Another new song...this time from The Skints' latest album, 'Swimming Lessons'. Nothing to say other than I like it, especially 'cos it features Protoje on vocals too - 'nuff said
The longer things stay the same, the more it seems that's the way they'll stay. No longer? Ever since returning from hospital some three years ago, and her brush with death whilst there, E's illness has followed a familiar and consistent pattern. Brief intense periods of illness (infections, seizures, that sort of thing) followed by longer periods of slow, continuous decline. Latterly she's been experiencing other symptoms, most especially bouts of pain of unknown origin. When she's been in pain, it's often been associated with mild seizures which pass in a minute or two, with help. E is in an end-of-life care period during which comfort is the priority, which can throw up unexpected challenges. Her pain medication has been increased, but she still experiences pain at times. It's a bit of a challenge. On the one hand, we don't want her to be in pain, on the other it's hard to know how long the pain will last and we don't want to rush in and give...
Back to SUB89 and also to Dreadzone after a semi-enforced break, on a Friday night and accompanied by my sons - "Dreadzone virgins" in the words of MC Spee: sounds like the setting for a great night out... ...and so it proved to be! There was no support act though Greg Dread (Greg Roberts, drummer) played a DJ set prior to Dreadzone taking to the stage - a gentle warm up for what was to follow. The band took to the stage to cheers and applause and launched straight into 'Rootsman' from the new album, a great reggae-based opener that led neatly into MC Spee's intro for 'Return of the Dread' - and already the "bouncing crew" was in full sway. Dreadzone are a joyous band live - it's impossible not to dance - and I for one had a grin from ear to ear whilst dancing for the entire two hour set. There was a good mix of old and new songs though a definite bias towards their most "successful" album, Second Light. S...
A post before July ends! Amazing! July has been incredibly busy socially and has sown seeds for the remainder of my life, hopefully. I have long harboured an ambition to become a writer. Writing always comes second to living life, so I don't think I have what it takes. It's not an all-consuming passion. It's never too late (?) Q and I spent ten days in Italy early in the month. The original plan was a week's holiday split between Venice and Florence, returning to Bologna (where we started) for an NGO conference that Q had to attend for a week. Sadly, Q's actual job needed her back at work earlier, so we left Bologna early on Wednesday morning of the second week. I had travelled to Italy intending to ask Q to marry me, to which end I had purchased a temporary ring to seal the deal. Where and when to propose? I had Venice in mind as I love the city and think it's a romantic place to propose. On the assumption I would propose there, I had a few places in...
I'm off to Liverpool today! Yay! Before I can go, though, I must finish packing, check E's supplies, make sure the carers know where I'll be (and all that goes with that), and make sure sons 1 and 2 are sorted and there are no outstanding questions. At around 10:30 a.m. I'm ready to hit the road (jack, though I will be coming back). I will make a detour via the shops to post a poo sample (bowel cancer test, not hate mail, just to be clear), and buy some food and a coffee (all of which are cheaper than on the motorway). In the supermarket, I was ambushed by a Snickers bar, so I added that to my basket too. I've arrived in L'pool, after a brief natural break. After unloading, I watch two more episodes of 'Happy Valley', series 2. I'm not good at binge-watching (I always feel guilty about watching TV and feel I should be using my time better) and so stop at this point and read more of 'Ulysses'. Q and her daughter arrive home together and th...
More of the same today, so I'll probably not have much to say. Conversations with the carers and friends have been the high points of the day, though they have been scattered amongst the majority of the time spent on work. The lunchtime carers started a chat about the pros and cons of cosmetic surgery, the use of cosmetics and the male response to women who are either modified or heavily made up. It was suggested that males are always attracted to enhancements of a pneumatic nature, but both I and son #2 (who also became involved in the chat) rejected this suggestion. I welcome these conversations as they are a vital source of social interaction in these days of working from home and enrich life. Once upon a time, back in the mists of time (no gorillas!), I had this wonderful idea that I would find time every working day to take 30 minutes out for the purpose of thinking: no agenda, no expectation, just time set aside to see what comes to mind and invigorate all aspects of ...
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