Well, it was a year – that doesn’t make it the year, but it was a big year, nonetheless. It started, as most years do, with January; which brought an appeal for the people of Haiti afflicted by a tragic situation – one that continues. By the time February came around, I disappeared to Newcastle to shoot ‘Self Made‘. That, as you already know, was an incredible, indelible experience. It altered my desired career path in the arts, and I’ll be spending 2011 pursuing work as an actor. March disappeared in a blue funk as the insipid return to work and normality choked the creative experience out of me; but April to July saw things pick up as I returned to acting class and began reviewing albums and gigs again. 2010 was – in my opinion – a good year for music. A fine vintage – full-bodied and very drinkable. Tellingly, a new Government came to power to make everything a little bit harder for everyone.
Come summer, and the UK Film Council was scrapped. Kate flew out to help with the Pakistan floods. I did some twittering from the High Voltage and Big Chill Festivals before declaring that I would never, ever be attending an outdoor, camping festival again. August arrived, and I took some time off from reviewing to try and address more creative outlets, and just as I did, The Quietus asked me to write for them. I managed to fall out with some supposed ‘old friends’ in September, and then a very old friend called to re-establish contact. That was odd. October was very exciting; and ‘Self Made’ premièred over at the Abandon Normal Devices Festival before getting two screenings at the London Film Festival and another at the Bath Film Festival. Of all those, the Bath screening was the most enjoyable. With any luck, the film will be distributed throughout the UK in 2011, and perhaps appear at some festivals internationally.
Birmingham’s Supersonic Festival was easily the best music festival I’ve been to in years, but I got sick of social networking that month, and realised that having thousands of followers means little in the real world. I deleted my Twitter and Facebook accounts. Then, I was also nominated for ‘Live Music Reviewer Of The Year‘ – an award that went to Simon Price from The Independent. He’s a better writer, but I have better hair. I doubt that having my 1,063 followers on Twitter would have been much use when it came to voting. I’ve since returned to Twitter, but with no agenda other than to stay in touch with some of the lovely people I met when I was a Twitter addict (twaddict?)
November, and I was preparing for December‘s acting class. I started listing my albums of the year, as I knew I would have neither the time nor the inclination after class had begun. That class was difficult, educational, and inspiring. After four intense weeks, I fell ill; had a week off work. After that, I had two seizures and ended up in hospital: epilepsy is so very, deeply unpleasant. Since then, I have given up alcohol – nor have I smoked for about a month. I’ve been more alive since. I’ve read voraciously, and have a zest for life that I previously lacked.
Will 2011 bring anything new? Undoubtedly. Will the year be challenging, exciting, inspiring, daunting? Of course. Let’s go.
