emmamartinsblog - Tumblr blog

[emmamartinsblog]

What a difference a year makes..

I have not really felt like writing the blog for a while - I will see how this goes - it might be that there is not much to report - but Lockdown is like that!  It is nearly mid-summer day - Clapton Henge time - so I thought I should still write about what I am doing - not much, is really the answer.  I have been to the beach with mum a couple of times - and had social distance socialising at Mum’s house with local friends.  The weather has been great for all this.  

Norfolk is a bit slow for me at the moment, and I cannot wait until I can move into the city and start trying to find my new life and find a part-time job!  I think it might be harder than I think, but there are still a few people around to call on!  It is very strange times -  I feel totally uninspired at the moment.  Everyone is obviously finding this difficult.  It is hard for everyone.  I am looking forward to having a night out back in Norwich!!

We took a walk around the centre of Norwich the week before the big shops opened - here I am appropriately leaning on a Brain in Hay Hill - all very eerily quiet.  

With the last of The Longest Battle Podcast being launched on the 1st June, with Heather Mills as my finale, I have moved onto my next project and over the past couple of weeks I have produced two podcasts for the VIP Pod - they went very well!  One was with a lady called Tiggi who was really interesting - she was working in television when she started losing her sight.  She now has her own podcast and writing this she sounds just like me!  

The second one was a Climber who has just appeared in his own documentary called Climbing Blind.  He had amazingly taken the lead on The Old Man of Hoy stack, his story was incredible, and I felt I had vertigo just listening!  I am aiming for another series of 12, so my time is spent sourcing new guests and I am still calling people for the RNIB to see how they are coping in Lockdown.  They seem to really enjoy the calls.

The VIP Pod (Visually Impaired Person) is being made by a team including me, Warren and Mike, who are blind or visually impaired.  We are not restricting it to the East of England.

Incidentally, please don’t forget to subscribe and pass onto anyone else  www.thelongestbattle.com

I went to Eaton Park in Norwich with Mum and her friends for a picnic lunch this week - I hadn’t remembered going there ever, but apparently I had!  We are also continuing to wade through four decades of photos…..

I am still of course running and walking alot around the village. I am slowly getting used to being in Brundall and it’s starting to feel like home…

I still use my light therapy, but the doctor I visited in New Jersey last year very sadly recently died of Covid19 - this was terrible news.  I think the US has had it worse than us.  Here I am with Dr. Einhorn last April, the top neuro-opthamologist in the World.

This is what was happening a year ago in Clapton! I cannot believe what a difference a year has made for everyone. Although I am desperate to get a job, I appreciate that the pandemic has impacted on many and I am feeling very lucky.  I cannot wait to pop back to London when this is all over to say Hi to everyone.

No social distancing then…. 

[emmamartinsblog]

A Month of Lockdown

This no doubt will be a shorter blog, in these times of not doing much.  But I still seem to fill my days during Lockdown.

I came home to a month of glorious weather in Norfolk, which has really helped to get us through, although we cannot get to the beach.... the weather has just turned so it seems the right time to blog about us in lockdown.

The pandemic has taken hold.  It feels like it has been going on forever, but it has only been just over a month;  and we still don't know how long we are going to be restricted to our areas.  At least I get out for runs and nice long walks.  

One of the upsides is that the air is cleaner and we have noticed the birds are singing more - no planes in the sky except around here, some military manoeuvres.. whatever they are doing.

It is six weeks since I was dropped off in Brundall and I am keeping as busy as I can. I am still volunteering at the RNIB, where I am calling to see how blind people are coping in lockdown.  Basically I am still working for the Stories Library and the RNIB London team. 

I was asked for an activity I did over Easter for the RNIB Connect website, and so I made a video showing the secrets of Mum’ s legendary sausage rolls. Certainly a new activity for me, and they do taste really good.

Also I have become involved with the East of England RNIB network where we are hoping to start our own podcast series, which is quite exciting and gives me another challenge and something to focus on, using my past editorial skills.

ZOOM has become the new normal. Not only do we do Drag Bingo, we have conference meetings on ZOOM and lots of socialising!  Below: trying to stay sane with the Silverliner friends!

I continue having to do my light therapy five days a week, I am walking with Mum and running every other day and still doing yoga - but be warned you can overdo ashtanga yoga - so I have reined it in at the moment!  But I have borrowed a bicycle which is another challenge for me ... I didn’t even know I had the balance to ride a bike...  I guess it is just like … “riding a bike”!!!!!

I am loving catch-ing-up with the past series of Killing Eve - now ready for the new Series Three!  I really recommend it.   

Also a friend involved me in a facebook challenge to list your all-time favourite albums which shaped your life.  This is harder than you think .. because you are constantly trying to remember albums because everything is now digital.

I realise it has taken me this month to get used to a new environment.  There is a different dynamic because my parents are around.  I am still sorting out where I keep things, also one of my biggest challenges is to sort out my old photos into albums - this is such a hard task, because there are so many - over four decades.

[emmamartinsblog]

Corona, (not the beer)....

It’s still one my favourites though…

Goodbye to Paradise Park for a little while! I’ve had to leave just a few weeks earlier than predicted because of this silly and scary virus. What a strange time to be alive. Very surreal, really puts life into perspective and that anything can really happen.

I think I’m on day four lockdown living back at my parents house. It’s very weird, post apocalyptic vibes. I don’t think any of this was expected ever to happen.  I want to do my blog to say I can look back and that we’ve moved on.

One of the best things to come out of this so far is that my Dragon speech activation software is finally working, which is great so I’m able to type this all myself (with a bit of editing from Mum) which is a huge achievement. This has been one of the positives to this scenario. Thanks to the charity FTVC giving help and finance to upgrade my headset after 5 years of trying, and so I’m chuffed to pieces that it has come at a time when I can practise and feel like I’m back to working status. Definitely not all doom and gloom just holding in there. 

