Small update

Life is getting busier by the minute at the moment and every time I sit down to write something to update everyone something else seems to come along. I’m not complaining (well, yes I am a little), I just want everything to slow down just a little bit.

Went to see St. Matthew’s Passion at the Halle – yes, this was in fact before Maelstrom but I’ve only just gotten around to mentioning it. Was absolutely superb but a completely draining experience emotionally. The finale remains one of the most uplifting pieces of music I’ve heard but coming after three hours of increasing depression can be a little overwhelming. Managed to snag tickets today for Into The Little Hill, an update of the Pied Piper story commisioned for the Liverpool ’08 festival. Need to sort something for May in order to mainatin my New Years Resolution of seeing something cultural at leats once a month – I think Opera North have a new season by then. Glyndebourne have announced their season so just need to sort out where and when now and then November’s sorted.

New car. Less than a fortnight old and already 2,500 miles on the clock – all work related. Rediscovered the joys of driving on Monday courtesy of the Brecon Valley, glorious sunshine on a spring evening and Ride of the Valkyrie. Didn’t go too fast…the closure of the M4 out of Newport meant that I had to look for an alternative means of getting home and this was one of those fortunate little moments. Note: I don’t exist purely on a musical diet of Wagner, but the new iPod doesn’t have the annoying habit of putting a break between each track which means I’m now appreciating it without the sudden sto…

New iPod is fab, I’m now back to carrying all my music along with a large selection of photos. Why didn’t I change earlier?

Wedding last weekend. Yes, I had tears in my eyes – it was a wedding, what do you expect? Vows were lovely and everyone seemed to have a good time (especially the bride & groom – most important that). Day after in York was nice, very impressed by their parking system. Lovely afternoon tea at Betty’s (?) – God I’m becoming increasingly old – as a wind down before getting caught in Leeds / Sheffield traffic on the way home. Tried to remain awake for a while after I got home but failed miserably. Need to start managing sleep better.

Party on Saturday. Felt that chilli was a success, need to work on the beef in guiness. Trying to figure out when I can host a BBQ to try out some more summer-centric recipes. After thirty years I’m finally beginning to enjoy cooking, need to start work on expanding into desserts to complete meals. Wonderful to catch up with everyone as usual. Sunday drove down to Cardiff and was mistaken for wino in M&S, not an uplifting experience.

And that’s about it. Down to Oxford tonight ahead of a meeting tomorrow and then another hectic weekend beckons.