AndyBlog

Not easy...

I struggled to get it from the shelf, and couldn't even open the packet.

A winter's tale

So, I took this picture when the snow first fell. I was sure I would have a tale to tell about it. Maybe something enjoyable to say that would entertain you, or even inspire you - but, alas, not a thing.

My mind is full of whirling tangents and fragmented thoughts, some of them nice, most of them weird and slightly troubling. Certainly nothing firm enough to write here.

So I would invite you to simply look at the simple beauty of the snow and enjoy that for the splendour it is.

Maybe you'd care to observe the lovely little SOLD sign on our sale board. I like that little fellow, even though it does mean a lot of hassle.

The forecast tells me that we shall experience much more tomorrow, but followed immediately by rain as it all warms back up. Does anyone truly like slush?

Selling the organ

We were kindly given a Lowry organ a few years ago, when an acquaintance upgraded to something better.

Because of my leg issues, I have never been able to manage all the facets of the organ properly, and like most piano players, have little ability to play the organ well in any case. Owning this beast for a while has taught me this lesson more thoroughly.

So, aside from taking pictures to sell the organ, I decided to record me playing it - only I can't do the pedals and play the top lines as well. So Fiona did the pedals and I did the two keyboards.

It almost sounded as though it could be good....... but it wasn't.

Click HERE to hear, or just update your Podcast feed.

Enjoy.

Xmas Song

Happy Christmas to you, yet again.

I'm hoping that you'll be sad clever enough to log on during Christmas Day to find this.

I have written a pretty little Xmas tune to share with you. The only trouble is that it is not quite finished, but the session flautist cannot make it here till Thursday. So, I offer you this work with a synth flute, and promise to update you with the final version when it is ready.

Alas! it does not have a name. I wonder, can any of you suggest a fitting name that is neither filthy, tasteless, complete gibberish or illegal?

I seriously doubt it, but please do suggest anyway.

I hope you enjoy the tune.

The Christmas Tune I composed for you is HERE.

You can click the audio file and just listen to it, or right-click and download it to disk as you would any MP3 file.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Here are the instructions again if you want to take audio feeds from this blog as a podcast:

Here's what you do in iTunes:

1) Go to the ADVANCED menu and select “Subscribe to Podcast”.

2) In the box that appears, paste this URL:

http://adlib.blogs.com/andyblog/rss.xml

3) Click OK, and you'll see my Podcast appear in your list, together with any un-listened-to episodes.

4) The most recent file should download automatically, but you won't be able to listen to it till it is fully downloaded. It may take a little while.

5) Any previous episodes can be retrieved by clicking on the “GET” button.

Christmas Greeting

Please click the picture for the full effect

I need to write a few words about Christmas to accompany this card. If I forgot your name on the credits, my apologies. I am bound to have forgotten some obvious ones, but the thought was there. I do apologise if you consider yourself a star reader of my blog and yet were not mentioned.

I don't really have a Christmas message for everyone, but I would like to pass on a Christmas wish that we all enjoy a more peaceful time in the coming year.

Thanks for a great blogging year, folks.

Quick, post something funny...

There, that should do it.

Divorce Update

Yep. Fiona and myself are still getting divorced.

I haven't harped on about it here, but maybe it is time for a bit of an update. Our papers went in some time ago, so we expect to have a date for the first decree. When we receive the first decree, we need to wait six weeks and one day, and then we can ask for the second, and final, decree.

No, there are not three decrees.

This will then leave us both free and available to get married. I was very cheered to see that people who are not heterosexual now have an opportunity to register their partnerships and have a meaningful marriage ceremony. I have long thought it to be a real injustice that gay partnerships had no legal status whatsoever, and I am glad that the powers that be had the good sense to fix it.

So, how am I feeling?

Pretty crap, actually. I sense the same in Fiona. There is a huge amount of sadness involved in leaving behind what has, for the most part, been a happy marriage between two people who have genuine love and positive feelings for each other.

Nevertheless, this house is now sold, and the new couple are keen to move in. I don't blame them for that, because Griffin House is a great place to live, and I shall miss it a huge amount. The sheer size of the place makes it fun to be in. It's easy to be out of the way here, noise is rarely an issue. When I need real peace away from the phone, I don't have to go out, I just go up to the attic and sit in a terrible old chair that happens to be incredibly comfy.

Now, I have to consider how best way to tear that chair to pieces. It's kinda symbolic, but not symbolic enough to prevent the massive amount of work required to box everything up ready for the move.

We have to do the dreaded apportioning of stuff. I have already printed the “Fiona” and “Andy” labels. The move itself will be into storage for me, but Fiona stands a good chance of having her house bought in time to synchronise the moves.

So, with my stuff in storage, where will I go? I actually have little choice. I could try and rent a place in NBTS for a while, but I'm not sure I fancy that lonely existence. I have made my life choice to be with TL, and so it seems sensible that I move in with her for a while in Huddersfield, prior to moving to NBTS when Liz's house is sold.

There more perceptive amongst you will therefore realise that I will be around to pack that house up too. Doubtless TL will be upset to be leaving her snug cottage after four years, too. Her and her C3 D2 B1 (or whatever) have lived there since she bought it, so it is very much their house. I will feel like quite the impostor, at least for a while.

So, as you can see, I have a fairly complete picture of what will be happening in my life.  It must all sound very cut and dried. I assure you that little could be further from the truth - certainly in terms of how I feel.

Surely, when the changes start to kick in for real it will be better. One thought I had was this: Maybe I cannot proceed to truly grieve for my marriage until I have completely left it behind.

I'll let you know.

Test PODCast

OK, here goes with a test for the Podcast system on Typepad.

Let's start with an audio file: It's HERE.

So, here's the thing. You can click that audio file and listen to it as an MP3, or just right-click and download it as you would any MP3 file.

BUT - and it's a big butt, you can also subscribe to the Podcast feed from this Blog. Subscribing in iTunes means that you can automatically have the episodes sent to you as they come out. You can also set them to synchronise with your iPOD so that you can listen to me where you go.

So far so good.

Here's what you do in iTunes:

1) Go to the ADVANCED menu and select “Subscribe to Podcast”.

2) In the box that appears, paste this URL:

http://adlib.blogs.com/andyblog/rss.xml

3) Click OK, and you'll see my Podcast appear in your list, together with any un-listened-to episodes.

4) It should download the test file, but you will need to wait till it is fully downloaded before you can listen. It's downloading from my personal server in the shack here, so it might be quite slow...

OK, let's see if it works!

Southpark - The Build Yourself

OK, so I went to Frank's blog...

...and then visited the Southpark site...
...and created this monster.

Is it me?

Vagueness

Sometimes I am fairly vague about some things. I think this is pretty OK, for some nice reasons. It is interesting to me to see that other people are also vague.

Looks like a North Shields number...

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