Yorkie bar(s)

When you find yourself in a bar or restaurant talking about everything from the Southern Freeez, Bruce Springsteen and Shed 7 to the perils of snoring, the loudest gig you've ever been to, terrifying Public Information films from our childhood and how you file your music collection as well as the joys of mashed potato and the cut of David Bowie's trousers, you know you've fallen in with the right crowd...

And so it was that I recently found myself doing exactly that in the esteemed company of fellow bloggers Alyson, Charity Chic (and Mrs CC), John Medd  (and Mrs M) and The Swede - all of whom I'd had the great pleasure of seeing at our first "mini meet-up" in Edinburgh* a year ago, but this time we convened a little further South in York.  It's a city I'd never before visited and one I'd definitely like to return to as it was something of a whirlwind trip this time, but I'm just glad to have made it. It was actually bit of a test for me too; earlier in the year, hard as it seems to imagine now, I couldn't even envisage coping with staying away from home and the sensory overload of such an event, so I'm glad to say that although things are sapping my concentration a little, I've now reached the point where I can push past it enough of the time.  And I'm determined to keep doing so!  I know I wasn't alone in having some background concerns on this occasion either, and very much hope that the trip provided as much of an uplifting break for others too.

But anyway, back to the point, York was lovely and the company was even lovelier.  My memories are awash with (amongst much else) random snippets of the very small but perfectly formed Blue Bell pub, a certain blogger's delightfully dapper hat, a charming multi-tasking bus tour guide, the unexpected views onto houses from the Medieval walls and the most enormous Calzone you've ever seen in the most welcoming Italian restaurant you could go to - all mingled with smiles, seamless conversation, good food, drink and laughter.   As I've said before about blogging, it's a fantastic example of  how geographically distant strangers can form connections and have that sense of understanding and camaraderie, all just stemming from what we've expressed in our pages.  I haven't been very good at keeping up with that side of things lately but it hasn't seemed to have mattered, so here's a huge thank you to all.  I have indeed fallen in with the right crowd.

Perhaps in future, depending on whereabouts in the country we end up, others can swing by too?

Loved this font on a building viewed from a section of the city walls

and this gorgeous beetle art around the corner from the hotel

*minus Martin who unfortunately couldn't make it this year

8

Blimey, sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted anything.  Funnily enough it’s not due to too much work – pretty much the opposite really.  For the first time in years I’ve had some lovely time away from frantic deadlines and tight briefs (oo er missus) and as a result I’ve dropped into a lower gear.  A much lower gear in fact; I’m so chilled I’m practically going backwards. 

So I’ve been making the most of it while it lasts.  It’s given me the time and mental space to try to reprogramme myself creatively, somehow, and chance to revisit some of my own projects which had long been abandoned.   Trying to free myself up in this way has been a slow process - a sort of reboot - and not as easy as I thought, but I feel great for doing it.  Just look at all those "re"s in those last few lines: reprogramme/revisit/reboot - I think that says it all.  And I can’t stop walking, I’m walking miles.  Ever so slightly obsessed. Packing as much in as I can before work all kicks off again and I get rooted to the spot.

Anyway, enough of all that, that was just to explain why I’ve not been very productive here lately, as being elsewhere in my head with all those "re" things means I haven’t felt quite so much of a need, if that makes sense.  However, I felt I had to write something quickly this afternoon because this blog is celebrating a birthday today!   It’s 8 years old, which I find kind of shocking; it means I’ve been blogging for more years than I was in secondary education!  Quite a scary thought, but nice too.  I’ve loved being able to come here for a multitude of reasons, mainly to have a personal place away from everything else, a platform to indulge in whatever takes my fancy. Being able to rabbit on about things that might not necessarily crop up in a general conversation, and not worry that I’m going to be met with weird looks (well, at least I can’t see them).  I always wanted it to be an undefined place with no confines, never knowing or planning what I'm going to write about next, so it's very freeing.  Plus  I’ve been really lucky to find myself among the loveliest fellow bloggers and commenters who just seem to get it and how brilliant is that? - honestly, I couldn’t wish for more here in this online world.  So, huge thanks to you!

Help yourself to cake! x

My FCV

I'm immensely honoured to contribute to a post on someone else's very fine blog today (thank you, Martin), in which I fantasise about what would happen if a Mod hero was on the receiving end of a little feminine touch down amid the tangled trees.  Well, erm, something sort of like that....

To find out more, please click here and take a look (and a listen).

That's all!

A wild wood

A new amusement

I don’t like football so the idea of a fantasy football league doesn’t mean a thing, but ‘fantasy cover versions’?  Love it.  Thanks to Martin at the excellent blog New Amusements, I’ve been ruminating over ideas for these all week…    Please take a look at his introductory post to see what it’s all about and his first suggestion - anyone can join in.

