After yesterday’s Change the Record festival, I stayed overnight in Bristol along with Leftwing Idiot, Poppy and our friend Ben. We headed back to London at lunchtime, the train was busy, and had an edgy vibe.

Leftwing Idiot went to see if it was possible to arrange for assistance from station staff when we arrived at Paddington.…

Leftwing Idiot, Poppy, our friend Micky, and I met up with a big group of friends at Paddington station and set off for Change the Record, an inclusive festival organised by Access Events. Back in September I wrote about the amazing day they organised in Birmingham.…

The Mr Otter saga continues. This evening I announced:

“I fucked a biscuit, Mr Otter died of jealousy.”

It’d been one of those standout days when I’m unusually calm and my tics are much less intense. But it didn’t last. In the afternoon my tics suddenly and dramatically intensified, and like the other day, I was stuck on the floor, unable to get up.…

I’ve got a new regular tic and it’s a nice one – “Happies!”

Poppy: Jammie Dodger.

Leftwing Idiot: Chocolate digestive.

Nez: Dog biscuit.

TH: I don’t know what sort of biscuit I’d be.

Leftwing Idiot: You’d be a Rich Tea decorated by an unsupervised three-year-old with coloured icing.

This afternoon Poppy and I went swimming at our local pool. I haven’t been for ages and it was a bit of an experiment, inspired by my brief swim in Cornwall a few months ago.

The lifeguard was amazingly helpful. Poppy asked her for a hand while I got ready and both of them helped me get safely to the edge of the pool.…

Poppy and Leftwing Idiot came by earlier to pick up something from the lair:

Poppy: What are you going to do this afternoon?

TH: Some drawing, read the paper, have sex with an otter.

Leftwing Idiot: OK, when’s that happening?

TH: I’m going to wake him up.…

We had a group of volunteers at work this morning. They’d left their office to come and do some physical outdoor work.

I have a support worker for two days a week but struggle to move around every day. Today wasn’t one of my support worker’s days, so I asked various volunteers for help when I needed it.…

Last night Leftwing Idiot and I went to the opening of Untold Stories, an art exhibition that Belle has some work in. It’s a fundraising event for the homelessness charity SHP and it’s hosted by Together, a mental health charity. The publicity says it, “Explores the idea that by listening to the hidden narratives of those who are socially excluded, we can move away from stereotypes to a more equal and inclusive society.”…