Those 'You Know You’re From Brighton' lists...

It’s been absolute yonks since I did an easy-peasy (lazy) ‘lists’ blog, which is lax of me as apparently such posts should be a staple part of any blogger’s portfolio…

So, to this end, here’s a rehash of those ‘Brightonian’ lists that have been doing the rounds for years now, in one format or another.

You know you're from Brighton when:

You ignore the Seagulls, as they’re as much a Brightonian as you are

You DON’T eat the local fish and chips, as they are overrated

Every other person you know is vegan or vegetarian

You went to Alleycats in the 90’s, and drank cocktails whilst they were projecting The Empire Strikes Back onto a big sheet

You always walk up Queen’s Road on one side, and down it on the other

You’ve eaten a baguette in the Pavilion Gardens

You greet all your friends with a kiss, regardless of gender or preference

You know Disco Pete is a typical Brighton resident

You still refer to renamed nightclubs and bars by their proper names (Paradox, Pink Coconut, Event {not Event II}, Berlin Bar, Helsinkis, Hungry Years, The Gloucester etc etc etc)

You never came out of the Gloucester sober, back in the day

You don’t recognise the term Brighton Lanes (there’s an ‘i’ in it you know!)

You can find your way around the LAINES without GPS

You remember when the West Pier had skin, and not just bones

You can’t ever bring yourself to call the living pier anything other than PALACE Pier

You used to sing karaoke at Horatio’s / Offshore Bar on the above

You went on the Helter Skelter, when it was the ONLY ride on the above – but still couldn’t see the Isle of Wight

You remember Hot Shots & Jumping Jacks in North Street, though not necessarily fondly

You played with coloured balls at the above

You’ve made a pilgrimage to the Chattri, which took longer than you expected it would

Your first taste of Absinthe or Tuaca was in a local bar

You met someone for a first date at the old Wishing Well

You’ve seen Chris Eubank blocking a street with his motor

You know all about Pirates Deep

You had your photo taken next to the Athina B

You’ve opted for Cheeky Chicken, instead of KFC after clubbing

You’ve had a row in a taxi queue at 3am

You’ve bought a special remedy from a special shop that with no special medical basis was supposed to miraculously cure your special ailment

In the 90’s you had Christmas drinks at The Quadrant in the summer, because the landlord didn’t like Christmas

In the 80’s you just HAD to have the best steak in town at Jacco’s

You know Hove is really another place altogether actually, despite the constitutional title

You remember only ever having coffee in Wimpy in the past, because Starbuck(s) was just a character in Battlestar Galactica

You hurdled the barrier at Brighton Station toilets to have a free wee

You can always find a space to park

You used to go to The Zap on Monday night

You remember The Smugglers bar experimenting with doubling up as a Chinese Restaurant

You got splashed by Dolphins – indoors

In the past you could drive anywhere in town, as bus lanes didn’t exist

You remember frequently eating at Cactus Canteen

In the 80’s you were dragged along by your parent to Holiday on Ice at the Brighton Centre

In the 80’s you dragged your parents along to The Monster Lego Show at the Brighton Centre

You know you’re home when you see the Brighton Pylons on the A23

You had your first snog between 0150 and 0210 at the The Event / Event II / Oceana / Prizm / Top Rank Suite – probably to True by Spandau Ballet

You’re proud of Pride

You’ve never seen the inside of Komedia in the day time

You’ve had a birthday party at McDonalds, which included a tour of their kitchens

You’ve always avoided Yates Wine Lodge like the plague

Funny how lots of these are booze related… not sure what that says about us Brightonians!

40 Somethings

Well I’ve nearly made it through the first year of my forties, a time when life supposedly begins.

I’ve read a lot lately on various forums that I subscribe to about this decade of your life being absolutely dreadful, with ‘supporting evidence’ along the lines of: 

 

You can’t run uphill anymore

 

Your body stops working

 

More people you know start to die than get married or have children

 

Your children shout at you because they will be older than babies and probably) younger than 20

 

If you don't have children you may have resent or regret

You’ve had a mid-life crisis, or are expecting one soon

 

Injuries take an age to heal – if ever…

You have to watch your weight and take more medication

You go grey, or bald – or both

Everyone shouts at you

 

You piss people off all the time

 

You miss Downton Abbey

You've either taken on too much at work in a bid to keep up, or you're

stuck in a dead end employment

You worry about your health, your aging parents’ health and your children’s health, all in the same conversation

You might have enough money to treat all this stress with red wine or beer but, if you do, you will put on 5 stone just opening the bottle

You’re a narcissist and neurotic at the same time

 

So some of the above is funny, some is rubbish, and maybe just some of it is concerning.

I also did a Google search for ’40 Somethings’ which for some reason by and large elicited Jennifer Aniston.



Rachel - She'll always be there for you



It’s all very personalised though isn’t it?

 

I recall having a wobble of sorts just after I turned 30, believing nobody loved me and that I’d lost my salad days forever etc. (total rubbish of course) – yet 10 years later, having passed 40, I had no thoughts of a similar ilk, and found that I simply encountered a different set of life issues instead. Such as anti-depressants, and taking dare into my stride by hoying myself out of plane for charrriiiidddeeeee, which was incredibly amazing, but it does sound equally incredibly insane.

The medication wasn’t (isn’t) for depression so to speak, but for anxiety, which I still don’t understand fully, but I think it helps take the edge off for me in these times. It means I shout less, and panic less, and this is definitely progress. The doctor described it as "life in the 21st Century"

 

Tiredness is the killer for me – which will make Mrs Berrylogs laugh and frown in equal measure as she feels I get more lie ins than her (I do).

