Ten positive things I learned during lockdown
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Unless you count the presence of my lifelong companion and evil twin Jason Voorhees, I’ve now been in solo lockdown for five months. While I’ve become a shade more adventurous as the months have worn on, my life has become smaller in some ways. As I write, I still haven’t felt able to see distant loved ones, for fear of picking up the virus and inadvertently infecting them. This has been the first time in my life when I’ve really wished I could drive.
So, yeah, it’s been quite the test, but the same is true for us all, right? I really hope that you and yours are safe and well.
Light always comes out of black. And so here are 10 positive things I’ve learned during this bizarre era of our lives...
LESSON ONE: I don’t like pubs and restaurants as much as I thought I did. After all, if I really and truly loved those places, I’d surely have joined all those people who have merrily skipped back in through their doors with weirdly carefree abandon. As it is, turns out I don’t love pubs and restaurants - or booze and cuisine - enough to risk dying for them.
What I do love, though, are people. Well… not most people. Not humanity as a whole. No, I love the good people, the ones I know and care about. What I’m saying is: it ain’t where you are, it’s who you’re with. I’ve always believed that, but lockdown has reminded me. A video call can be every bit as wonderful as sitting in a pub. In some ways it’s better, because you can use your own bathroom.
LESSON TWO: Lockdown offers the perfect opportunity to figure out, or remind yourself, or reconsider, which stuff in your home you actually love and need. You can start from the ground up and reinvent your home. No wonder that the few re-opened charity shops in my area have struggled to cope with the influx of unwanted possessions that people have flung at them – me included. Oh yes, they’ve had a fair few books handed over.
I’m in the process of giving my flat the full Marie Kondo treatment. I’ve been through almost all of my VHS, DVD and Blu-ray collections and weeded out a couple of hundred (at least) tapes that I’ll be getting rid of, either via eBay or through collectors’ Facebook groups. There are also a couple of piles of ‘maybe’ tapes that I’ll be watching to see if I actually like the films! And so this has been another good side effect of lockdown...
LESSON THREE: Actually use the stuff you buy! When this year began, I was in a phase where I wasn't watching all that many films or TV shows, while generally choosing YouTube instead. The need to watch the 'maybe' pile items, though, has really boosted my viewing and made it more fun. I've been watching (or when it comes to my vinyl collection, listening to) lots more stuff, in order to see if I like it enough to keep. And so this whole Marie Kondo process feels massively positive for me and I highly recommend it, time-consuming though it may be.
LESSON FOUR: The endorphin is the creative person’s best friend. Every year without fail, I forget how much easier writing becomes with a shedload of endorphins pinballing through your brain. No wonder I couldn’t write anything for the first couple of months of lockdown. I mean, obviously the little matter of a global pandemic was super-worrying and distracting, but also I wasn’t very active. I was largely sitting on the sofa, watching the news and playing a great deal of Doom. Only left home four or five times in those early months.
Since mid-June, though, I’ve been walking over 30 miles every month, and the effect on my creativity and general happiness has been dramatic. Again: recommended! And it brings me to the fact that…
LESSON FIVE: When this whole thing is over, hopefully thanks to a magical vaccine, we'll appreciate everything in our lives more than ever before. This may not be true for some people, who will have selfishly trudged on through the entire pandemic, behaving exactly as normal. But for the likes o' you and me, oh, how we'll appreciate being able to hug and swan around in beer gardens and lick the hand-rails on tube trains. Okay, maybe not that last one.
I don't know about you, but I already appreciate simpler, smaller pleasures more than I used to, and that can only be a good thing.
LESSON SIX: A daily routine is really important. At least, it is for me. You may revel in chaos and that absolutely doesn’t matter, provided you get the job done in the end. But lockdown has confirmed that I thrive most when I have a good, solid-yet-adaptable routine that benefits me mentally and physically.
These days, I have breakfast, then head out to walk 6000 steps around my Brighton neighbourhood, trying to pace the walk as if I’m in something of a hurry. By the time I get back, it’s usually ten or half-ten, and I settle down to write, fired up by those endorphins. These are the golden hours of the day, and it usually only takes 90 minutes of frantic typing for me to hit my current daily word count of 1200 words. If I miss that target, then I make sure I’ve written at least 600 words before I break for lunch.
In the afternoon, I walk the remaining 6000 steps, then write any words that still need to be written. And that’s it. That’s my routine. It works and, most importantly, it feels really good. On Saturdays, my targets are just 6000 steps and 600 words, allowing me to devote Saturday afternoons to whatever. And then I can do whatever I like on Sundays, which currently tends to be sorting out the flat. I used to work through Sundays without even thinking about it, and that’s why my routine really helps me ring-fence time in which to recharge. I also like the fact that if a morning goes to hell, I can still hit all my targets in the afternoon. Flexibility is so useful.
