Hmmm .... another year gone and I look back at my blog and find how little I've written. I just think that nobody would be interested in my musings or thoughts. I have people who read what I post on Facebook, but that is a limited audience and they are just little asides. I am going to make more of an effort to write things this year - it will be interesting to see what I have to say - maybe.

But this is to summarise the year that has passed .....

Folk

As always, I enjoy looking through my diary to see who I have caught up with - the list of people that I actually spent my time with is bigger than this, but these were ones planned in advance:

Aimee, Bec, Carolyn, Charlotte, Daniel, Deanne, Francine, Frank, Georgie, Jackie, Jo L, Jo T, Jodi (& Stuart), John, Jon, Julliet, Karen, Karin, Kath, Kelly, Laurence, Leonie, Lisa, Loraine, Louise, Maggie, Mara, Mark, Matt, Michelle, Mum, Murat, Nicole, Nina (& Guy), Paul, Robyn (& Victoria), Rock, Ruth, Sarah, Sharon, Steph, Sue, Tanya, Terri, Tommy, Tonia, Tracey, Tric (& Alan), Trudi, Vicky and Yvette.

As always, it is a pleasure to see all these names and think of my friends and family. I know some fine people.

Music

Not a huge year for music, but some fine things none the less. Some of the gigs have been:

International gigs

• Billy Ocean - performing his greatest hits - still my disco king - fantastic
• Rod Stewart - another greatest hits tours - and what a collection he can pick from. His voice isn't what it was, but it isn't too far off
• Pogues - Shane was in good form and the band flourished - what an energetic night it was
• Newton Faulkner - another visit and another fine show - what a likable chap

Favourtie International gig

• Eddi Reader - I don't think that it is possible to see Eddi too often - I am already looking forward to her next visit - whenever that might be

Favourite international CD

• Jake Bugg

Local gigs

• Casey Donovan - such a wonderful voice. I saw her three times this year and each time was great. She gives it all she's got and has such a powerful voice
• Geoff Achison, Lloyd Spiegel and Jimi Hocking - 3 of the best blues guitar players you can see - always a good time with any of these chaps
• Black Arm Band - another performance of a show I'd seen previously - as always a very impressive and moving show by a cast of hugely talented folk
• Stax of Soul - a local soul band who performed many classics with a few guest singers - they brought it all back to life - what a band
• Chris Wilson - there aren't many better when it comes to putting on an energetic blues show

Favourite local gig

• Archie Roach - he remains a favourite and the show that launched his latest CD was incredible and included the likes of Dan Sultan, Vika & Linda and Paul Kelly

Favourite local CD

• Archie Roach's latest - Into The Bloodstream
  

Holidays

• Just one holiday this year and that was in June/July where Carolyn and I headed to the UK and visited:
  Brighton (including seeing my cousin Vicky)
• Bournemouth (Mum, my sister Louise, brother-in-law Jon, nephew Daniel and his girlfriend Aimee
• Cornwall (where Carolyn's fathers family come from)
• Devon (Rocky and Tanya)
• Bristol
• Winchester
• Windsor (Jodi and Stuart)
• London (Cousin Juliet, friend Maggie and cousin Lawrence)
  

And we then headed over to Paris for a few days to celebrate Carolyn's birthday - because we could.

Full details and photos can be seen in my holiday blog

Work

Another big year - very busy and taken on additional responsibilities. Seen people leave and new ones come in. They keep paying me and I keep turning up - that's our agreement. In March, we are expecting an announcement of some big changes, so everything is a bit on hold for now. It's been a good year over all but would have preferred some down-time in there - it hasn't let-up much from start to finish.

