you have to check it all over to make sure it's all correct, and the rabies injection probably took seconds. It's worth noting that Bob had no side effects from the injection at all. The fun fact is that you don't need a photo for the passport, but there is a box if you want to put one in. I was so tempted! 

Planning your trip
We used Home and Away and Trip Advisor to book both of our holiday gites. Both websites are great for selecting pet friendly places to rent and we had no problems finding anywhere. We specifically wanted a garden that was enclosed so that we could let him wander around freely without having to worry about him getting out. Both places were absolutely brilliant and had big gardens that he loved roaming around in so we hit gold both times! 

We travelled via EuroTunnel as from previous experience we've found it the quickest and easiest way to get to France. When you book you can include that you are travelling with your pet. There is an additional charge that is applied each way that was £19 (at the time of writing). This payment covers the access to the Pet Exercise area on the UK side - this was absolutely brilliant. It was a really big space with various things for the dog to jump in/on and also had a water tap and a big shaded area if you're not a big fan of bright blue skies and sunshine. On the way back (France side) the exercise area is much smaller but I think the real charge for the French side is to go through the pet check-in but more on that later. 

What to take
This bit is probably more personal to your dog as it depends if they have their own bed, towels and so on. Bob mainly sleeps on the floor (we learned very early on there was no point in paying lots of money for expensive beds as he sleeps at the bottom of the stairs on the cool wooden floor!) so we took a fleece blanket with us that we take on all our trips (so he has something familiar about home), his towel (to dry him off after swimming), 4 of his favourite toys (what can I say, he's a big daft golden retriever who loves his bears!) and most importantly, all of the food that we would need. 

All of my advanced reading (I'm a big researcher) recommended that you take the usual dog food with you as diet changes can lead to upset stomachs and you don't really want that on your holly-bobs! We feed him a combination of dried food and tins (each to their own, please keep any opinions about our food choices to yourself) so we had to take a LOT of stuff with us to cover 16 days away! Luckily we have lots of space in our car. As it turned out, the Pedigree tins we use were readily available in the French supermarkets and for a similar price.

We also took our usual snacks (he mainly eats dog biscuits) and 3 refillable water bottles to ensure we could keep him well hydrated. Don't forget your feeding bowl/water bowl too!  

The journey
We live in the North East of England so it's quite a big trek down to Folkestone for the tunnel. We decided to break it up by leaving one day early and travelling down to Blyth to stay in a Travelodge. It's worth noting that the staff there were absolutely brilliant, super helpful and even offered to fill up our water bowl for the dog. As for Bob, he'd never stayed in a hotel before so despite his initial excitement, he soon calmed down and crashed out on a towel we put down on the floor by the side of the bed. We fed him in the morning from his bowl while we enjoyed a Costa breakfast from the service station next door. 

Travelling through the Tunnel didn't seem to phase him at all (it definitely helps that you're sat in your own car as if you're driving) so I can highly recommend this as a way of getting to France. Once we were through to the French side we stayed in a B&B Hotel in Calais - again very dog friendly, big room with lots of floor space for big dogs. It was super basic but don't be put off - for a one night stay before you continue on your journey I can definitely recommend. Top tip: the Poivre Rouge restaurant next door do takeaway (ask for 'emporter') so you can grab a burger and eat in your room. 

Woop you're in France! 
We stayed in Normandy so our journey time was really decent. We stopped a couple of times to ensure leg stretching/water breaks but mainly we just got on with it. One of the best things about France are the number of Airs that you can stop at, and a lot of them have lots of grassy space and picnic areas, as well as your more typical service station offerings - absolutely perfect for dogs and their humans too. 

Our experience
We loved it! Overall there were very few limitations about where we could go with him, but this probably had more to do with the places we decided to visit. We went to a forest so we could find a lake for him to swim in, we went into local towns for market days, coffee stops and pastry runs, but we were mainly there to chill out and relax so it wasn't a great hardship that we couldn't go into galleries, museums etc. We found a couple of great local parks that I think were probably local secrets too as we were definitely the only tourists there! 