I’ve picked something I’d love to hear covered by an artist I particularly admire, which is due to feature on New Amusements  next week.  And Rol from the brilliant My Top Ten has come up with something  truly inspired. 

It’s become a talking point here at SDS Towers too.  Mr SDS suggested he’d like to hear Kacey Musgraves singing Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Landslide’ (imagining it sounding similar to the great Dixie Chicks’ version) – but on looking it up he found a live version she’d done with Lady Antebellum, so it wouldn’t really count (it has to be true fantasy!)  Would still like to hear a studio version, though (so, if you're reading this, Kacey?!)  He was also reminded of a colleague from years ago who’d once said he fancied hearing Nirvana tackling the La’s ‘There She Goes’.     I can imagine that too, stretching Kurt’s voice nicely and perhaps delivered in the manner of the MTV Unplugged sessions.  See - once you start thinking about it….  

Please go drop Martin a line via his blog if you fantasise about such things too.   I'd love to see more.

Dear Mr Fantasy, play us a tune

Something to make us all happy
Do anything, take us out of this gloom
Sing a song, play guitar, make it snappy

(One for Paul Weller to cover, perhaps?!)

Mental block

Oh dear, this is odd, I seem to have lost the ability to write a blog post.   Even typing this feels like an upward struggle and I’m not sure why but, of course, the more I think about it the harder it gets. I’m thinking about it far too much now, I know, aargh.   Can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried and then scrapped an idea . How many times I’ve backspaced - even now when I’m writing about it – I mean, I just backspaced there without anyone knowing and took half the original sentence out.  There have been those paragraphs I’ve composed in my head in that sort of stream of consciousness way when I’m doing the washing up or brushing my teeth which seem to make sense – “Yes!” I think, “quick, write it down! ("Yes, when I've dried my hands!") but then when I try, the words just won’t co-operate.

So really, just to say – after a disproportionate amount of time and effort to even string this much together - that I’m still here and all is fine but I’ve come up against a bit of a block at the moment when it comes to blogging.  As soon as I can kick it out of the way, I’ll try again.  Sort of hoping that just saying this will be a start. 

Fuck that backspace and....  

...Publish!

Orange Juice: Rip It Up

Six!

An artist's impression of a mojo

Mojos come and mojos go.  Mine seems to go missing with alarming frequency and I’m sure that somewhere out there a mountain rises up, stacked high with all the ones we have lost, rotating at different speeds, their multiple colours mingling in a psychedelic whirl.  (That's how I see mojos, but I may be confusing them with yoyos.)

I’m full of admiration for those many dedicated bloggers who keep hold of theirs and come up with something new every day; I know it’s no mean feat and not something I could do.  That said, this blog has somehow managed to make it to six years old today (and more than 450 posts!)  How did that happen?!

When it was just a mere baby (on its first birthday) I posted…

‘I had no idea quite what I was doing when I tentatively chose my template, figured out something to do with widgets, typed my first post and, with my heart in my mouth, clicked on ‘publish’. 

I don’t think that much has changed, I still have no idea quite what I’m doing - but I like doing it whenever I can.  And to everyone who’s ever taken the trouble to have a look/read/listen, especially if you’re still doing so and have been kind enough to comment, a very big thank you - I really appreciate it!

x

PS Today's birthday jamboree bag contains some things on the theme of six:

Sneaker Pimps: Six Underground

A Six Spot Burnet moth

The Prisoner: Number 6 badge

Detail from my beetle print blouse
(seeing as they're six-legged...)

Remember this?

6 is a 'perfect number', mathematically, 
because when you add up all the number's divisors
(a number by which it can be divided without leaving a remainder)
it equals the number itself.
I.e. 6 can be divided by 1, 2 and 3.
1 + 2 + 3 = 6.
Perfect numbers are rare. 

(Any mention of maths on these pages is also rare)

Bit on the side

I'm putting together another blog, as a kind of side-dish to this one.  All the same posts have been, or will be, on here, so for some it may be a repetition - it's just that the other new one will be like a specifically edited version of Sun Dried Sparrows.

It'll focus on the theme of growing up and the past, with a leaning towards (but not exclusively) my musical experiences.  So - no birds, no outpourings about families, no spiders or snails, no mention of my current work or art or country walks, etc.   However, there may well be reference to '70s childhood summers and the rite of passage into punk...