If anyone who works in the Film and TV industry at this time of uncertainty - I highly recommend the Film & Television Charity. https://filmtvcharity.org.uk/

Since back in Norfolk I’ve been running every other day and then going for a walk with mum on the other day. My dad is in isolation as he is the person at risk and since I didn’t get a letter to say that I’m at risk I’m a little bit freer. But for some reason you suddenly feel breathless because you know the virus is around, but it is probably psychosomatic.  Nobody is safe, and I’ve heard that many of my friends who are fit and healthy have had it - now even Prince Charles and Boris Johnson!. 

Now, I need to plan my new schedule of life in times of Virus.  I have been keeping in touch with friends on Facebook and phone and last night we played Drag Bingo on ZOOM arranged by the Three Compasses in Dalston, which entertained me for a little while!  I've also done yoga on ZOOM.  I'm really enjoying all the funny stuff which definitely gets you through the days.  Is this becoming the new normal.... 

Now is the perfect time to do all those things that we've been meaning to sort out. Packing from the move is nearly done. Two trips to London by Mum and another by a friend who I used to work with at Imago helped to pick up the rest. Thanks James.

Before leaving London, I went to see to the Tutankhamun exhibition in Kensington. It was amazing. So many artefacts that were discovered and buried with him, but I didn’t realise how horrific it all was and how many were buried with their slaves. It was so fascinating and Egyptology is definitely an interest for me. There was so much gold buried including these necklaces, which would look good on me.  One of the benefits of taking friends to an exhibition is that the carer goes free!  Makes it cheaper for everyone. 

I caught up with some great mates.  Julia I have known probably since I was 2 (at Kindergarten) and she now lives in Hampshire.  My friend Simon came along too and we had a good catch up and lots and lots of gin and tonics!

I have continued with Silver Lining catch-ups whilst we could still go out in Soho where I went with Colin and Josh for a Vietnamese and then finally just before I moved, a lovely Italian.  I will be missing these amazing friends.

I managed to complete my twelfth and final podcast in the Longest Battle series. I’m very pleased with all of them and two more have to be edited. John Lawson is an award-winning chef and had a craniotomy which means he was awake while his brain was being operated on. The final one is Heather Mills who is a fascinating lady and did a brilliant podcast and I hope you will enjoy these in times of solitary confinement!  Watch this space for the announcement of these being posted!

I finished my job at the RNIB at King’s Cross and I’m now volunteering in Norwich trying to help them to sort out their own podcast series - Title TBC - so hopefully something else to entertain you and keep me sane! 

This picture is with Herbie who is my boss at the RNIB, Gary’s fab guide dog. Herbie has lots of personality and he is definitely the star of the show!  I have been interviewing people about their sight loss stories which are put on the RNIB website. I enjoyed it and I hope I did well at it. I also have to start finding part time proper work which at this time is obviously not an easy task! 

So I just wanted to thank my friends Joe and Katie Copeman who have really helped me throughout my recovery.  No one really knows when stuff like this happens how your friends can help. Katie suggested that I should go to work at  Acast one day a week which I did for about a year.  I wasn't doing an awful lot there but it gave me confidence and freedom to know I could turn up on time and come up with some ideas. A year later they suggested I do my own podcasts and The Longest Battle was born.  I owe so much to the people at Acast for giving me a purpose and a sense of achievement.  From a life in TV, Podcasts felt like a natural progression for me and I really appreciate the support they have given me. Thanks Joe, you are a star!

Thank you to all the people who have helped me in so many ways to get The Longest Battle produced.

Leaving should have been a sad day but as so much else was going on I didn’t really have time to reflect too much. 

Sorry its a long Blog, and hope you are not bored.  In theory Blogs should be short and sharp.  Hope you have the time to read like I do right now.  Stay safe.

[emmamartinsblog]

Culture and Fun!

On a winter evening me and my old friend Seb went to see a nice free installation across Canary Wharf, called Winter Lights. They were pretty intense and quite trippy. We followed with an amazing Chinese restaurant.

Talking about tripping... I’ve started to take new pills. I started to take Lions Mane, a mushroom supplement, which lots of different people said would be good for me, my memory, regenerating my brain and anxiety. A wonder drug! On top of that I’ve also started with ratfish oil (sounds rank!) which comes from Norway and a huge dose of cod liver oil, hopefully should speed up my recovery. I guess I’ve got to try everything!

 It was my friend Ruth’s birthday and she asked us to dress up as a spice girl for a very random brunch. We met up very early and got dressed up and then we started drinking... It was one of the most random things I’ve ever done.. It was fun but ridiculous, thanks Ruth! Spice up your brunch!

(This is me doing my best posh face!) 

Julia came up to see me in Hackney and we went to the wildlife photographer of the year at the Natural History Museum. This year it felt like it was more political than the previous years I’ve been. More dead animals and climatic repercussions, but I think shows the shift in our own mentality, but it was pretty impressive. This is one of the winners we saw, a funny beaver and a fox! It’s definitely full of character!

But we did love the tiger as well, have a look it’s all online!

Whilst we were in South Kensington we popped into the V&A to see the Beatrix Potter art work. Yet more culture!

The following day Julia and I went for a run around Hackney and then we went for a nice long walk through London fields and ended up in Broadway market, one of my favourite things to do!

It’s nice to have your friends as tourists in London.

I went up to Sheffield to catch up with old university friends, Laura and Liz.

Then we had our inevitable night out and several gin tonics… And in the morning we got over our hangover with a big walk around Endcliffe Park, near where I went to Uni.  In all those years I had never been up to the top of Endcliffe Park, maybe it’s a sign of our age. En route we saw the water mill that gives power to ‘the steel grinder’, which was a part of industrial Sheffield steel making, how the knives got sharpened. It is pretty impressive and looks very old!

