Life on the B Side

Just because school’s out doesn’t mean we don’t keep learning a thing or two.

What a f*cking ramble this is! It’s been like a parent therapy session for me :)

The ‘lessons’ and observations in here apply to school life whether your child has just finished formal education or they’re just starting out.

TBH they probably apply beyond the school years so if you wanna hear someone chatter on about catholic convent school in the 80s and 90s, modern creative way kids can torture each other and how there is no grey area in maths (you’re either great or shit at it) then this episode is for you.

Well done Class of 2025! You did it! (And Covid will not spoil the celebrations this time).

What do a broken penis, a bad acid trip and a gun have in common?

Answer is they are all stories from one 6-month house-share.

These are absolute A-side stories because I’m not sure my B-side brain could cope with this level of drama these days. There are definitely some lessons to be learned from these events but some took longer than others to sink in.

Still, they’re great ice breakers I guess…

There was a time I had a look. I was styled, curated, possibly even iconic (in my own head). But now? My wardrobe won’t return my calls.

In this episode, I’m digging through my style history — from the fashion highs of the 90s to the current-day chaos of not knowing what to wear... at all. Was there a peak? Did I miss it? And what do you do when your clothes no longer feel like you?

If you’ve ever stood in front of your wardrobe and wondered what happened to your once-glorious fashion intuition — welcome. You’re in the right place

This week on Life on the B Side, I’m taking a nostalgic trip back to the 80s and 90s — the mixtape years where we learned about patience and the lost art of just being bored.

Join me as I share three things I genuinely miss from those decades, and why they still echo in my life today.

Whether you grew up in that era or just love a bit of retro comfort, this episode is a warm, reflective journey to things being a lot bloody simpler!

Is it just me, or does life start to feel... compact as we get older? Not in a minimalist, Zen kind of way — more like, “When did my idea of a big night out become a garden centre café and a browse in B&M?”

As the world quietly shrinks — fewer last-minute adventures, more “meh, it’s too far” — I’m wondering: am I being charmed into becoming a local lifer? Or is there a chance that the next phase of life might actually expand my world again? Maybe I’m ready to rediscover the city (and myself) — with less FOMO and more comfy shoes.

It’s really easy to let encouraging and supporting your child to reach their potential turn into living through them and their achievements. In doing so you can end up claiming victory for yourself while your child is left pursuing a dream that is no longer theirs.

But don’t panic! It’s never too late to let that inner child out to play…

You don’t get to this age without the odd look around to see how successful you are in comparison to others.

But wait!

Should we really be measuring our life’s success in monetary value and volume of possessions?

Even if you think you should have been more ‘successful’ in life by now (whatever that means), there is still plenty of time for some personal bests…

PART ONE: Getting Your Timing Right

From talking to teenagers, sliding doors moments and bank robberies. Adulting is all about timing. And that’s not sexy. Or fun.

While this episode started off under the guise of being about GCSEs and real-life work experience, it ended up using the phrase ‘faecal chatter’ more than once.

We all chase a dream – the dream life, the dream bod, the dream relationship, the dream bank balance! And in pursuit of these goals, we invest HEAVILY. We invest our money, our energy and our time. But sometimes the goal shifts or it just gets trickier to attain, and the amount we have already invested becomes a dead weight, anchoring us to the spot, to the dream.

“If you stop now you’ll have lost all that time / money / energy…”

News flash! It’s already gone regardless of whether you hit your target. The two occasions I called time on my investment were ultimately the most liberating and saved me money and my sanity. You gotta know when enough is enough…