It's Boxing Day (for us, we're a day behind). We've watched Flight of the Navigator, our diet is entirely leftovers, and the cat refuses to eat without a tablecloth, placemat and candles. Reality is suspended.

Operation is done, gallbladder is no more, and I get to go home shortly for which I'm eternally grateful. Frustrating as it can be for chronic stuff and missing the full picture, my experience of the NHS in emergencies has been pretty solid throughout my life.

Back in hospital, iv antibiotics. Neurotypicals and anyone else who can have things in their skin and not feel it intensely every single second will never understand the level of privilege they enjoy. If you can handle any kind of piercing/tattoo you're in that group. I despise existing in a body.

It's the Devil's Hour (3.30am, the furthest time from the Holy Hour for all you nerds) and I'm waiting on a call back from NHS 24 due to abdominal pain. I'm very bored and sore.

Having loved Slay the Princess, I picked up Scarlet Hollow a couple of days ago as a birthday treat and I'm so glad I did. I love a Choices Matter game where it feels as if they genuinely do, and I'm enjoying the writing immensely. No idea how I'm supposed to wait for Chapter 5.

Oh my god…

“Are there no prisons?” asked Scrooge. “And the Union workhouses? Are they still in operation?” “They are. I wish I could say they were not.” “Oh! I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course,” said Scrooge. “I’m very glad to hear it.”

Two of the EdFringe shows I directed are going to Capital Theatres in early 2026! If you didn't catch either of these brilliant writer/performers in August, now's your chance - they'd also make a great gift for your ND LGBTQ+ loved ones (and if you're following me I'm certain you have some)

It never stops being weird watching actors' showreels and seeing your pals' faces pop up in other people's scenes.

You’ll never guess what this post is about.

'Skeleton Wearing a Top Hat Playing the Shamisen for a Small Dancing Yōkai' (circa 1870) Kawanabe Kyōsai

Day 1 of being on a job in England means Worcestershire Sauce crisps at lunchtime. Walkers has one good flavour per county and for England that's the one.

We're watching the del Toro Frankenstein and about 30 minutes in I can say with confidence that this was not worth closing the streets for. Overwrought yet underwritten, cartoonishly silly without being fun. What a waste of an abundance of resources.

Having drained Shudder dry, we're now revisiting Heretic. I enjoyed the hell out of Hugh Grant's performance when we saw it in the cinema, and it's holding up on rewatch.

Pumpkins 2025. with @jenbitespeople.bsky.social. ... HAPPY HALLOWEEN everyone. ... #Halloween #Pumpkins

I'm a monster. This is me.

Ever since I saw Sinners back in the summer I've been looking forward to re-watching it in the run-up to Hallowe'en. We're watching it tonight and it's SO GOOD. Brilliantly made, instant classic, one that I know I'll revisit again and again. 2025 has been a banger of a year for vampires.

My friend’s neighbor’s house fell off its foundation (old steel structure collapsed), and they just did the funniest thing.

Theatrical equivalent: In the 15th year of my directing career, on my way to the final touring venue for my fourth sell-out show this year, I'd like to say a massive LOL You Were Wrong to the tutor on my undergrad who told me there's no point training women as directors as they just have babies.

I picked up some extra work to cover the covid booster, went to book it and found out that the one that's available is one my immune system doesn't respond to. As in, not a bad response, just no response. The one I need is £200, not £100, and nobody knows when it'll be in stock, so I'm just fucked.

I truly hate the way Scotrail handles Glasgow Queen Street and Glasgow Central. If I ask for trains to Central I only want to see trains to Central, not to "Queen Street but we'll call it Central because you can walk/bus to Central from there". I'm disabled. It's not that simple. Just be accurate.

I keep seeing thinkpieces about why people don't post so much on social media any more and yes, some of it is toxicity and fear and greater awareness of our digital footprints - but it's also being over-busy, under-leisured, and subject to constant time pressure on everything. /1

It's 13c, not warm but not actually cold either. I have thermal leggings, 2 pairs of socks, thick jumper, compression gloves and scarf on, and I'm sandwiched between a hot water bottle and a heated blanket with another blanket on top. Yet my hands are icy cold. Thermodynamics is not the boss of me.