It was great catching up again!

 I went for dinner with Sarah Hale in Stratford. And my goodness there was a lot of people in there! I forgot that it was half term. It was a silly mistake! I tried to go into the shops, but I lasted 5 minutes, so I still have my top shop voucher that I have yet to spend. Instead we just went for a nice meal.  

[emmamartinsblog]

The Coming of the Kings 2020

Christmas at the RNIB was great. We had a curry at a restaurant and a Christmas quiz! I’m still interviewing people about their sight loss stories and all is going well there. 

One of my Christmas highlights was drinking mulled wine with some friends at the Columbia Road Market. We saw Jarvis Cocker and the local parish church were doing some carol singing. It was very christmassy and definitely recommend going to it next year. 

I then headed home to Norwich for Christmas. First I had my friends 40th birthday. Christmas Eve was buzzing at the King’s Head in Bawburgh. It’s great to see the King’s Head Pub going so well. Then I had Christmas my with family. Great to catch up with so many local Norwich faces. It was all about drinking and eating and trying to do a little bit of exercise. But surprisingly it hasn’t been that cold, where is the snow?

Me and my friend Sarah were lucky enough to go to Valencia for New Years. It was great to catch up with all our friends from there. We were staying near the beach which was great for a change. The place is called El Cabanyal. It’s definitely got a different vibe to the rest of Valencia. One of our friends has a dog called Ronny. Everywhere you look in Valencia you see a dog. It seems the dog population in Valencia as well as England seems to be growing a lot! Ronny was a rescue dog and a very loved one.

It was great to hang out with all the ex-pat people from all over the world.  We had New Year’s eve at our friends’ Architect company where we were all able to come together to celebrate and have lots of food and wine. We also all did the traditional gong’s. In Spain, it’s custom to eat a eat a grape on every gong. It all went well other than that I should have deseeded my grapes before! 

On the 6th of January we went to the beach and had lunch at one of our friends houses. We watched a parade through El Cabanyal which celebrated the arrival of the Kings also known as Three King’s Day. They were all dressed up and it was quite funny. 

We went around the old town as always enjoying some Tapas including my favourite pimientos del padron. 

After leaving the beach I hung out in Valencia. This is me and Pedro in front of the Mercado Central. It looks very Christmassy but that could also just be because my phone doesn’t work very well. 

Back in London, I went to see Dr. Leff at the Neuro eye clinic. He is one of the top specialist in the country when it comes to eye conditions. He did my field test and the results showed a little improvement but not too much which was annoying. Hey ho. 

These pictures show the improvement from 2017 until now. It doesn’t show vast improvements but more that my brain is adjusting to it as I’m getting better.I do feel a little stuck in this brain injury but hey, what can i do?  6 years since the injury this month. All I can do is try!

In Hackney you wouldn’t ever expect them, but at the moment, I keep seeing small parakeets flying past my apartment. At dusk and in the morning, you see so many of them which seems strange as they should be somewhere tropical. However I went to a Wildlife photographer of the year a while back and they did a case study on these parakeets which are an invasive species but are thriving in Hackney. Maybe I can see more of them now as the temperatures are rising. This is definitely something great to have at Paradise Park even though it’s quite bizarre!

I was interviewed on the Heavy Mental Podcast, by Rhys King and Leila at Deptford.  I had never been to Deptford and I had always wanted to!  It was a beautiful sunny day and it was great to meet the Podcast Duo supporting mental health.  My podcast will be posted on Facebook, to try to encourage more subscribers to my Longest Battle!

Randomly, on the bus, I met an 88 year old lady called Mary. I noticed her at first because she was wearing a lovely hand knitted Beanie. We bonded over the fact that we both had bad eyesight and memory issues. We got to chatting and she motivated me to start to try to knit! It was lovely to speak to someone on the bus as this doesn’t happen that much. So now my new year’s resolutions are to try to talk to more people and to maybe start knitting! 

[emmamartinsblog]

Christmas train to Glasgow

“Everything is fine as long as it all goes to plan!” 

I’m sat on the train from Euston to Glasgow. Very exciting! I turned up 2 hours early - I tend to do that in general just to be on the safe side...the nice people at Euston put me on the earlier train. I still have to have assistance to be able to find the right seat number. All was going well until we hit Carlisle - there seemed to be a problem on the track so we all got taken off the train. I didn’t know whether I was going to make it up to Glasgow or not. All is ok but it’s the real life problems (which everyone has) that stress me out and that I find hard to deal with. Weirdly on the train I bumped into a guy who I went to Uni with who got on the wrong train and it was his wedding anniversary. I suppose it could be worse as he’s missing his wedding anniversary and I’m just on my way to Glasgow! He’s called Russel and he was in my student accommodation at the Old Bank. Fingers crossed it all went well for Russell. 

Other things for the RNIB: For my birthday they got me a cake which was very unexpected and I thought that it was a really lovely gesture from the team at the RNIB. 

Garry and the team at the RNIB.

I met a lady called Marvel. We had a product shoot for the RNIB with products that blind people use - we had a lot of fun. Some of the participants were partially sighted or fully blind. Marvel was a marvel as she told me about her own blindness and climbing Kilimanjaro. She was quite a character and we all got on very well. One of the other ladies had a right sided Hemianopia very similar to me and she was incredible. We all decided that we were going to make our own version of ‘Loose Women’! It could be quite a story, I’ll suggest it at the RNIB. 

The RNIB have been great in entertaining me with lots of jobs. I’ve started doing some stuff on the RNIB radio connect in the Camden studio. My first interview was with Lauren Bateman who’s blind after she had toxoplasmosis and cataracts. She has been through hundreds of operations but is now fully blind. Lauren is 1o years younger than me. She has er own guide dog called Grace who is gorgeous and we had a great interview on the radio. She is amazing because she travels the world and she had just returned from a trip to Helsinki with her guide dog and boyfriend to get Grace used to travelling which is fantastic. She is hoping to travel more in the new year.

