A mess of nerves

Hello, people-who-follow-what-I-do-on-the-internet (or, as I like to call you, "folks").

I am getting the impression that there might be an extra handful of you this week, owing to a certain glass-bead-making magician lady who gave me a shout-out on the Twitter and turned my weekend from an okay one into a lovely one.  I had recently uploaded my new YouTube video which gave her a mention (and if you want to find out who, watch Episode Five of my "Speaks To The Internet" series, shown below.  I know - me so crafty...)  There was I, food-shopping in a petrol station/miniature supermarket at half past three in the afternoon, when suddenly a barrage of lovely tweets kicked their way onto my phone, from people saying hello & announcing their intention to give me a follow on the say-so of my friend.  I am not too proud to say I got a little teary-eyed and had to pretend that I was allergic to microwaveable party food (I was standing next to the freezers) before gathering my wits & buying an extra packet of biscuits.

But I am not here simply to tell you that I cry in miniature supermarkets - that would be folly!  I am also here to tell you of my baffling apathy.  Well, it's not apathy as such, more lacking in time.  I am finding that there are not enough hours in the day, and by the time I have eaten dinner, it is practically too late to start rattling round the house, making loud noises and upsetting the neighbours.  For this reason alone, I am looking forward to getting the last "Speaks To The Internet" out of the way, because I will then spend a few weekends getting songs made and experimenting and the like.  The only song I have had chance to play with has been Sea Glass, and I'm very pleased with the results there, so the potential for other songs is rather exciting.

And I think the thing I am rather excited about is that I feel ready to tinker with at least a dozen songs!  There was a point when I was writing a lot, and didn't feel quite ready, as a result, to record.  I don't know how regular this is for any other musicians among you, but I think I am either in a writing frame of mind, or recording.  I have very prolific periods when I am writing songs, and then it's as if it turns off  in order to tell me to get cracking on recording all of them.  This is all well and good, but when time becomes something you don't have a great deal of, that urge to record becomes as much of a curse as it does a blessing, so, as I say, once I get my last YouTube episode done, I will get cracking on my demoes again.

I'll be honest with you, as I know that you're all imagining me with my customary cup of tea whilst typing this at you, I am sans cuppa.  I KNOW.  It has been a day where I felt myself atrophying in my day-to-day surroundings, and after I had dinner I felt the need to at least play through one or two songs, whereupon the time slipped to 10.30pm and yawns were happening.  I am due an early night or two, so here I am typing in bed.

What else is going on?  Well, I go on a holiday with my family on Friday.  We haven't all been on a family holiday for years, and my 7-month-old nephew is coming too, so it's going to be a lovely week.  Also, Friday is the deadline day for entries to the Nerina Pallot support slot competition, so I might be a mess of nerves by then.  I have mentioned it a fair bit, I know, and it is funny because directly after uploading my entry for it, I was anxiety personified.  I had levelled off a bit in the intervening couple of weeks, but I noticed today that I am once again on tenterhooks, trying not to focus on a) What could happen if I win, and b) What could happen if I lose.  I am not expecting to win, I have seen some of the entries and they are superb, but it's fun having submitting something & I can't tell you how much I would love the chance to do this.

The radio appearance I mentioned last time is still on - an interview & three songs at Moorlands Radio, Monday 26th September GMT, 7pm - 10pm.  You can tune in on 103.7FM or log onto http://www.moorlandsradio.co.uk/ to listen live, and if you want to find the Facebook page and send them messages or questions for them to ask me, the page is here, so go for it.

That's all the business & waffle dealt with, I think.  If you are new to my internet doings, welcome - please don't hesitate to join in & comment, be it here, Twitter, YouTube or Facebook.  I welcome interaction so long as you're not impolite or offensive, so if you like what I do, don't be shy in saying.  I wouldn't feel able to do any of this if no-one was paying attention or shouting encouragement!

There will be more blog soon, in the meantime - see you when the next YouTube video comes out!

Lots of love,
John,.xxx