I’ve hit a stage of being permanently hungry. I went too early with my tea (a substantial lasagne at around 5pm) and now I need a whole nother meal. If this doesn’t build me up, I don’t know what will.

Noel Edmonds: Who’s the first Noel? His wife: Oh God. Not again. Him: Do it. Her (wearily): You’re the first Noel. *lovemaking commences*

I’ve just used the expression billy-o in a WhatsApp. I’m 97.

On the bright side, I don’t have to pay for my Covid jab this year.

I’ve lost a couple of stone since this cancer malarkey started (note: my BMI currently stands in the middle of the “healthy” range so 🤷🏻‍♀️). I picked up a Macmillan guide to a “building up” diet to avoid losing more. I note that it’s basically “what Jane eats.”

Facebook algorithms can fuck right off (also that’s the US spelling of fuelled so it can fuck off twice as hard).

Oh no, I’ve accidentally ordered an item from one of those companies that wants to be friends.

I love that JoJo’s Strictly job is basically to bring joy into the lives of older women who’ve had a really tough time. #strictly #alex #annabel

So sad to see Alex and JoJo go, but I suspect her body is very relieved. Love her. #strictly

Further to this, a thing called GREAT! Player (accessed via the Freeview Play app) seems to be the motherlode without shelling out for Hallmark.

I discovered a nice 4-mile circular walk and quickly I found that I had a favourite field.

Felt well enough today for a little stroll to lovely Devonport Market Hall, where I cautiously (masked & beanied) did a quick tour of the artisan craft market.

So here's a thing. I help run my local food bank, and we're doing this: 12 Days of Christmas Giving. It's the busiest time of year for us and we have to build up our stocks right through December. I know you're not in N4, but all food banks are in the same boat, so if you can help please do! 🙏🎄

My hairline seems to have receded about an inch overnight and most of it is on my pillow. Beanie time, I think. And maybe clippers in a couple of days. (By the way I’m supremely relaxed about the hair loss - a very minor inconvenience as the chemo does its job).

Great thread.

I enjoyed the Insta Dance and think they all did extremely well. The partnerships all work so well. There, I said it. #strictly

I went to see The Real Thing on Broadway in 1984. I was staying in NY with a rich girl (friends of friend) and she took me. I felt extremely out of place. I remember nothing about the play or cast. But I do remember I was using a child’s beach bucket (with a lid) as my handbag.

There’s more leapfrog than I would have expected in tonight’s episode of #strictly #indelay (I still haven’t got to the dance farrago yet).

Bloody love Kaz. She has all my votes tonight. #strictly

Enjoying your posts about the Insta Dance on #strictly. I’m still about half an hour away from it but I can barely wait for what sounds like chaos. #InDelay

I do love Alex but she’s really lost her groove. She was tentative from the start. She seems a bit knackered, bless her. Hope she’s okay. #Strictly #StrictlyInDelay

Right, thanks everyone. Five or Hallmark are what I’m going for. I don’t want to watch a channel “live,” btw, but thanks for the many suggestions. No more needed. I’ll let you know if I find any absolute standouts.

What’s the best streaming place for those very specific Christmas movies where businesswomen come back to their hometown of Snowflake or Nativity and fall in love with the widowed craftsman with a very niche Christmas-related livelihood? Five? One of those random Freeview channels?

I am a lifelong neurotic excoriator, skin picker and mouth biter, so you can imagine how tempting it is to spend all evening pulling out my hair now it’s started chemo-moulting.

Among the more unlikely things in my past is that I used to be a member of the Country Music Association and got to vote every year in the CMA Awards.

Always good to see Wilson, Keppel and Betty on Toppie.

By the way, if you’re looking for a festive supermarket sandwich, this one is really quite something. Recommended.

I’d ordered a couple of beanies off Etsy (that I’d forgotten about) and it turns out that if I wear both at once, I look like one of Santa’s elves.

Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you've seen. Neil Young Wilco Black Keys George Jones Cliff Richard

Felt like this when mortgage payments went up a few years ago - yes, it's horrible to now be paying an extra £200 a month, but that's been happening to renters year on year and there were no sadface articles on that, just "market forces" and "nobody has a right to live in a city"

One of the most beautiful bits of english eccentricity and glorious design is coming back to Sotheby’s and should be bought by a musuem (or me) for THE NATION. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

I’m sorry, but who gets up an hour before breakfast?

Okay, stop press, it does seem to be that these are now branded as Seasalt handybands, even though you have to dig through the photos to find something that shows the length. Phew. I shall order some more. Thanks, @berryh.bsky.social - I was too focused on the word “snood.”

Hello - serious question. If anyone has a Seasalt handyband, are they the same thing as the snoods? The pictures make them look smaller. I am looking for a kind of jersey tube about 30/40cm.

This is a very good article, much of which chimes with me (different cancer but same feeling of getting swept up by the NHS into a well-coordinated series of treatments.) Also the importance of Getting Things Checked Out.

Got through the Wimbledon ticketing thing, got cross you can only buy two tix not one (anti-single prejudice), ummed and ahhed about my likely state of health in June (remission? dead?) then the postman came to the door and now the tix I was considering have gone, and my decision is made for me.

How I felt soaking up the sun and the view today.

I’m not doing Black Friday this year. I’d rather be honest with you than try to compete with big brands. Every purchase genuinely makes a difference to my tiny business. Shop independent this Christmas. www.gailmyerscough.co.uk

@fliceverett.bsky.social Hello! Your Edie York books have really been cheering me up lately. Thank you.

So many things wrong about this list. But most importantly, where the hell is Blades of Glory, the greatest ice skating based film comedy of our times?

For today’s gentle walk, I decided to dress as the world’s oldest small boy. I am very wobbly because I have lost all my muscle mass and my legs are like teeny tiny sticks. But I made myself put one foot in front of the other for at least seven minutes of Outside. #ovariancancer #chemo

Slept dreaming of, woke up thinking about the extraordinary What Resembles the Grave but Isn’t by Anne Boyer

Post a movie from where you’re from.

This question was partly prompted by Tom Cox’s post yesterday (should have made that clear). I suppose the question I really mean is: despite the drawbacks and his horror story, is it still worth using Substack because it’s so well-established and people find things there?

Hello Bluesky - I’m going to be writing a kind of blog about what I am absolutely not calling my cancer “journey,” with an emphasis on being kind of blackly funny and hopefully helpful too… and to keep myself sane. Q: is Substack the best choice in terms of reach, ease etc? Not looking to monetise.

This is a simply wonderful piece of writing.

motsi: thank you for sharing your journey with us craig: that was nnnorgeous, darling shirley: *applauding slowly* it was a privilege to watch anton: you went ‘phwoar, i‘m gonna give it some of that’ and then you went ‘ave it’ and that move at the end? fabulous me: can I please just finish my shit

Most of my votes to Karen & Carlos plus one for Alex’s VT. #strictly

That was the sort of dance where I wouldn’t have been surprised to see him do the Caterpillar. #george #strictly

And his cummerbund!