Kat P

Still alive. Apparently entering my “making and painting things” phase. Here’s some pots I threw at my enormously enjoyable first pottery class:

Hello chums! I am still alive, but not on FB/IG anymore and am trying to spend less time gazing at my phone.
I’ve been reading books instead, and trying my hand at watercolours and linocuts. Here’s K2SO in all his inky glory, from an original Inktober portrait by the magnificent Philip Bond

I think you’ve got a portmanteau of ‘twat’ and ‘wazzock’, there. Both are good alternatives for ‘pillock’

Long time fan of your work but absolutely love what you are doing with this medium! Fabulous stuff 🙂🙂

I’ve been a bit nostalgic for Leeds in recent weeks, so came up for a visit. Lots of new modern bits, but some of my old haunts are unchanged. Added bonus: barfi from Asian sweet shops costs about a third what they charge in that there London!

YouTube video by Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails: March Of The Pigs (1994)

happy 31 years to march of the pigs for all who celebrate.🖤 www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHPk...

Protected By The Ejaculation Of Serpents 35 years - or is it 36 - of watching The Wicker Man

Enjoy this fabulous piece about the Wicker Man: open.substack.com/pub/tomcox/p...

There is a widespread misunderstanding that older people are reluctant to use tech, and over time even they will be tech-savvy. In truth, poverty is the biggest cause of digital exclusion. Poverty isn’t going anywhere, if anything it’s a growing problem.

I really wish people who plan these things factored in people who don’t own smartphones, can’t afford data, or just plain aren’t comfortable doing things online. “Everyone will be able to do it online eventually” just isn’t true.

It’s rare I have to bank in person, which is fortunate given my nearest branch is 11 miles away. Alternatively I can go to a mobile branch 4 miles away which is open for an hour once a week. This isn’t great for the digitally excluded (often older people, who also often prefer to bank in person) 🫤

Mostly LS6, then a few years in Burley Park… I moved into a house on Hyde Park Rd opposite the remains of the Jolly Brewer about 2 months after it burned down - an interesting time. I’m itching to go back to see how much it’s all changed!

Thanks for the link! It made me finally sort out a substack account. You’ve a fantastic way with words and that’s a great interview. I spent most of the 90s in Leeds so reading Ghost Signs felt a bit like a visit.

Picked up both these books on recommendations from @robinince.bsky.social - they are both phenomenally well-written and an important read (‘One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This’ by Omar El Akkad, and ‘Ghost Signs’ by @stuhennigan.bsky.social).

Went on another trip to Bedruthan in search of the humpback whale. No luck there, but saw a lil’ pod of porpoises, and watched a kestrel catch and swallow a vole.
As we were leaving, eleventy billion people were queuing for the tiny NT car park. Sunny days, half term, and whales bring folks out!

The one thing I wish every kid knew is that you absolutely are going to have to totally start over in life, probably a couple of times. Your career, your marriage, your social circle, your sense of identity - at least one of them is going be like a sand castle hit by a wave.

No, my algorithm has been well and truly shaped by a husbot who closely follows the war in Ukraine, and a SD who plays animal crossing.

I just wrote a quick bit about 'genuinely contributing.'

(This time with a working link)

mrhenrymorris.substack.com/p/genuinely-...

A minor teenage tantrum:

Torn between joy at seeing my first bullfinch for months, and mild annoyance that she’s munching her way through all the buds on our damson tree. At least this explains why we don’t get many damsons on it!

Today I watched these gannets diving off Godrevy headland for about an hour.
Where there are gannets, there are fish, which meant I also spotted some dolphins 🙂

I didn’t realise they’d launched it - though it explains why a clip I posted is no longer in glorious block-o-vision

Is it Trump your pet time again?

I spent my day planting trees at Godrevy for the @nationaltrust.bsky.social
Peace and productivity. A nice salve to *gestures at everything*

I can only suggest what is working for me: stay away from social media and the news and volunteer somewhere so you’re spending your time with other people, doing something helpful.
Bluesky is miles better than the alternatives, but the wall of despair on it isn’t helping me chill

They’ve been doing a disappointing job of reporting events in the US over the last couple of weeks.

Cash-Strapped WeightWatchers Announces Butter Now Zero Points

Cash-Strapped WeightWatchers Announces Butter Now Zero Points
theonion.com/cash-st...

It’s too pronounceable. You see the same with NICE, which is referred to as Nice. Once it’s pronounceable it seems to become a word rather than an acronym.

This little monkey didn’t want his temperature taking today, chewed chunks out of his mat, then did a big poo in his paddling pool once he’d eaten all the fish. A star pupil, 8/10

YouTube video by Digital Love Madonna - The Virgin Tour 1985 [Remastered]

PSA: a full show from Madonna’s Virgin tour (1985) is on YouTube. I used to view it on heavy rotation with a Madonna-obsessed pal, and 40 years on, it’s still a good watch.
The opening bit is also great in that you get to hear Madonna’s original accent:

youtu.be/KrG8okV9R3w?...