I had originally planned to make a concerted effort at NaNoWriMo in July. The first few days went pretty well. The wordcount was a little on the light side but I was still making progress. Then the heatwave hit. I was convinced that I was going to evaporate at one stage during the month. This of course made it very difficult for me to do some writing. Watching TV was as much as I could handle after a day in the office surrounded by computers.
That’s not to say that the month was a total write-off. The bit of the novel I did manage to type up has provided enough content to keep me interested in continuing the story. It needs a lot of work but I think I might be able to make something of it.
I managed to see a couple of good movies during the month. The first one was Hedgehog. A wonderful French film (which I later realised I had an English copy of the novel on my ‘to-read’ pile). It’s set in an apartment building in Paris. There couldn’t have been more than twenty characters in the movie and it was entirely set in the building but it was a joy to watch. It’s a film I’d highly recommend to anyone that is looking for something different.
The other movies were Brave and Robot & Frank. Brave was an enjoyable movie but I’m probably a little biased as I’ve not seen a Pixar movie that I didn’t like.
Robot & Frank was another film I really liked. Frank is an ex-jewel thief living by himself and suffering with problems with his memory. His son arrives to his house one day and gifts him with a robot aid. As you can guess by the title of the movie, it is the unfolding relationship between Frank and the robot that is the focus of the movie.
Myself and the brother managed to get down to Cork to see West Ham play Cork City in a friendly at Turners Cross. I hadn’t seen much of any Irish soccer teams playing before, and what I had seen was less than inspiring to watch. But the match was actually a good game of soccer. Cork played a good game but were outclassed by the Hammers with the final score being 6-2 to the visitors. After the match, we took the “long” way back (i.e. stopped for a beer in most of the pubs we found on the way back to the city centre). A good way to spend a weekend in Cork. It’s a city I never fail to have a good time in.
July was also noteworthy as it was my dads 60th birthday. Unfortunately he was out of the country on the actual day of his 60th. That didn’t stop my siblings and relatives from throwing a successful surprise party for him when he returned. Myself and my siblings had planned to bring him for a few beers before the actual party. We planned to keep him on the opposite side of the town from the party venue.
My dad almost managed to throw a spanner in the works by coming into to town much earlier than he normally would when going for beer. We had to try and keep him in town as he normally only has a few beers and then is in a taxi before we know what is going on. Things went to plan in the end. He didn’t have a clue the party was happening and was delighted to see family and close friends waiting for him to celebrate his birthday. Needless to say, we had a struggle getting him to get in the taxi at the end of the night. He was in flying form.
All in all, it was a successful July.