Nicky Bond's Blog, page 30

Meet My Inner Quiz Dominatrix...

Zoom quizzes. Did they exist before all this? Putting aside the hardcore quiz community, who I'm sure accessed competitive trivia in all sorts of ways, did anyone else hit their video conferencing app and bamboozle their friends when we could actually go out? I don't think so. I mean, did anyone even sit face to face with their pals, and quiz themselves silly before COVID started? Did they? 


Zoom quizzes have
replaced galleries. FACT.Oh. Well yeah, they did. You don't need to be Paul...

The Eurovision of People's Hearts...

I can only apologise to Adam
Buxton for the comparison. My
GIF site was not very forthcoming
for 'double booked' or 'diary clash'.Last Christmas I was given tickets to see Adam Buxton at the Liverpool Playhouse. 'Get in!' I thought, as I opened my laptop to add the date to my diary. I'm a fan of his podcast, and this was right up my street. But then - DUH DUH DUHHHH - there was a clash. The evening with Adam Buxton had been booked for the same night as Eurovision. Disaster....

We Deserve Nice Things...

A time and tested coping mechanism.At first I needed techniques. I needed tricks to get through the lockdown day. I wrote about playing Walking on Sunshine loudly as I got my first cup of tea of the morning. I talked about five-minute workouts and exploring new walking routes. These were psychological life-hacks to make my mind feel it was in control and everything was fine. Now, we've moved on to the next level. Acceptance has kicked in. Control has been achieved, or relinquished...

Hair Experimentation is Back!...

It's time to tackle a subject that's on everyone's mind. It nestles deep within, causing a wave of anxiety each time it floats to the surface. We can ignore it for a time, but it never fully goes away. What am I talking about? Hair, of course! Hair that hasn't been trimmed, styled, dyed or highlighted for five weeks now. It might seem a superficial and frivolous issue about which to worry, particularly in times of national crisis, but as Fleabag once said, 'Hair is everything, Anthony.'

Feels...

At-Home Style Debunked..

It's certainly socially distanced.As we continue to adapt to the new world around us, it's only fair that companies do the same. I am regularly lifted by deliveries of food and drink that I would otherwise have had to leave the house to consume. My weekend is all the better for having ordered a delivered takeaway from an establishment that just last month was pick-up only. I greatly appreciate the case of Prosecco that my local wine bar dropped off a few days ago. We are all adapting, and...

Will the World Pull a Madonna?

'When the plague forced Shakespeare into lockdown, he wrote King Lear. You should use the time to be just as creatively worthy!' screamed Twitter a couple of weeks ago. 'Write that symphony, learn conversational Mandarin, now's the time to master the berimbau!' 


I mean I could learn the sax over the
coming weeks. If I wanted to.It was all a bit much, wasn't it. Whilst people watched their social plans, finances, and careers grind to a shuddering halt, being encouraged to use the...

Lockdown Birthday Fun...

Here's a question that at one time would have been 100% hypothetical. How do you celebrate a birthday when a national lockdown is announced, three and a half hours before it's due to start?

42 today. New top,
big tea. Could be worse.Yep. That's where I was at a couple of weeks ago. After a succession of daily briefings, each one announcing a little more restriction to society, the big guns were saved for the eve of my 42nd. I didn't take it personally. Indeed, I'd seen it coming and had been...

But What Can an Ice-Cream Taster Do?...

Isn't it lovely how nice people are being? National clapping en masse, neighbourhood WhatsApp groups all over the show, sporty types streaming PE content to children everywhere. Even Candy Crush have been giving away free lives, willy nilly. Proper heartwarming, it is.


I'm sure it's not intentional, 
but Snow White looks like she's 
taking the piss here.But living with a frontline NHS member of staff tends to put my own worth into perspective*. Even though I KNOW I'm marvellous, the...

Let's Cut to the Chase...

No need for preamble, we know where we are. While the Government take measures for our physical safety, it's on us to safeguard our mental health the best we can. Here are some ideas. Not tips - they won't all be appropriate or effective for everyone - but ideas. Take them, adapt them, ignore them. No worries. 

1. Keep the endorphins pumping. Feeling rubbish can sometimes be eased with a spot of exercise and this is my suggested spot. Here's a link for a five minute Bollywood workout....

It'll Take More Than Loo Roll...

Booooo to panic-buying. Can we all have a minute? Whenever theres a bit of snow forecast, or before Christmas week when the shops are shut for a day, people go mad. Remember the petrol crisis in 2000? The pumps were drained, not because of the protest, but because upon hearing about it, people drove en masse to fill up. If everyone calmed it for a sec, there may well be enough for all. Now, supermarket aisles are decimated and you can only get a sliced loaf in exchange for a lung....