My Seven Reasons to be Cheerful about 2016

2016.  What a year.  There have been times during the last twelve months when I’ve felt like shoving the whole of 2016 into the Chamber of Horrors and throwing away the key.  But three hundred and sixty-five days are a lot of days.  Not all of them made me want to scream.  In order not to let the shit things overshadow everything else, I’ve made myself sit down and think about the bits I liked.

1.  The Comeback Kids

In 2016, my cousin Julie and my friend Helen totally owned the words SPEEDY RECOVERY.  They both bounced back from major operations on giant space-hoppers.  Phew.  Hooray :) 

2.  The Olympics and the Paralympics

Ellie Robinson - totally rhyming small with cool.

This summer, I learned that nothing helps a frazzled head more than sitting in front of the telly and watching people win stuff.  I watched Max Whitlock do roly-polys.  I watched nice smiley Nicola Adams thump people in the face.  I watched divers in skimpy speedos stand under a shower and then dry themselves with a tea-towel.  I watched the two Ellies walk around the edges of swimming pools in massive coats.  The only bit I didn’t watch was the Tae Kwondo.  It’s that thing where two people shuffle about on a mat and then kick each other in the head.  I couldn’t watch that.  Maybe it’s one of those sports that are much more fun if you are actually doing it. 

3.  Belly at Norwich Waterfront

I can't remember if I took this photo or my friend Jayne did.

In 1993, the American indie-pop band Belly released the album ‘Star’.  I loved that album then and I still love it now.  And Tanya Donelly - Belly’s singer and founder – has been one of my favourite all-time Americans ever since.  So when she announced that she was putting her band back together again and doing a UK tour, I was quick to get my ticket.  It was a night of pure joy.  Tanya D is probably the coolest woman in the world.  And if she isn’t, it’s because Gail Greenwood is. [She is Belly’s bass player.] 

4.  Wales at Euro 2016

Wales v England?  My loyalties were always going to be torn.  Or so I thought.  Actually, there was no conflict of emotion at all.  When Gareth Bale scored against England from a free-kick, I jumped in the air and cheered.  What a team!  And it wasn’t just ninja-assassin Gareth, was it?  There was also the bloke who looked like Edward VII and the bloke who looked like the actor Toby Jones and the bloke who looked like Jesus.  I was sad when Wales didn’t get to the final - but didn’t they do brilliantly anyway!

Joe Allen - a Welsh footballer who looks like Jesus

5.  Hahaha!  But what’s the point?

I completed my MA in American Literature by writing 20,000 words on comedy and nihilism and got a distinction.  Hooray!  :)

6.  Yet more Telly

The year began with ‘War and Peace’ which was EPIC and TREMENDOUS and it ended with ‘To Walk Invisible’ which was two uninterrupted hours about the Brontës.  Total bliss.  In the middle was the final series of ‘Hinterland’ – finest Welsh noir.  Can you pass the peanuts, please?

7.  This Planet is Capable of Being Lush

This summer, I went to Sark.  What a beautiful place!  Sark has got no cars, no phone signal, no light pollution, no noise pollution, nothing much to spend your money on - and it’s where I’d be living RIGHT NOW if I could convince my husband that selling everything we have and becoming artists is a good idea.  But I can’t.

Never mind. 

A little after this, I went to Birmingham to visit my friends Jayne and Sue who live on a canal boat.  I thought I knew what Birmingham was all about but it turns out that I know nothing.  Birmingham has more miles of canal than Venice apparently.  And these canals are a blissed-out world of total peace and quiet that are ignored by almost everyone.  What a life my friends have!  While I was there, I was treated to a glimpse of it.  We travelled really, really slowly.  We saw a kingfisher.  We went through a tunnel that was nearly two and a half miles long and was freezing cold, pitch dark and shit scary.  I beat everyone at Backgammon.  I barely washed.  I loved every second of my canal boat adventure.

A very happy dog who lives on a boat.  Jayne Morgan took this picture.

So then - taking all this into account - what do I think of 2016 now? 

I think my 2016 has been better than I realised.  In places, it’s even been great.  And writing this has made me appreciate just how very lucky I am.  For lots of people, 2016 hasn’t been anything close to alright and that isn’t OK.  I’m clinging to the hope that 2017 will be better.  Come on, 2017!  My fingers are crossed.