The juggle of working, being a dad to three at key stages in their own lives (17, 13, 4), maintaining a hopefully healthy marriage and striving to keep a social life going does take it out of you … and after that there’s still the vacuuming and ironing to do!

 

Football used to be my anti-depressant medication, but the older I’ve got, the more I’ve come to accept that the beautiful game is largely just about luck, and therefore I’m now content not to hit the stress / destress levels with quite the same anger as might have been the case in the past. Football is still good escapism, but I don’t find myself having my nights ruined just because the Albion lost anymore. This is also a good thing! It doesn’t mean I enjoy football any less, it just means I’m less likely to have a heart attack on a stadium concourse over it. Touch wood.

 

What does annoy me on a daily basis though, is eating. I love the food I love (who doesn’t?) but find it doesn’t love me back as much. What a bitch eh!?

Not sure how I help things regarding this as my limited food range hinders major changes to my diet. And I could never ever give up salt & vinegar crisps (I'd sooner give up chocolate.)

 

My drinking habits haven’t changed much in 20 odd years now, but one day that may catch up with me. Never had a hangover yet though and hopefully never will, so long may that continue. Still laughing at the outright anger I encountered a few weeks ago when someone refused to accept this as fact. I could only put their response down to jealousy.

Either that or they thought I was lying?

 

Am I grumpier, now I’m older? Yes probably, but don’t begrudge 40 Somethings that – they often delight in being a grump!

 

Socially it’s actually pretty tasty as things stand. Regular gatherings of various kinds keep that fun ticking along.

Do I miss the old days of pubbing and clubbing? (See previous blog November 1993 !)

I don’t so much desire to do it now, but I enjoy reliving and reviving the past on occasion. At a friend’s recent 40^th birthday party, where some lifelong friends rolled back 20 years and had a great night, one said to me that they"missed nights like these", but I believe everyone and everything has their time... that said, there’s no reason to stop enjoying it just because we’re twice as old. In all honesty I don’t feel much differently to how I felt 20 years ago anyway, though my body might sometimes disagree.

 

The truth of it all is that I feel very lucky, and very happy where I am at the moment. Things could always be worse, and this is sadly very true for some people I know. Compared to some, I have nothing worth complaining about.

 

Going back to an earlier point in this post, it is true that a sadly regular flow of people I grew up with have passed away, whereas before the age of 38, I think I went well over 10 years in not experiencing any kind of loss. At the rate of one a year since then, it only adds resolve to want to enjoy life while you can, and ride over the aggravation that pops up on occasion.

 

Relax if you can and chill in your 40s – you might find you enjoy them after all!

Variety is the spice of blogging

During my opted hiatus from blogging (one needs thinking time you know) I spent some moments looking at other blogs around the planet – well the ones in English anyway.

You’d be amazed at how many blogs there are written just about the art of blogging... literally there are blogs suggesting what to blog on, with things like ‘topic lists’ and ‘hot subjects’ etc.

And there’s me thinking it was all random and pot luck!

So as an ‘easy in’ to launch my November blogs, I found such a list of topics and gave them a few thoughts as to whether I fancied doing a blog on them myself…

15 Random Blogging Topics

1.    The worst movie you ever saw at the cinema, and why…

Yeah there’s possibly life in this one, but I’m not sure how many would have heard of ‘Mac & Me’?

2.    That one time you told a huge lie and got away with it

Me tell a huge lie? Never! Although there is the 1987 egg throwing story that has since been confessed to. Honestly we thought the house was empty! No harm was done and no-one got hurt. Not least the poor old dear living alone inside.

Yes I feel guilty.

3.    Five things that freak you out (spiders, toes, etc.)

Plenty of scope here, but it might give people ideas in how to frighten me! I’ll mention one though: The Muppets

4.    A letter to your 16 year old self. What advice would you give?

I suspect things like this could send out the wrong messages, so I might avoid this one!

5.    Your first love / kiss, and don’t skip the awkward details

Avoid! Mainly because I still know those involved!

6.    The day you started blogging. What were you thinking?

I was thinking ‘would anybody really be interested?’ – That thought still hasn’t changed! Seriously though, as mentioned in my Opinions blog, I’m genuinely just doing it for fun, and I just wanted to write about things that interest me and I’ve found that I gain a lot of enjoyment in doing so. So I’ve probably covered this one already!

7.    An anti-bucket list: the things you hope to never do before you die

Aha now this I think I could do. Sounds a bit pessimistic, which might dissuade me – but it might be fun to consider.

8.    Your earliest childhood memory

Plenty of early memories, but the earliest is probably too boring to write about, unless you find q-tips and washing machines entertaining?

9.     What your Facebook status might be in 2018

10.  What you’re addicted to, and why

Crisps. Boring. Next.

11.  Write your obituary

A touch too morbid for me, and I’m not sure if I like judging my own achievements

12.  Write a FAQ-C {Frequently Asked Questions by Children} post

I have a plethora of examples to hand. Might be worth a crack!

13.  Who people think you are, compared to who you really are

Hmmm this is always extremely subjective. One’s desired perception may often be miles from reality!

14.  Your ideal meal and which celebrities would you invite to it

Sounds quite do-able. Do they need to still be alive though?

15.  Share a secret you’ve never told anyone. Until now

As if!

Watch this space…