On This Day... MY LIFE IN A YEAR WITH ARCHIE: One Year On!

So what has My Life In A Year With Archie been all about? Where to begin? How about at the beginning?

Well, simply….. it’s been about me, and him: Archie, Archie of course being none other than Archibald Alec Leach, better known as Cary Grant.

But why, you may ask? How did it start? Where is it going? Well…let’s start at the beginning...

The Start

I’ve been a lifelong fan of Cary Grant. He was the film star that both my grandparents adored and my parents grew up with.

There never was, and still hasn’t been, anyone on film quite like Cary Grant. Charlton Heston observed, “...he was without peer in films where he stood around in beautiful rooms, wearing beautiful clothes and saying beautiful things to beautiful women.”

Cary Grant famously admitted, “...everyone wants to be Cary Grant - even I want to be Cary Grant”.  And, I, like most males, wanted to be like Cary Grant. So, over the years, through film, we’ve stayed in touch.

Then, in late 2019, Archie became a more constant feature in my life.

Instagram

In September 2019, I began to post more regularly on my Instagram account. I was pretty sure that, although people may be mildly interested in what I was getting up to, they didn’t necessarily want to see me doing it.

I decided, therefore, to bring along Archie. He would be the face of my life and my various observations on life.

So, on 27th September 2019, I posted my formula for living, which is quite simple… “I get up in the morning and I go to bed at night. In between, I occupy myself as best I can” - well, it was Cary Grant’s formula for living, which I adopted.

Then, over the following weeks, observations about various things… smiling, being kind, the weather, and even lunch, were accompanied by pictures of Archie laughing, doing a double-take or simply being…well…Archie.

For example, on 15th October 2019, under a picture of Cary and Grace Kelly picnicking in the 1955 film, To Catch A Thief, the caption read, ‘Wet, dark and cold!!! Walking to work aint no picnic!’ So...you get the idea.

Then towards the back end of October, the posts became regular – there seemed to always be a different Cary Grant picture for every occasion.

So, when 2019 came to a close, I decided on 31st December, that I would challenge myself, to post a Cary Grant picture every day for the entire year, commencing on the 1st January 2020.

This officially was the start of My Life in A Year With Archie – little did we realise what 2020 was about to bring.

My Life In A Year With Archie Begins

January started off with the positive reminder, which was almost prophetic: to Keep Calm and Cary On!!

Then followed pictures of Archie, with captions again relating to life observations and key dates in both of our lives:

For example, on 8th January, I noted that I seemed to always work at Sheffield Odeon on the same day of the week. My post pictured Cary smiling through gritted teeth with the caption, ‘ In Sheffield today, must be Wednesday’.

Then, my post on 18th January, marked Cary Grant’s birth date with the caption of a reported exchange between Cary and a journalist who asked “How old Cary Grant?"  “Old Cary Grant fine, how are you?"

Notably, with all these early posts – January, February and March – I was getting 2 or 3 likes from friends who were sympathetically following my private account.

Then, as March came around, the decision was to go public. Timing was impeccable: the UK entered its first lockdown, on 23rd March, due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.

My Life In A Year With Archie in Lockdown.

From March, my posts took on a new dimension: they were not only highlighting mine and Archie’s life events, film releases, etc; now they were also documenting life in lockdown.

By April 10th, life was already very different, days merged, so much so that, with a tuxedoed Cary holding his hand over his eyes, my caption read: ‘Don’t tell me, let me guess! It’s Saturday…no Wednesday…no, no, I give up! What day is it?’

Life certainly was different.

Posts were already playing a role in keeping my sanity intact whilst staying locked down, but, as I had more time on my hands, and I’d gotten into a good swing with posts, I decided to enter the world of the blogger.

The Blog and a Turning Point

On 5th April 2020, my Instagram posts were now being complemented with my My Life In A Year With Archie blog.

The blog posts went into more detail of the things I’d mentioned on Instagram, such as more information on film releases. I also began to use the blog as a form of scrapbooking of things relating to Cary Grant’s life and career, along with my ever-growing collection of Cary Grant memorabilia.

I have to say, at this point, the Instagram and blog posts were primarily for me: to entertain me, keep me busy and give me that 5 minutes of ‘Me-time’.

Then, on 11th April, came a turning point: after posting a picture of Cary complete with horsetail wig, from the 1949 film, I Was a Male War Bride, along with my caption ‘I’m beginning to regret the decision not to have a pre-lockdown haircut’, my Instagram posts began to record more and more likes. The fact that other people were also enjoying my posts was an added bonus.

 

By the end of December 2020, a full year of Instagram posts was completed – and, interestingly, the last post of the year was my most popular with currently over 260 likes.

My blog now has more than 27,000 views and on 5th April 2021, was 1 year old.

And here we are.

I’d be interested to hear from anyone who is a Cary Grant fan who would like to contribute their thoughts on Cary, his life and career – please get in touch at mylifeinayearwitharchie@gmail.com.

Don’t forget to check out my My Life In A Year With Archie Instagram account @mylifeinayearwitharchie.

So, keep well and happy thoughts...

If you would like to hear the Podcast version of this blog, check out the link below:

https://anchor.fm/mark-kirkham7/episodes/1--In-the-beginning---My-Life-In-A-Year-With-Archie-eu1i5e