I'm getting it up and running with just a couple of posts at a time and intend to add more each week, so if you haven't read them here before, please feel free to visit www.goldfinchwithattitude.blogspot.com

Blocked

I seem to have a case of writer's block. Think I need the cerebral equivalent of Dyno-Rod to come and plunge my proverbial (verbal, even) pipes. Ideas for things to write about are floating about: the dead mouse, horsehair weaving, deep sea divers, recent forays into Northern Soul and a teenage pregnancy scare, with a bit of music thrown in if possible (I even had Deadmau5 lined up for the first topic, but have yet to decide what could accompany horsehair weaving).  Unfortunately that's all they're doing, though - floating. Maybe I will manage to flush them through at some point but right now I can't seem to.

So, in the meantime, please have a look at some pictures! I found these two ancient 'How To Draw' books in a charity shop. How could I resist?

Drawing Children by Victor Pérard, 1945

Drawing Animals by Victor Pérard, 1951

Here are some of the inside pages...very anachronistic:

I love this guide to facial expressions in particular:

There's even a picture of Buster Bloodvessel...

 but I can't quite bring myself to include Lip Up Fatty as a soundtrack today.

Talent!

Happy New Year!

I love looking at everyone's blogs and being presented with such a wealth of talent.   There is just so much great art, music, writing, comedy and photography, both from bloggers and from others whose work is showcased within, a lot of which I'd never know about if I hadn't met you all in Blogworld.

Recently, the lovely and talented fellow blogger Yve over at Nightshade Dolls has been working hard on a unique collaborative project, 'Cult Of Doll' and a preview of it in the form of a Mini Almanac is available to peruse online for the first time today.

With its stunning design, beautiful illustrations and a delicious air of gothic mystery it gives a little introductory taster of some fantastical tales dreamed up by the 'one of a kind' doll and figurative artists involved to accompany and complement their creations.

Here's the delightful poster for it

and here's the link .  Just click on View to see the contents. I'm looking forward to further developments.

On easiness, blogging and a missing song

There's a line from a song I used to have, and I can't find the track nor remember the title but this tiny fragment of a lyric sticks in my mind:

  “???? girl, at ease in this world...”

Without wishing to sound wilfully obscure I think it was off the Someloves cassette that I had years ago. I didn't know of this Australian power pop band (who've made an appearance on this blog before, here) until a good friend recorded some tracks for me in the '80s, but later when I'd saved up enough to visit Australia I bought the album there.  It was the only musical souvenir I came back with (I didn't get a didgeridoo) and I played it incessantly for a period. And then for some mad reason I gave it away...

All that's beside the point, though - the point is that lyric. It stayed in my mind 'cause every time I heard that line I smiled and thought, “Yes! That's what I want to be...at ease in this world.” I'd have this vision in my head of a new improved version of me, the me I aspired to be. 'At ease in this world' means at ease with oneself, I think. Isn't that the ultimate, just to feel like that? Don't most of our problems stem from lacking a sense of self...  self-esteem, self-confidence, self-worth?

Whilst there's loads about the tangible world I'm very uneasy with - the usual big issues like war (what is it good for) - I think I'm as at ease with myself now as I'll ever be, if it's about knowing and accepting yourself, shortcomings and all.  Must be an age thing!  No matter who accompanies us physically and partly shapes our experiences and personalities throughout life, we're still completely alone in ourselves, aren't we? - so it does help to be comfortable with the one and only person you spend your entire existence with...

This reminds me, I was talking to someone the other day who had a little bit of a snipe at blogging. (But please don't slag them off, I love them!) Their impression of blogging is that it's too full of people being navel-gazing or nostalgic, that it's really just the worst kind of vanity publishing and that it's pointless just posting music and pictures. I quickly sprang to its defence, naturally. I spend a lot of time working alone and whilst very happy in my own company, blogs help to remind me that there are so many interesting people and so much good writing, art and music that I mightn't come across otherwise (you can find some down the right hand side).  I miss real-life banter and stimulating debates with different people, so it's like my coffee machine conversation, a lunchtime mag or music rag, it's meetings of minds, sharing of memories, and trips to the gigs, libraries or galleries that I don't get to see.  Plus when I'm working I find I have random conversations with myself (but don't worry, not out loud), then as I've nobody new to discuss my thoughts with at the time I keep them 'til later, when I might write a post. Or leave a comment. The interactive side of blogging is a great bonus, an affirmation that there are others at the end of an internet connection with whom I feel at ease and I hope they - you - are at ease with me too.

Anyway I can't find the bloody song anywhere although I've searched lyrics sites and Youtube clips. Oh god, what if I imagined it all?!  Too much time on my own, navel-gazing.

Break in transmission...

Yeah, I know, I know!  I've been gone ages - and I only nipped out for a portion of chips (a large one, since you ask - salt, vinegar but no mushy peas).  Time flies.  And I'm sorry I've not been visiting others as much I would like to lately either.