Lauren and Grace at RNIB radio.

So, I’ve had yet another birthday! It was great. One of the highlights was going to dinner at an Italian place called Gloria’s. It was amazing food but also felt very surreal and quite kitch but good fun. The food was to die for. I had a fantastic Carbonara which I shared with my Mum. Boris Johnson’s Dad Stan was in the restaurant - hilarious. More food back at home with old pals and family. We went to a Thai restaurant and it was great to catch up. The day after we went to see DJ Yoda with my old Portland Street Massive! It was a really good night where I bumped into lots of old faces. We all really enjoyed reliving our youth! From now on I’m going to be going backwards and staying in my 30′s! 

I had to go to an annual check up at the Royal London where I had to go for yet more tests...straight after we went to a silver lining meeting - my Mum’s first one and it was really busy. There were so many people there that it made me think there must be more and more people getting brain injuries all the time. The stats are showing that there were was approximately one admission every 90 seconds to UK hospitals in 2016-17 and rising all the time. 

Me and Mum also went to the UKABIF conference (United Kingdom Aquired Brain Injury Forum) - it includes people with brain injuries as well as support workers and medical practitioners. It seems this is turning into my specialist subject and meeting lots of different people. I ended up being invited to go to the ABIL conference (Aquired Brain Injury Forum for London). There were a lot of people there who suffered following a brain injury and who were speaking about their experiences. Maybe I could do something like this next year. It was great to meet all of the key players in this brain injury field. I brought my flyers to both of these events to promote my podcast. 

I had my annual Acast Christmas party. They are doing really well there. It was nice to see them so busy and how many podcasts and podcasters they are now dealing with and hearing what their expectations for the new year were. Well done them! 

I finally finished my podcast with John Lawson. We had to redo it because we had some technical difficulties on the first try but John was happy to redo it. John was quite a famous chef. He used to work under Gordon Ramsay in Australia and then he had a brain injury following a stroke. He then had to have a Craniotomy (an operation on the brain where you have to be awake during it). John now has a vegan restaurant in Leigh on Sea. He is a survivor and a very nice man who talks a lot about meditation as part of his new life. The podcast episode with John as well as 2 other new episodes will be coming out in the new year. So hopefully you’ll look forward to that! 

When I arrived in Glasgow it decided to be quite rainy but I guess that’s quite typical when you go up North. Me and Yvonne went for a nice walk and saw Highland Cows. 

We then went out for dinner, drank a lot of G&T’s and caught up. Seb was up for the weekend too and joined in with the shenanigans. On Saturday we watched the boxing with Anthony Joshua winning and then we followed that with a huge Christmas dinner on the Sunday which was lovely. So good to catch up with everyone. 

Back to the train journey...I ended up having to change trains 3 times but made a new friend on the journey - hopefully he’ll listen to my podcast. All in all it was a very tiring, long trip. I left London at 1:30pm and arrived in Glasgow at 10:30pm which was much later than expected. But this does mean that I get compensation for the inconvenience - the silver lining! 

Merry Christmas to everyone and hope you’ll still read my blog in the new year :)

[emmamartinsblog]

Remember, Remember...Yes, we are in November!

 I have gone to 2 sets of fireworks. The first was more civilised at Victoria park. We met up for lunch and then continued on to the fireworks which had a moon landing NASA theme! It was very cool! Sparklers were banned at the fireworks this year if you can believe it! They are my favorite :)

The second load of fireworks was on the canal which I popped down to with Zak. A pub called the Hope and Anchor were doing the fireworks. It was a bit rough and ready. It was a fire pit rather than a fire...and I missed the fireworks. But it was nice to spend time with my new flat mate and welcome him to Clapton. Zak has moved into Sam’s old room for a little while, so welcome Zak! I love fireworks and it always feels like it is getting near my birthday...

Kelly bought me tickets to Waitress which is a Rom Com musical. It came from Broadway and felt very American when I expected it to be very English. It made me feel like I was back in the US and watching it on Broadway. We managed to get great seats as part of partially sighted perks! It was a brilliant show, funny, and emotional all about the main character having a baby. Won’t tell you too much, but I really enjoyed it. Roll on to the birthday week! I am already exhausted, but looking forward to it 

I finally got my first pair of glasses! The lady at the optometrist was very sweet and helped me find a nice pair. She definitely convinced me it would help my eye sight! However, the issue is not really with my eyes and more to do with my brain - which she should have know. I now have the glasses with the half hope it will make my eye sight come back! I’ll probably just end up losing them...that’s what I do! I will give it a go. 

I now got a support worker for when I am working at the RNIB. Previously, I was not able to have a support worker at work because you have to be employed in paid work before you qualify to have one. The RNIB has made it possible for me to have a support worker 1 day a week. What a result! His name is Matt and he used to be a nurse and is now my volunteer! He is helping me with typing up the stories that we are doing, and now we have to get some ideas together to create some content for RNIB Radio - which is exciting! 

Sophie and I decided to return to our hold haunt Fabric to go and see Stanton Warriors album launch. Lots of drum and bass dancing! I feel like I was 25 again! The people there were mainly our age, so I didn’t actually feel that old! Sophie and I can definitely still party!

I have been getting fit this month! Been going on my runs and joined a gym. I have joined Better gym and I am amazed at how cheap it is - I might even sign up for another month! There are so many classes including swimming and yoga. I have started to do a full body toning class. It has been really good to do different activities in different environments. Things like finding my locker key and remembering all these new processes has been really good. I am still learning but it is all getting easier. 

