It’s Sunday afternoon, later than I’d normally publish. But the stimulus for this week is something than happened yesterday - my birthday! I love the whole rigmarole of getting pals together, doing nice things, feeding the soul with a little more care than the rest of the year round. However, this year had the potential to be at best, different and at worst, a bit grim. As it was my first single birthday in ten years. Crazy!! It felt kind of symbolic that the Prince Charles cinema were doing ‘Bleak Week’ from the 15th to the 21st June, a mini season of ‘cinema of despair.’ Fortunately, I didn’t succumb to a bleak week of my own - instead I curated a season of my favourite things and it has been pretty chic!!
The first fun thing was on Thursday. After work I met Lula and Hannah for food and a catch up (and a frozen margarita!) before heading to the Royal Opera House. We saw Alice in Wonderland, the ballet!! This contemporary version was choreographed in 2011 by Christopher Wheeldon, and it is really quirky and playful in a Tim Burton sort of way. I had seen it years ago with Mum but really wanted to rewatch. Now I am in my tap era I especially enjoyed the Mad Hatter scenes; his tapping across the table during the tea party is pure joy! Tap and ballet being combined is like an eclipse in the dance world - two things that are rarely seen together, kind of diametrically opposed what with ballet’s lightness and lift, and tap’s insistence that the feet are our instruments. I like both - why the hell not eh, life is too short to either leap or tap - why not both?!
Then Friday, I treated myself to a post-work swim at the Oasis outdoor pool. Catching a couple of hours of sunshine with just my book for company was soothing after the usual chaos of working in a school. Then, I sauntered over the road to Forbidden Planet and picked up a couple of comics I’m currently following. I live in a really tiny flat but the proximity to these things I love and visit often is really really worth it. Back at home I cooked and ate and then set off to the next fun event: an Abba tribute night in a brewery! The ticket was only £6 and it included a pint… In this rich man’s world, quite the bargain!
Alice came down to meet me later on but I fully enjoyed the first half solo, how can you not with Abba?! The band, Abba Stars, were actually spot on sound wise. They fully committed to the act, doing bits in between songs in dodgy Swedish accents. Something sweet: Agnetha asked, is anybody in the crowd engaged? And a couple in their 60s waved and shouted, us! Anni-Fried goes, this one is for you! Then they went into I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do. They couple danced together as I imagine they will at their wedding, really cute. Outside later on I saw them and went over to congratulate. I asked them, how did you guys meet? And they replied, on Bumble! This felt like a bit of a sign as I have been gearing myself up to enter the world of dating apps and to be honest, 31 feels a bit old to be an app rookie. But this couple (in their 60s no less) were so enthusiastic that it can yield results and that I should absofookenlutely do it; if we can, you can too. So I am convinced! I have a BSL assessment coming up and once that’s done, I think I’ll try my luck. I am in no rush but it could be nice to go on a date or two this summer. I would love to meet somebody that is like a young David Byrne, possibly with the moves of John Travolta. But we’ll see what London has to offer.
After Al and I boogied the second set down, we popped to the White Hart on Drury Lane to see in my birthday on a dancefloor. It was dead but the upside of that was, the dancefloor was ours alone! A great opportunity to practise my Travolta moves. I asked the DJ if he could play Aretha’s Rock Steady at midnight because that is my single girl song. It perfectly captures the feeling I have when I choose outfits, I walk to meet friends, I travel to the next event with the limitless possibilities that being unattached offers. A man called Wayne bought us a shot each. It was fun! I love the White Hart as it is unpretentious, free entry, classic Gosport pub with a DJ vibes. If you know Gosport boozers, Alice described it as having Inn by the Sea decor (the sort of pub where you’d get lunch with Granddad) with the vibes of the George and Dragon, where we all did karaoke underage and got up to all sorts. The White Hart also claims to be one of the oldest licensed venues in London. They have leaflets to prove it. The friendly barmaid told us that apparently, they served condemned men their last pre-hanging beverage, and sometimes would allow said men to take a secret passageway from pub to river and just drown themselves rather than hang. Pretty cool pub lore!
Onto Saturday - my actual birthday - we started it off absolutely perfectly. The Garden Cinema do pay what you can family friendly screenings every weekend at 11am and on the 21st and 22nd it just so happened to be…. Bugsy Malone!!! Only one of my favourite films ever! The soundtrack is killer, not one weak song. And Jodie Foster!! Fat Sam!! The pie guns!! Tap!! It’s just packed with amazing elements and a gorgeous treat in this world. Much better than Bleak Week in my opinion… I grinned and chair danced the whole way through it. Afterwards, Al and I were singing You Give a Little Love in the toilet and a lady joined in from her cubicle! She came out and we all went into My Name is Tallulah. Sober, at 12.30 on a Saturday afternoon. Brilliant!
Then we made our way to Camberwell for a pub garden birthday gathering. It was forecast to be roasting tray in the oven levels of hot, so I’d brought lots of cooling mist spray and suncream as sort of party favours along the table. Calum and Josue brought my favourite doggos along! I caught up with lots of really lovely people and had fun introducing across social spheres. And Lula made the most terrific cake!! It was Beach Boys themed, an homage to the Smiley Smile album cover, Good Vibrations all round! Ahh it was just a really great whirlwind of a day and my social cup is overflowing. A few of us stretched the day into a night out down at good old Deptford Bunker and then Grace stayed over. Just really great fun!
Today I have been a zombie in bed and only just managed to navigate over to the sofa and collect all my thoughts. And here they are: even without a partner, with the sting of rejection and a completely new lens to my life, I had a brilliant birthday. Bleak Week it wasn’t!! I feel valued, cared for, happy and safe. I pinged myself like a pinball from the ballet to the pool to Abba to Bugsy Malone to the pub… All places and things I adore, that imbued this quite momentous birthday with colour and vibrancy, just like the Smiley Smile cover. And I know I have a beautiful bouquet of friends always there. We are stronger than we think and there is always fun to be had. You give a little love and it all comes back to you. You know you’re gonna be remembered for all the things that you say and do. (:
In other news, I am really fond of David Byrne’s new song and video, Everybody Laughs. That voice! The tickets for his tour are out of my budget but I shall listen to the album and I’m sure enjoy it a lot when it is released in September.
I watched a video compiling all of Turkiye’s Eurovision entries, before they defiantly pulled out. They had a great run!! I knew most of the ones from 2000 onwards but this was a real gem of a find. Is this the best anyone has ever looked?! She’s like the Turkish Hope Sandoval. I love the keyboardist’s dancing around the 2 minute mark, very typical Turkish uncle.
I have been watching videos of John Travolta and Gene Kelly dancing obsessively. It is my new hungover grog need. I found this absolutely nuts clip from the film The Pirate, which I now need to watch. Nuts.
Summer has now officially started! It is going to be this kind of summer. Allez!