It’s Christmas Eve as I start this my 1000th and final blog. The end of my 1002 day literary odyssey that’s taken up around 3000 man hours of creative writing; in addition to hundreds of hours undertaking website admin on writesaidfred.org…… Not to mention spending chuffing ages concluding it’s been 1002 days since I commenced this project. During this 33…
Month: December 2017
A Christmas Do With The Missus
Yesterday, my lunchtime was spent at an Italian restaurant in the centre of our splendid West Yorkshire metropolis. Here my wife and I feasted on festive fare, prior to being royally entertained by classic sounds from the Motown songbook, while imbibing an agreeable bottle of Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon. In our hosts glitzy 1920’s art-deco style surroundings, four singers (3 male and 1 female)took us back to the 1960’s, bequeathing…
Strachan Christmas Traditions
Yesterday, I had a conversation with an old acquaintance about Christmas gifts. It wasn’t a long conversation, moreover me asking him “Where the chuff’s my Christmas present?!” Knowing I was joking he laughed and the conversation moved on. He confided in me he’d just undergone a minor hospital procedure to remove something on his head….
Where It All Started
I’m now within three blogs of no longer penning these daily narratives. With this literary project coming to an end, today I’ve unearthed the first blog I wrote on 28th March 2015; the date I established my website garystrachan63.com. Reading the piece, it’s interesting to revisit my goals and aspirations on the inception of the project; not to mention expectations of output capability. One thing…
Odyssey of the Offspring
Today, my son Jonny is due to visit back to his childhood home; a pre-Christmas odyssey to exchange presents, whimsical insults and creosote anecdotes. The wood preservative yarns are a family yuletide tradition, passed down through generations of Strachans. They’re never captivating, apart from Uncle Bert’s tale of victory in the 1957 Bramley Shed Stainer of The Year competition……..
A Memorable Night On The Tiles
Scene – It’s Saturday 19th December 2015. In a north Leeds social club, two men over 40 (that’s years old, not pints downed) are stood with a crowd of around 100+ people awaiting a music gig commencement. The younger of the two, is in the midst of a home bathroom drama so bad he’s got his own theme tune. Despite his renovation disenchantment,…
An Awful Lot Of Coffee….
This morning, following cack-handedly spilling most of my coffee in the passenger foot well, I inadvertently stumbled upon an enticing new car air freshener. I don’t think my accidental discovery will secure me investment backing on TV’s Dragons Den – However it certainly beats the aroma of kiddies vomit in the league table of car interior fragrances. Everyone loves…
Don’t Panic!
On the 23rd December Panic Saturday will be upon us. A recent inclusion in the festive calendar, I have it on good authority it’s the moniker bestowed upon the last Saturday before Christmas Day. A godforsaken few hours in retail purgatory, that would be worthy of entry in a contemporary re-write of Dante’s Inferno. An inclusion in…
A Tall Story
For the second year on the trot, I witnessed a commendable performance from band Shed Seven during yesterday evening’s pre-Christmas gig at Leeds’ O2 Academy. When I say witnessed that isn’t strictly true. For a section of the York band’s impressive set of new and 90’s anthems, I had a restricted view standing behind what…