If you come and sit in a quiet coffee shop and start playing your phone on speaker the problem is YOU. Grow up and start caring about someone other than yourself.

Happy birthday to Sandra Peabody, a woman of great courage and integrity. After surviving despicable abuse by certain co-stars on the set of Wes Craven's first horror film, away from acting she has devoted fifty years to building the safer, supportive spaces she was cruelly denied. I wish her peace.

Happy New Year, everyone. I hope it's as good as it can be for you.

2025 meme, Q16: Most frustrating place you went this year? Unusual question! Evesham might shade it, though. It has the potential to be a lovely town. It has its moments, but much of the centre is just depressing. The Spoons is ridiculously small, too.

2025 meme, Q15: Favourite way to travel? This!

Hello again Bluesky! I hope you had a fine Christmas. :) 2025 meme, Q14: Say something unpopular. "He only wants to play" is not a magic get-out from you training your dog to behave properly and not jump up at people who don't like that.

2025 meme, Q13: Eggnog, yes or no? I really don't care about it. Up until a few years ago I basically never saw it over here; it felt like a purely American thing. It's spread, a bit like pumpkin spiced latte (also overrated IMO) but I haven't had any this year and probably won't do all Christmas.

2025 meme,Q12: Best place you want this year? Anywhere with friends! But in terms of places I visited on my own, I actually really liked Ellesmere. Just a pity north Shropshire is such a pain to reach by bus. :P

2025 meme, Q11: Does scone rhyme with cone or gone? I'm not sure what this has to do with 2025! But it rhymes with "gone". Always. I would die on this hill, except for the dying part. And also the fact that I'm not on a hill. But apart from that. :P

Hello from the Morgan Experience café, on the Morgan Motor Company site in Malvern Link. (I'm not doing a factory tour or anything, but the café is open to the public.)

2025 meme, Q11: What's the best crisp flavour? Right now probably pigs in blankets, but sadly that's seasonal. Salt and vinegar probably wins out of the standard ones, though prawn cocktail and pickled onion (separately!) are rarely unwelcome.

2025 meme, Q10: Do you hate anyone you didn't last year? David Hess. Last year I only knew him as a musician. Now I know him as an abusive shit.

2025 meme, Q9: Say something silly. "Something silly."

2025 meme, Q8: What's your favourite month? This year or in general? Not much to choose between them this year, but in general it's May. Long daylight, can be really nice, sunny and warm without the humidity and wasps you get in August!

2025 meme, Q7: Who is second-best pony? Heh, I like that question. Still this one, though.

2025 meme, Q6: What was the last thing you ate? A digestive biscuit. This shows you how exciting my Sundays are!

2025 meme, Q5: What made you excited this year? UK PonyCon, obviously. But also, silly as this sounds, Muffin Break opening in Worcester. I love muffins and being able really to get ones that aren't just chocolate or blueberry is something I've really enjoyed!

2025 meme, Q4: What made you happiest this year? My friends. Because we all know what friendship is. :)

2025 meme, Q3: Biggest surprise of the year? Becoming seriously engrossed in the production ethics and human cost to an actress of a horror film you couldn't have*paid* me to watch a year ago (the original 1972 Last House on the Left) has to be up there. Otherwise it's been a mostly normal year.

2025 meme, Q2: Best TV show of the year? I watch so little actual telly now that there's not much choice! MLP:FiM, for all I love it, hasn't been a TV thing for years now. Otherwise, hmm... I do like the "Treasures of the World" series with Bettany Hughes, especially the less common locations.

2025 meme, Q1: Best book you read? Hmm, tricky. I *re-read* Comet in Moominland by Tove Jansson for the first time in years, and that was lovely. For first-time reads, maybe Harry Sidebottom's "The Mad Emperor", about Heliogabalus. Much better Reed than the tabloidy title would suggest.

I might dig out one of those old Livejournal-style meme/surveys, just so I actually post something on here! Watch this space. At least, if you have nothing better to do, which is doubtful.

Being kind or at least compassionate towards people you *dislike* when they have a traumatic experience is a pretty big indicator of Fluttershy-ness. Being nice to people you like is easy. Was impressed by someone doing this right the other day. No cynicism, just sincere good wishes. More of this.

Costa's so-called offers are getting almost hilariously bad. First they got rid of the coffee+muffin afternoon deal, now their latest "25% off food" coupon is only valid between 11.30 and 2.30. Given Kidderminster and Worcester are full of coffee shops, why should I bother going to Costa?

