2026-09

I spent Thursday lunchtime doing some phone banking to help get the (Green) vote out in the Gorton and Denton by-election. It was inspiring to see so many people involved and fantastic to wake up on Friday to news of a successful result.

While F- was at music centre on Saturday I went along to the start of the Green Party “day of action” - a campaigning event across Islington for the upcoming local elections. It was really well attended, but Zack Polanski’s speech was cut short by some protesters who’d gate-crashed the event. I’m feeling hope again in national politics for the first time in a long time but I’ve seen before how the fractured nature of everything makes it tough for left insurgent movements.

I played a first game of kid-friendly RPG Hero Kids with F- and N-. They got quite involved in the story (rescuing the local tavern-keepers sun from a giant-rat infested cellar), and the rules were simple enough to keep the game moving. I found the scenario a bit procedural (lots of similar fights with giant rats), but I threw in a puzzle for them to solve (how to scale a large wall) to keep things interesting. The final battle with the rat king was nail biting stuff! I think some terrain and miniatures might be more appealing to them than the paper maps and characters I used (and give me an excuse to build and paint more stuff).

I stayed in the office on Friday evening to hang out with Animorph and friends. We’re giving up our shared office soon so it’s the end of an era - I’ve really appreciated sharing the space with them especially during the weird socially-distanced pandemic years.

I’ve been watching a couple of trashy Netflix series with A-. I thought The Night Agent was a good thriller with some strong performances - in particular Stephen Moyer’s unnamed contract killer who is also raising an 8 year old son. I also enjoyed the sets and costumes in Bridgerton. The story and acting, not so much.