Comfort & Joy

I won't lie to you: it's been a rough year here at SOS Towers. Losing my job, crashing my car, having to watch Green Lantern, Transformers 3 and Season Of The Witch... that'll take the spring out of your step and right. I've had stress, sleepless nights and moments where I've just plain broken down and sobbed into my porridge. But no matter how miserable I've felt, there are some things which always give me comfort. This post is a tribute to those...

1. Coffee Shops.

Obviously, the coffee itself is important here, but there's also something hugely comforting about taking time out from your day to sit in a coffee shop and watch the world go by. It feels like a special treat and makes me feel sophisticated and adult: something I'm especially grateful for after sitting in an anonymous cattle queue at the Job Centre. Coffee Shop Culture gets a lot of stick, but I think it's one of the true advances in our society. When I was a student first time round, our only options were pubs and grubby cafes. The rise of coffee shops make me think there's hope for civilization after all.

2. Alex Lester on Radio 2.

I tend to sleep with headphones on, tuned to Radio 2. It helps me gets to sleep and if I wake during the night it helps me get back to sleep. It gives me something to think about and distract my mind in the wee small hours when problems always seem far worse than they might actually be. 3am is the worst time to find yourself lying away with an over-active imagination, so thank god for Alex Lester on Radio 2. An amusing, genuine and inoffensive jock who plays a good variety of music and helps keep me from despair. See also Huey Morgan, Bob Harris and Richard Allison on a weekend. And Chris Evans for making me want to switch off the radio and get up as soon as it's morning.

3. Mum & Dad

They say you appreciate your parents more as you get older. I appreciate mine more every time I see them.

4. Comics

Though I can't afford as many of them as I once did, the ones I do buy, take from the library or re-read from my rapidly dwindling collection in the attic continue to give me solace. From the wonderful, warm nostalgia buzz of rediscovering comics from my youth to the rare examples of uncynical mainstream books (thank god for Dan Slott's Amazing Spider-Man!) to all the wonderful home-made small press books I continue to discover and champion. I still love reading novels and listening to music, even watching TV... but nothing calms my mind last thing at night like a good comic.

5. Writing

It's still there. Whenever I get the chance. Not as often as I might wish, but writing has always helped me sort out my thoughts and put things in perspective. Even blogging helps, but the real peace comes from writing fiction. Hopefully I'll continue to be able to steal time to write, whatever else life throws at me, it's the only thing that keeps me sane.

What gives you comfort no matter what...?

Diamonds Are Forever

Sixty years ago today, Leslie Hirst married Mary Hoyle at Slawit Church. And they're still bickering away like only a couple who have been together for more than half a century could. I'm so proud of them both; I owe them everything. Even the Queen sent her congratulations.

Happy Diamond Anniversary, Mum and Dad. Here's to the next sixty!

Return To Reighton Gap

When I was a kid, back in the late 70s and early 80s, our annual family holiday would be to a small pebble-dash bungalow at Reighton Gap near Filey. Me, my mum and my dad. I look back on those holidays with enormous fondness.

The bungalow was located on the edge of Reighton Sands holiday village and every day I'd get on my scooter and ride down to the beach, up to the slot machines or round to one of the three shops in the area that sold old American comics from spinner racks.

Even though I was only 7 or 8, I'd go off by myself on that scooter and my parents wouldn't worry because it was a different time, a safer time, far more innocent. Plus they trusted me not to go near the sea, not to go of with strangers, not to get in any trouble. I was a good kid. Not an only child but my brother and sister were both much older and had left home so I was used to playing by myself.

Most days Mum and Dad would take me down to the beach. At the bottom of the hill from the bungalow a long concrete path led down from the clifftops to the beach where the remains of old wartime sea defences and bunkers were gradually dissolving back into the sand. I'd take my Star Wars figures down to the beach - not all of them, but usually Luke, R2D2 and my battered up landspeeder. Where better than to play at being on Tatooine?

We'd also go on day trips to Filey, Scarborough, Bridlington, Flamborough and Whitby. Sometimes we'd go up to Seamer Market so Dad could look at the cattle. We'd have fish and chips and ice cream and all the usual seaside treats. They're some of my happiest childhood memories despite the fact that around this time my dad was made redundant from his long standing job as a car auctioneer and set about starting up his own auction site on the outskirts of Leeds. Most holidays Dad would drive back there twice a week to run the auctions. Money was tight but that never stopped my parents from spoiling me. I still remember one year (1980, it turns out) Mum and I walked 3 and a half miles to the nearby village of Hunmanby to buy a Spider-Man Summer Special I'd seen there the day before. We couldn't afford both bus fair and the 40p comic below. It was one of the best comics I ever owned.

A couple of weeks back, I took Mum back to Reighton Gap for the first time in years. (Dad was invited too but he passed - "too many hills!") We stopped off in Filey for fish and chips then drove down the coast to park on the cliffs at Reighton, sitting in the sunshine and watching the sea.

The old bungalow is long gone, demolished years ago along with most of its neighbours. I expected it would have been replaced by more caravans but the site itself is mostly just a grassy field now, the odd bungalow still standing, but mostly empty land. The concrete path from the cliff to the beach has crumbled and broken up and the old WWII sea defences have been bashed to sand by the sea. Reighton Sands holiday village remains, just over the rise, but all the old shops with their spinner racks of American comics have disappeared and the slot machine arcade where I played Pac Man, Space Invaders and Dragon's Lair has been replaced with a flashy bar. It's all changed from when I was a kid; all except the view from those cliffs. Some things are forever - the sky, the sea, and how much I love my mum and dad.

30 Songs - Day 5

Day 05 – A Song That Reminds You Of Someone



Strangers In The Night will always remind me of my dad. He seemed to be forever whistling or humming it while working in his shed when I was a kid. I haven't heard it on his lips in some time, but whenever I hear Frank, it reminds me of Dad.

My mum hates Frank Sinatra though!