Category Archives: whatever

Stuf that I can’t fit anywhere else…

I was struck philosophical this morning. I thought about my decisions over the last 20 years and on the whole I think they were the right ones. Givinging up the well paid Civil Service Job for full time music and meeting a lot of very interesting people and the fringe benefits was I think a good gamble and not doing that would have been a lot less enjoyable, though they were some bumpy times along the way. Also the fact that my father died at a relatively young age and so had 6 weeks of retirement also informed my decision. I am now just about the same age he was when he died. So for me in a weird way anything beyond this time feels like its a bonus. Also there is no doubt that I am getting more arthritic and regular gigging the way I used to seems unlikely again due to covid, finding co-conspirators mad enough to do it and the physical wear and tear. So doing it when I did seems logical. None of us could have foreseen the current crisis either. So to have got this far is not so bad considering where I started. If there are more fun and frolics to be had I won’t turn then down though.

Notes From Somewhere Near Bedford

July 4, 2021Delta Ladies, Diana Stones Songs, glass cage, history, music, Musings, whateverdiana Stone

Diana Stone Glass Cage Music

Slowly but surely stuff is happening. I won’t jinx anything by saying what yet, but perhaps I am turning a corner creatively. Often ends and beginnings can look very similar at times and this definitely one or the other but I am still not entirely clear which. I am still feeling a bit rough mentally and physically though. Soon we will get a further announcement as to what the final stage of government covid restrictions or lack of same will be. masks seem likely to be made advisory, not mandatory in most situations and presumably restrictions on numbers and distancing will be similar.
Some are still suffering serious illness though of course. I am not sure how comfortable I will feel as it will take some adjustments. Emerging into the wild world is going to be a challenge after 14 months or so due in no small part to my own circumstances having changed so radically too. So I am starting from the ground up again. It may not lead anywhere buy perhaps this time around the journeys the point all though maybe it always was. When you arrive at the destination the only choice is to go home of go somewhere else. Well this time the destination has to be somewhere else travelling hopefully of course.

Hear is a new song. “Shouldent Ought To Done It”
Well you know….

Diana Stones Glasscage

Shouldent Ought To Done It

A June 2021 Round Up

June 27, 2021Delta Ladies, Diana Stones Songs, glass cage, music, Musings, other, whateverdiana Stone

Personally it’s been a very draining 6 months. I have been working solidly on music projects both solo and collaborative but of course nearly al remote ones. Other stuff I had hoped to do has ground to a complete halt now. Also mostly due to lockdown I gave not really been able to get anymore local connections made. Added to that I have had a lot of problems with long term Musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions which seems to have been much worse this year plus depression and anxiety. So fighting that tends to impede the creative flow quite a bit. At present I do feel its a real uphill struggle and it’s getting harder. I also like many wonder if we will actually get a full UK unlocking at the end of July. If we don’t that will be more than a little disappointing as the present regime does not yet permit the normal mix and mingle type activities (Folk clubs and Open mike and normal pub gigs) to name just a few. I feel as though my mental facilities are dwindling as well. Currently I am living on a diet of youtube videos and little else to keep me amused in my downtime. There are some very interesting blogging genre videos. One that I watch is this guy Hobo Shoestring https://www.youtube.com/user/TheHoboShoestring and if you like trains and the wide open spaces there is a lot of joy to be had in the videos he posts. he has been riding trains for 30 years and is what you might call a natural philosopher perhaps.Another one I watch is https://www.youtube.com/c/HubNut/featured which is about ordinary cars with a motoring journalist called Ian Seabrook. He drives and then fixes them eventually and more. It’s one of the things helping to keep me sane at present at least In a small way. There is a lot more I watch but I am not going to list everything here.

This a very spontaneous song that popped into my head on Friday so I have recorded a quick “demo” version. Its an acoustic (Folk sort of) song with fiddle and a bit of tin whistle too.

Diana Stones Glasscage

I Dont Know Why I Really Should

And in other news, a question. Who put that camera in Matt Hancock’s office I wonder? But the world will keep turning I guess.

Does any one remember that book “Feel the fear and do it anyway”? I might even have a faded and yellowing copy somewhere on my shelves. So following its prevailing mantra I did something recently to expand my comfort zone and help reduce my anxiety. I am not saying what it was but rather like the way that some people either like marmite or hate it, to my surprise it was really quite pleasant which I had not expected. Its not something I shall be doing again for a while I suspect but if appropriate when needed I am ready to put my new skill set and hopefully win friends and influence people, I havent got that book though.

I notice a lot of people are now back out gigging again which is good news. I would love to be out and joining them and I hope the opportunity comes again. However the recruiting drive has not been successful so far despite trying different several different approaches sadly. It’s hard not to get disheartened frankly. I will keep trying though it’s beginning to feel like an exercise in total futility. It feels almost like I am on some sort of blacklist? It really makes me wonder at times. Answers on a post card please 🙂 I hope that does not seem too negative as its not intended to be but if I am doing something wrong I would love to know what it is?