Whilst away I finally finished both Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan, so to make up for the lack of updates, I will post a review for each in the coming days. Right now I am reading Night Train To Lisbon by Pascal Mercier and it has come of to a good start, when I’m done I will review it as well.

And finally, may I just add how much I missed my piano? The first thing I did as soon as I was back home was to delight the walls with the touch of my stiff fingers to the piano keys. Tomorrow I will play some more.

Cheers.

Get down to it. It is very common to say you want to write and then do nothing, or begin to write without having your mind really set on it. Choose a time, sit down, and focus.

Think as you write. Stop thinking about what to write and get down to it. Spinning your ideas in your head will do nothing but give you a headache, find an idea to develop and then let the words flow.

Get rid of all distractions. If you are working on a computer, close all those other windows, all they do is make your attention wander. If you prefer working on a notebook, then get away from your computer and from your cellphone, immediately.

Use what you want if it helps to focus. Maybe music, maybe tea, maybe even the noise at the local Starbucks. If you find it helps get the train of thought rolling, use it. You can also use differnet elements for different paces. If you are writting a page turner, then maybe some coffee and a steady beat will do the trick, of you want to write something calmer, then you can always play classical music and drink a soothing cup of green tea.

That is all for today, hope something out of here actually helps. Cheers.

Last night, I danced, which is rather unusual, and today morning, as soon as  I arrived from celebrating the New Year, I didn’t go to sleep, I booted on my computer and wrote for hours. And when my sight got tired, I continued writing on my notebook before snaching a few hours of sleep. I have played the piano, read and cooked and rested as well throughout the day, all in the purpose of starting the decade as I wish to spend it, writing , reading and playing piano and resting, improving my cooking and dancing skills wouldn’t hurt either.

So to everyone, I say this, Happy New Year! Happy New Decade!

When I was a young man, well, younger still than I am now, I wasn’t used to listening to music. Sure I listened to the radio from time to time, and there were a couple of songs that I liked, but I didn’t have any favourite bands, and I knew only a handful by name. There were no songs I had learnt by heart, I did not have any CDs that I could call my own, and I had never downloaded a song.

And then the year 2005 came along, and with it, the movie Sin City, which I grew to like quite a bit. One day, I was watching videos over at YouTube and I stumbled upon the trailer, and I discovered that the trailer music made something inside mi tick. Another video about the same movie used the same song – an instrumental version of Cells by The Servant – so I checked the comments and found its name. For the first time, there was a song I wanted to download. Soon I had that song, both in instrumental and regular versions, and then other songs by The Servant, and later on by other bands as well.

All of a sudden, I had become an alternative rock junkie, and all because of one song. A song that, even without all this meaning, would still top my list of favourite songs. A song by a band high up there in my list too.

So I raise my glass to Cells and to the former band The Servant, and to their then front man, Dan Black. Cheers!

Because yes, today I finally left the house and went to look at pianos. I must admit I wouldn’t have gone if my roomatte hadn’t practically forced me out the door, but it was well worth it. We went to a house dedicated to selling cheap pianos, and there I saw some really great ones. The downside is, both the pianos I liked had already been sold, and the others just weren’t good enough. Of course, more pianos will soon arrive, so I left my contact information and they’ll call me if something interesting shows up. And at least I got to play a little. In the meantime, I will seek out other pianos, it won’t be long, I know it. Soon I will have my piano, and with it’s help, I’ll hopefully be able to kick this depression away.

I was so tired by the time we reached Heathrow I almost forgot I was in London, if only for a few hours. Then it was back to a plane aiming for Lisbon, with a couple of loud children as well, if I ay add. Dreadful.

The first day here at Lisbon was alright. We visited most of the city, including St George’s castle, a great fortified city, a nd we even got lost while touring the city in bus. It was fun though. We rounded up the evening with some music, a brazilian band playing outdoors after some coffee, and that was it, back to the hotel for some rest and another long day tomorrow. Nice!