Giles Brown
AS you may or may not be aware, I spent most of last month recovering from what my more streetwise friends refer to as ‘The Rona’. (And no, I still can’t get that one hit wonder My Sharona, out of my mind when I hear that either).
Having to spend a couple of weeks in self isolation, this afforded me the opportunity for even more navel gazing than normal – and as a freelance journalist that’s saying something. Fear not, I’m not going to inflict a ‘zen of Giles’ on you, the basic tenets of that would probably be along the lines of at least try and make sure you’re pointing the right way up in the morning, have a reasonable stab at making deadlines and always carry a discreet bag for any spare canapes at a press function.
But I did discover a few things about myself. Firstly, if pottering around the house aimlessly was a sport, I would be a triple Olympic champion. At the start of my isolation I made a mental list of things to get done – paintings to be hung, chapters of the novel to be planned, cat litter to be changed – that sort of thing.
None of these worthy endeavours was completed, of course. But I did manage to discover new positions to lie on the sofa…
I also considered reading some of the self improvement books that lurk, covered in dust, in the far corner of the living room. I was about to embark on expanding my consciousness when a friend delivered a superb collection of Rock biographies. I’m sure that the teachings of the great philosophers are all well and good, but I had Lemmy from Motörhead’s autobiography to get through first…
Then there was the dress sense. Normally I’m either in skull Tshirts (see Rock biographies above) or a smart suit for a press function (and the aforementioned free food). Not being able to leave my lakeside home , however, plus the fact that ‘The Rona’ meant that I was falling asleep frequently, meant that I spent most of my time in tracksuits. I even toyed with the idea of putting on the onesie at one point. Yes. It got that desperate.
Finally, I rediscovered the awesome power of the well timed siesta. A recent online museum has put together a list of worthy Spanish inventions, including the gyrocopter, the submarine and the Chupa Chup, but for me the siesta beats all hands down, especially in my Colombian hammock overlooking the lake.
I got so used to all of the above that I’m now trying to see which ones I can incorporate into my daily routine. I think I’ll start with the siesta…
