I’ve been working hard at the exercises I’ve been set as part of my Habit Reversal Therapy. They’re designed to help me slow down my movements and I now do them fifteen times a day for five minutes. It seems like they’re starting to pay off and I’m getting more moments of control.…

I often find going to public events like talks or training sessions stressful but it was different at a seminar I attended this afternoon at Hempsons and I felt completely relaxed. This was because I knew what to expect and was not worrying about how my tics would be accommodated.…

I was feeling a bit miserable on my way home this evening. Not for long though, because just outside the lair a handsome stranger beamed at me warmly and said, “I saw you in Catford the other day.”

This was about the extent of our exchange but his friendliness lifted my spirits.…

Poppy has made me the most amazing gift ever. I’m now the very proud owner of a pair of bespoke padded gloves that are light, beautiful, stylish, comfortable and above all not red.

Don’t get me wrong. I like red as much as anyone else but for almost a year, whatever the weather, I’ve had to wear red woollen boxing mitts to protect hands, chest and face from ferocious and frequent arm tics.…

Happy Valentine’s Day, or as I declared earlier, “Happy Complicated Love Lives Day”

I’m ticcing a lot about love at the moment:

“I love you.”
“I love sheepdogs.”
“I love you shaded donkey.”

Sadly love isn’t really the thing on my mind today.…

I was at Leftwing Idiot’s sitting on the sofa, and he was on his computer. While he was working away he asked, “What are you going to remind me to do?” I ticced some possible answers:

“Give Terry Waite a bath.”…

Earlier today I was talking to King Russell. He was in his room and I was standing in the doorway. He beckoned to me and said, “Come here a second.” As soon as I was in the room he shut the door behind me and said, “You were jerking around far too close to the top of the stairs.”…

I’m going to get the tic inspired art I made out of Lego framed. Before I do, I’m going to glue it together to keep it in one piece. This evening I’ve been researching what type of glue to use.

What became apparent to me very quickly is that gluing Lego is frowned upon in the model making community.…

This is going to be a brief entry as I’m exhausted and feeling under the weather. When I’m not well I get floppy and today I can’t summon up the energy to do anything. Thankfully my tics can’t be bothered either – they’re much less intense than normal.

This morning I was interviewed by Stephen Fry as part of a TV series he’s making, called Planet Word. He’s exploring language in all its shapes and forms. Tourettes gives me an unusual relationship with words because when I tic, I use them without any intention of communicating anything, and that’s what interested him.…