Chasing the Dream

Work-Life Balance

Yesterday morning I woke up at the usual time of about 07:00 tired and bleary eyed but so much more joyful about the day ahead. You guessed it, annual leave from work was the reason for this strange yet very welcome difference.

I gleefully imagine this is what life would be like were I to be working for myself and from home. A typical day might run a bit like:

07:00 - Wake up - Morning cup of tea followed by breakfast. Read book, news or magazine.

08:00 - Daily ablutions commence followed by another cup of tea or coffee.

08:30 - Work out! Either a run, some weights or a combination.

09:30 - Bath or shower.

10:00 - Begin morning of work.

13:30 - Break for lunch - half hour if staying at home. Perhaps up to 90 minutes if popping into town for a lunch meeting (work related or personal) and a coffee.

14:00 - Begin afternoon of work.

17:00 - Prepare evening meal but continue working if things still to do.

18:00 - Eat dinner.

The remainder of the evening is one's own although naturally having such a relaxed and fulfilled day means if there is still a little work to be done, no bother, one will feel happy to get on it. In fact at such a nice pace of life even if there were still a lot of work to be done after dinner which ate into one's evening now and then I think one would still be inclined to just get on with it.

I think this kind of schedule is the key to removing unnecessary stress and resentment from our lives. It certainly takes into account that all important 'work-life balance' people are always harping on about. If this balance is so important why has it not been cascaded to all corners of the working world yet? With currently spending nine hours or more out at work in jobs that make us struggle to believe we're anything but robots and getting a paltry twenty days annual leave (for most workplaces) how can this be considered anything other than a very poor 'work-life balance'?

I guess rather than complain I should get working my ass off on coming up with an idea I can put into practice to make this so. In the meantime I will enjoy my annual leave by actually living life and not having to perform any robotic type tasks. Even successfully administering the cat's medication twice daily makes life more interesting.

Normal Service Will Resume Shortly

Reviews are coming, I promise. I'm just finalising one for the Seth Lakeman gig last Saturday. The Cyndi Lauper one will also be ready very soon.

Band of Badgers Presents... Episode #1 The Pilot really is almost complete. I am however still the same perfectionist I was last week but thankfully with the time I now have not being at work I can get it ready for publication. After a mini trip to Brighton and Eastbourne of course. It's all recorded and the tracks lined up accordingly. I just have to make sure the bits featuring me rambling on sound just right.

One thing is for sure, I will be getting a better microphone. Granted I only bought the one I did for practice and playing purposes. Little did I know I'd get so into it and enjoy it as much as I have done (as long as it can take to edit) I'd want to continue doing it in a very semi-serious way.

Last night was the Noah and the Whale gig which I'll also review in due course. They were amazing though I will say that much.

Tonight is Shearwater in Brighton as I've mentioned which makes three gigs in six days. Why can't life be like this all the time? Follow @roberto_baggins Tweet

Interlude #2: Update

As you can tell I'm having to just interlace these blog posts with write ups for reviews for last year's gigs. At least I'm still including them. There just isn't enough time in the day for me to complete everything I want to. I'm not complaining though (well perhaps just a little bit) because I'm actually writing more than I have done in years (technically not including last November's NaNoWriMo but that was fantastic practice), which is the whole point to wanting to write I suppose. Quite why I didn't just do this long before now I don't know. Better late than never so they say. 'It's never too late...' sang Kylie.

I have decided not to write up anything about last year's Seth Lakeman gig purely because I'm attending a gig on his current tour this month (actually this Saturday *excited*). Therefore I will write up a more comprehensive review of that one. I must add, however, he is  a very humble and charming individual to meet. I was fortunate enough to meet him after the gig at the Derngate Theatre last May. He signed my ticket as I'd already got all of his CD's (but foolishly didn't take one along) and it was here I purchased Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman's second album, 2. And thus is how my love affair with Kathryn's voice started! Thankfully I was not in the completely inebriated state I was when I met Tom Mcrae after the first of his gig's I attended in November 2003.

Alas! The podcast isn't ready for publication yet and the article I am writing has turned into a three part series taking in the recording of it, editing it and finally publishing/uploading it to a website. The first part has been really well received so that must mean I'm doing something right.

It shouldn't take me too much longer however, the editing is what will delay me. What can I say? I try and be a bit of a perfectionist even though errors do seep in. Those tricky pesky little bastards! I'm sure they must lie in wait for you to hit the submit or send button confident you've rid your work of all of them. Hit that button and forget about it for a little while. Next day or the day after go back for a quick glance over, just to make sure you really did get the writing voice and flow as it should be. What do you know? A little sneaky bitch of an error. A your instead of you're. This usually annoys me in general posts, updates and emails. I'm not perfect of course and I never make a fuss for this and many other reasons but that doesn't mean I can't still feel annoyed by it.

I've almost finished doing a write up on the bands and artists on the playlist for the pilot so I at least do the right kind of promotion for them directing people to the websites. It's pretty straight forward but time consuming in itself. It is nevertheless interesting as although these are people I've read about in coming to their music there are parts I'd only skimmed previously for some of them. I've loved it all so far and hope I can carry it on.

Anyway things seem to be coming together quite nicely this year and I have several things on the way to keep me busy so expect some write ups of more stuff in the coming weeks.

I've almost finished a review of the Cyndi Lauper gig from last June - what an awesome dudette she truly is.

I want to get up a review of Troll Hunter because for me that film was a real breath of fresh air. I recommend it to anyone looking for something different. This weekend gone I also watched The Iron Lady, the biopic of Margaret Thatcher. Meryl Streep is amazing isn't she? Is there any role she can't play? I'd put good money on her even pulling off a turn as Gandalf in Lord of the Rings. Or perhaps Brad Pitt's part in Fight Club? I mean this just to emphasise how great she is. Other actresses must really hate her. Jealousy only of course. She deserves all the success that comes her way and can be forgiven for the Mamma Mia fiasco.

Next weekend I'm seeing Noah and the Whale in Wolverhampton followed by Texas band Shearwater in Brighton the following evening. Then there's the play Anne Boleyn, commissioned by Shakespeare's Globe (Shakespeare's Globe sounds to me like some kind of medieval medical complaint) also in Brighton.

In between trying to work through my 'to read mountain', writing weekly articles for the Graduate Game website, planning and recording Band of Badgers Presents..., updating this blog and planning a late summer trip to Norway I do not know how I'm finding time to sleep at all. Add to this trying to keep up with new music, attend gigs, catch up with TV series I follow (I rarely ever have the TV set on, ever but The Apprentice starts up again this week meaning my BBC iplayer desktop is going to fill up quickly...note to self - must watch Dirk Gently ASAP) and writing my own stuff I really do need to get that time machine sorted. Or at least get working on the time freeze machine Valerie (the banjo playing badger) began before he fell in love with playing the banjo.

Until next time people. Keep well and stay happy!





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