And home from @ukponycon.bsky.social at a truly fantastic weekend. I hope the staff will now get to sleep for about a fortnight! But do so safe in the knowledge they did superbly. Thank you so much, everyone!

Absolutely amazing effort by the @ukponycon.bsky.social team to get a con happening today in the difficult circumstances. The magic of friendship grows. :)

It's @ukponycon.bsky.social time again! :D

Manoeuvring. Not only am I repeatedly hit with the US spelling, it's even worse than just "manoeuvre" as I keep putting "-vering" at the end and only then going "Wait..."

By some miracle it's dry today, on a day when I'm travelling. What is this sorcery?

Ten thousand thundering typhoons!

@huskyteer.co.uk Sent you an email a couple of days ago. Hoping you got it! From the usual Gmail.

Just for the sake of posting something: a photo by me from Saturday of the Abbey Hotel, Great Malvern, where Haile Selassie (yes, that one) lived for a while after Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1936.

Quick PSA: for now, please use email, Fimfiction or Dreamwidth (or other means if you have them) to contact me. Haven't yet decided whether the price of having even more personal data as a target for cyber attackers is a price worth paying for DMs I barely use here. Leaning towards no right now tbh.

Dear companies, A *definite* discount voucher (even something minor like 15% off a coffee) is about a thousand times more appealing to me than yet *another* "You could win £100 of vouchers – at odds barely better than Euromillions" prize draw. One day you'll get this, but I won't hold my breath.

Okay, this is serious. At least in their Halesowen branch (dunno about nationally) Greggs seem to have stopped the "coffee and sweet treat for £2.95 offer. At least, I was just charged £3.25 for a regular cappuccino and an éclair, so I assume it's gone.

I'm pretty sceptical about how good this is going to be... but then I remember how the majority of us thought Equestria Girls would be terrible, and I start to wonder...

Hugely annoyed that Nectar points can't be swapped for Caffè Nero vouchers in a month's time. By far the offer I use most. The other Nectar offers are largely useless to me. This one isn't. I'll be quite a lot less likely to choose Caffè Nero now, *even when I'm paying*. That'll show 'em. Grump. :P

I'll say this for Halesowen. It may be struggling and the bus station may not be the nicest, but at least *most* of the shops in the Cornbow Centre are actually occupied and open. More than I can say for the Old Square one in Walsall, sadly.

Not a fan of the removal of line judges at Wimbledon. Human judges with reviews seemed like a fair compromise, as in cricket. This disembodied "Out!" voice seems rather soulless.

Today's entirely random word is Applejack.

Unfollowing a couple of folks. *Not* because I think you're bad, but because it's *really* important for me that my Bluesky feed isn't full of politics and wars. If you do that, I won't be reading it. Dreamwidth is my place for discussion of serious stuff: it has room for more than two sentences. :P

I probably shouldn't laugh, but a group of irritating students who have been boring everyone nearby silly with their expensive phones and how only losers carry cash in 2025 have just discovered that they can't buy their sweets because the town sweetshop (real one, not dodgy!) is... cash only. :P

Or "shop" as it's technically known.

Quite impressed that Pret filter coffee is 99p even in central Brum (except for New Street station – a whole £1.20 there). I'm sure it'd disappoint the cognoscenti, but that isn't me. It's far better value than four bloody quid for a latte.

I am now irredeemably middle-class, I suppose. First time actually in a Gail's. (Central Birmingham.) A tad expensive – this small cappuccino lives up to its name – and seats are a bit hard, but the coffee does taste nice. Will ramble on more about this on Dreamwidth later if I remember! :P

News of the greatest importance. Greggs have replaced the now discontinued Cherry Bakewell flavour muffin with... a Lemon Meringue flavour muffin. I had one in Shrewsbury today. Really nice, but very sweet and sticky.

Bill: "Have you noticed that our caps actually have little pictures of giant kittens on them?" Tim:"I don't— er..." Bill: "Tim... are we the Goodies?"

Captain's Pool, Kidderminster, featuring gosling (if you squint a bit). I've never been able to find out exactly who this Captain was.

Anyone happen to know what Greggs are replacing the cherry bakewell muffin with next week? Hopefully another muffin – their chocolate one is nice, but I'd rather not only have the one muffin option!

I always had terrible trouble thinking what to get Entei-rah @lapine.org.uk for his birthday. I never really knew what I was doing, even after knowing him well for years. I utterly hate that I'm not having that problem today. :(