[emmamartinsblog]

Autumn days

I went to an amazing wedding in Farnham, Surrey for 2 lovely Silverlining people. I felt very privileged to have been invited. Richelle made a beautiful bride and there was an amazing Turkish style feast! The food was superb! Thanks for a great day!

While we are still wondering what is going on with the Brexit debackle, I got my political head on and headed to Parliment where the Extinction Rebellion protest was going on. It was day one so not too hectic and actually quite calm! Peaceful protest but the hospital that was near where we were sat dramatically suffered. Our planet is being ruined but maybe keep the ambulances and the hospitals out of it. The extinction rebellion group was everywhere and the protesting lasted for 2 weeks and still going!

I’m currently watching Simon Reeve on his tour of America - I loved all my travel to the weird and wonderful parts of the US and now I can watch it on BBC2! My top pick at the moment! 

I went to Camden as the RNIB have a studio there. They’ve asked me to re-do my podcasts on the RNIB network which is very exciting! I had an amazing sushi meal in with Liz and then onto the Ceri’s play which she wrote and stars in! It is called “Bipolar and me” -  It is sold out and she has been nominated for an Offie! . Well done and good luck. 

I have been doing Spanish classes at the RNIB. We tended to have a little wine whilst we get to the class! We had a Peruvian meal afterwards and chatted in Spanish. It was great to meet new RNIB people. 

The RNIB have gotten me a new computer and a new dragon and they installed it all for me so that I can be trained to use it...fingers crossed! Things are finally moving on. 

I went back to Cromer for the weekend. My friend Julia has a house there and the girls and I all went and chilled on the beach. We even had a little dip in the ocean to celebrate Julia turning 40!

[emmamartinsblog]

A Month of Summer, Festivals, and Friends

I had my annual party this month. It went much better than I expected! It was great. I had people who came along from Norfolk and London - even Thailand! A group even arrived on a canoe! Thanks to everyone who came along. It was a beautiful and sunny day. Definitely celebrated another year of getting better!

I met up with a friend and we went to Hackney Carnival. The streets were so busy, but a lot of fun. I was pretty relaxed despite the crowds. I think Notting Hill Carnival served as good practice a few weeks earlier. Notting Hill Carnival has been happening since the 60′s. Carnival celebrates Caribbean culture and takes place in Notting Hill as a way to reclaim the area following the racial attacks known as the Notting Hill Riots. It is now one of the biggest street parties in the world with approximately 2.5 million people in attendance! I went with Ruth and Alice. We danced - I got lost for 10 minutes - we danced some more! I was very proud that I went when it was so busy and I enjoyed it!

Met up with Thomas and Sarah who helped me sort out my computer. It had stopped allowing me to schedule my Facebook posts for some reason. Not ideal as I use this feature to promote my podcast on The Longest Battle Facebook page; however, we got it sorted. Thomas has helped me with computer things before as he is an IT Genius! He even sorted out my Tinder too!

Mindfulness is still going. It’s hard and I am still struggling with it. I have agreed not to be a practitioner, but just use it for my own practice! I only have 2 more sessions to go. WooHoo! Thank God!

I had lots of nights out meeting many friends along the way. I met my friend Kam for dinner at London Bridge - it was a great. I also met my friend Isick - who I met during counselling in Homerton Hospital. Isick was bitten by a monkey in Indonesia and ended up getting a virus from the bite which resulted in her heart stopping 3 times. We had our illnesses at the same time, so its good to meet up and see how each other are getting on. We agreed that we are lucky survivors.

 The Podcast is going well. This week is the lovely Josie. She had a horrific accident where she lost her leg. She is also an Olympian in Judo having competed in the 1992 Olympics. She is so inspiring and is already back at work as a Judo teacher only 2 years later. She was the first podcast I did! She was a great guest and incredible to hear about her near death experience. 

The Trisha girls came to stay with me. We are all from different parts of the country! One from Norwich, one from Liverpool, and one from Glasgow. We all convened in Hackney. It was a glorious weekend! We ended up partying in Hackney Wick aboard a boat Then headed off to a house party. It was great to see them.  

2 days ago, there was a fire down the canal -  just 2 blocks from me. Very scary, but thankfully no one was hurt. I feel very sorry that some people lost all of their belongings. Its scary stuff. Just a little reminder that anything can happen to anyone at anytime.. Thankfuly, no one was hurt. 

[emmamartinsblog]

August Shenanigans

Life has been pretty hectic, as per normal.  I have been going to the RNIB;  doing my monthly slot at Sweettree; finishing off my Podcasts and hanging out with the Silverliners. 

Silverliner, Maddog McGuinness, gave an impromptu gig at the back of his shop in Camden, promoting the release of his new album. He mentioned that he had recorded a podcast with me which was good publicity.  He was not only a great subject, he is a nice man too.

The following day I met some more Silverliners and headed off to the Guards Polo near Windsor.  Here we are in between chukkas squashing the divots.

It was nice having a picnic in the Park - just your everyday Silver Lining meeting!

It was my best friend Louisa’s 40th birthday, so I went back to Norfolk and to her party out in Barton Turf.  It was great because it was all family and old friends I hadn't seen for a while.  It was surreal since I was back at Louisa’s parents house where I used to go when I was 15 years old, when I hung out a lot when we were going through our naughty teenage years.  It felt as if we hadn't changed that much, but we are now both 40!  It felt like time had stopped!

Then back in London, it was my friend Kam’s 50th birthday!  But she looks much younger, and I get on well with all her friends, and really enjoyed that night.  I met Kam when I was travelling in Bolivia with Corinne in 2006, and we have remained friends ever since.

I met Sarah Hale and we had dinner at Stratford.  Congratulations on buying your first new home.  I met Sarah in hospital, when she had a spinal operation.  She’s a real trooper, since she works in Soho every day.  A truly inspirational lady and its great that we have been able to continue our friendship and that she is just down the road to me at Stratford.

