I got out of bed slowly and reluctantly this morning, in classic fashion putting one arm out first to test the air and gradually emerging from my cocoon. The plan was to follow my usual routine: get up, run round the village, shower, breakfast - ready for the day. Then I heard the rain on the windows and got back into bed for a while. The rain showed no sign of stopping any time soon so eventually I got up, skipped the second stage of my routine (running round the village) and got on with the day.
It’s good to have a routine but it’s important to be flexible enough to change it as necessary. And running in the rain is one of the things I really don’t need to do. I contemplated going on the rowing machine but it was already too late; I was committed to a lazy start to the day. I read that footballer Erling Haaland’s routine includes “assisted stretching”, which I assume is a form of vigourous massage (would a rowing machine serve that purpose? I wonder!), and LED light therapy. LED light therapy, that’s something I’d not heard of before! So I consulted the oracle, aka the internet:
“What is LED light therapy?
LED (light-emitting diode) light therapy is a non-invasive treatment that enters the skin’s layers to improve the skin.
In the 1990s, NASA began studying LED’s effects in promoting wound healing in astronauts by helping cells and tissues grow.
Today, dermatologists and estheticians commonly use LED light therapy to treat a range of skin issues. Skin specialists often use LED light therapy together with other treatments, such as creams, ointments and facials, to give you the best results.
You can also buy an array of at-home devices that use LED light therapy, including LED masks.”
There you go. I don’t think I’ll spend money on it. Erling Haaland, a very wealthy young man, good at scoring goals, apparently shares his home with a giant teddy bear - something we have in common. In the corner of the spare bedroom we have a rather old and floppy, but still furry and cuddleable, teddy bear the size of a tubby 6 or 7 year old. He has been climbed over, hugged, pummelled, dragged around by all of the grandchildren but in fact belongs to our daughter, a present from my brother when she was a not-tubby 6 or 7 year old. She claims to have no room for him in her house. This is also the case for a moderately large collection of hardback history books on topics such as The Crusades, all of which belong to our son who shows a similar reluctance to take them away.
We have enough clutter of our own!
Some of our clutter, indeed quite a lot of our clutter, consists of chess books. This morning I read an article about chess clubs in London, not chess clubs where people gather purely to play chess and are lucky to get a cup of weak coffee, but clubs with music and maybe even a DJ, and cocktails available.
One young lady’s interest in the game was piqued after an enjoyable night dancing and playing chess at one of Knight Club’s events.
“It’s a strange concept, but it works,” she said. “It encourages face-to-face interactions rather than screen-based activities. It’s a free third space to meet new people. It’s welcoming, you don’t have to necessarily be good at chess.”
The Knight Club referred to was started by Yusuf Ntahilaja, 27, who began his first chess club in August 2023 at a smaller bar in Aldgate, not too far from the current location at Café 1001 on Brick Lane.
“I wanted to make chess clubs for people who look like me and people my age,” he said. “Typically, chess is only put in spaces that are full of older people, which isn’t diverse enough.”
In an age where more and more people, especially young people, seem to socialise online it’s interesting read comments such as these:
“It’s a really easy vehicle to meet people. It kind of takes the weight of the necessity of conversation away from interacting with people. You can do the uncomfortable bit of introducing yourself and talking to someone over a board rather than with no kind of context around it.”
“It’s interesting to see how it becomes more of a social activity, because previously the only people who played chess were people who didn’t go outside; they just stayed home. It’s usually just two people playing on a chessboard …
“The thing I like about here is that you’re not actually facing the computer, you’re facing real people.”
Here’s a link to the whole article, for anyone interested.
Getting back to football players, I have just read that David Beckham has been knighted! He does a lot of charity work so his knighthood makes more sense than some in recent years.
Maybe publicity about Sir David will draw attention away from errant members of the Windsor family.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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