I wonder what I did in the last 365 days? That was the whole purpose of the blog...a sort of aide memoire, particular when I turn into a crumbly and can't remember which way to put my pants on.
So since August I must have done some stuff. No doubt plenty of cycling...in fact last year I clocked up 5000 kilometres. That feels very good. A lot of commuting, and some fun rides were had. Of the long ones, I still feel that the best was the solo cycle Exeter to Essex...really rewarding in terms of scenery and satisfaction. London to Amsterdam was not so much fun, it being wet, windy, flat and mostly boring scenery, but I did enjoy the company very much.
My social media efforts have mostly gone into Ello, and you can see my efforts here. I'm very pleased, perhaps proud even, of the photographs I've been taking, and will continue to put more effort into it. Facebook has also loomed larger as it has given me a much needed platform to vent my spleen about Britain, Europe, social injustice and a whole load more - I'm not sure if it works if you click here. Try it, and let me know.
In August a friend rented an old double decker London bus (Routemaster for the bus spotters amongst us) and turned the upstairs into a sort of life size Monopoly board. Bit hard to imagine, but as the bus drove from Monopoly destination to Monopoly destination, we played inside with giant dice. It was done in memory of her brother. Brilliant fun, but probably you had to be there!
Should I mention the interactive, audience participation murder mystery Sherlock Holmes event at Madame
How about the visit to friends in Cheshire, living very close to Jodrell Bank, the famous radio telescope. Some of us went out for a cycle ride and we were all supposed to meet at the café at the telescope, but we never quite made it. This differs from when I was a little child and my grandfather drove us all the way there from London (can you imagine that in the 1960's?) to discover I was too young/small to enter; evidently a bit of bargaining by Mum got us in that time. I was a little sad to miss out this time.
We drove down to Poitiers for a wedding...friends' children. What a beautiful city it is. Well worth the four hour ferry crossing from Newhaven and five hour drive. The happy couple had met at my old school and the bride was the neice of someone I was at school with. Does that make sense...so we had a mini-school reunion, and a photo of many generations of Bancroftians. Whilst on the subject of school, I was 'elected' the next President of the Old Bancroftians Association, a post I take up in April 2017. So from the time of the truly disastrous American election until his inauguration, I share with Trump the dubious title of President Elect.
Anyway, here's a photo of me with Obama, for no reason other than we were in the States for the New Year and he was clearly pleased to see me (picture in honour of now living in a post-truth world)