Sometimes things just don't go according to plan...  I keep losing things this month.  I wonder is it because am I doing too much??  But I have to keep pushing forward. I got lost at King’s Cross, lost my jewellery bag and sunglasses - its very frustrating.. but maybe it happens to everyone.  Bad things in threes....??

My friend Ceri has written a play “Bipolar and Me”.  There was a promotion of the play at a bar called “Rehab” and I was asked to do a little talk about my podcasts before the play started.  I talked about my brain injury, and was able to promote my podcasts.

Don’t forget every Monday to listen and share and subscribe!

www.thelongestbattle.com

This is Dalston’s local landmark.

[emmamartinsblog]

Festivals, podcasts, and mindfulness!

This month has flown by! I’m working 2 days a week at the RNIB and still interviewing people about their sight loss stories. In return, they are helping me with my typing. Its more sorting out the voice activation so that it works with me and not against me! Yes it is still a problem! It is getting easier. During my first month at the RNIB I couldn’t even log on - but, I’ve now managed to master that! King’s Cross is incredibly mental even when it is not rush hour. 

I went up to spend some time with my friend Liz - who I met at university, Richie,  and their son Danny. We went to their family festival in Wincle (what an amazing name and a beautiful location). It was during the really hot weekend, but it was a bit cooler in the country side. It was a beer and gin festival - totally up my street! We sat by the river, we went up in Richie’s van, and I camped. The whole family came along. Richie has this amazing WWII wagon. Apologies if it was not WWII - I am not as up to date on my military memorabilia as I used to be. 

This is us and her sister ready for the party!

From one festival to another! This one was a bit more of a crazy festival which is up North, near Sawley, Lancashire, and called Beat Herder. It seemed like everyone who was there was 20 years old. I think it was just where we were camped. Nevertheless, we got involved. 40 years old and having a great time! It was great to hangout with Laura who I have known for years. I saw so many acts, my favourite being Groove Armada - great to see them and they played all the old classics. We also saw this act called Henge. They were quite out there and random, but it was fun nonetheless. On the Sunday afternoon, Mr. Scruff did this long set which lasted for hours. It was incredible and I was amazed that he was doing these long sets even though he must be in his 50s! But, I was exhausted after a 4 day festival and glad to get back to Sheffield and London. 

I have been doing my mindfulness practitioner training once a month. It’s good to do, but I am finding it pretty hard to memorise all of the different practices. It’s hard and I am blaming it on my brain injury. I’ll persevere for a while, but I am not hopeful. However, in a mindfulness way, it doesn’t really matter. I have been doing some practices with one of my classmates from the course. Some of the things we have to say make it quite hard to take it seriously. We are thinking of starting a sitcom about it! Maybe that will be a better outcome!

I went to SweetTree this month to help with training new support workers. It went really well! There was a full crowd - 25 in attendance which is a lot for me - and they were very chatty and quite inspired! This is a monthly talk that I go and do. I have been doing this for a while and it is building my confidence up all the time which is good!

Finally, my podcast! We have launched! We have no idea if anyone is actually listening. So, I am going to rely on my friends to feedback - but no one has yet! Can anyone let me know if they are listening?? I am very pleased with what I have achieved. We have 10 episodes in the podcast! This week is Trisha Goddard’s episode. 

If you want to give it a listen my podcast is called “The Longest Battle” and is available through Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Acast. You can find all the information about my podcast, and hear more about my story, on my website. Please pass it on!

www.thelongestbattle.com 

Every listener counts :) 

Let me know what you think! Enjoy the heat wave!

Emma x

[emmamartinsblog]

Here we go!

Still looking at the light! 

I can’t complain because it will now have to become part of my life. Four times a week for half an hour, plus other therapies which I have to add into my new regime! 

I’m giving myself an extra year to look at the light! I like to give myself a time limit. I think this is how I will make progress and I hope to get there in the end. If it’s less, that great, but for one year I’ll be looking at the light and it won’t send me mad.

I still need to start using the second part of my therapy which involves a classic old metronome. However, after sending off for it, I just broke it. So I had to go for the modern way and I now have a metronome app on my phone. I will start doing that from today! Tick, tock! Tic, tock! 

I’m still going to the RNIB two days a week. I’m interviewing people on their sight loss stories. This is also helping me with my typing as they are pushing me to do it. I even now have my own computer...but I still really struggle to fill in the passwords!  This shows that I still need help. This is my next challenge... Onwards... 

My department at the RNIB have gone on holiday so I decided to go and see my auntie Christine in the South of France. We have our own pilgrimage every time and we have a drink to my uncle with rose wine. Whilst we were there, we went to a chateau where they make rose from the local vines. 

The weather wasn’t brilliant. But it was good because I managed to go out and about. We went to the market, we had lovely dinners and relaxed. I went swimming and did yoga at home. I had the time I needed to do my mindfulness study. I am now training to be a mindfulness practitioner. So now my mum, my auntie, they all have to become practitioners, too!! I have to practice a lot and we have done it in my auntie’s caravan which is a great place for mindfulness! Thanks again, auntie Christine! 

On our final day we popped in to the Cannes Film Festival, just to feel the ambience. There were lots of people all dressed up. We had a coffee before we headed back home. The beach in Cannes was absolutely beautiful, all white sand. It was great to see the film festival in full force, but I didn’t manage to bump into Quentin Tarantino...   

I’m very lucky that I managed to go the All Points East and see the Chemical Brothers at Victoria Park just down the road. I loved it! It was fun! However, it was gloriously sunny when we arrived, but half way through it decided to absolutely chuck it down when Bobby Gillespie turned up on stage. It wasn’t forecast so we didn’t have the right clothing. However, I did manage to acquire a poncho after getting drenched on Primal Scream. After that, it died down and we managed to dance around in our ponchos for the Chemical Brothers. Here we go! (title inspired by the Chemical Brothers!) 