Amidst all the enshittification, there are still the wonderful people who have been diligently uploading otherwise unobtainable episodes of 1970s TV horror onto YouTube and for these intrepid souls I will always be grateful.

While we're on the subject please stop asking for 1 page CVs, particularly if you want to know about more than one aspect of my practice. I'm busy and multifaceted, I defy single-page explanation.

FFS arts organisations, if you want ambitious pitches give me a word count that allows for ambition. I can pitch you complex things that will blow your minds OR I can pitch you things you can easily grasp in 500 words, but not both.

Thanks for coming Allan! Glad you liked it.

A few Edinburgh pals have told me they plan to catch the show at the Trav - but we're not doing the Trav, so it's Glasgow, Paisley or Ayr! So either catch it in one of those places, or pin your hopes on it coming back and finding an Edinburgh home in the future.

It would be easy to post "beds are high-key slept on". It might even gain some traction, it's got the right words in the right order. But no, it would lessen us both - It would be as if we were chewing at the cud in the field, contented only by the thoughtless motion.

I see so many posters I don't much care for, but I really like the tag line on @scottishopera.bsky.social's Boheme poster. It's a fantastic cast (I would listen to Hye-Youn Lee sing anything) and I'm quietly devastated that I just signed a contract on a job that means I won't be in Scotland for it.

www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/2547819... our musical, with book and lyrics by @jenbitespeople.bsky.social and music and lyrics by me, opens next week at Oran Mor, then tours.

We're in the final stages of rehearsal and this is a truly stunning cast.

Hi @fedscottheatre.bsky.social and @scotsocplaywrights.bsky.social, I've added you both to the Scottish Theatre Starter Pack! Links pinned at the top of my page, the pack you're in is here: go.bsky.app/MeeNqsN

If you'd like to give your unpaid labour on top of the registration fees & transaction fees you've already given, here's your opportunity to spare the Fringe the hassle of collating the abundant feedback people have been giving freely ever since this awful iteration of the site launched months ago.

#EdFringe folk, were any of you at the AGM today and if you were can you tell me whether the motion threatening Keep It Fringe and Made In Scotland was defeated? I couldn't be there as I'm struggling physically today.

I hate that the buses are so busy in August that I can't see where the dogs are and only find out there even was a dog when I hear a collar jangle as the dog gets off the bus. If there is a bus dog I want to see it ffs

My weather app has promised thunderstorms for two days in a row and my body is conspiring to confirm this by giving me migraines, and now what I want to know is WHERE IS MY THUNDERSTORM and why is it acceptable to lie

Another 4* for Homo(sapien), this time from the Scotsman! It's a joy to be working with this talented young artist.

I've just seen someone describing Pop Off, Michelangelo as "Michelangelo and Da Vinci if they were gay" and... *if*? IF? One sculpts as if he never so much as glanced at a woman but never took his eyes off men, and the other had a gaggle of young men devotedly following him around, and... IF?

Hey EdFringe folk, the gammons are coming to town tomorrow and they're marching straight through the heart of the world's largest arts festival. These people are still rehashing a 17th century battle and react violently to people crossing the roads they occupy. Here's the list of road closures.

How the Fringe is going so far.

Bones' approach to the Fringe is the best approach to the Fringe.

I wrote this song in honour of the late Tom Lehrer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXlf...

I will never fully trust that my headphones are actually switched off because their "turning off" sound is three ascending notes and ascending notes are the sound of things turning *on*. These headphones were designed by an agent of chaos.

It's a month of many rehearsals for four different Fringe shows and some development on the PPP musical. This week I've been working with Fiona Moon on her first solo show, Keep It Fringe recipient A Brief History of Neurodivergence. A delightfully fast-paced, interactive and informative hour!

Since 2004, new editions of the Choose Your Own Adventure books have included branching diagrams of all of the possible paths through the books. [atlasobscura.com]

#QuickflyerFriday! Fresh from our Buxton Fringe run, Flora Macdonald and Zombies is @edfringe.bsky.social on odd dates 1-15 August at the gorgeous @scotstorycentre.bsky.social! Tunes! Zombies! Historical inaccuracy, 'irreverent and fun'! scottishstorytellingcentre.online.red61.co.uk/event/913:62...