We are now one twelfth of the way through 2026, which means that I have now been publishing monthly life updates to the internet for two entire years. Mad shit.
(If you want to read my other monthly updates stretching all the way back to January of 2024, you can find them all here).
As I mentioned in my December update, Facebook kindly removed me from their monetisation programme after deciding I was selling drugs. This is not true, in case you were wondering, but I am now roughly a third of the way through my sentence with no chance of parole. As a result of not really liking the idea of not being paid for my work, I’ve been paying significantly less attention to social media, which has been both accidental and quite restorative.
Here is what I’ve been up to instead:
I had a long weekend in Marrakech
I started 2026 strong with a long weekend in Marrakesh, Morocco. It seems like all but a distant memory now – the sunshine, the nice food, the traffic. January is an excellent time to get away, if you can afford it (Top tip: simply stop buying Christmas presents and redirect that money into escaping the UK. Problem solved).
You can find a whole blog post about the weekend here, featuring mint tea, hammams and souk markets, and several opinions.
I went indoor skydiving
I didn’t get up to much else of note this month. January is far too cold and miserable to justify getting dressed properly, and apart from the aforementioned holiday I sadly had no gigs or comedy nights booked to take the edge off.
I did meet my friend Bella for a nice dog walk, and went out for a meal with some local friends, but I took absolutely no photos on either occasion so you’ll have to trust me that they happened.
I did, however, go indoor skydiving.
It was… fine? Fun, even. I have no desire to throw myself out of an actual plane because I am sane, and you don’t really get enough time in the wind tunnel to learn how to be good at it, but as experiences go, it was definitely an experience.
The worst bit was the flight suit, which had clearly been previously inhabited by someone extremely sweaty and aggressively fragrant. The smell followed me around all day like a curse. Yeesh.
I had my jokes stolen
View on Threads
One of the most frustrating things about creating content and making jokes on the internet is when some bore who can’t make their own funnies comes along and rips you off. Even worse when they go mega viral for it.
So a big fuck you to those people, who I assume live joyless lives fuelled entirely by other people’s ideas.
I did not go to see the Melania movie
AKA the movie so bad, they released the Epstein files to distract from its disastrous opening weekend.
A few people suggested that, after the success of my Terrible Christmas Film Reviews, I might enjoy reviewing it. Instead, I stayed at home and emptied my dog’s anal glands, which felt like a better use of my time.
I did a lot of reading
In the absence of Facebook and arguing with bots about whether it’s OK for ICE to murder American citizens in the street (spoiler alert, it really is not and Trump is a big old orange Nazi who needs to shuffle off this mortal coil and SOON), I’ve been sat in my favourite corner, reading far more than usual.
In January alone I finished one book and read four more, including two by Harriet Tyce, who I only later realised was that Harriet Tyce off The Traitors.
I had already finished Blood Orange and recommended it to my book group (yes, I have a book group now, I am apparently that person) before this dawned on me.
If you like British crime thrillers in the Lisa Jewell / Adele Parks vein, she’s well worth a go. I’ve also started logging what I’m reading on Goodreads, which feels like exactly the sort of admin January was made for.
Other things I wrote this month:
I’ve not been particularly pro-active, blog wise, but I have knocked a few posts out.
I wrote up a review of my weekend in Marrakech:
I also wrote a quick post on the joys of not making New Year’s Resolutions:
And finally, I wrote a review of some lovely shoes:
And that’s it.
Short and sweet. All in all, a quieter month than usual. Fewer posts. Fewer opinions. More reading. Less Facebook. Highly recommend, honestly.
If you enjoyed this and you’re feeling generous, you can buy me a cup of tea or a glass of wine – or donate to my houseplant addiction fund – here.
You can also see my Amazon wish list here.