dom.blog

Abbi’s Curry Night
We haven’t had a proper dinner party in so long, but thanks to Abbi’s hosting this was a pleasing return to form! Nothing got set on fire, so we’re obviously a little rusty, but made up for this with curries and drinks and joy. Plus the now obligatory cheese board, an innovation which should be credited entirely to Paul.

Bill and Katie’s Wedding
Cambridge is such a perfect city for a wedding Many congrats to @billt and @ktsays, whose wedding included a private showing at the Arts Picturehouse, a delicious Thai dinner and the most amazing performance of a poem in tribute to Bill. (Basically, I want someone to write and perform a poem in tribute to my life, and if getting married is what it takes then sign me up.)

London Transport Museum
…and perhaps more importantly, the London Transport Museum’s shop, for as a result my wall is now bedecked with this awesome poster. I now think Underground to Anywhere: Quickest Way, Cheapest Fare whenever I get the Tube.

Flat Day Out

Or, in other words, how Cat and I took a day of annual leave in order to follow a carefully-planned itinerary of Greasy Spoon -> Science Museum -> Gordon’s Wine Bar -> Hot Chocolate -> Pub -> Spaced. Perfect. A personal highlight: convincing two young boys at the Science Museum to vote in favour of weaponised weather technology “because a tornado gun would be so cool”.

Cabaret
And finally… courtesy of Groupon, on Wednesday night I was at the West End premiere of Cabaret (starring Will Young and Michelle Ryan, as it’s obligatory to say). Amazing show, and a great night all round!

This month, our flat became complete!

And now that we’re not actually moving upstairs anymore, our flat-leaving party returned to the comfortably familiar flat-warming genre: lots of beer, plus a fair helping of mosquito bites from the hours beforehand barbecuing out on Highbury Fields. It was lovely to see everyone who came, so thanks for helping us celebrate the beginning of what has already been described as a quirky 90s sitcom. (It’s not the first time someone has observed “how different Josh and Dominic are!” before joyfully enumerating Josh’s many good qualities. It’s unnerving.)

I was also lucky to go back to the Olympic Park with Oliver and Abi, this time to watch GB get thrashed in the handball. The Olympics was such a glorious success in so many ways, and I think most people are now feeling withdrawal symptoms, but I was happy to feel a part of it while it lasted:

Last week I also (finally!) got to meet Abbi’s dad during his visit to the UK, and had another of my infrequent but great drinking nights with Henry up in Harrow. Aside from this, my main preoccupation at the moment is gazing lovingly onto my Kindle in my quest to catch up my reading target before the year is out. (I enjoyed Frankenstein more than I expected to, but on learning that Mary Shelley started writing it when she was only 18 I’m filled with awe.)

Katie: “Dom, I’m not feeling your anger is real enough… OK, that’s too much.”

So it’s coming up to a month since I moved out, and definitely time for a quick update. We’ve already had a steady flow of visitors coming to look round and tell us to do the washing up more often – hello Katie, Oliver, Matt, Caroline, Robert, Sophie, Grace, Alex and Rosie (though not all at once). In our defence, it’s a period of transition: Joshua is arriving soon, but then we only have a couple of weeks before we’re moved upstairs into our actual new flat (long story) which we promise will be kept very slightly tidier. (Not sure I have the authority to promise such things on a flat-wide basis, but I just have.) It has also been determined that:

• Every home needs a whiteboard
• It’s surprisingly easy to walk to work, if you want to
• Going swimming at the local pool induces a warm glow of health and fitness, even if I’ve forgotten how to swim properly

A few weeks ago we found ourselves at Josh’s mum’s birthday pool party – yes, an actual pool party with an actual swimming pool in the back garden which is, at least in this country, the coolest novelty short of a private rollercoaster – which also gave us our first flat team photo. Be forewarned, blog, there may be a few of these.

In other news, Katie and I have steamrollered through the (super-awesome) first season of Dollhouse – our fourth joint sci-fi \ fantasy endeavour – and also saw The Dark Knight Rises, also known as The Film That Everyone Else Saw Last Weekend Too. And what everyone else says is true: (a) it’s a great watch, and (b) it could still have done with some editing. And also, (c) a consultant’s advice in handling nuclear bombs, because Katie and I both winced at the alarmingly cavalier attitude shown towards bumping them violently against any passing walls.