2007 and all that

And so another year draws to a close and I thought I might take time to reflect on what has happened in my life these past twelve months.

It has certainly been a strange year and, on one level, it does feel as though nothing has changed during it's course. I began 2007 trying to prevent OD from getting booted out of school in order that she may sit her GCSEs; I end it trying to prevent OD from getting booted out of college in order that she may sit her GCSEs. I failed first time round because of zero commitment from my daughter, and now things are looking that way again. Yet, as I detail the events of the past twelve months it becomes apparent that a number of significant movements have taken place in my life, if not hers.

On the relationship front, I began the year dating dear old Fiona (tall and blonde) but I was already realising how much I was missing Beth of the Shire (short and ginger). By March I was in the Cambridge on the Charing Cross Road, drunk and asking BotS to marry me having first stood on a stall and declared to the entire pub that I was a c*nt. Two months later I was binned by BotS for a second time on the basis that our moment had passed. Three months after that I bumped into her a gig and realised what an ass I had been to let her slip through my fingers not once but twice and then spent the next few months trying to unsuccessfully convince her to go out with me for a third time. Other women this year included Biker Jo who, despite being keen as mustard, operated on the romantic maturity level of a sixteen year old, and dear Louise who seemed absolutely ideal on our first encounter until a week into our relationship she revealed that she was a born-again Christian and not only didn’t believe in sex outside of marriage but thought everything in the Old Testament was a literal truth and that homosexuals should be prayed for. Clearly, that didn’t last a whole lot longer after these views had been disclosed (although it did make me question my own relationship with both God and the Bible, which resulted in me feeling quite positive about the former and rather cautious over the latter; I actually went to Mass today for the first time in a couple of years). Thus, at the end of 2007 – and despite my previous post - I find myself resolutely single. Indeed, I laid a new bedroom carpet yesterday and re-arranged the room so that the bed is now pushed closer to the radiator and removed one of the two bedside cabinets in order to maximise the space by the wardrobe. In short, it is now more geared towards accommodating a single occupant rather than guests.

Musically it has been quite positive. I begun the year having purchased a Double Bass that I could not play. I end it being one third of a rather tasty jazz trio. I was fortunate to find a very good tutor (Liran Doran, the bassist with Led Bib) who helped me re-think my approach to the bass (jazz bass is a very different methodology to rock bass) and I am now lucky enough to be playing with a guitarist who was on one of my favourite albums of the early 80s (Sector 27’s Stevie B). Honeymoon on Mars have trod a somewhat rocky path (pardon the pun) with all of us (or at least I believe all of us) wondering why the hell we were bothering during at least one point in the year, sometimes more. However, even though we haven’t gigged much we’ve matured musically this year and now find ourselves feeling optimistic as we begin work on our album and examine ways to gig in America in the latter part of 2008. I’ve also become more involved in the vocals and songwriting front so, all in all, things are very upbeat as we go into the New Year. In fact, I’m even gigging on New Year’s Eve for the first time since the mid 80s (albeit depping with a Pretenders tribute band).

On the gig-going front, it did feel at times that I’d fallen back to my punk youth having been to see The Stranglers, Patti Smith, Nick Lowe and the Sex Pistols (who’d have thought they would have been that good?) this year, or indeed even further back as I also saw Rush, Roger Waters, and Peter Gabriel. However it wasn’t all yesterday’s faces as I also got to see top-notch sets from contemporary bands including Arcade Fire, Metric, The Killers and Tiny Dancers. Gig highlights of 2007 were Amanda Palmer at Bush Hall, a stunning Prince at the 02, and Air being positively sublime in a tent at Hyde Park during the summer. Oh, and moshing like a teenager to Iggy and the Stooges at the V festival. Musn’t forget that! Highlight of the year overall though was the week YD and I spent in Chicago in August. Fantastic,

Looking back to this time last year, I saw that I made three resolutions: (i) to enjoy myself more, (ii) to master the Double Bass, and (iii) to change my job. Not entirely sure if I managed two out of three or just one and a half. I’m still working at the IB although there seems to be so much politics and tensions there these days I can’t see things continuing as they for very much longer without at least one person leaving, and more likely more, which will change the whole shape of the department. (Sh*t! I’m talking about work. Have things got that bad?) Resolutions for 2008? Why bother, eh? I suppose I should make more of a commitment to keeping this blog running (I mean, four posts in five months; how rubbish is that?).