Re-cap

well, a lot has happened since the last time i blogged, and its not that ive failed to try and convey it all, its just that the internet has been playing up in both the office and the library, and then loz took a half day one time. oh woe is the blogging world, i know, its been a less bright place whilst ive been gone (please, dont correct me mid-sentence -) but now here i am, back and ready to go - Andiamo!

i got to do some building work a while back. when i couldnt get any overtime one week i offered my assistance to the builder, who took me up on my offer. so it was that on a beautiful july day, i found myself working outside, chipping cement off of about 150 old bricks so they could be re-used, and then using a half-size pneumatic drill to smash up some concrete in this persons front garden. nice!

band has been going quite well - we've had to practise in various incarnations, as different pepes have been away at different times, so its been interesting i suppose you could say. Acoustic sessions, just learning new songs really. the fun'll start when we all get back, oh yeh!

Had a birthday, phoned my sister in oz. now once more getting loads of overtime praise God, and hopefully even thrashing out a new contract in work for longer hours.

also, thinking of getting a new computer, probably a laptop. saw simple minds once more, at a gig down in ashton court, pretty good again, i'd say. jumping around a bit when the big tunes kicked in!

la-di-da. better sign off i spose, and go and buy another birthday card for the relevant person! ter-ah.

SOUL: YEAH!

WOW! Thats all i can say. WOW! I got this album recently -cheap-£5-in WHSmiths - and its great. ive seen it around before, although not at that price, and i kind of thought mmm, that might be alright. Its Eva Cassidy, and i wasnt sure whether she was from recent times, or further back, say the 50s or 60s. The album cover is kind of brown so that didnt help much. I was also under the impression that she'd died or something, which after i read the inlay, discovered that she had indeed died in 1996. but anyway, i put it on and wasnt quite sure what to expect as id only heard one of her songs before, and that was a cover -brilliantly done mind you - of stings 'fields of gold'. So i thought she might be like a kind of acoustic person. Which she is partly i suppose, but oh goodness, she's great! The singing is fantastic. She's got SOUL man! Yeah! I couldnt help smiling at various points through the course of the album, her expressiveness and range are just awesome. gonna have to get me some more soul albums - anybody know any good ones?

'Ned' and 'Trotter'

Ok, heres a recent rundown of my life at the mo then - not in its entirety, but just a general picture. Recently been getting loads of overtime, up until 2 weeks ago. now im not getting any cos sainsburys hasnt got any going cos they've overspent. so, last week i read a book - great stuff, highly interesting, although heavey going in places. lot of ideas and a few challenges. hmmn. this week ive been struggling with temptation a bit. ive been getting tempted to bang my head against a wall for lack of anything better to do. advice: dont cut your hours in work if you havent got a clear idea of what you're going to do instead. A vague idea just aint good enough. So yes, im looking out for the opportunity to once again, work close to full-time in sainsburys. bring it on!

i went out for a cycle last week, when the weather was nice and warm. just a short one cos i havent actually been on any cycles for their own sake since last summer really. so i stayed kind of local and went down to what i consider to be one of the most beautiful places i know, which is conham river park/walk. The river runs by on your right hand side, and on your left is a whole bunch of trees and forest-type stuff. Theres this narrow gravel path which can fit about 2 people side by side, and its really quiet cos no-one really goes down there apart from a few fishermen who are sat on the bank, and a few dog-owners. Every so often a train will come by through this tunnel in the cliffs on the other side of the river, and after about 200metres disappear back into the cliffs again. the river kind of twists and turns, and at tone point theres a little riverboat which can take you over to a cafe on the other side. Once you start cycling/walking past there theres even less people, the gravel path gives way to a dirt path about 2 feet wide and you're 'at one with nature'. Lovely! I was quite surprised actually, after going about 3/4 mile along that bit cos all of a sudden the bushy forest trees gave way to these trees which were about 100feet tall, and had really tall, thin, silvery kind of trunks. Quite something! Anyway, at the end of this track is a pub named 'the bull and finch', i think - or else im getting confused with 'cheers!'. But that looks out over the river and looks really lovely, only i dont know for sure cos i didnt stop in it. and then i just cycled home via the roads, which actually, at the at end of hanham, are quite nice as well. At the top of the hill from the pub i stopped by this field, and against the backdrop of the setting sun, two horses wandered over to me. so i kind of felt a little obliged to feed them. after all, thats what you do if horses wander over to you aint it? After about 5 minutes of that however i thought id best be getting home. So waving goodbye to 'ned' and 'trotter' i turned with a heavy heart, tears rolling down my face cos i knew id never see them again, and headed for home. mmm. That trip kind of refreshed my heart for cycling. The fresh air, the natural landscapes, its just all so beautiful. Thats what i like about it.

so thats me recently.