Pondering life in my cubicle (home office in the outhouse) and listening to some old tunes.
Throughout my life I associate certain songs / albums with different chapters. They are clearly marked. I guess most of us are the same. For me the highlights / lowlights are... Doctor Hook - Sloppy Seconds and Belly Up. Both albums take me back to Clifton Avenue. Couldn't name the years we lived there - but it was before I was 11 - so early 70's I guess. My parents and their pals all singing along - far too loud - fuelled by Boddingtons or the like. Melanie Safka - It was a Best of Album. Pink cover. Again - early 70's. I also got Garden in the City one Christmas I think. The first album I owned (I think Pinky and Perky belonged to my elder sister so I don't have to own up to that one). I grew up to these sounds plus the likes of Buddy Holly, Elvis, the Beatles, Barry (bloody) Manilow, Leo Sayer, Neil Diamond, Carly Simon and Carole King to name a few. Then came Bowie. A fixation for many years from the late 70's and 80's. Play one of his songs and I am transported back to particular moments in my early teens and on into my early 20s. If I ever have one too many beers (that'll be two beers then) and Queen Bitch or Amsterdam come on the jukebox I am at risk of making a complete dick of myself on the dancefloor or any area large enough to strike a sailor pose or mime bibbity bobbity hat. Then came Sinead O'Connor. Give me the extra one beer and a karaoke and...well...cover your ears. In my mid-20s and 30s my ears were 'treated' to a far superior and varied record collection. I learned to love reggae (proper shit...not that UB40 crap), The Clash and a few of Van Morrison's back catalogue. To be honest I loved a heck of a lot more than I have listed...but I as I spent all those years professing my distaste I am not going to admit the other ones that I actually liked. And over the years... There are songs that make me cry. If I was ever in a film and I had to fake tears..these are the ones I would need to listen to before I went on set. I can't remember what they are - but my iTunes knows. And there is one song that I can't listen to at all: Manic Street Preachers: You're Tender and You're Tired (This is My Truth Tell Me Yours). Just saying the title of this song transports me back to the saddest and toughest few days of my life. And to be honest - I can only listen to this one occasionally: Sinead O'Connor: In This Heart (Universal Mother). And for those who know... (MINE)
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Neoannophobia. The fear of New Year. Or New Year's Eve.
I'm pretty sure that's a made up word. I can't even explain why I hate New Year. I just get more and more anxious as the day gets nearer. Last night - the last of 2016 - I was in my office at midnight on my Mac listening to music (to drown out the bloody fireworks). And the only reason I was still up was because one of the dogs has Pyrotechnophobia. So once the fireworks started in earnest I moved to the kitchen to sit with her (she was under her 'fireworks tent'). You'd think I'd be glad that it's already Sunday - 1 January. Just 26 more days until we head off to the snow. That's what 2017 is bringing for me. Snow! I made the momentous decision to book the cabin without waking Stu or waiting until the morning. I was quite proud. When I told him the next day Stu was equally pleased. I just needed to transfer the money and the booking would be complete. And with the modern age of Faster Payment Pigeons it was done in the blink of an eye and a couple of attempts to create an HSBC authorisation code. And then I got the confirmation email. Yeh! Oh shit. There's no wifi and we have to take our own bedding. OUR OWN BEDDING. But we were given some very handy links to Oslo shops where we can purchase some if needed. Might be useful if we are actually leaving the airport at Oslo. Rather then simply transferring to another flight. We also got driving instructions for the cabin and the coordinates. After a couple of hours on two iPads viewing the location on Google street view and satellite we found the cabin pretty easily. But we have no idea how to get to it. There is no visible road. When we arrive it will be dark. Whatever time that is. But we're hoping it's not very-cloudy dark (with no moonlight). Or we will be tramping up hills and through woods with our iPhone torches. Stu is, of course, super excited about this prospect. And no wifi just means we can't sync Candy Crush. Anyway - I have pins and needles now - I need to get up off the floor. Happy new day. P.s. Here's a photo of Stu doing ballet. |
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November 2022
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