LESSON SEVEN: Hey, cooking can actually be fun! I used to be pretty lazy with food, often tending to either nip out to a cafe for a takeaway lunch or nuke a microwave ready meal. Since mid-March, though, I haven’t eaten a single meal I didn’t cook myself.
For the first time in my life, I’ve made Quorn roast dinners. I’ve filled pitta pockets and topped bagels with chopped veg and salad (see the pic below). I’ve actually been excited to see what’s going to be in the latest fruit and veg box delivered by my local grocer. I feel healthier for all this cooking, especially now that I’m active again, and actually enjoy spending time in the kitchen, or prepping meals while watching TV.
LESSON EIGHT: Once upon a time, a pandemic like this was the stuff of speculative fiction. Now that it's actually happening to us, in all-too-vivid 3D, we no longer have to wonder how we would deal with such a massive event, because we're dealing with it right here and now. We are stronger than we ever thought possible. We are awesome and it wouldn't hurt for us to stop and think about that.
LESSON NINE: I feel like I now have a greater sense of perspective on life. Like Kate Collins in Ghoster, I start each day by speaking a few gratitudes. Since this pandemic began, while my coffee machine is whirring away, I've spoken aloud about how grateful I feel that everyone who matters in my life is safe and well. When you start a day like that, it's so much harder to get hung up on irritations, annoyances or problems that are less important in the grand scheme of things. The tenth and final thing I've learned is related to this, but more about who you are as a person.
LESSON TEN: Be yourself, because life is so uncertain and fragile. This is true, even when there isn’t a global pandemic, never mind when there is! And so you may as well be yourself. Be honest with yourself and others about what you want, then fight for it tooth and nail, without worrying about what other people think. Revel in the uniqueness of yourself and never apologise for being you.
Unless of course, you’ve gone and done a murder.
My amazing supporters at Patreon got to read this article yesterday, 24 hours in advance. Early access to articles and videos is just one of the ways in which I love to repay my patrons for their monthly support, which is especially helping me during lockdown. If you’d like to consider joining my VIP Patreon club, take a look at my page.
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My signed bookshop is back
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Yes, back in the very heart of lockdown, I really didn't want to be going to the post office and so temporarily pulled down the shutters on the signed book shop on my website.
I still don't exactly relish the prospect of going to the post office, especially with the disturbingly high proportion of non-maskers about (seriously, if you'd told me that there'd be anti-maskers during a pandemic, I'd have laughed in your face... while wearing a mask), but so far I've been doing so without incident. Helps to go first thing in the morning, I find.
So, take a look at my signed books page and see what takes your fancy! While I still have Jack Sparks bookmarks, as seen in the pic above, I'll include one with every order, regardless of whether you've ordered Sparks or Ghoster. Get in there! And apologies in advance for the recent price hikes I'm faced with when shipping from the UK to the States...
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Lately, I've been reviewing a few albums every month for Classic Rock magazine. It's fun, to be able to pick a handful of interesting albums each month, give them a (digital) spin and then write about them. Feels like the old days when I was at Kerrang! So if you're a Classic Rock reader, look out for my byline. Bands I've been reviewing include En Minor, Heathen, Sepultura, UDO, Ten Foot Wizard and Stryper!
As a further aside, one thing I don't think I may have mentioned in this newsletter is that I preview TV shows every week of the year in Heat magazine! Oh yes, strings to my bow and no mistake. It's the only way for authors to be...
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Good stuff I've seen lately...
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Last night, I watched Terrified on the Shudder channel (see above pic). An Argentinian fright flick from 2018, it certainly delivers the creepy goods and made me exclaim out loud at several points. Definitely one for Insidious fans, as it has a similar feel and smorgasbord of frights. Also nice to see a film with older leads, in a world seemingly obsessed with teen or 20-something heroes. If you like your horror neatly tied up with a bow, you'll likely be left frustrated, but otherwise I recommend this one highly.
Also very good on the Shudder channel is Host, a British found footage movie which has lapped up the positive coverage lately. It's astonishing that this film was conceived and made during 12 weeks! Centring on a Zoom seance, the pleasingly tight 57-minute running time packs in plenty of Paranormal Activity-style fright, with some surprising effects and brilliantly naturalistic performances from all the leads.
I meant to catch Rambo: Last Blood when it passed briefly through cinemas, but never did. Really wish I had now, because it's a killer movie! Sure, the bare bones plot is as old school as they come, but that's no bad thing in my book. Come the final act, we're talking absolute state-of-the-art bloodshed! It's gloriously violent, with some real WTF moments. I don't understand why I haven't seen more people talking about Sylvester Stallone's (presumably) final entry in the series, but I recommend you check it out on Amazon Prime - in 4K UHD too! See below for a link to get a free Prime trial if you haven't already.
