Day 2969

Aka Sunday 8th January 2023

A quiet Sunday, today. As I was recovered from my cold I went for an exercise walk:

…it felt a bit weird and panicy at times, but I did walk down the flight of 8 steps at the beach (I have an irrational fear that they will crumble and I’ll fall and hurt myself). I didn’t manage the railway bridge (which I also have an irrational fear about crumbling) as it had been closed for some rail works. But next time I will! All in all, the walk was manageable from a panic perspective, and I did 2.54km in 53 minutes and 39 seconds, which took 4,800 steps and burnt 302 calories, although the app stopped working properly near the end of the walk and everything apart for the time is a little off. I then got the paper, put the Xmas decorations back up in the loft and chilled for the rest of the day – reading, listened to music, watched some stuff, the usual, which included starting Season Two of ‘Elementary’:

…and reading ‘Shelter: Early Doors’ by Lucy Sullivan:

…a nice little tale of domestic strife and folk-horror set in the last few months of 1969. We follow young Ealga, who had recently left Ireland for the London, and his making her way in the ‘Big Smoke’ and how a nasty encounter leads her to a darker side of London, the help of Mammy Magee and a new life. We’re heavy on the kitchen sink, ‘Cathy Come Home’ meets ‘Hellblazer’ (especially the Jamie Delano, Gareth Ennis and Mike Carey eras) and ‘Last Night in Soho’ vibes, with a very slight dash of ‘Performance’. This isn’t a read for when you’re in a rush or want something breezy. The story is dark, disturbing and, unfortunately, believable and it’s matched by the art, dark, murky and claustrophobic. Like a slab of dirty ‘60s London. Well worth reading and great intro into the ‘Shelter’ universe…while I was reading I was also listening to some SUSS EPs:

…which are beautiful blend of Country, ambient, little bit of drone and shoegaze, affectionately called ‘Bootgaze’ (as cowboys don’t wear shoes they would gaze at their cowboy boots). Lots of echoy acoustic guitars being picked with lots of widescreen desert noises.