This week has been the polar opposite of last week. I've done nothing. Well, as good as. There was no council business scheduled over half term, and I didn't have any other engagements / meetings to go to. So I've pretty much just slept, played with Marianna and surfed the internet for a week.

I regret nothing.

I started taking my anti-depressants again this week too which meant a couple of days of feeling sick, etc. I feel mostly okay now though, so I suppose they're kicking in and doing what they're meant to do. Continuing with the medical theme, Marianna got her new orthopedic boots on Thursday - they look so cute on her! The doctor says, so long as she wears them regularly, her feet should be fine by the time she starts school.

Other than that, the only concessions I've made to leaving the house this week have been for food shopping and to visit Anthony's parents. They picked up a Baby Annabel with cot, clothes, etc, etc, at the car boot sale so Marianna is now spending her days feeding her baby a bottle by stabbing its plastic teat into the doll's eye...

Marianna in her new orthopedic boots - they look like little Dr Martens! :)

A photo posted by Jessica Powell (@plastigffantastig) on Oct 29, 2016 at 4:16am PDT

☆ READING: I've been reading a fair bit of acafandom (academic studies of fandom, its members and its practices) this week. For the most part it's stuff you just *know* by being part of fandom, but it's still fascinating to see it written up properly and presented for an outside audience.

☆ WRITING: About Gwent Police's John Does.

☆ WATCHING: Baby Boom (1987). I'd never seen it before but I love that whole fish out of water genre, plus it has 80s power dressing and a super cute baby to boot.

☆ LISTENING: Anthony has been making me listen to opera again. He wrote a bluffer's guide to opera post this week, which meant having to sit through the Cavalleria Rusticana. Again. I try to be cultured, honestly I do, but I just can't help but agree with In The Loop's Jamie McDonald on the subject:

☆ WEARING: Pyjamas. It's been that kind of week.

☆ EATING: Junk, mostly.

☆ REVIEWING: David Hitchcock's Springheeled Jack.


I put together a list of Monday blog linkies, and Anthony wrote me a post on the Top Ten LGB Supercouples, I've got another comp on the go, check it out:

Follow and RT to win a copy of North By Northwest on DVD with @jess__powell of Babi a Fi https://t.co/i6xuveMO2T (UK only, Ends 08/11) pic.twitter.com/X3BOZZz44U

— Jessica Powell (@jess__powell) October 27, 2016

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It's been another busy week! I chaired my very first Full Council meeting on Tuesday, and had a whole bunch of mayoral engagements. I went to a 100th birthday party, attended a memorial service for the Aberfan Disaster, handed out certificates at a citizenship ceremony, and launched the Pontnewydd British Legion Poppy Appeal. I took Marianna with me to that last one, and she was so well behaved, watching the band and staying quiet while I spoke and for the minute's silence.

On Wednesday night Anthony and I went to the Mayor's fish and chip supper / quiz evening. Veronica managed to make it for a little bit, but sadly it didn't improve our chances in the quiz stakes - I got to announce that my team had come last when it was all over! It was a really good laugh though, almost like I had a social life other than work for an evening. ;)

I was out Saturday evening too, at a Pontnewydd Ladies' Choir concert. Their guest act was Y Tri Tenor (The Three Tenors) who were totally awesome - there are a few videos of them up on YouTube, and one of the trio, Robyn Lyn Evans, has his own website.

Launching the @PoppyLegion appeal for 2016 in #Cwmbran with @torfaencouncil Deputy Mayor @jess__powell. pic.twitter.com/y0qTHQFc9h

— Nick Thomas-Symonds (@NickTorfaenMP) October 22, 2016

☆ READING: So many sad accounts of the Aberfan Disaster. I wrote a tribute post HERE.

☆ WRITING: About Unilever's #brightFuture Challenge.

☆ WATCHING: Loads of kids' TV clips to check I had the right episodes for my A-Z Guide to LGBTQ+ Themes on Children's Television.

☆ LISTENING: I really liked this at the choir concert I went to; Adiemus is by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins, and is in a made-up language so as not to distract from the actual sound of the voice.


