Online musings

I have always liked classical music since I was 11 years old. I remember learning about various instruments of the orchestra and composers such as Handel and Bach. I am also a fan of garage music. I used to listen to DJ EZ on Kiss FM every Friday without fail. My favourite garage DJs are Todd Edwards and Jeremy Sylvester. So when I heard about a show which fused the two genres together I felt that all my Christmasses came at once. Now being a fan of garage music you would expect me to attend the Garage Nation festival but I would much rather prefer going to a jazz festival or an international music festival. I bought a ticket for Garage Classical and to my astonishment it sold out within 52 hours of release! The show is headlined by DJ Spoony, a member of the Dreem Teem. He is one of the pioneers of UK garage and has helped brought it from underground to the mainstream. One day DJ Spoony decided to collaborate with Katie Chatburn, an orchestra conductor. The first show came out i...

I have been advised to network. A voice in my head has been telling me that sometimes I cannot go it alone. Although I have family and friends it would be nice to meet new people, especially like-minded ones. As John Donne said, no man is an island. I have applied to join the Black British Bloggers group on Facebook. I realise that it's time to show my blog to a wider audience. That way I get to follow more bloggers and I get more followers in return. As I have blogged since 2014 I now feel it's time to yield my anonymity so here goes. My name is Christopher, or Chris for short. I was born in Liverpool in 1978 to Ghanaian parents. I went to a private secondary school and then went to a state school for my sixth form education. I studied French in Kingston University and after temping for a while I joined a local government authority as a Customer Service Advisor. I am now an HR Officer who plans to go into Learning and Development. I also have plans for the future that you ...

Later this year, I will turn 40. They say that life begins at 40. I say the path towards middle age begins at 40. I am beginning to realise that the youth which I possess and take for granted will begin to evade me and I find myself desperately clinging to it. What have I achieved? I ask myself. I have achieved some things but quite frankly not enough. As I near the end of my thirties, I have to give myself some advice. Advice 1 - do not rest on your laurels (or yannys if you heard about the latest social media debate). I have been in the same level job for over ten years and it is an administrative/support job. I can no longer afford to do that. The reason is that life and circumstances can change and I have to keep up with them. In the future I may end up with a family of my own and I need to be able to get a managerial or better paid job in order to support them. I need to go up the career ladder and not limit myself. I need to fulfil my ambitions and not just dream about them. I...

Nothing has developed since my last writer's blog. The reason being is that I have taken a long break from writing. Why? Because there has been a lot of things going on. Last year I moved from a three-bedroomed house in London to a two-bedroomed flat in Kent. I had to settle due to a change of scenery and circumstance. There was a lot of packing and discarding stuff and the selling and buying process was a long and difficult process, not to mention property hunting. Also my work life has been busy and I have been preparing for my future following the restructure of my department, the introduction of new systems and processes and the downsizing of offices and the organisation as a whole. Also there was a small matter of a short-lived, long distance relationship. Late last year I went to a few concerts including those of Roy Ayers and my favourite band Jamiroquai. I enjoyed them immensely, especially the latter, and the O2 concert experience was amazing! There have been big changes i...

Recently I binge watched a 13-episode TV series which was thought-provoking and very well made. It's a Netflix original series called 13 Reasons Why . It is based on the book Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. The story is about a high school student Hannah Baker who commits suicide. Before she kills herself she makes a series of recordings on several cassette tapes, detailing the reasons that drove her to suicide and naming the people responsible. This is a very powerful story as it shows that actions by other people can have very serious consequences. Hannah is befriended by several people who end up using her for their own gain. They turn out not to be true friends who let her down. They either spread false malicious rumours about her, they abandon her or they betray her. They put her down and make her feel bad about herself. Some even treat her cruelly and she becomes miserable and isolated. Hannah has one very good friend whose name is Clay Jensen. They work together in ...

Last autumn I went to Liverpool but just for a day trip. My gosh! It had been a long time since I last set foot in the city of my childhood. The city where I went to school. The city where I was brought up. It was 14 years to be exact. It brought back memories but also parts of the city had changed. I remember when every Wednesday I would go to the town centre with my mother and sisters to do shopping and I would see St. John's Beacon and the two cathedrals from afar. It was great to be back. Liverpool played an important part in the slave trade so my friend, MisBeee and I made a beeline for the International Slave Museum. We saw a lot of pictures and objects which illustrated how the city's port was used to transport slaves from Africa to the New World. I also learned about the slaves' long battle for freedom and how they fought their oppressors for it. The museum also showcased handiwork of the African people such as pottery and clothing. I even saw the beautiful K...

Recently I read a book that was so gripping I finished it in less than two weeks! I very rarely read books in such a short time. The fact that I did with this one meant it was that good. It's called The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins and it came out in 2015. The story is told through the eyes of three different women whose lives become interlinked. The first woman is Rachel, an alcoholic who goes on a train every day. She is divorced. When she is on the train she passes a house where a couple live. She becomes interested in their lives and when she notices something untoward happening she becomes curious and starts getting involved. The second woman is Megan who is married to Scott. However their seemingly happy marriage is not all it's cracked up to be and we slowly begin to discover why. The third woman is Anna who is married to Tom, Rachel's ex-husband. They also have a baby together. Anna thinks Rachel is a nutter who won't leave them alone. However somethi...