I headed back to Norwich for Rachel’s 40th birthday celebrations which were joint with her dad who was celebrating his 70th. A double celebration and it was great to catch up with family and life long friends from school. There were a lot of children around. It was an amazing setting at their rugby club. It was definitely enjoyed! They even had a photo booth! 

Me and Amanda went for a healthy walk in Epping Forest, just down the road. I’ve never been there before. You really do feel you are in the middle of the forest. It was great to escape the busy life of Hackney. 

[emmamartinsblog]

Summer at Easter!

Very lucky that me and mum went for a trip to New York to celebrate my mums 75th and my 40th birthday. What an amazing place! I went years ago, but I can’t really remember. 

First stop was to meet a specialist in Belmar, New Jersey. In the UK, they haven't ever suggested that they could do anything for my right hand side hemenopia, but in New York this seemed more possible. I’ll wait and see! I came home with a light, spectrum lamp which I then proceeded to plug into the wrong amplifier - so they blew! However, I am still trying to fix that, but once I get this going it could be a good thing. I need to use it 35 minutes in total per day, every morning for 2 months. The light is meant to help rebuild my neuro pathways. It will take a while - yet more time, but I keep going forward, pushing and hoping it will all get better. 

This is a picture of my eye when my pupil is dilated - it is quite freaky!

Here they are measuring my brain activity. It felt very How Do They Do It!

Later in the trip we went into New York - so good they had to name it twice! It felt like a film set and we did all the tourist things. We went to Central Park, strawberry fields, and the 911 memorial which was very moving. We also walked to Brooklyn bridge and stayed in Washington Square which was a great spot. We walked a lot!

Taken at the top of the Rockerfeller Center. 

Still enjoying doing my work at the RNIB. Stacy was my first interview. She was fantastic! She is now fully blind. She grew up in Scotland and Africa and then moved to London. She totally lost her sight, but continued to live in London. She’s got a maths degree which is quite incredible. She now works in the RNIB and works a lot abroad. She is now engaged to be married. It was a lovely story.  

Easter this year was abnormally hot! So great for the wedding of Katie and Cris! It was fantastic and great to see so many faces. Dominic had a very tiny baby there and we danced until my feet couldn’t dance any more! We stayed in a strange Air B&B where we thought we might get killed. We did survive, but only just! It felt a little bit like a Hitchcock film. 

Congratulations to Katie and Cris! 

[emmamartinsblog]

First day of Spring!

I am now working at the RNIB 2 days a week. Thankfully, I managed to pass the DBS check which means I can now meet vulnerable people. Like me! The RNIB is located at King’s Cross and part of my job is interviewing people to hear about their sight loss stories. Gary and Herby, his guide dog, come along too. I’m enjoying my work, almost everyone is either partially sighted or fully blind. It is great to work for such an important charity. The point is to raise awareness and generate more understanding as sight loss is pretty hard. 

I met up with my friend Julia we went to the Tate Modern. We walked across from St. Paul's to get to the Tate. It was pretty hectic as it was a Saturday, but I did see a great Picasso! I saw some other odd and interesting art works, but the problem was that I could not actually read the descriptions of what the artwork meant which is part of understanding what the artwork means. I had to ask my friend Julia to read some of them out loud for me otherwise it would have been pretty confusing experience. The Tate Modern is a huge building with so much going on that it was a full on experience. 

A year ago, I probably wouldn't have been able to process as much as I did that day. I remember when I was in Vietnam at the war museum which was where I realised I couldn’t read the descriptions of the pieces on display. That frightening day, is where my eye sight started failing...from that I can see how much I am improving. 

Actually, the art theme continued. We went to an art fair in Brick Lane with Liz, Briac, Symon, and Jonny. They had some cool light installations and it was a more affordable art fair, but the art was still priced up in the thousands.  As it was St. Patrick’s day we continued on to the pub to have a pint in celebration. Not ideal as the next day was Monday and I had to go to work. I survived a day with a hangover, so that must mean I am getting better to be able to deal with a hangover after St. Patrick’s day. 

I headed home back to Norwich. On the way there, I went to go visit my friend Tanya, who lives out in the country side. I saw a beautiful sunset and realised it was the equinox (where the day and night are of equal length). Thankfully, it can only get nicer and warmer from now on! I went to a spa day with the Norfolk girls as part of my final birthday treats. Even though my birthday was back in November, It was the only day we could get the girls together!! The spa was at Newmarket and we saw all the race horses coming in from their morning session before we headed in for our spa day. It was a nice relaxing treat. 

I spent the rest of the weekend celebrating with mum and dad as he was turning 73. We went for a great Thai meal and then we had a party at mum’s house with all of dad’s favourite foods. 

Mum and I managed to get in a quick trip to the beach. We went to Winterton which is our new local beach from Brundal, where my parents now live. There has been so much erosion there, it is quite shocking and sad to see. Even the cafe looks like it is on the edge of the cliff now...but, we saw two seals on their own which was very cute. 

[emmamartinsblog]

Moving on...

I feel like things have moved on! Hurrah, only a little but baby steps as they all say! I’ve started another volunteering job with the RNIB. It’s great. I’ll be producing stories of people who are dealing with sight loss. Totally up my street. It’s going to be two days a week and I will be able to fit in my life around it. I was very tired, but I am sure it will get easier. I have also managed to get myself a new iPad through the RNIB. It’s great because they are on hand to assist me whilst I am at the office. Hopefully, the end result will be with me being able to use a voice activation program proficiently. It’s amazing because most of the people at the RNIB are fully blind, which really makes you feel quite lucky, but they seem to get along with their everyday lives amazingly well. It is a very inspiring place to be! I really enjoyed it and think it is the best thing for me to do in getting back to using technology instead of running away from it!

