u/nathanherts

To mark the 30th anniversary of the release of Beverley Knight's groundbreaking debut The B-Funk, her original label Dôme Records (the groundbreaking UK soul label) have re-released the album as a 2 CD boxset, which you can purchase here.

The B-Funk is where it all began for Beverley Knight, who would go on to become a household name in the UK and being crowned the 'Queen of UK Soul'. She has since transitioned into a very successful career in musical theatre, where she is regarded as an icon.

I posted a few months back about a project I am currently working in taking portraits of trans and non-binary people across the UK for an eventual book and exhibition, and was introduced to a lot of you wonderful people who agreed to take part and have had the pleasure of meeting and shooting, and I'm back again searching for more people to take part. I have spent the last few months having a break, but I would like to start back up again in July. I am able to travel anywhere around the UK. I want to create an accurate representation of our community, so absolutely anyone and everyone is welcome (I especially need some more older trans and non-binary folk).

Like I said before, I understand it's an extremely sensitive subject and there are lots of you who won't want to take part, and that's completely fine, but for those that would be interested please let me know and I will reach out to you, or you can direct message me on here.

I posted a few months back about a project I am currently working in taking portraits of trans and non-binary people across the UK for an eventual book and exhibition, and was introduced to a lot of you wonderful people who agreed to take part and have had the pleasure of meeting and shooting, and I'm back again searching for more people to take part. I have spent the last few months having a break, but I would like to start back up again in July. I am able to travel anywhere around the UK. I want to create an accurate representation of our community, so absolutely anyone and everyone is welcome (I especially need some more older trans and non-binary folk).

Like I said before, I understand it's an extremely sensitive subject and there are lots of you who won't want to take part, and that's completely fine, but for those that would be interested please let me know and I will reach out to you, or you can direct message me on here.

A friend of mine found it interesting when I told them recently that I still purchase non-vegetarian cookbooks, and it's something I've never really sat down and considered. My point to them was that in so many instances I can just replace the meat in a recipe with an alternative (like Quorn for instance).

There are exceptions though, I would never buy a cookbook that is exclusively centred around meat (especially books about BBQing).

I was diagnosed with bipolar a few years back but now after years of responding poorly to psychiatrist medication my psychiatrist thinks I may have actually been misdiagnosed and really have ADHD and is putting me forward for an assessment. 

For years I thought I was just deeply depressed, but my psychiatrist thinks it could be undiagnosed ADHD. I have always struggled greatly with motivation. Getting motivated is extremely hard for me and nigh on impossible now. It’s like my brain just won’t function properly, I feel as if something is missing. I have always struggled with my attention span, and I remember at school finding reading physically exhausting, and even though I was a smart kid I would struggle taking in academic information. I wanted to study science as a teenager, and for a while was set to study neuroscience, but I burnout very quickly and realised I just wasn’t capable of getting through the workload and struggle intensely  with both exams and essays, so much so that I actually paid people to do my essays for me at some point. I would sit down to try and do research, but it was physically painful to sit down and read, and no matter how much I read I wouldn’t really take anything in. When I look back to my childhood I was often very hyperactive, not to the extent that I would get in trouble at school (in fact, I was very timid at school), but at home I was always winding people up and getting on people’s nerves. Not sure if it’s relevant, but I remember vividly getting told off by my mum whenever we would go out for a meal because I would do things like poor the salt and pepper all over the table and pour candle wax over my hands. I never did these things because I was defiant, I just used to almost feel quite calm doing them. I was banned from drinking Coke as a kid because it would send me hyper, not just a little bit but I would be insufferable and act up and would be full of energy. I know every kid reacts negatively to sugar and caffeine, but I was on a completely different level, my family would refuse to take me out unless I promised to not drink Coke. I’m sorry if this is irrelevant, I’m just trying to help build up a picture of what I was like. 

Over the years I have become incredibly detached and almost incapable of expressing or feeling my emotions. And before anyone suggests autism, this isn’t a case of me never having access to my emotions, I would say before around 20 I was an incredibly emotional and empathetic person, but slowly as the years have progressed I have lost it. I used to cry at films, get very emotional when reading poetry, long for strong romantic relationships, care deeply about animal welfare and injustice, but I have just become numb. I go through life without being able to really enjoy anything properly. All the things I was once deeply passionate about, things like photography, filmmaking, reading and music have become almost bland for me. I genuinely find everything exhausting and have retreated into being a shell of a person. I struggle a lot with obsessive thoughts around planning. I make mental plans every day and pretty much never achieve my goals which tends to make me even more depressed. My brain doesn’t shut off, there’s not one minute that I’m not actively thinking which is also exhausting. I remember what it feels like to have a clear and quiet mind and I miss it so much. 

I have been put on multiple antidepressants, none of which have ever worked. I have actually questioned many times if I am a psychopath or a narcissist, but I can recall what it's like to have and feel genuine emotions and empathy and I absolutely hate that I've become incapable of feeling anything and long for it to return.

The thing that makes me skeptical of having ADHD though is I’ve actually taken Ritalin a few times and it has done pretty much nothing for me. 

I saw them on their last tour at the 02 and I was at the front so it was amazing, but I don't really like the venue and would prefer somewhere like the Albert Hall, but I also think they would now be capable of filling Wembley Stadium, especially if it was the only UK show of the tour (I asked ChatGPT and it said due to demand and their continued/increased cultural relevance they could fill Wembley).

I think Wembley would actually be pretty incredible, especially if it was a kind of "goodbye" performance.

And who do you think would and a good support act? Preferably a British artist.

Recently a friend of mines boyfriend came on to me, tried to kiss me (pretty much did) and told me he wants to "f**k me" and I don't know what to do. Their partner isn't a close friend, but they are somebody I consider a relatively good friend. They are engaged and due to get married next year and I really don't know what to do? Should I tell her, is it my place to? I can see him denying it and then me ending up getting the brunt of it.

Probably most famous for being sampled by India.Arie in her song Video.