This is Fine

 I didn't go to see Barbie the Movie, if that's its title, because of my bad back. The back is no longer that bad, but the idea of walking to the bus, getting the bus, walking from the city centre to Queens Film Theatre and sitting through a two hour film in a crowded cinema...no. Also, it's raining. 

I mean, it's always raining. It's July in Northern Ireland, and I'll take that over the burning desert of Southern Europe. The five hottest days on the planet EVER were recorded - in a row - last week. So, come gentle rain and fall on me. Literally the only thing that would ever make house prices in Northern Ireland go up is the rest of the world being on fire. 

Even then...

Is that the essence of my life? Complaining about a bad back while the world's on fire? Miffed that the rain flattens my hair while Paris is burning? 

The novel was going to be called "This Is Fine" at one point. For a moment I liked the idea of naming a novel after a meme. I thought that was "edgy" and "cool" ("Do the kids still say cool?" "Yes, Mom."). Then I thought it was the worst idea ever. Nothing dates like a meme (though to be fair, "this is fine" IS lasting). Imagine writing a book called "I Can Has Cheezburger?" or "All Your Base Are Belong To Us". 

Actually, those are both great titles. Shit. I've looked into it - memes are owned. They're million dollar businesses. There would be all sort of legal issues. People still earn more money than I'll ever see off a picture of a cat mispronouncing a request for fast food. The world is a strange place. And it's on fire. We're not going to get out of this jam, are we? The human race is going to die of its own ridiculousness, choked on crypto currencies and Non Fungible Tokens, the only way to survive is telephone scamming vulnerable old people or selling pictures of BBC employees in the nip to the Teflon red tops. 

Game over, man. Game over. 

Sorry, that's a bit bleak. I have a bad back and it's raining. Actually memes do last. They're like old friends now, popping up occasionally to say hello. They're protean too, in a constant state of flux and mutability, ever renewing, evergreen. But naming a novel after one would be the hackiest thing ever. It would. 

It deffo would. 

Naming a blog post after one is fine though.