I wish... I finished planning my road trip (part 3)

It all happened so quickly.

I saw a tweet on 21st September by Danny Wallace, one of my favourite writers. He wrote Yes Man and Join Me and half of Are You Dave Gorman? (he was the half who wasn't Dave Gorman). His tweet said he'd be at the Bath Children's Literature Festival on Saturday 26th with his children's book illustrator, Jamie Littler.

Immediately I told my friend Morwhenna, who wanted to have a pint with Danny as part of her 40/40 Project; a year-long project to celebrate her 40th birthday by completing 40 challenges on her wish list.

In a matter of minutes Morwhenna had bought two tickets, I had agreed to go with her (a mere three-hour drive each way), and she had agreed to visit Cheddar Gorge with me for my road trip project.

Boom. Done. Organised.

A few days later I met Danny Wallace and Jamie Littler!

Me with Danny Wallace and his first book for children, Hamish and the Worldstoppers

Danny was superb. Friendly and funny and happy to meet us, even after an hour on stage and with his family there waiting. Top bloke. Danny was interested in Morwhenna's project and gave her some wise words of advice as well as taking home her painting of a pint of beer (a real pint might not have gone down well with the family audience).

Jamie was a star too. Despite admitting to feeling nervous beforehand, he drew some excellent cartoon characters based on ideas from younger members of the audience, which were projected onto a screen above the stage. On the spot. No preparation. Impressive! I'm only gutted that Morwhenna and I were moved on before we could get a photo with Jamie too.

And so onwards to Cheddar Gorge. My wish of the month for September was to finish planning my road trip, not embark on it. But when the opportunity arose, I took it.

Without an ounce of cheese or irony.

In Cheddar I bought a 1kg wedge of vintage cheddar cheese from the Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company. It was the least I could do after pestering the staff to go in the museum whilst they were cleaning it, posing for silly photographs with exhibits, and making a hash of the queue for the tills. 

Then Morwhenna and I drove up into Cheddar Gorge to marvel at the rocks, the rock climbers, the hyperventilating cyclists and the rear ends of mountain goats (they simply would not turn around).

I loved Cheddar Gorge; the cheesiness of it, in every meaning of the word. And the fact that Morwhenna came with me. She was great; fun, confident and eager to direct me into poses for silly photographs. A superb addition to the road trip crew.

Morwhenna and her car, Henry, guarding my cheese

Cheddar Gorge. Tick!

What's next?

Sandwich with Andy and Stephen in November. I wrote about organising that trip in my last blog post.

Then? Three places in and around Derbyshire with Paul, Nick and Laura. Prompted by Cillabella to pull my finger out this month, I contacted Paul yesterday about my idea for the trip. He and Nick agreed to help. Paul had heard of two of the place names, but not the third. "I will have to look up Bottoms," he replied, punctuated with a smiley face.

Paul and Nick at the Wellcome Collection

Laura at the Ashmolean Museum

Fantastic! Three new places and three new roadtrippers. Which means...

Only seven more trips to organise. Hmm. Can I, at least, and by the end of October, pencil in dates for them and invite some friends to join me?

What do you wish you could do for the sheer ridiculous fun of it? Let me know.

I wish... I could street dance (part 5)

You don't need lessons to be able to dance. All you need is a body and a soul.

"Come on people, show me some energy! It can't all come from me," said JP, the street dance instructor. "I'm giving you my life here!"

We wannabe streetdancers were a bit subdued in my third and final lesson in October. But I couldn't help thinking it was the rapid, non-stop routine JP had given us that was partly to blame.

I wasn't the only person who was struggling. But I seemed to be the only person who was so lost that occasionally I stopped altogether and waited for the right moment to leap back into the routine. Like a surfer choosing a wave to ride.

I refused to give up. As planned, I practised the routine without constantly watching JP, and squeezed in extra practice during brief interludes when he was fiddling with the MP3 player or we all stopped to drink water. I didn't care if I dried up like an old prune; I was determined to learn the routine.

Despite my best efforts, my final performance was poor. I accepted that although my soul was willing and my body was able, my mind would not allow me to remember the routine in the time available. I needed more time. 

But there wasn't any. The lesson was over and next week we would learn a different routine. Why couldn't we learn and practice one routine over several weeks? I wondered. Then I could practice at home and nail the flipping thing.

I drove home in a huff. It felt like an anti-climax to the month. I had secretly hoped that the final lesson would be my best yet. That suddenly it would all click into place and I'd seamlessly perform the routine from beginning to end with power and precision and afterwards we'd be high-fiving and freestyling out the door, all the way to the pub.

My expectations were unrealistic. To become any good at street dance I would have to practice week in week out for years. That's if my body held out. And my ability to learn routines is unlikely to improve with age. So where does that leave me?

I will go to a few more street dance lessons. If I enjoy them, I'll carry on going. If I don't, I'll stop going. Because dancing should be fun. It's a way of expressing yourself. Personally, it makes me feel alive and sometimes takes me to a higher place. It's hard to describe.

You don't need lessons to be able to dance. All you need is a body and a soul.

So I'm going to end this wish of the month on a positive note. After lesson 2, the lesson that I most enjoyed, I filmed myself practising the routine in my studio. I'm clumsy, it's filmed badly, and I didn't dress for the task in hand. But I tell you what - I had a bloody good time doing it.

I wish... I could street dance! (The music video)

Join me again soon for a brand new wish of the month. What do you wish you could do?