Hippy

"I've come to know that memories are the best things you'll ever have.*"

Tonight, sitting here on the balcony, a couple of beers to the good and a vodka and lemonade by my side, I'm shrouded in darkness and watching the steady Turkish stars, whilst listening to Ben Howard's album 'Every Kingdom', via some rather good knock-off headphones from the market. My hippy credentials are finding their voice. 

It speaks to me metaphorically of my teenage world (hot sand on toes/cold sand in sleeping bags**).

It hints at the hard times (this apathy you feel/makes a fool of us all***)

It speaks to me of redemption (I saw a friend the other day/ he said that my eyes were gleaming"****).

It speaks to me about the beautiful life and fantastic wife I have now (you give me shelter/you show me heart"*****)

It's a musical masterpiece that seems to chart my time on the planet to date. I'm sure Ben is currently working on That Difficult Second Album and wondering why it's turning out so relentlessly cheery.

And tomorrow the stars will still be here, my glass will be empty and my head will ache. And all will be right in the world. 

NDC

* & ** - Old Pine

*** - The Fear

**** -  Keep Your Head Up

***** - OnlyLove

Surfacing

I've been on a bit of an unintentional sabbatical from my blog over the last few months. family stuff, house buying and work stuff have all conspired to make me feel, on regular occasions, that I have been at the very epicentre of an explosion in the WTF factory and as a consequence I haven't really be posting much.

However, I think things may have turned the corner. Yesterday we (hopefully) agreed a completion date for our new home and  today is a gloriously sunny day. Even though at this moment I am sitting at my new desk in the office*, I know that tomorrow Mrs A and I will be heading North for a long weekend seeing friends and generally whooping it up. This makes me very cheerful indeed. I am aware that after today there may be little more sunshine to be seen until next week but to be honest I expect that the we will be mostly observing the weather through the window of coffee shops/galleries/cafes/restaurants or pubs.

I may even take a photograph or two.

NDC

* - It's a fancy corner desk by the windows, some have said the best seat in office. Guess who was drafted in to do some work when the bigwigs decided to rejig the seating plan on our floor.