I thought about using another Frank Turner lyric as title for this post, but the lyric in mind felt a bit too harsh for the temporary misanthropic mood I found myself in yesterday. Of course a sunny Saturday would bring people – lots of people – to Brighton streets and beach. I was one of them, so I can’t really moan about it.
But for some reasion I just didn’t expect it or wasn’t quite ready for it. I was strolling through North Laine for a bit, which was lovely, but so crowded (sunny Saturday, see above). I ended up by the beach again, rented a deck chair for a while and enjoyed the sun till the clouds moved in. On my way back up into the centre within 30 minutes I encountered one wedding party, one stag-do and two hen parties. When I restocked milk for my morning coffee in the Co-op later I ran into a woman who seemed to be part of hen-party. but she also seemed so out-of-it (drunk?) already. It was about 4 in the afternoon. My cue to head “home”. I had an super early night and got a decent amount of sleep, so I feel ready to tackle the world with all the many people in it for another day. Later. After some more coffee…
On Friday I had a lovely drinks & dinner with someone from the “Frank Turner fandom”, whom I’ve only ever had contact with online. They live here in Brighton and were ready and willing to meet up and it’s always nice to chat to fellow fans about music, but in this case also books and politics and things like the carbon footprint of coffee.
Also on Friday I took the bus down the coast to Seven Sisters. (‘The’ Seven Sisters?). I had been here once before on my previous stay in Brighton and definitely wanted to come back. When I checked the MetOffice forecast on my phone Friday morning in bed, I knew it had to be that day. And what a glorious day it was. As it always seems to happen with these kind of days I walked much more than I had planned, including a rush down the hill to catch the Coaster bus with the less stops. But stilll all in all a wonderful day out.
Again I didn’t read (my books) as much as I had planned. I “only” bought two non-fiction so far. I caught up with some more news stories and features I had saved in the last few weeks and months and also with some podcasts. Most of the news features and podcasts were about rather grim topics like the rise of antisemitism since October, (domestic) violence against women and how the legal and social system is rigged against them when they report it or go to court over it. I’m glad I have the chance to learn about all these kind of things and stay informed and woke – in the true original sense of the term – but I really need to make sure to intersperse it with some light reading / listening to not get worn down by the current state of the world.
It’s already my last day here in Brighton. I have no idea what I’m going to do with most of it (yet). I know I’ll be back by the beach for a bit today. But I also know I’ll be back in my small studio flat at 6 PM to start watching the Olivier Awards livestream on Youtube.