I lost my blogging hat while I was out - but it must be around somewhere, so I'll keep looking.  In the meantime, however, here's a photo of Justin Hayward and Ian Gillan in a 1960s fashion shoot.  I just wish it was in colour!  I suspect there's some deep purple in there somewhere and maybe a moody blue too...

Down at the Doctors...

No time to post more at the moment but the lovely folks over at the excellent music blog, Tune Doctor, recently asked if I'd contribute a little guest piece for their 'Tracks of the Year' series.   I was honoured (thank you!) - although I confess my listening choices have been rather behind the times these last twelve months.  It made me realise just how bad I've been at keeping up and how hard I am to impress these days!

Anyway, if you're interested please pop over there and have a listen.  Any thoughts you may have of me snarling along to the Pistols this year may be dashed, though...

Today's fish and chip paper

I can finally stop checking The Sun every day, just in time to prevent any permanent facial damage being caused by my repeated gawping at what passes for news…  Phew, what a torture!

This is the (utterly pointless) feature I mentioned recently to which I 'could' have contributed. (Told you it would be a let-down!)   

Just in case you’re vaguely curious, it was thanks to this original post which had been spotted by a journalist.  She sent an invitation to take part in a photoshoot with other women, where we'd have to wear an item of clothing that we had once bought and then really regretted wearing, and provide a background story. I had no idea how many people were participating, or how much detail they'd want, so it was quite amusing... However, my closet is so small I don’t have room to keep those kind of sartorial skeletons and, thankfully, they’ve all gone, long ago.  (And as I don’t regret my leopard-print coat or my newly bought creepers, they don’t count…)

I made the right decision not to do it, didn’t I?   Plus there are so many much more interesting things to read about, after all.  I mean….‘Kim Kardashian defies gravity in low-cut top and no bra in Miami’….   Fascinating.

A clichéd college project take on tabloid papers

 from (aarghh) 30 years ago - nothing much changes...

Tomorrow's fish and chip paper

A funny thing has just happened to me and all because of this blog.  It’s mad.  Thanks to a post I wrote last year, I’ve received an invitation to go to London and be photographed (aarghh!) for a feature in one of the national papers!   Whaaat???!!!  I told you it was mad – but it’s true!  And not only will they pay all expenses but they'll pay a nice little fee as well.  After checking it all out I know it's genuine; I should also add that it wouldn't just be me.

I won't go into detail here as the paper is yet to run it (I'll be looking out for it online when it does and may update this then – meanwhile, sorry to sound so mysterious!) but the thing is, it presented me with an unexpected moral dilemma.  What would you do?

Would you give up a few hours of your life to do something totally different from anything you’ve ever done before AND get paid for it?  (Especially if you’re skint?!)

Would you be willing to take part in a professional photoshoot for a very well-known publication?  Yep, a  'photoshoot'...! *

Sounds quite exciting so far, perhaps…?

…But would you do it for one of our major tabloid newspapers (I won’t say which one although you can find a clue in the name of this blog…) even though you absolutely hate what they’re about?

As it happens, I had to decline for a practical reason, but I still thought about it... and was wondering what the experience would be like... and I still am...and I have to confess that a little, devilish, secret exhibitionist part of me wishes in a way that I could embrace it, in spite of my shyness and my dislike of being photographed.  Simply because it’s just not the sort of thing that happens every day.  Oh and the money… let’s not forget the money.   So perhaps it was just as well that another factor made the decision for me and I didn’t have to wrestle with my conscience or my paradox any further. 

Whatever contempt I have for the newspaper in question, though, I have to admit, it was nice to be asked!

You just never know who might be reading your blog….

  

* Fully clothed, I hasten to add.

The update to this post can be found here

One year of miscellany

Ooh!  Today Sun Dried Sparrows is a year old.  I had no idea quite what I was doing when I tentatively chose my template, figured out something to do with widgets, typed my first post and, with my heart in my mouth, clicked on ‘publish’.  It felt a bit odd writing to nobody in particular (although not always!) and at the same time knowing that anybody in the world could read my gabbling prose.  I didn’t really expect to keep it going for any length of time, or that anyone else would even have a look.  So here’s a BIG thanks to all those who have helped me to keep it going by having a look - and whose comments are always really appreciated… x

In keeping with the randomness of subjects that turn up on these pages, here’s a little selection of unconnected and totally miscellaneous bits and bobs as some kind of birthday jamboree bag!

A postcard picked up in a charity shop - can you tell what it is yet?

If you're going to wear a badge...

One of last year's babies

A favourite raincoat

A card received last year for my real birthday.

(From Modern Toss / Mr Tourette Master Signwriter)

...I leave it to you to translate*

And one great song.

* Go on then -  it says, "I still want fucking paying".