Events/Shows

Some interesting things this year including:

• Footy: just one game attended this year - Carlton v Richmond with John and Matt who are both Carlton fans. Hopefully I will go to more games in 2013. My team (Hawthorn) were sensational in 2012 and almost won the lot. But not quite. It is strange how Aussie Rules Football has taken the place of English football so easily for me - I really do enjoy it. But I do still follow the English stuff and watch when I can - and Leicester City remain my team - I think that is a lifelong commitment
• Simon Callow: He was here as part of the Writers Festival and talked mainly about Charles Dickens - it was interesting stuff
• Germaine Greer: Also as part of the Writer's festival where she was interviewed by Ben Law - she is still an entertaining (if not slightly mad) woman
• Simon Amstell: this was my only dip into the shows on offer as part of the Comedy Festival. I first saw Simon when he hosted four seasons of the music comedy quiz, Never Mind The Buzzcocks. I don’t know how much of the material was his, but he was hilarious and his timing is superb. His standup is of a different nature, but he was very funny – another worthwhile show for me to attend
• Vika and Linda: They did a show where they talked about their lives and influences and answered questions from the audience. They also performed 4 songs and were accompanied by a male Tongan choir who were also great
• RockWiz: Another live show and this time it was at Festival Hall - a huge venue. It wasn't the best show they've put on, but it was enjoyable none the less.
• Women of Letters: this is a monthly event run by Marieke Hardy and Michaela McGuire. Each month a collection of invited guests write a letter to a specified theme and read that letter out. As the name implies, it is an event where the performers are female, but every now and then they do variations with men, couples, partners etc. I caught two shows this year and loved them both
• Father Bob: Other things that happened was I went to a book launch of one of my local favourites being Father Bob McGuire. The book was written by Ron Burrows and the launch involved the entertaining Shaun Micallef and John Saffran. It was an interesting event and nice that it was in a local bookshop

Health

Once again, the weight has started to build back up again after my efforts last year of losing a lot of it. I am disappointed in myself. But the sun is shining and I have my bike, so I am going to get back to cycling as much as possible. I also walk home from work most days and that takes over an hour - so I am capable of exercise. My failure comes from how much I eat and how often I eat - why can't I have more self-control? Well, I am going to reverse this trend and start chipping away at this padding that surrounds me. I am aiming to lose 12kg this year (that is 2 stones). It isn't a tough target, but it requires consistency from me and it will be a good achievement if I get there.

Projects

Having completed my coffee project in 2011, I started 2012 with a faces project. Whereas the coffee project had duplicate venues on it, the face one was unique pictures - no repeats. It was good fun but I realised that I would have lost interest if I had tried to do it for the whole year. So whilst over in the UK and France, I ended that project and started one about doors. Once again, I realised that this wasn't going to keep me interested either, but I decided to keep it going until the end of the year - for completeness.

Other than those projects, there are two others that are out there:
1) And the one that is proving to be the most popular is my fines project where I fine people who annoy me are seem worthy of fining for whatever reason appeals to me - this seems to amuse people as well as keep me entertained, so I will keep that one going for now.
2) a sort of photo diary that I am experimenting with at the moment - to see whether it is worth doing or to discover how best it suits me.

Due to the introduction of the various projects, I revamped my website as a doorway to all these. This website used to be huge with loads of information and news, but I have now simplified things and made it more about me and my world. A good piece of housekeeping

Lifestyle

With my job, instead of working 5 eight hour days, I work 4 ten hour days - this means that I have every Thursday off to do with as I please. A four day week is a delightful thing to have and though I don't do too much on my days off, they are very useful and also allow me to remain well rested. One of the things I do on those free days is to cycle somewhere rather than use my scooter or public transport - I will do this more in 2013 and not just in Summer.

As well as walk home from work, I am looking to walk into work on occasions too - there is a calmness on those walks as there are no other people around as I start work at 6am.

Another thing I am looking to do is read again - I haven't read a book all year and have got used to passing time on my ipad or iphone. Reading is a different discipline and has a calmness to it that I should reintroduce into my world - I just have to discover books that interest me.

One of my favourite things is to is eat out in the company of friends - a one on one catchup suits me best - I have had many of those in 2012 and shall ensure that I have plenty in 2013 too.

Something that I haven't done as much in 2012 is meet strangers - I enjoy meeting new people and seeing where the conversation can lead on such encounters - I will put myself back in the mindset of chatting to folk I meet along the way - those adventures interest me and teach me lots.