Okay so first up is me:
Aaron Christopher Clarke, I'm 27 and I like being a lawyer, promoting human rights causes, Man City FC, and singing. My sister picked these photos and now she’s even grabbing at the laptop so I’m forever sorry for anything she might say- OKAY Cathy here so that there is my big bro, Aaron, and he’s completely incapable of being self-reflexive so I’m taking over and if he stops me or deletes any word of this later I will tell Mum who broke that really expensive and unique coffee table all those years ago. Don't think I won't, Mister. SO. Listen up ladies! This is my boy and he’s single, tall, GSOH, sings and wouldn’t embarrass you on a dance floor. He can cook and clean, is super considerate, and is basically prime boyfriend material so PLEASE I BEG OF YOU someone come date him or at least go back to his place one night because he really really needs to relax and get laid okay?-- AARON BACK and saying that this commentary explains Cathy in a nutshell (sweet-at-heart but aiming to cause embarrassment with a smidgen of blackmail to get her way) so without further ado…
My sister,
Cathy Margaret Clarke, 21, likes musical theatre, ballroom dancing, and generally being as loud and aggressively
her as is humanly possible. She's currently at theatre school and dreams of ~super stardom~ in the West End and/or Broadway. Her dream role is to play Elphaba in Wicked, a fact I can attest to since she made me sing Glinda’s part to Defying Gravity for years whenever the Wicked soundtrack was on in the car. She is also extremely goofy, cool, and so motivated that I have no doubt she is basically awesome and will succeed, no doubt at all. I sing her praises all the time so, Cathy, I obviously expect/deserve tickets to shows and parties when you hit the big time.
My younger brother:
Toby Matthew Clarke, 23, an incredibly scathing anarchical investigative journalist who really doesn’t care about what manner of important people he upsets on the road to revealing ~the truth~. To say Tobes is a bit of a personality is an understatement and a half... and I kind of love that about him! He doesn’t take any bullshit; when he sniffs out a story he goes after it to the bitter end and refuses to be fobbed off. He is stubbornly resolute in any opinions he holds and refuses to be swayed. Also stubbornly anti-establishment, anti-politicians, anti-big soulless corporations etc. etc. Oh and I have to respect this guy's ability to avoid the music bug, in my family that’s something of a miracle.
My younger and twin sisters,
Mary and Sophie Clarke, 15. (Side note: I sort of feel like Mum and Dad ran out of names by this point so they got away with not having middle names bestowed on them!) They’re both at secondary school still, pursuing music scholarships because Mary plays violin and Sophie cello. They’re insanely talented for 15 year-olds which both irritates me and makes me feel proud in equal measure. Most importantly they will forever be my little baby sisters who dressed up and staged impromptu productions of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty in the living room and nothing will ever change that, not even the fact they’re now teenagers who’ve started dating. I refuse to believe this development is true.
And last but most certainly not least are the parents,
Felicia and Thomas Clarke! They’re both incredibly generous and loving but also strict, in a good way; they’ve kept us all with our feet firmly on the ground and our heads screwed on properly. They’ve also sacrificed a lot to make sure we had the best starts in life, placing so much importance on education and the pursuit of meaningful careers. However they’re also very accepting people and fun to boot. I couldn’t ever say thank you enough for how they raised me and how supportive they continue to be to this day. Unless tackling my dad and forcing him to be in photos (like I clearly did here) somehow expresses this affection and gratitude?
My cousin on my dad’s side,
Kyle David Michalka. What to say about this boy? Well, he
sucks at snooker but has a pretty damn good left-foot on him considering he’s not as into football as some (he supports Chelsea, shaaaame). He’s pretty cool though, ridiculous sporting loyalties aside, and is insanely into his martial arts and is scarily athletic - I’m pretty sure he spends 75% of his time doing kickboxing or karate or running, the other 25% he sleeps. He also has a ridiculous ability to pick up languages which I feel is not fair; he should have one area of talent and that’s it, because it’s just not fair on the rest of us. I’ve sang his praises a bit now so I better correct that... he’s such a poser it’s unbelievable (exhibit a= photo on the right) but that’s okay, we love him for it.
That handsome fellow right there is
Douglas Arthur Pearson, a top-notch bloke overall. This haiku, penned by the man himself, explains him as a person:
Douglas A Pearson / Top bloke with chin like a butt / Refrigerator. Now I could just leave it at that but no, I’ll gush... this man right here is brilliant, surprisingly hairy, and currently IS Werewolf Support Services at the Ministry. I know him from our shared penchant for protest – hey, if you don’t raise awareness and be active yourself, who will?? – and he tended to be the energy, drive and artistic talent (someone has to draw the placards) whilst I was the one who did the boring research, lots of facts and figures, case histories etc. We worked well with our little group of activists, I feel. He also has a surprisingly comfy sofa to sleep on but, mate, the creepy posters need to go, I swear they watched me sleep.
Rose Turner is an awesome girl,
seemples tch! She’s happy all the time, supportive, friendly, always fun to be around, and just generally lovely in every way. I don’t know how but she manages to somehow party all night and yet be super successful at her job as a Healer at Mungo’s, it’s miraculous, really. I know she’s amazing at what she does because I’ve never heard anything but praise from her little mentees. Also – she takes pity on me when I come to her with sad puppy dog eyes and beg to be her flat-mate. So she’s basically the best person ever, right? Congrats on the engagement, Geoff and Rose, you guys are so cute and basically perfect together.
I suppose you could call this section ‘Awesome People I’ve Met since Moving to London’. So first up are these two, here we have
Hannah Schwartz and
Jules Tancredi. So I work with Hannah at Smythe-Jones, Walker and Holmes and she’s just really cool… she’s supportive, welcoming, and brilliant at her job. She also has excellent motivational tips when you hit hour 7 of studying for your final exam in the office and you just can’t seem to get past the tension headaches, craving for Chinese food, and an incapacitating self-doubting mind-set. (I think I owe part of my final score to her exemplary take-away ordering skills, haha.) The little lady on the right is Jules (never refer to her as a little lady, she
hates it, almost as much as her full name) who is just effortlessly cool. She’s super musically talented and pursuing that with all her stubborn, no-holds-barred energy that will mean she will absolutely succeed in the industry, I have no doubt about that. She also managed to twist my arm enough to make me sing a cover with her for her YouTube channel so, my point is, she’s pretty damn convincing.
The second round of ‘Awesome People I’ve Met since Moving to London’! Here we have
Marcus Wraysford and
Justin Biermann, both of whom I’ve met through Kyle who works with em both at The Coffee Bean in Diagon Alley. Marcus, it turns out, is a bit good at music and can talk anyone’s ear off about music… no, seriously, he has a whole radio show about it on a Saturday morning and it’s pretty cool, as is he. On the right is Biermann, he is a gentleman and a scholar! He’s a fellow Manc and a fellow Man City supporter… so basically he knows where it’s at. Incidentally, your original brews at O’Connor’s are one of the main reasons I keep going there now!
