I’ve had a slow week, one where I’ve spent the bulk of my time still recovering from the virus. I’ve been unable to get back to my usual schedule. Screens hurt my eyes so I’ve not done much writing, my energy has been limited so for much of the week I didn’t get out much, and I’ve done no gigging whatsoever. In effect, I’ve spent a lot of my time on my back and my…
We all need it, we all know that we need it, we’d quite frankly cease to exist without it, but we fail to acknowledge to ourselves that we need it, that we need rest. I caught the ‘rona this week and it put me on my back. I’ve spent a couple of days in bed now, itching for all the things I wanted to do. The song, stories and essays I wanted to write, the…
This post is laden with questions and not nearly enough answers. Please send in your answers if any of them resonate with you. The last few weeks have been eventful politically; this statement probably applies wherever you are in the world. Japan witnessed the assassination of a former prime minister in an uncharacteristically violent attack, the British prime minister resigned (or weirdly, promised to resign) amidst mounting pressure in form of record levels of resignations…
This is an expanded version of a (private) journal entry. You may find it relevant, you may not. Make of it what you will 🙂 A few days ago, while practising for my support slot gig for Dave Hemingway’s Sunbirds, I expressed to my fiancée, a certain frustration I was experiencing. I explained that these days, it is becoming increasingly difficult to make a list of songs for an hour-long set, and even more excruciating…
This is a note to self, a journal of sorts. You might find it relevant too… This week I started writing an article, but as I got into it, I realised that it didn’t feel right. Something was missing, but I wasn’t sure what. I decided to think on it, sleep on it, and ‘walk’ on it, and only then was I able to put the article on hold, and pivot onto this one, because…
At lunchtime a few days ago, my fiancée and I relaxed and stared out over the balcony as we shared a VLT sandwich. As she went to take her next bite, I saw something sticking out of the sandwich, something I didn’t recognise. It looked whitish but had a light green hue, so in my mind the only thing it could have been was the leafy component or the sandwich. ‘What’s that white thing sticking…
I’ve just come back from a festival, the National Festival of Making. Me, at a festival, playing music, on a stage, with people watching. Me, with my name printed in an order of events, in a festival programme, in newspapers and pamphlets. Me, surrounded by like-minded creatives and festival goers alike, rubbing shoulders with TV personalities and international stars. Sometimes I realise I need to stop and savour this, stop and pinch my skin, and…
This is a note to self, a journal of sorts. You might find it relevant too… The other day I came across a book that looked interesting. I was familiar with the author’s work (the author is at the apex of their field) so my first thought was to click the ‘Buy Now’ button, and yet, for reasons that aren’t clear to me, I hesitated. Maybe I was trying to exercise discipline in telling myself…
There’s a popular trope amongst local musicians, that you can practise a new song all you want, you can play it over and over, you can rehearse it hundreds of times, but the first time you play it live to an audience, you’ll mess it up. Your guitar, your fingers, your brain, they all just know that you’re no longer in your rehearsal room. Now, there are people watching, and now, they have to sabotage…
A few days ago, I found myself mindlessly scrolling on social media. I was only on the platform for a few minutes – I currently limit my social media consumption to 5 minutes per platform per day for the sake of my sanity and productivity – and yet, the platform captured my attention with a sponsored post for a service that was most likely targeted at me because of my creative interests. The service –…