It had to happen. I’ve been ‘perky’ for 77 days. Today was grey and miserable, and I had a bit of a shock in the morning which pretty much put a dampener on the day. I’m not very good at dealing with stress, or things beyond my control (who is, right?!)

However, even on a shitty day, sorry for the language, but it was, I am grateful for the kindness of my family and friends/colleagues. Thank you to my sister and brother for their enduring support. And thank you for the cups of earl grey tea over lunch and the copious amounts of hot water (yes, I do enjoy drinking hot water) - you know who you are.

And although I didn’t feel like it, I made myself go to a talk by cartoonist Stephen Collins (do check out his work!) in the evening. He was great. It’s always so nice to hear an artist talking about their craft. He talked about his cartoons being writing with pictures, and how he created narrative and silence through what he left out of the frame, and about perspective. All useful tips for a wannabe writer like myself. And I met and sat next to a really nice guy - thanks for the chat and cheering me up.

This sticker belongs to a cool project - I urge you to look it up. And my contribution to the project - it’s still blank, so I might end up writing on it if it’s still blank after a week - HELLO, I am going to learn from the past and only worry about what I can control …