A brief introduction to me

Hello. My name is Troy. I'm on the tip of the tail end of my 20's and am currently unemployed. Not because of the corona-virus but because I was sick of working my ass off for 12 hours a day just so I could afford to pay my rent on a flat that was about as roomy as a shoe box in central London. So one day I decided to quite my bar manager job, move back in with my parents and spend some time doing the things I love again. This included activities such as reading books, drawing, playing guitar, going to shows, travel and other such endevours. I even managed to find myself a girlfriend. I'll be honest she sometimes annoys the shit out of me but after a string of bad relationships and shameful one night stands its nice to have something stable that for the most part makes me happy and its an added bonus that she doesn't mind the sight of me naked.

So after 3 months of seeing west end shows, taking a potential suitor out on fancy dinner dates and a magical trip to Sweden my savings have run dry so its now time to look for a new income. I sure as hell don't want to go back into working in late night bars so what do I want to do? I've decided I no longer care about money. Running a successful bar in central London actual comes with a pretty decent wage and that money allowed me to afford all the activities I THOUGHT I wanted to experience. And as much as I enjoyed them at the time lasting happiness still eluded me which was evident by the fact that most of my nights were spent in bars attempting to find the allusive feeling at the bottom of a bottle. So I've decided to make sure whatever I do next in my life it has to be something that makes me happy!

Now this begs the question: What will make me happy and still bring in enough money to live and treat my girlfriend to the odd surprise so that she still can tolerate me naked? I often have dreams about running my own little quirky book store where I can read books and drink wine but unfortunately Bernard Black is a fictional character and not an official job title. I do however enjoy telling stories. I also love sharing my opinions on things even when people don't really agree with them or really give a shit about them regardless. So as I'm already a mediocre artist and a mediocre musician maybe its time I have a go at being a mediocre writer. So to see if anyone would actually enjoy my senseless babbling I can see no better place to start than on this delightful little site my instagram so graciously decided to advertise to me. Thank you instagram.

The one advantage of slaving away in bars and restaurants for the last 14 years (Aside from knowing how to be a decent human being. Honestly after dealing with assholes of every shape and size you begin to learn about the things you should and shouldn't do when addressing a fellow human being. Especially when they are handling your food and pouring your drinks. SERIOUSLY if you take one thing away from reading this it will be this: Do not fuck with the people that are serving you things your about to put in your mouth) The main advantage is you work with and meet some pretty amazing people and end up acquiring a pretty large social circle. Don't get me wrong this does not make me popular. These people have only ever tolerated me because either 1. I'm their boss and unlike a lot of authority figures that I have come across in my life I am not a massive dick head. Or 2. I served them alcohol. Serving one alcohol is a surprisingly effective way of getting into their good graces. So thanks to this my time in London was never boring and I formed many relationships that have shaped the person I am.

If I'm being honest though (And who can you be honest to if not a group of faceless strangers over the internet) there are only really 3 people in my life who I truly consider to be my friends. The first is my mum. Yes I am a mothers boy. deal with it. Not only has she always been there for me from day one and someone I have always been comfortable speaking with regardless of the topic of conversation. She is also the only person who can still drink me under the table when it comes to wine. The other 2 are my best friends. One is misanthropic loner who spends most of her time on her allotment determined to recreate the lifestyle of Tom and Barbara from "The Good Life". (If you've never heard of it it's an old British sitcom that used to be on BBC 1 and its brilliant you should watch it) My other best friend is a complete sociopath with bipolar and if I am ever found murdered odds are it will probably be him that committed it. Regardless of that I love him to pieces and even in my darkest moments he has managed to put a smile on my face. Quite the selection of friends I know!

So what else would you like to know about me? I'm a vegetarian. The only reason I initially became a vegetarian about a year ago was for pure health reasons. I didn't think about Daisy's face when I used to sink my teeth into a nice juicy burger. However after being told that cutting out all of that delicious meat from my diet could help me with my constant fatigue I thought I'd give it a go. It sounded like a much better option than cutting down on my drinking and actually getting a decent amount of sleep. Sod that! And low and behold it actually worked. I started feeling a lot better and I quite enjoy the slight feeling of moral superiority that comes along with it. I was also glad that I hadn't ingested any meat recently when I was watching the Bong Joon Ho film Okja the other day. If you want inspiration to stop eating animals I strongly suggest you give that film a viewing. And I don't care what anyone says I definitely wasn't crying there was just something in my eye!

A wise man once told...ok an alcoholic, existential Turkish journalist once told me that "the two greatest escapes from life are alcohol and books" which is why these are my two favorite things in life. I'm happy to say my alcohol consumption has decreased substantially recently (The fact all the pubs have shut has certainly helped!) but if you was to offer me a glass of decent whiskey I wouldn't decline. If you was to offer me some Hibiki Suntory whiskey, well then I'm likely to drink the whole bottle. Out of the two things books are much more important to me though. Unlike watching a film or playing a video game where thoughts are still constantly processing in the depths of my mind, reading a book is a complete diversion from reality. No matter the problems in my life or the argument I just had with my family or my girlfriend if I pick up a book all of that negativity ceases to exist and all that matters is how the protagonist within those pages is going to overcome his next obstacle. I can only hope that one day a book that I write will deliver the same brief departure from existence.

I do have a number of other interests like music, video games and movies but telling you this would be about as enlightening as if I was to tell you that I breathed air. I am a big fan however of Japanese animation or anime as the kids like to call it (I obviously mean that satirically) Before you come to the conclusion that I am what you would call a weeaboo, I am not. Allow me to explain why I would much rather binge watch an anime than something like game of thrones. 1. The Japanese are absolutely mental! But in the best way possible. The stories they tell are like nothing our measly western brains could even fathom. 2. The writing is incredible. The stories are completely unique. They will lead you on twists, turns and and will have you hanging upside down and looking at the world from a completely different angle by the time they are done. Not only that but you'll be drawn in by every character for a multitude of different reasons and they all grow throughout every episode. 3. Some of them are just simply beautiful. The visuals are a merger of the most creative designs and the most stunning art I have ever seen. There's something quite euphoric about having a little puff and just allowing yourself to be enveloped by the vibrant colours dancing across the screen.

Well I think that will do for my brief introduction. Hopefully this doesn't come across as one of those cringey self bio's you get on dating app. I hope you enjoyed reading this and it made you smile once or twice. A little smirk at least. On here I want to write about my views and opinions on various subjects and maybe even write the odd little story. A place to write when I need a break from my book and somewhere where I can speak with complete honesty. I look forward to my journey with you guys.

Thanks for reading.