BLOURNAL
A lot can happen in seven days…
Ugh… I really do let the days run away from me someday. I was hoping to do some blournalling earlier but alas, that didn’t amount to anything.
Did you know that there’s three Friday the 13ths on this year’s calendar alone? Well, if you didn’t, you do now…
OK… so I know Friday the 13th is supposed to be an unlucky day but I think we gotten pretty lucky with the weather today. Yeah, it was a little nippy but the sky was bright blue and even now, there’s no immediate signs that it’s gonna rain. Could this be the day that breaks the currently unbroken streak of rain that has permeated through 2026? Let’s hope so.
I know it can’t rain all the time, but this winter has been an absolute washout
Well, I was gonna write about the weather and how this year has been kind of a washout so far, but I don’t really know what else there is to add to that particular subject. Maybe I just have such a limited imagination but I don’t think there’s much else that needs to be said about the weather other than the fact that it’s been persistently miserable since we started singing “Auld Lang Syne”.
Small victories
Today was one of those days where I had a difficult time getting out of bed and motivating myself… a typical Monday, in other words… but I’m proud of myself for getting down to the local gym and persisting even if I felt like I had to muster up a lot of fake energy that simply wasn’t there. All in all, today’s workout wasn’t one of my more fruitful sessions, but I’m glad I persevered. Going to the gym and shaking off some of that morning malaise has been such a tonic during this relatively unproductive phase of my life.
Well, at least the days are getting longer…
And so ends yet another dreary, cold and typically unproductive day in the year of our lord. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, but days like this are always a pain in the fucking ass to write about.
This update’s still short, but at least it’s a little longer (and more hopeful) than my previous update…
OK, so… you know how I said I was hoping to post at least one photo per day on the website in the “daily photos” page. Yeah… so far, that hasn’t quite panned out the way I’d hoped. Truth be told, I was hoping to take a photo for each day of the year, but alas, I’ve had a few days this year where I just wasn’t feeling all that inspired or motivated.
A short (but not particularly sweet) update
Hi, folks.
Ugh. Apologies once again for being so remiss since my last blournal entry. I was hoping to write something sooner, but alas, my life’s been pretty mundane for the past week or so.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
I meant to do this last night before I went to bed, but I was feeling a little tired… so here we are.
Anyway… so I saw 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple yesterday and yeah… I thoroughly enjoyed it. Definitely a darker, stranger and more disturbing film than its immediate predecessor, but it’s also surprisingly hopeful in its own way.
Marty Supreme
I finally got around to seeing Marty Supreme last night and… hoo boy, who would’ve thought a film about a guy with aspirations of playing table tennis would be so intense.
I made it through another Blue Monday
Hi, everyone.
Apologies for the lack of blournal updates. I don’t have any excuses for being so remiss over the past few days aside from the fact that I’ve been feeling a bit out-of-sorts.
A day out in the Mournes
Yesterday, I went for a wee trip out with my dad. We made a few stops along our travels — Dundrum, Murlough Beach, Tollymore Forest Park and a few pit stops in the Mournes — but most of the day was spent driving around and taking in the scenery before the sun goes down.
New Years’ Resolutions
Not gonna lie, it has been extremely difficult trying to come up with resolutions for this year given… everything that’s been going on in the world over the last couple of weeks. To be fair, January is usually a slow month and I never go into the start of a year with any major expectations, so I probably shouldn’t be so critical of myself, but… obviously, that’s never stopped me before.
One Rabbit Hole After Another
I read another chapter of Lemmy’s book last night after slacking off on my reading for nearly a month. I still haven’t got to the formation of Motorhead yet but I like what I’ve read so far.
My first concert of the year (and hopefully not the last)
Hiya… meant to write something on Saturday but I lost track of the time and I was having a hard time articulating myself, so here we are.
Rediscovering an old pastime of mine…
OK… so, here’s a strange pastime that I used to love doing when I was in uni.
I’d often go back to a movie that I’d already seen and read the script while I’m watching it again. As somebody who was studying cinematic arts and looking to get better at writing, I always found the comparison between how scenes played out on the page to how they played out on the screen quite fascinating, because unless writers/directors are particularly protective of what they’ve written, it’s not always a straightforward translation. Things get added, things get deleted, many of the visuals details are fleshed out, etc.
A whodunnit-themed blournal post…
Ahoy, ahoy.
I’ve mostly been trying to distract myself from all the chaos unfolding right now. Not gonna lie, it hasn’t exactly been fun, but I did finally get around to watching Wake Up Dead Man, the new Benoit Blanc mystery.
Practice photography
Ugh… it’s not been a fun weekend for me, especially with the current state of the world and Trump’s gruelling recklessness, but I’m trying my best to find solace wherever I can. Getting out to the Ballyronan Marina for a breath of fresh air certainly helps, as does trying to take photos of the birds chilling out by the lough.
Daily Photos
So… I’ve now added a “daily photos” page to the website where I intend to post photos on a daily basis usually with the date and a caption below… pretty self explanatory stuff, really. If you hover over “Galleries” on the menu up above, you’ll see “Daily Photos” listed as one of the dropdown options. Click on it and you’ll be able to see what I’ve posted since New Years’ Day.
Getting back into proper photography
I might have alluded to this in a previous blournal entry, but I’ve become far too reliant on using my mobile phone to taking photos, which is a handy tool to have when you’re on the go, but I also recently discovered that my phone's camera has built-in “intelligent optimisation” that automatically enhances my photos. Not gonna lie, I felt like I had a slight crisis of confidence when I found that out, but you know what… it’s as good an incentive as any to pick up the DSLR, which I’ve neglected for well over a year-and-a-half now.
Could we please have a normal 2026? Pretty please? Or is that too much to ask?
Sigh.
Look, I said I wasn’t going to doomscroll in 2026, but when the world is figuratively and literally on fire and the powers-at-be are actively pouring gasoline on the flames, it’s hard to resist the temptation.