First Aid
This week I had to realize that I have no real grasp of First Aid stuff. Like none at all. I mean, some things are human instincts perhaps, but others… ? On Thursday morning on my way to work I had to see a boy on his bike got hit by a car. It happened literally in front of me as a pedestrian as the boy and I were crossing the street and it was horrible to watch, even though, the boy wasn’t hurt badly after all. But still… I rushed over, tried to calm him down and luckily other folks around had more first aid knowledge, got a blanket and such. Police and paramedics were called, I called the boy’s mum on his cell phone, which I felt so bad about. Having to tell her, that her kid was in an accident. She was able to come to the site right away and could accompany him to the ER. He was treated, but didn’t have to stay, as he wasn’t seriously injured. Bruises and scraps. He was really lucky! I left my phone number with the police who gave them to the boy’s mum, who called me this weekend to thank me. Which was sooooo nice!
I signed up for a 7h first aid class next Saturday. Because I will never ever again want to feel as helpless and inadequate as I did that morning. Part of it probably was still being in shock myself, but I also really didn’t know what to do.
Gilmore Girls
I came to the Gilmore Girls years after the show was off the air, but I binged watched the whole series one summer a few years ago. AndI watched it completely at least once more. Or maybe twice? I’m very tempted to start all over again next week, because I’ve just spend almost 2 hours watch the lovely Gilmore Girls Reunion that happened at ATX TV Festival last week. It was sooooo much fun to see them all again and to hear them talk about the show and what made the whole experience so special. And it was… it was such a unique show. One of the bests ever to me!
Merrily Watkins novel series
These novels written by Phil Rickman were recommended to me via Twitter in the way that I read a tweet from someone who just couldn’t put them down :-) The typical novel summaries at Goodreads and Amazon gave me an idea of what they were about and I started with the first one and what can I say? I’m about to start book 6 this evening (or tomorrow). I’m so totally hooked!
Merrily Watkins is a single Mum of a teenage daughter, but she’s also an Anglican priest in a village in Herfordshire close to the Welsh border and most important: the Diocesan Exorcist. The series has a lot of lovable, quirky characters and the whole ghosts / evil spirits / unquieted dead idea is a unique and new one for me, especially as it is never overplayed. Yes, there are or might be supernatural powers and things happenening, but it turns out that the crimes or worrying events which are contributed to those supernatural powers are often enough caused by very real, very human actions or reactions. And still… there is something supernatural going an after all.
Music
I’ve been buying or at least listening to quite a lot of new music recently. Compared to previous “Frank Turner 24/7” times anyway. There were Dreamcatcher, Frank’s support from the gig last week and Rob Lynch, who just signed on the same label as Frank Turner, which is how I got to know of him. Also the new Mumford & Sons record, which I didn’t think would “work” for me, without the banjos. But I enjoy it quite a lot, which suprised me a bit, I admit it. For a few minutes I considered catching on of their gigs, if the date fit. But then I say the ticket price and it’s about 65 EUR. Which equals 2 Frank Turner gigs ;-) But seriously, anything over 50 EUR has to be really special to me to make me want to spend that much money. So I’ll just see Rob Lynch in July for an equivalent of 1/5 of a Mumford & Sons ticket. And it’ll be just as fine, I’m sure.
One Year Ago
Exactly one year ago I heard Frank Turner play “Get Better” for the first time and I was blown away. It’s still one of my favourite songs from the forthcoming album and from all his songs in general. The gig in Luxembourg 2014 was awesome for so many other reasons as well, which I wrote about back then. But I also wrote about how much I wanted to try and actually “get better” myself in a “less worrying / wondering / being anxious” kind of way.
After a year I don’t really feel like much has changed, which feels pathetic in a way. Even though I know that’s not true. Some things have changed. For the better. But I’m still feeling kind of lost (for lack of a better word) more often than I like. So today I was bit sentimental remembering that gig but also a bit disappointed with myself, that I’m still in the same headspace I’ve been a year ago. It was a good reminder though, that some things have to change… These days I can never write/say “that some things have to change” without thinking of another great new Frank Turner song, which contains these lyrics. I’ve got it bad, I know *g*
Scotland
I’ve spend a lot of time this weekend to go through all my travel guide books for Scotland and to gather all the sights in Edinburgh and Glasgow I want to (re-)visit and which I might skip this 2nd time around and which to visit for the first time. I’m planning to spend a whole day (probably) in Falkirk seeing the Falkirk Wheel and the Kelpies. Oh, the Kelpies… I also ordered yet another travel guide book, more updated one, because the ones I own are or at least feel kind of out of touch. Some of them at least. (Yes, I do own quite a few. I’m a travel guide book horder in some way). I haven’t planned any Outlander related touristy thing, which might sound surprising. But for reasons unknown I’m not really that interested in visiting location where they have been shooting in season 1. If I come across a location where they will be filming at the time I’m there, it might be a whole different ball game, but so far… I’ll be in Edinburgh for a few days, in Glasgow for even lesser days and than one whole week on Lewis and Harris. Far away from any TV film set, I’d guess. And that’s fine!