☆ WEARING: Check out some of these costumes of Halloween past for the #FridayFrivolity linky.

☆ EATING: We went to Pages Fish and Chips for the first time for the quiz night, and it was so good!

☆ REVIEWING: An overview of my council work for the last month.


I've got a new comp on the go, check it out:

Follow & RT to win Cool Hand Luke on DVD with @jess__powell of https://t.co/i6xuveMO2T (UK only - Ends 25/10) pic.twitter.com/t2d6XlBxv0

— Jessica Powell (@jess__powell) October 17, 2016

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This week I've just felt like I'm spinning lots of plates, and spinning them badly! Veronica, the mayor of Torfaen, has had to go into hospital for a knee replacement, so as deputy I've had to step into her shoes for the duration. It's way more exhausting than I thought it would be. I don't think it helps that I'm naturally a shy and retiring type, and the role is all about making small talk with strangers! Hopefully I'm not being a total disaster at it.

It is fun how diverse it makes your days though. Over the last fortnight I've been to AGMs, concerts, the south wales Dashain celebration, a parade of the Royal Welsh through Pontypridd, and met with a delegation of officials from the Suzhou Planning Bureau. Next week, among other things, I'm opening the poppy appeal for the local British Legion branch, helping to host a fundraising quiz night, and dropping in at a 100th birthday party. There's never a dull moment, really!

We're spending the day at my mum's today, so the hope is I can get all my blog stuff written and scheduled for next week, so at least there will be one less plate to spin.

Showing Rosie and Jim around the neighbourhood!

A photo posted by Jessica Powell (@plastigffantastig) on Oct 14, 2016 at 5:37am PDT

☆ READING: I found an old piece I'd written about LGBT+ representation in youth media - I reposted it for National Coming Out Day on Tuesday.

☆ WRITING: The A-Z of Creepy Retro Television.

☆ WATCHING: Scary - and not so scary - movies for this week's Friday Frivolity linky!

☆ LISTENING: My mum introduced Marianna to the 80s cartoon Raggy Dolls. YouTube duly introduced me to the full length version of the theme tune... I can't stop listening!


☆ WEARING: The deputy mayoral chain - my neck has a permanent crick right now!

☆ EATING: I had my first mince pie of the season this week.

☆ REVIEWING: The Book of Everyone - I'm hosting a competition to win one in that post too.


I posted about linky etiquette, and did the 5 Things Blogging Tag.





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The overarching theme of this week has been illness. I came home early on Monday and went back to bed because I felt so bad, and I was really relieved when an all day workshop I had scheduled for Wednesday was cancelled. I started to feel better Thursday, then got hit with a sore throat and cold. :(

Work wise, the main things I had was Healthier Communities scrutiny committee on Thursday, looking at the impact of the benefit cap on Torfaen, and advice surgery on Saturday. Next week I'll have more social stuff to go to because I'm covering for the mayor while she has a knee operation.

On Friday I actually went out in the evening for something not work related. There was a fundraising Ladies' Night on at the local workman's club - over £2,500 was raised! Today we're going up to Anthony's parents because it's his mum's birthday.

A photo posted by Jessica Powell (@plastigffantastig) on Sep 28, 2016 at 7:51am PDT

☆ READING: Check out my September book reviews.

☆ WRITING: My budget progress report for September.

☆ WATCHING: How To Murder Your Wife. This 2015 New Zealand black comedy is based on a real murder case from the 1970s and deservedly won a whole bunch of awards. It's on YouTube, so there's no excuse not to give it a go!

☆ LISTENING: I Got You - Split Enz.

☆ WEARING: Jewellery - I wrote a post this week about what I own.

☆ EATING: Well, I've been drinking lots of tea. I even made it my theme for this week's #FridayFrivolity linky post.

☆ REVIEWING: I was invited to have a look around Circulate furniture recycling last week. I wrote it all up HERE.


I changed the blog commenting system again, from Disqus to CommentLuv. CommentLuv was literally the only thing I envied about WP as a blogging platform, so I'm really pleased that IntenseDebate have updated it since last time I tried and it's now working fine on Blogger. :) I also posted a list of the linkies you can join up with on Tuesdays.





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