Our biggest day out was to Mont St Michel. As a 'gros chien' he wasn't allowed on the navettes (shuttle bus) so we walked it. It was approx. 2.5km and it was blazing sunshine! We'd deliberately planned it to arrive early to avoid the midday sun and I have to say he did brilliantly. He's never seen so many people in one place before (we don't take him into towns or anything like that so he is rarely exposed to big crowds) but he really did take it all in his stride. There were lots of places around where you could grab shade and water bottles and there were a good number of other dogs there too so we weren't alone. We couldn't go in to any of the places with him (which is of course fair enough) so after we'd looked around we took him to the beach to have a plodge about in the sea. 

When we got back we returned to the big park near the visitor centre. We found a huge tree with shade and all lay down for a rest! The two hours that we spent under that tree were probably some of the most enjoyable of the whole holiday! There were lots of places around to grab food and drink and after some ham and cheese from our sarnies and more water fill ups, Bob laid down under the tree and went to sleep, and I'm not ashamed to admit that we dozed for a while too. 

Remember to get your tapeworm tablets!
The number one rule that you can't forget is that you need to visit a vet when you're in France, before you return home, to get the tapeworm tablet and the health check. All this information is added in to the pet passport and clears you for coming back to the UK. As you've probably guessed by now, I did some research beforehand and contacted the owner asking if there was a nearby vet they could recommend. They did just that and the whole experience was very simple. 

We were lucky as the vets spoke English, but we'd prepared ahead by putting what we needed to say in to Google translate. They offered a drop-in appointment session and we went along at that time and basically waited our turn. The whole thing probably took 30 minutes in total, including our wait time. It was also incredibly reasonably priced. 6 Euros for the tapeworm tablets, the health check was 16 Euros and there was no consultation fee - imagine that! 

I would definitely recommend planning ahead for this bit. If you can't find out from the owners, the internet is always going to be your friend. I looked up the vets we were going to, translated the site and already knew about the drop in session times. We popped in and asked anyway when we were in the town one day and went back the following day for our appointment. Simples! 

The EuroTunnel Pet Check
As with all EuroTunnel services, the pet check was incredibly efficient. Follow the paw signs as you arrive (cute!), park up and head into the building. You show the passport, you scan the dog for the microchip and they give you a pass to put on your window when you travel through. All very easy and super quick. The pet area was slightly disappointing as it was much smaller than the UK side and was also in the blazing sunshine with no shady parts, but we let Bob have a sniff about, and he had a drink of water and a wee so it was all good. 

And that's it! 

The all important question is will we do it again? We think so...we realised quite early on that he didn't really like changing where we slept every night, and he seemed to find the move from one place to the next quite unsettling, but if anyone has any suggestions how you explain to a dog that it will be okay, I'm all ears. We've talked next time about maybe going in a camper van so that we were sleeping every night in the same place? We're not entirely sure. One thing is for certain, we definitely weren't put off by it but equally we would have a serious think about how to do it without moving around as much. 

If you're off to France with your four legged friends, I wish you a very happy holiday indeed. Can I come with you...I miss it already...

Discoveries...

1. The joy of a summer duvet...
I realise that what I am about to say is going to make me sound very, very old but have you discovered the joy of a summer duvet yet?! Oh my! This is a recent discovery to me and Dave and it is truly wondrous. Coming in at 4.5 tog, it's the lightest, most coolest way to sleep and it's just lush. No more waking up in the middle of the night, tangled up in the massive 13.5 tog layer of thickness of our former duvet, desperately trying to just get one foot out there so that you can cool off. Nope - the summer duvet is perfection and right now, it is life. No more words are needed. If you don't have one, go right out and get one now. Seriously, it WILL change your bedtime life! 

2. David Beckham on Instagram...
The man is beautiful. Definitely falls into the category of "growing into his looks" Those wrinkles around his eyes...just oh! Did I mention he does Instagram Stories too? I'm smitten...as are the 47 million other people who follow him I reckon...

3. Looking up...
Blue skies? Red brick buildings? Few clouds dotted here and there? Quick, take a photo! I've always had a fondness for looking up but at the moment it's turning into a bit of an obsession and it's like I'm discovering Middlesbrough for the first time all over again. Have you ever actually looked up while you're wandering around there? The architecture is stunning! Heart eye emojis at the ready cos you're going to need them...

