July 2024 Retrospective
My oh my, how is it July?
This post may be too long for email, you can read the entire post here on Substack or download the wonderful app.
I have been doing a retrospective since October 2023 as a way to reflect on the month, and for you to get insight into my life in a calmer, gentler way than looking at reels of me walking the dog, or of every meal I’ve eaten posted on Instagram. This is a self-contained retrospective, designed to keep distractions from social media at bay. It doubles as a personal diary, allowing me to reflect and perhaps find amusement in retrospect. I think readers might find it intriguing to explore the daily life of an artist. I would love insights into Tracey Emin’s daily routines, the meals she enjoys, and her everyday activities.
July, my guy, let’s go…
July 1
The first day of July, welcome to Summer! Perfect excuse for a halloumi and chickpea salad!
July 2
Digging Henry Harrison Brown at the mo!
July 3
Inspired by
- I present:
July 4
Happy Independence Day to my lovely US readers. What did you get up to? Tell me in the comments.
I had a nice walking solo lunch whilst listening to a podcast!
This quote stood out.
July 5
On UK election results day, many people in the Arts are happy today, including myself, that Labour got elected!
Local results turned Blue from Red too!
My county is mainly Blue!
July 6
Weekly art practice 26:
July 7
We had a lovely day in Windsor, one of the Royal Residencies, with lots of swans about!
This quote stood out in my reading escapades today. I can’t remember who said it.
July 8
June retro if you missed it.
July 9
My employer cut around 1000 jobs today. I was very lucky to have kept my job but many had to leave right away, and I didn’t get to say goodbye, a sad, sombre day.
July 10
A post about leaving decisions to the wind.
July 11
I don’t normally drink much, but tonight, the weather was nice, I was having a nice time with my friend James. I ended up drinking 5 pints of beer in 90 minutes, I was a bit tiddly!
HIC.
July 12
I did some testing for
and for posts on the mobile app, it was a lot of fun! I didn’t realise that my posts went live and were sent out to my subscribers! Luckily I didn’t write anything dodgy! hahaha!
July 13
Structuring time:
![Structuring [time] is precious](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_140,h_140,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-video.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fvideo_upload%2Fpost%2F146397249%2F4f815a55-df5f-42bf-8b0c-642c68bc6cde%2Ftranscoded-1720791128.png)
July 14
A lovely coffee and cannoli with my family. I’m not materialistic really, but little pleasures like these are a beautiful thing.
July 15
A kind note from
after I was feeling a little bit sorry for myself.
July 16
Chris Beskelletor [
]
July 17
A post of images and images alone.
July 18
I reshared
in the vibe of Vin Diesel, but I have no idea why…
July 19
A dedication to
..and a Brilliantly Brisk Bottle of British Bitter with Bruno in the Background (I’m a bloody genius). I dare you to try and say that 10 times after drinking one of these.
July 20
Another Weekly Art Practice:
July 21
Who else loves this lady?
We went to a family member’s 70th Birthday Party, I’m not one for these kinds of affairs, but it was a good evening! The saxophone players were phenomenal!
July 22
I’m not much of a photographer, but these flowers on my lunchtime walk were stunning to see today.
..and I sold a print woohoo.
July 23
So, I got this email today. Can you turn this into £300,000, please?
July 24
Controversial? You decide…
July 25
I set up Gqueues today as a way to sort my tasks. Not the most enthralling update, but what were you expecting? "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut?
July 26
It’s my friend Rory’s 42nd Birthday today, I’ve known him for 38 of those years! He was away in Greece so we didn’t get to celebrate with each other.
Meanwhile, we drove up to Cambridgeshire, it took 5 hours instead of the suggested 3. We Brits love moaning about a longer-than-expected drive. We should try living in America lol.
July 27
We went to a Cambridgeshire zoo with friends today, our daughter is a bit too young to fully appreciate it, but she is pointing a lot at the animals, it’s adorable!
July 28
We had a lovely day at a friend’s daughter’s birthday party. The sun was hot, the drinks were cold, we spent the whole day in the garden. Glorious!
On laughter:
July 29
I had a day off to look after my daughter, we met my mum, sister and niece at a water park, the weather was glorious!
July 30
Exhausted today, I took this selfie at my desk. Tired eyes, tired soul.
July 31
The start of things to come… A guest post by
.
I hope you’ve had a wonderful July too.
Love to you all,
P.S. Please share for positive karma.
July 3 was a great, great day.
I appreciate that as you navigate through the month that you seem to find joy in both the big events and the regular day-to-day moments. 🤘
SLART, roughly in order (though I promise not to comment on all your entries): not just halloumi and chickpea salad but _grilled halloumi, yum! Fabulous pic, I could eat it. I loved the HH Brown quotes and had never heard of him: money gets so bored w/o us! For the 4th of July holiday, my sweetie and I found a nude beach at one of our National Seashores right near Cape Canaveral [US Americans are so odd, right? we took a picture of the launchpad!) that cost $25 to get into! and had no toilets or changing rooms to speak of! (for $25 they should be gold-plated, right?) but it was the most splendid time. This was not right on July 4 or it'd've been mobbed, but right close.] I was pretty tickled Labour won as well, honestly. I'm a David Lammy fan since reading his memoir. I am thoroughly tickled that my very own quote has so nestled into your unconscious: "Let me repeat...doing the same thing gets easier over time." https://raisingclarity.com/2024/02/how-i-get-so-divinely-much-done/ It's better than if you knew who it was, I felt famous! The cannoli pic is just lovely, those fresh colors. There is something sacred about sweets shared if we let it be. When it's sacred, we tend not to overdo. The July 21 pic of you and Harmony may be my favorite yet, it's a tough call. Those little hands, the studious, fatherly way you look in glasses, that Haring shirt. Just. So. Dear.