Warming Up

Back in the actual world, we went to one of the Pet Superstores in Hatfield to pick up supplies and stuff for our new puppy, which we are finally getting our paws on (geddit?) this week. It turns out that a Pet Superstore is like a really cheap zoo (as long as you remember not to spend £220 on stuff for your dog), especially for the undiscerning two-year-old. They’ve got rabbits and guinea pigs and rats. Plus loads of fish. I just wheeled Phoebe around in the trolley and she was having the time of her life. Sadly for the world of nature (which is about to be destroyed anyway, so who cares?) Phoebe was most fascinated by the shelves that had the little ornaments to go into fish tanks. She was especially taken with one showing Olaf from Frozen, which like any sensible young child she is obsessed with. Rather sweetly she had a crack at singing, “Do you want to build a snowman?”, her eyes full of glee. The exponential growth of a child’s skills is thrilling (admittedly mainly only to the immediate family, but what can I do about that?).

What could be worse than someone telling you their dreams and the cute things their kid has done? I live in the country and am in my 50s (I realised the other day that I could now go to the over-50s Aqua classes at the gym). It's all downhill. Thanks for staying with me til now. If you want to read the adventures of a city dwelling buck with no obligations to anyone but himself, I suggest that you start at the beginning.

Twitter follower Jessica Speed promised to ask her date an emergency question for everyone who favourited her tweet. She ended up having to ask 339, but it sounds like her date did a good job and she was impressed with his answers. The regular EQ book works great for dates (with a little bit of avoidance of some questions, depending on the sensitivity of the person you’re asking) but tonight I also finished writing 100 dating questions for the new app we’re getting very close to releasing now! I think there’s definitely another book in dating questions (and some advice from my admittedly slightly-out-of-date experience on the subject). Having checked out the internet for the kinds of questions it recommends asking on dates, I think there isn’t much good out there. A first date should be a laugh - a way to find out a little bit about the person you’re interested in, but not an interview. Asking about jobs or siblings or hobbies is fine up to a point, but you can find out just as much by asking about ham hands and suncream armpits or throwing in a few curve balls. Plus the right undercurrent of cheekiness is good too. Ultimately date one is about finding out whether you click, have the same sense of humour and testing out spontaneity. I think Emergency Questions are perfect for this. Let’s face it, everyone who listens to podcasts is a single virgin, so they all need all the help they can get.  And it’s nice to know that long after I hung up my dating cape, I can still facilitate sexual intercourse (or friendship or any of those other lesser things you get from a relationship) for others. Get your book immediately. (the specific dating one may be a few months away, though 100 questions coming on the app soonish).

And the RHLSTP kickstarter continues to bamboozle with the speed of growth, though tonight someone made a presumably accidental donation of £4045 (not only much too big a donation but a weirdly specific amount to choose to give). Luckily you can take back your pledges at any time before completion of the project and we’ll be emailing the person to let them know of their “mistake” - though if it’s a genuine offer from an eccentric millionaire we will be happy to fund a podcast or two with heir money. Even without that £4045 we ended the day at over £30,000 after just three full days of kickstarting. I had a nice discussion with people on Twitter about the ethos behind all of this. I like the fact that the podcasts are free and you get to choose to donate if you can afford to and if you wish to. And there was plenty of anecdotal evidence that people would not have discovered the podcast if they’d had to pay, but are subsequently happy to chip in. 

The Emergency Questions books do seem like a big leap forward and I am hopeful that all this can lead on to bigger and better things. But am also delighted about the little stories that are coming through about how the book has helped you to bond with their partner’s kids or pass time with friends on a long journey or have sexual intercourse with someone they’ve just met. It’s all things to all people.I just expected it to make a few nerds laugh!

If you’ve ever wondered what Ricky Gervais would be like on RHLSTP here is a little taster. The door is always open, of course.