In the middle

2010...

It is kind of weird to me to be summing up a calender year. I mean, since my life has always happened in school years, New year’s to me is not as much the end of one year and the fresh start to another, as it is a tiny little break in the middle of one. Year. A breather, to stop up and think about where I am, where I’m going, and get ready for the big finish. Which, I guess, is the meaning of it for everyone.

So… Where am I?
I am in the middle of my first year at a LIPA Bachelor in Music. I am learning, every day. I am meeting and working with a huge amount of exciting and talented people from all around the world, and I am exploring and developing my own creativity. I am arranging for strings. I am in love, and I am happy, in a city I adore, in a cool flat with awesome (however messy) flatmates. I am an auntie to a whole bunch of awesome kids, and tomorrow I have been an aunt for 6 years. Life is surprising and wonderful, and I love living it. I know, I know, I sound like a gimp. But you’re supposed to sum up on day like this, aren’t you? Bzzz…

Where am I going then?
Looking ahead, one of the plans for this year is putting together a mini tour in Norway with my Oslo based band, as well as playing as much as I can live in Liverpool with my Liverpool band. I also want to write a lot of new songs, as I feel like the songs I HAVE written doesn’t really say what I want to say with my music anymore. Genre wise, I need to have a think and a feel, and give myself a little push in the right direction. The song I am working on at the moment, Free, is closer to the destination I think, but there are still a lot of steps left on the ladder before I can rest my head on the right “Genre Shelf”. Maybe I never can. That’s the great thing about music, and creating music; Just like you are constantly developing and changing as a person, your music is also changing, and growing with you. Heck, who knows, I started out in R&B, and here I am now as an acoustic pop/folk singer/songwriter - I might end up in heavy metal…! …she jokes.
Nah, I’m pretty happy where I am right now. The year so far (the school year, that is) has been great, and not half as tough as I expected. BIG relief. I know I did the right thing accepting my spot on the course, and I can’t imagine what I would have been doing right now if I hadn’t. I know I’m gonna face a lot of challenges in the next 2 and a half years, but I’m up for it. Bring it on, LIPA!


The point, and the answer to the questions in question, is this; 


I am exactly where I’m supposed to be, with who I’m supposed to be with, doing what I’m supposed to do. I’m right in the middle. In the middle of right now. And there is nowhere else I’d rather be.


Tonight, I’m eating my dad’s amaaaazing chicken stirr fry with my parents, my brother and his family. That’s it. I gave up New Year parties years ago, because it was always a let-down. Someone always ended up fighting, even people who had never had anything to fight about. Someone stormed off in anger in the middle of the night and ended up crying in the rain on a bench by the river, someone slapped someone, someone kneeled on the gravel in front of their boyfriend’s car and begged him not to drive off DRUNK, a house got surrounded by skinheads with bats… You get the picture. And people always insisted on going OUT, and it was crowded and horrible, and I just didn’t enjoy myself. I would much rather enjoy a quiet night and lovely dinner with my family. Speaking of which; It’s getting late, and I need to have a shower and get ready before my brother and his family gets here. I can smell something cooking all the way down here, and I am HUNGRY!!!

For now;
I hope you have all had a wonderful christmas, and that 2010 is the best year you have ever had and the worst you will ever have. ;) Enjoy the evening, and 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Lots of love,

Audrey