I ended up heading home for a funeral, this time my lovely godfather John from Ipswich passed away. It was a great celebration with so many people who came along, I am sure he was very impressed. Just makes you think you have got to live every moment. He also travelled a lot as well and was a great geographer and teacher. John went to Oxford and very touchingly he was put to rest with his mortarboard. 

 I caught up with my Norfolk friends. It was good bumping into people when out in Norwich. We ended up going to a silent disco and pizza bar which was really fun and great to catch up with the kids. 

Asad and I then continued on in a newly refurbished old bank on London street in Norwich. It felt a little bit like a Weatherspoons as it was very busy, but I quite liked it. I recommend it as a good place for a Saturday night out. https://cosyclub.co.uk/location/norwich/

The weather over the last month has been strangely warm for Britain in February. At one point it was 20 degrees which is more like a summer’s day in Britain! But I quite liked it even though I am a little worried for what that means for global warming! 

I also found a picture from Husquvarna when I was doing a “How Do They Do It” shoot on the fastest tractor and mowers in the world! Very glamorous job! We were competing against the top ones in the world. I think Husquvarna won. I found this photo on an old Facebook memory. I can’t believe this was 8 years ago. We were filming in North Carolina. My previous life was quite random!

 I do love a good chainsaw. 

[emmamartinsblog]

Feeling fine in February!

I can’t believe that we are already in February! That's good news! I do not like winter and thankfully it feels like the winter chill has already gone - or maybe I am speaking too soon! 

 Amazingly, this month I become a published author! My friend had a contact from Folks Magazine who deal with lifestyle publications. It is an American magazine, so I needed to make a few changes to my writing to make it Americanized for an American audience. This is the link to the publication if you are interested, but I am quite chuffed about it :)

https://folks.pillpack.com/traveling-the-world-with-an-invisible-disability/

I went back to Norwich because my friends dad passed away, but also my god father passed away at the same time. It has been sad times. We must remember to live every moment! While I was at home in Norwich I was able to meet up with some really good friends. It was lovely to see Tiffany as I had not seen her in ages. I also got to see Lou and Florence, Uncle Sammy and Denise, and I saw the lovely Anna as well. I had good catch up times. 

I have been working on the podcast and it is slowly coming together. It has surprised me as it’s looking and sounding better than I expected! There is a wall that has all of the logos of all different podcasts, and when my podcast launches my logo will be added to the wall. Exciting times! This is going to be my logo. 

 Thank you Joe with helping me design the logo which looks great. Joe and Teddy got married at Hackney Town Hall. Unfortunately, I could not make the wedding, but they seem very happy. Congratulations to them!

This is Teddy on her stag and hen do. 

For my sins, I headed up to Rohampton - I now realize that I hate going there. The journey is a nightmare! Apparently, it is the best place to go to in London if you’re recovering from a brain injury. I met with Diane at Rohampton Hospital, who told me that my test results have come back inconclusive. Which is slightly frustrating as I seem to be an anomaly. While I was at the hospital I met a lady called Elaine who had similar issues to me. She had a bleed on the brain which caused her brain injury 2 years ago. It was good to meet her. She struggles with visual processing and numbers like I do. She was very impressed with my long multiplications which I can now do! Which reminds me that I must continue with my maths homework. 

I have been doing a bit of running this year, but due to the weather not as much as I had hoped. I must make more of an effort as it does make me feel better!

It feels like I have already achieved quite a lot this year. Lets see what else I can get up to!

PS. I just watched the Bros documentary on the BBC iPlayer. I was not a Brosette, but it was a really good documentary and quite hilarious. I would recommend it. 

[emmamartinsblog]

Sad farewells and New Beginnings.

Sad December, my lovely Nana passed away who had luckily made it to 93. She had managed to outlive most of her friends so a very small funeral in Norwich to say goodbye. She will always be remembered for her love of animals - dogs, cats, and a parrot - as well as the amazing cruises that she and Granddad went on. This was one of the last visits with Nana in a home, when my Aunty Karen was over from Australia.

I managed to get all the Christmas parties out of the way and spent an extra week in Norwich in the build up to Christmas. It gave me time to hang out with the family and Norwich friends. Christmas day was the usual. Lots of presents, wine, and food. Charades had happened pre Christmas - and I’m not the best! I’m not sure I’d ever really been great at games anyway. Lots of eating and drinking and catching up with Norfolk friends. I managed to head back to the King’s Head in Bawburgh for several Proseccos - Thanks Anna - we were celebrating her birthday, and catching up with old friends from the time when the King’s Head used to be my “home”!

Typing is still hard so Mum gave me a hand to help finish off some stuff for the podcast. Fingers crossed for the new Ipad so then I’ll be able to do it myself - yes still waiting...

Finally I ended up at the other side of Christmas on a plane to Valencia. Still loving special assistance - no queues and more independence. I even managed to find myself on the metro and to the right stop in central Valencia before meeting my friend Sarah. It felt like a massive achievement for me and it’s all about dealing with my anxiety and asking people if I’m going in the right direction! Sarah had a New Years party at her flat, and we followed the Spanish tradition of eating a grape on every gong as the clock strikes midnight - by the way it was very hard to do! We drank wine and beer - oh and Prosecco a theme for Christmas! I was there for one week. It lovely and sunny in the day time but the evenings were pretty chilly and no central heating (but not as chilly as England). Every time I’ve been to Valencia it really is always sunny - that’s part of the charm. The last Saturday we had paella on the beach and then it was ‘the Kings’ - where sweets are thrown out as an offering for the kings. That was a first for me, and pretty random (as the fiestas tend to be!). But loved it and got to hang out with Sarah and her lovely Valencian friends.

Happy New Year to you all! Hope you had a great time. Here is to a great 2019 - wow I got the right year this time - I think numbers are slowly becoming my friends!