Welcome to my NOW page

This is my ‘now’ page. For those who don’t know what a ‘now page’ is, go and check out Derek Sivers writing on this right here.

October 2025

I had a nudge from Derek to update this page. It had been neglected for two years as the recurring monthly task disappeared from my ClickUp list. The whole point is what I’m doing now, not what has happened over the past two years. I will make a better attempt to keep this updated for anyone who is curious enough about my life.

I am recovering from my first marathon. A marathon that pegs itself for people who want to have a good time running, not run a good time. That’s my kind of event. It was stunning. Beautiful Scottish countryside in Moray, from Glenfarclas distillery through to Glenfiddich in Dufftown. My only regret was that we didn’t get to see enough of Dufftown, which in my head was an industrial outpost, full of brutalist buildings. I could not have been further from the truth.

Grey stone buildings that reach out towards one of the best clock towers. It makes the clock tower in Crouch End look like a Lego build. Beautiful little shops dot the street, alongside traditional pubs, fancy restaurants and a salt-of-the-earth British Legion.

For all of our many trips to Scotland this year, the quality of the Legion and Wetherspoons – two places I’d traditionally avoid – has challenged my prejudice at every visit.

If you enjoy running, the odd whisky and some superb countryside, I fully recommend The Dramathon. It was the friendliest run I’ve ever done. The best for my first (and last) marathon.

My arthritis is giving me a kicking, though, which is to be understood as my feet have taken me a long way. I don’t want to lose my running routine, but I need some days to let the joints feel normal again. Or as normal as they will ever feel.

I’m also on-call for jury service. That means I got to sit in a court building for a few hours yesterday before being sent home. I may or may not be told to go back over the next two weeks, but as I cancelled all meetings, I’m enjoying the uninterrupted work time. This means I get to finish off an annual report that I’m writing for a charity and work on my book some more.

That’s the other big thing that is happening now. I’ve been commissioned to write a book on sustainability and marketing.  It’s pretty exciting. I am also going to use this unexpected free time to work on some other personal projects that I want to get up and running and not waste the time faffing on the internet.

Books I’ve been reading: 

 Hera by Jennifer Saint – I thought I’d race through this one faster than I am doing. I like the Madeliene Miller retellings and the Pat Barker versions, but this one is a bit more slow-going. That’s not to say it’s not great, it is, but it hasn’t quite sucked me in so fast. I’m enjoying it far more than some others which I’ve read this year (Butter was not for me).

Gigs:

We had a big spate of gigs in June. However, the last month or so has been quiet on the live music front, apart from my son in his band. 

We saw the live show of the Jon Robbins and Elis James podcast. That was quite funny and a bit different. 

We do have some good gigs coming up, but I’ll share those in the next update. Mostly, I’ve been marathon training, which doesn’t always match with late nights. 

Records on heavy rotation this month are: 

We moved from Spotify to Tidal for reasons of where the money gets invested. It’s not perfect, but it’s better for the artists than Ek’s platform. The sound is better, too. 

Teen Mortgage’s Devil Ultrasonic Dream has been on the record player since June. Giving a blast of heavy punk into my day. 

Sect’s Blood of the Beast is adding hardcore punk to the weekend listens. Especially now I’ve worked out how to change the rpm on the new record player. It wasn’t as easy as pressing a button like on the last one, I have to change the belt. 

So, I’ll be going through all the 7″ records over the next few weeks.