A little bit more change
A few weeks ago I introduced a new blog – Thoroughly Good Forty – my take on three momentous months in the UK, starting with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and culminating in my fortieth birthday.
Not only has the new blog provided me with an opportunity to do something unusual and write a with a definite beginning, middle and end in sight, but it was a useful way of siphoning the personal stuff I usually publish on this blog and squirrelling it away some-place else. The equivalent of filing away your paperwork and tidying up the office a bit.
Filing. It’s a pain in the arse.
Mentally speaking, it’s worked, because the wave of change continues here and now, and it feels as sensible as it does straightforward.
The next stage is to separate out that which remains and repackage it somehow.
This stems from a conclusion I’ve arrived at recently. Over the past few months I have discovered to my horror that those who have got to know me via the internet refer to me in the same breath as a fan of both the Eurovision and the BBC Proms.
I don’t blame them. I can see how they arrived at that conclusion, but the truth is that this seems a shame. The Eurovision is fun, but it is – regardless of what any hardcore fan tries to convince you of otherwise – inconsequential nonsense. Whilst it’s something which I appear unable to resist getting excited about every year, it’s not necessarily something which has the potential of paying the wages. It’s fun. But that’s about it.
It doesn’t yield anything other than the superficial and – let me be honest about this – if I was to look back over the past ten years of Eurovision, there would be more disappointment than ecstatic joy.
Where the BBC Proms is concerned, I should be careful not to mislead with my dissatisfaction. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Proms. And I love the music in the Proms. But it’s just one festival featuring a snapshot of cultural appreciation in this country. Like ‘classical music’, there’s more to me than just the BBC Proms.
So, it’s time to spread my wings just a bit. Time to siphon of Eurovision over to a roped-off area in the playground so that I can concentrate my energies on exploring my first, deep love: classical music.
From this moment on, I’m dedicating this Thoroughly Good Blog to all things classical music. In time lead on to some exciting discoveries in the wider cultural scene too. The first change you’ll see is in the posts on the blog. Then, over time, the categories will change just a bit.
Of course, with the BBC Proms starting on Friday 13 July, I’d be an absolute twerp not to write about it. And I will. Because there’s lots of great stuff I’m looking forward to in this year’s season.
At the same time however, this year is going to be different for me. In a year of massive change for me, it wouldn’t feel right to do the same again. So, there’ll be stuff from and about the BBC Proms, but there’ll also be lots of other cultural stuff too.
It’s all change here, just like a new hairdo and I very much hope you’ll like it too.
