Lyrics: “Nobody Knows That I’m a Fraud ” ~ Grace Petrie, 2016
I made it to the seaside. In the dark, but who cares. Tomorrow there will be daylight – maybe even sunlight – the beach, the sea. Fresh air. Peace.

I’m only staying for the one day (two nights) and on the long-ish drive over here I was questioning the decision for a bit. There was no option (work etc wise) to stay for longer. But I felt the need to be by the sea once more this year. So here I am. And it’s ok if it’s just for the day. I just hope I’m not sleeping through most of it, because I’m sooooooo tired after this week.
Local Politics | There were long meetings each evening from Monday to Wednesday. Some parts were frustrating, as it’s wont to be for a Green party group in opposition to an absolute Labour majority. I volunteered to speak for us on one issue against the Labour majority and I think I did a good job. I don’t often think that of me, so that was nice for a change. It all just took a lot of time out of my days.
Work | Is busy as usual. Projects are going well though and are progressing. Finally! Our new supervisor and I had a 2nd meeting for him to get to know me (and vice versa). Or rather this time talk about goals and ideas and critisicm about our team, the department and such. About how I would like to / need to work in the future. It was a good talk, we get along well. He was full of praise. More than I would have expected. I know my shortcomings. Or at least I think I do. Some might just be in my head? Maybe I need to ponder that for a bit longer. Anyway. The Grace lyric felt fitting for that meeting this week. With the end of the year or rather Christmas Holiday break just a few days away, things will keep being busy for the next two weeks, I’m afraid. So maybe I SHOULD sleep through this weekend? Kidding…
“Musical Christmas” | As if the three evening meeting from Monday to Wednesday hadn’t taken up enough of my time, on Thursday evening I joined friends to see a “Musical Christmas”.
Unlike my friends I haven’t seen Anton and his wife Harriet do this kind of thing on stage before. I enjoyed this night very much. Some Christmas songs. Lots of well-known songs from musicals, interspersed with their own history with these shows and tunes. The evening had a lovely narrative arc with songs from when they started out in the musical theatre world, mixed with classics like “Maria” from West Side Story. And Disney and Grease and lots of other classics. Let’s do that again some time.
Only downside of it all: I was whammed by the music played over the speakers before the show started! Day 8. Bummer!
Recharge | I should definitely try to recharge my body and mind while I’m here for the day. I brought newspaper, books (fiction, non-fiction, self-help), tons of articles in my feedreader. While reading either of those often does help me to recharge, I know by now that I often turn to reading (or streaming familiar TV shows) to distract myself from my own thoughts / worries / self-loathing. Therefore “turning to something to read” might not always be a good thing. I’ll see how it will go or how I feel tomorrow, if I feel mentally rested enough to spend a day mostly in my own head. Maybe. I might check in about that tomorrow evening.