4. Call me by your name...
I know that I'm way late to the party for this one but I've finally got round to reading this book and to say I'm utterly charmed would be an understatement. You can almost *smell* the hazy summer sunshine. I'm only on to chapter three but I can feel that it's going to be memorable. (sidenote: my pile of books to take away on holiday is pretty large but there's a couple of brand new shiny ones in there so I might even do a review or two upon my return...)

5. Mellow yellow...
Last week I attended an Insights session all about colour analysis. Call it hoo-ey, call it science, honestly call it whatever you like, but I will never get over how flipping accurate that 18 page document was when describing me. I showed it to Dave and he howled his way through it, while secretly taking notes in the "how not to speak to Claire" section *chuckles* The biggest discovery for me was how much I loved doing the people watching. Don't get me wrong, there were moments when it was almost torturous to watch the people because of the nightmare they were going through (poor blues, my heart goes out to them) but it made me realise all over again how fascinated I am by body language and the unspoken words that people use to communicate. Maybe that whole thinking about Psychology as a career when I was 17 wasn't such a bad call after all...

Made any interesting discoveries lately? Do tell...

What was I just doing...?

Do you ever get that thing where you're in the middle of something, someone asks you a question, you deal with that and then you try to go back to what you'd been doing in the first place and you have no memory of it? I swear in the last year or so I've turned into a goldfish with a two second memory span. If I don't write stuff down I might as well just forget about it cos I don't stand a hope of it having sunk into my overly crowded head. I know I'm not alone in this. Our attention spans have seriously hit the deck with a very loud (and forgettable) thud. 

I wanted to talk about this today and how it's affecting blogs and overall reading in general. Be honest, how many blogs do you actually subscribe to? Do you faithfully read all their posts? My Bloglovin' inbox has reduced loads in the last couple of months and I have to be honest - it's been a conscious uncoupling on my behalf (haha, I love that phrase so much - it's so ridiculous that it's funny!). 

I don't want to be the person who says this, but life truly is too short to spend it reading stuff that isn't giving you any enjoyment anymore. Only a short two years ago I would have said that reading blogs was one of my favourite past-times but now, they just don't hold my attention in the same way. A lot of this has to do with me and my own attention-grabbing limitations, but also I just don't FEEL the love from a lot of the authors anymore. The ones I've recently unsubscribed from just don't feel genuine at the moment. The focus is just a bit 'off' and it's been enough for me to turn off. No grace period either, just to see. Nope - boom, goodbye and goodnight. 

I can't quite pin down what it is either. I think it's common knowledge that numbers are falling. The short attention span problem has hit bloggers hard and even the big names are losing page views - pretty dramatically too I think. But I definitely think it's fair to ask the question - if they're not feeling it, why should we? 

As a way-way under the radar blogger myself, it's not that big a deal. I don't rely on page views for anything at all and my ramblings are enjoyed by a small handful of loyal readers...I also can hardly tell you that I spend hours and hours writing blog posts for your enjoyment as that's absolutely not true...but it must be so disheartening when people do spend hours, and it's their income and the attention span of people is so low that they might look at the first paragraph and then move swiftly on. Ouch! 

Where was I again? Yep. It's happened again. I've written a few paragraphs and I've forgotten what my original point was supposed to be. Sheesh - the shame! 

Oh yep, attention span. Not being able to read much without being bored. Is anyone still with me? It totally saddens me to think this may be the case with books too. I will always choose book reading over any other favourite past time - it's been a constant in my life since I was born and long may it remain that way. But imagine if the teenagers coming up behind us now don't read anymore? What will happen to authors? No, I can't even start to think about it...

The thing is, I don't think there's a solution to the short attention span problem. The more information and content that is out there, the more we'll try to consume and our brains might just explode. Eep! I try to expand my concentration by spending time reading things and looking at blogs, but then I might get a notification on my phone and I'm instantly distracted. And therein lies the crux of the problem...the solution is probably to spend less time on my phone/being distracted by my phone, but I like it! The defence cried out across the land m'lud - we all like our phones...

Probably too much...

Definitely too much...

I bought a book called "How to break up with your phone". I haven't read it yet. It's got really small writing and I'm worried that it won't be interesting enough to keep me engaged...

See? We're all effed! 

Someone save us! But do we really want to be saved? 

Answers on a postcard, or in the comments below. If you can be bothered...