Ozark has become my favourite TV show since Breaking Bad, or maybe even since The Shield! Season Three had me riveted. So much tension, arrrrgghhh. Check this show out on Netflix, if you haven't already. I'm obsessed with the supernatural calm of Jason Bateman's character Marty Byrde, although he is definitely put through the wringer this season...
I currently seem to be going through a phase of revisiting 80s fantasy movies! I'm talking gems like Hawk The Slayer, Krull and The Sword And The Sorcerer! So much fun. The Sword And The Sorcerer seems to be the most overlooked of the three, and I highly recommend you tracking it down if you haven't seen it. Lashings of violence and demonic behaviour, plus the awesome Richard Lynch! Reply to this email and let me know if you'd like to see me make a YouTube video about this type of film - or indeed anything else! Always feel free, in fact, to reply to this newsletter and give me feedback or ideas for things you'd like to see. Would love to hear from you!
See the top of my Free Stuff page for links to get free trials for Shudder, Amazon Prime, Arrow Video and more.
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Pick an IG account, any IG account...
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I have three Instagram accounts. Yes, three! But I have varied interests and like to give people the option as to which ones they follow on IG. So here's the IG menu:
IG AUTHOR ACCOUNT - my everyday lockdown life in Brighton. Lately, there's been a preoccupation with food over there.
IG RETRO ACCOUNT - my latest account, all about the kind of retro stuff I cover on my YouTube channel. Retro video games, classic Doctor Who, horror movies on VHS...
IG ROCK JOURNALIST ACCOUNT - all about my time as a rock journalist and my love of metal! Lately, I've been focusing on vinyl too.
Come follow whichever take your fancy. Hope to see you in comments!
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YouTube News: August 16, 2020
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My most recent video sees me pick ten of the finest words I learned from classic Doctor Who! What are those words? Find out here. So far, this video has earned me the king's ransom of £0.70 in YouTube ad revenue! Now you can probably see why I value my Patreon backers so very highly. :)
If you've yet to subscribe to my channel, and have been enjoying the videos, I'd really appreciate you signing up!
Here are my five most popular YouTube videos in terms of 'watch time' (literally the amount of time people have spent watching them) over the last 28 days.
1) My 1996 interview with Type O Negative's Peter Steele
2) How to hook your old VCR up to your new smart TV
3) 10 cool words I learned from Doctor Who
4) Doctor Who VHS video haul!
5) Is the Arrow Video channel worth it?
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PARTING SHOTS
- Struggling to write or plan something of whatever size? Chop the beast into three distinct acts, then chop those acts into thirds too. If it keeps feeling useful, keep a-chopping till it’s all more bite-sized chunks. (Or ‘write-sized’, if you will.) This will make everything feel way less intimidating and more manageable.
- This newsletter goes out to my following Patreon patrons: Cindy Leschaud, Francine Hibiscus, Barry Pook, Helen Thompson, Dave Morris & Leo Hartas, James Phillips, Stephen McMullin, Christine Blake, Cliff Shelton, Jane Louise Atkinson, Jay Lyons, Marjorie Taylor, Kristy Baptist, Lisa Golmen, Maria Fanning, Marissa Adams, Matt Ebbs, Alan Crawley, Anthony Chapman, Rhiannon Marshall, Chris Limb, Sheena Perez, Mark Osborn, Vicky Brewster, Peter Munro, John Faulding and Scott Forte. All of these people are superb! If you'd like to have future editions of this newsletter dedicated to you too, join my Patreon for one dollar or more per month. Pledge at the Terrifying level or above and I'll record a personal thank you video, just for you.
- If you haven't already, check out the page on my site dedicated to Free Stuff. Scroll down past my free book American Hoarder, because you clearly already have that one! :)
- I have less time for my suite of services for authors and other creatives at the moment, but I still have the odd slot available here and there. So if you feel you might benefit from say, a Skype chat with me, or my notes on the first three chapters of your novel, then do check out what's available.
- Check out my free second mailing list, Jason Arnopp's Sunday Confession Booth! In a nutshell, I email subscribers every Sunday at 7pm to ask what they created this week. Plenty of subscribers then actually reply to tell me, which is awesome. If you think this simple weekly prompter may bring value to your creative life, check it out here.
- I really appreciate you subscribing to this list and for reading all the way to the end! How deeply awesome you are. Please stay safe and well, and I'll see you in the next edition of The Necronoppicon, which won't take as long for me to deliver as this one did. Promise.
- Lastly: it would be a huge help if you'd share the newsletter with anyone and everyone! This thing ain't designed to be a secret, so why not go ahead and forward it to a friend who you think might get something out of it?
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