Who’s on top?

I missed this weekend. Well, from a ‘keep my pact with Gareth and update this damn blog everyday’ point of view. From a ‘have some fun, see some mates and kick some ass on the squash court’ point of view, I’m doing just fine baby.

So it was Superbowl Sunday yesterday. We had a great day. Scotland sucked and lost to France in the 6 Nations, but that was really the only blight. I won at poker (well, this could be contested. It was down to me and Mitchell and I was smoking his ace (edit. I meant ass). Gman came into the flat so, in order to finish the game, I put a massive bet down on a pair of fours. I wouldn’t do that, normally. So morally, although we drew, I win), and the Saints beat the Colts in the Superbowl.

Friday night was excellent. I went ’round to G’s house and we got caught up on all the goings on with my former social group. It’s funny how quickly people can become part of a ‘former’ friend group, but also interesting how easy it is to slip back into a conversation. I guess when you know people that well….

Saturday was also ace. Hazel and Chris had me(Sue and her odd ballooning friend, Iain and his son Tim) over for dinner. They have a new table tennis table in the garage and I can attest to the fact that whisky + table tennis = hilarity.

So no grief about missing two days of shitty writing. I have fun to do.

-j

It’s a fault of mine. I can’t help it. Regardless of what state of mind I’m in, I have a distinct lake of filter between those feelings and my facial expressions. Happy Jordan is obviously happy. Angry Jordan looks really fucking annoyed. I have got to do something to develop a filter.

Last night was a good example. I attended a networking function at Hawke & Hunter. It was started up by H&H and my mate Craig McKenna. It was a nice night, overall. Pretty relaxed atmosphere. Having said that, the food was pretty bad and the speakers were more of a distraction than a help. But I like the idea and I think they’ll get better at it.

At one point Craig introduced me to a chap from Scottish Enterprise. We’re doing more and more business with high-growth companies, so Craig thought we could have a productive discussion. What a mistake. The guy was actually a complete and perfect example of a government employed tosser. I’m really glad we pay his salary.

My point, of course, is that I had trouble concealing my annoyance. I finally left. And left the event entirely.

This parallels my state of mind on the squash court. If I get down on myself, I can’t stop from getting further down. I can’t seem to let things slide off my back.

But I have to learn. So I’m starting today.

-j

I love morning meetings. Most weeks I have an early morning (networking) meeting on Wednesday and Thursday. I love them. Get up early, get out and get started…it sets me up for a productive and focussed day.

When I was doing my masters, I did most of my work and night. I would normally be in my office at the university until about 02:30 or so. For some reason it seemed easier to do creative work in the soft light of a lamp, rather than the harsh bright light of day. When I switched to my PhD, I started doing more and more focussed writing in the morning.

The night time is for day-dreaming (huh?). I can let my mind wander. Think of the new thing, try what I haven’t tried before.

The day time is getting it done. You know what you want and you do it. Write hard. Write fast.

If there is anything I miss about being in the university, it’s the evening sessions in my office. I miss pacing around turning over music in my head. I miss doing my ‘rocky’ air-punching when I came up with a new idea.

But mornings have stayed the same – take an idea and get it done.

And on that note, I’m off to write.

-j

It’s not as bad as it sounds.

It was a long fucking day, and I’m not sure why. My patience at work this afternoon was really really low, and yet we got a lot accomplished. I think I may have been acting really bitchy as well.

On the plus side, I can now draw a picture of a boy peeing into the wind without getting ejected from an art show.

So yeah, you just miss some things more.

-j

I’m optimistic. Who would have thought I could last more than 6 hours keeping this pledge? It doesn’t hurt that most of the time has been in bed, but who is counting?

Woke up this morning to a FB message from an old Uni friend – apparently Raymond Monelle isn’t in the best of health right now. I liked Raymond (still do). He has a wonderful sense of humour, an encyclopaedic knowledge of music, and is hysterical when slightly tipsy (playing the piano at staff parties).

He and I taught first year Music Analysis for a couple of years together. It was a lot of fun (plus I got to give someone a 0 for blatant, and excessive, plagiarism).

Keep going my man (how are the horses?)….

-j

Well this may not work. I’ll say that up front. Conversations should never lead to promises, particularly when they have involved a certain Gareth Thomas.

I’m going to try to write some sort of update ever day. Some may be good, some may be bad. Some may make sense. Some may not.

Today was good. Good business development meetings, a good lunch and a cracking good squash match with mr Robertson.

Update on injuries:
Back
Right knee
Right thigh
Both feet
Right wrist

I need some deep heat.

Night

-j

Good concert on Friday night. Dialogues has been putting on a good show this year. Before the concert I met up with the Edimprov group for a bit of free improvisation. The lineup was eclectic, to say the least:

Soprano Sax
Alto Sax
Piano
Double Bass
Violin
Harp (no shit)
Drums/Percussion
Random Stuff
Guitar
Electric Bass

A fun wee session.

I’ve been working on some sketches, and am actually going to be putting down notes on paper soon (gasp) I’ve never been a particularly fast writer. I like to play around with a concept for a long while and get it firmed up in my mind before I put anything solid down on paper.

Plus I have been sketching another work out. This is not a saxophone for alto sax & computers. I’ll need a collaboration, so I guess Mr Edwards is due a pint or two

-j

Found this on the internet. Hysterically funny:

Funny as fuck!

- j

Right, I’ve got a first date on Sunday. We’re going to the Zoo. Don’t laugh at that, I’m actually really excited about that. The zoo is a terrific place to go to and it strikes me as a pretty good date location. To be fair, that’s from first-hand experience.

It did get me thinking, though. Do favourite animals point you towards character traits? My favourite place in the zoo is the Gorilla Hut, and my favourite animals are the penguins. But surely everyone likes penguins. How the fuck can you not like penguins?

If she shows up and her favourite animal is a cougar, should I be worried?

-j

It’s been an interesting six years.

A while back, I made the decision to leave music behind. It wasn’t an easy decision. For as long as I can remember music has always been a passion of mine, as well as being something I’m good at. I’ve always played. Guitar, Sax, Drums, Clarinet…whatever it was it was a pure pleasure to just play live music with other people.

The PhD almost killed me off, musically. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s a sign of aesthetic weakness or a small amount of will on my part, but at some point I just lost the pure love of music. I lost the love of being engaged in it every day. I stopped playing. I stopped writing. I stopped listening.

I’m back. Sort of. I guess I should say I’m coming back…or maybe I’m really going forward.

Over the last couple of months I’ve been thinking about music again. I’ve started working on some pieces…I’ve started playing some ideas around in my head.

Last night was the big kicker. I played the old Mark VI again for about 30 minutes. Basic free-improvisation with Michael. I didn’t play very well. I couldn’t play for more than thirty minutes as my lips were too sore. But I had a lot of fun just playing and listening. Just finding sounds I liked and fitting in with Michael’s playing.

It felt good.

So I’m working on some new ideas and I actually have a real desire to finish some pieces and start new ones. I also have a huge desire to just play. I dont’ care what. Just play.

So thanks Mike.

-j