24/12/24 16:17

Christmas Eve, or more specifically Daddy’s Christmas Eve Eve.  I’m sat in Bella’s and it’s very similar to being in Paris.  A quiet place to be.  Too quiet for my recording plans.  I simply want to do the intro and outro for the vlog cast – until my return to Paris when I’ll try and do it properly.  Either in the street or in a café.  It’s so much easier having someone beside me when I’m recording than looking like a total nutjob influencer wannabe where people are listening in to what I have to say, whilst being judged by the people that work there.

I’ll try and give it a go in a little while.  Meantime, this little 3D-printed Lotus Kickstarter fountain pen really does write beautifully.  Not that it helps wanting to record a video for Season 3.  My eyes are also playing up with these lights.  And the office lights.  And sometimes my bedroom lights, too.  Diabetes?  Possibly.  Old age?  Probably.  Everybody inside the coffee shop is sat by themselves. There’s only the noise of the coffee machine and the Christmas playlist breaking the silence with the occasional order being placed and paid for at the till behind me.  Mine was a latte and a slice of cake.  Only because I don’t know what a café crème is in England.

So, it transpires that as soon as two people sit at the same table, it becomes an unwritten rule that they need to talk loudly to one another as the gap of three foot (or a table width) is too far for them to hear one another clearly without the need to shout.  I’m going to attempt Costa (if it’s open) shortly to see if it’s more of an ambient ambiance.

If that’s no good, it’s going to be one of two options.  Option one is in my bedroom, where I recorded the original introduction to the podcast about 18 months ago.  If that’s not the right fit for what I’m after (yellow and white striped wallpaper?) I’ll take a walk in the morning to the park or Fairlop Waters and record out in the open.  Then it’s the “pressure” of getting the video edited, uploaded and published before lunch at the kebab shop or before the evening at Nev’s.  This is the Christmas trial episode I’m talking about, not the intro and outro.  There’s no immediate rush for these.  I’ve done the main chunk of episode 3.1 – I need the intro and outro as well as the news – and half of the main bit for episode 3.2.  I’m possibly losing days over the festive period owing to having the boys and just like that, it’ll be January and Season 3…