A Review Of My Year 2017

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Quite a year, with so much going on for me. Thi was my first full year in Preston after moving from Manchester in August 2016. My annual birthday meal in February took me back to my old city for the day, and it was a lovely reunion with my friends. It took to about March to untangle the Council Tax payments mess after my temporary work late in the previous year and this mess is likely to be repeated this year too. I got a longer visit to Manchester in June, looking after a friend’s rather grumpy temperamental cat for nearly three weeks, though it gave me a great chance to visit friends, favourite pubs, a creative writing workshop, watch a massive parade show in the city centre, and watch lots of TV. I got to give several talks, and ran a few quizzes for the local community centre,. There were several true story telling events organized by Spark, and I met members of the regional real ale society too. Preston Heritage weekend gained me a chance to explore several amazing buildings normally not open to the public, including the old observatory and the council rubbish tips (a better tour than it sounds). I travelled to Birmingham for a major science fiction convention over Easter, and a Comic-Con right here in Preston. The Oktoberfest beer festival in Preston was interesting and I got to attend thanks to a friend winning a free ticket for it which he was unable to use himself. I also got to a few burlesque shows. Some friends came up from Manchester so I got to show them the delights of my new home town. I got to do lots of voluntary work through the University, especially on their annual movie festival. I was treated to free meals for my services which was lovely. The film festival itself was a huge success. I discovered a local movie making society which I joined, and they helped film a short piece based on one of my own scripts. There will be more such projects in 2018. The year ended as 2016 did, with temporary work through the post office leading to Xmas,. I got to visit the folks in Manchester a week before the festivities themselves. And that was that, now before I knew it, 2018 descend upon me. The photo is of my 2017 diary, making its last appearance before it retirement. Diary entries are now going to be illustrated by the 2018 desk diary. Hope everyone had a great 2017, and the New Year brings even greater joy. Arthur Chappell