Diana Stones Blog

I am still waiting for some sort of answer.

I wonder if I will get any interviews?

It’s been a long time since I was in an office (2 years now) and 14 years since I had a job interview so if I do actually get as far as attending one its going to be a pretty weird experience.  My real problem is I am rubbish at phone calls, I much prefer emailing because it gives me time to think about what I am saying as I suspect that there are times when I don’t make as  much sense verbally as I should. I am going  for everything from admin to IT work  and of course including government temping too.  Being 52 now is not going to help either I suspect. Having a long term depressive illness is a bit of  a drag too, as at the moment I am feeling reasonably well, but it tends to creep up on me when I least expect it. My finances are pretty dire now too. To give a rough analogy I am 2000 miles out over the Atlantic but but I only have 500 miles worth of fuel left so I am not going to reach NY… even with a very fair wind

What skills have I got ?

IT consultant/Developer:

Web and programming skills including the following:
php asp VB 6 Java SQL Perl C# and Html XML JavaScript  Ajax. UNIX LINUX Vba for MS Office
Photo-shop & Flash ActionScript
Ecommerce sites >
Click  >>Here for an example using php and Smarty with full paypal integration

Web hosting
Prince11 project management.
10 years commercial experience, central government projects, including managing ITC for 300 users at the Parole Board for England and Wales.

Office admin:Case working,  minute taking,  HR , reporting, diary organising,  file management, scanning photocopying, photocopier mantainance, prepairing reports for audit & bla.

Musician Composer

Radio play for solo material and for Band & Duo National and local
Cabaret Performer Music & Comedy

Previously performances at:

Kings head Theatre Islington, The Bull and Gate, Purple Turtle Camden Jazz after Dark Soho  The Celler Door  Covent Garden  The Joogleberry Theatre Brighton  Dingwalls  The Bull Barnes O’Neils Chain of music venues.  The Abbey & After Office Hours Bullet at Kentish town Oliver’s Jazz Bar Greenwich The Crown & The Cock Tavern Kilburn & the Music Palace.

My Solo Album is available as to buy as download on Amazon E Music Rhapsody ITunes & Napster Selling but very slowly.

I have a CD ready and mastered but I can’t afford to press it at the moment, partly due to my car blowing up.

I am a performing composer and musician playing Piano Violin & Guitar and Bass and some vocals though my voice is somewhat unusual. I regularly gig with the Rock/Roots band Elephant Shelf and also the Delta Ladies duo which mix roots acoustic music and electronica and comedy.
I have a solo project band called Glass Cage.I read, but my sight reading is not that fast.
Musical styles rang from Rock to Blues Jazz Folk and world Music also electronica.

I compose in a variety of styles from pop to rock to jazz and classical oeuvres. I am also expert in multi-media recording and music production. I have a full studio setup which allows me to produce from demo to master recordings.

I could do that at a beginners level for adults I think. OK that sounds like a plan.

So why am I going broke?  !!! ***$%^$%^$^%$***!!!

Somewhere over the Rainbow

It seemed like a good idea at the time.  But the circus train is way out on the plain stuck in a one horse town and you don’t have you fair home anymore. What to do? Sweep the Elephants tent out for the last time and hitch hike, but which way is home…

Date Posted: April 2 2008

I did my last day at the office on Friday and had the obligatory leaving drink and presentation which was embarassing but I was also quite touched as I had not really expected it.A lot of folks turned up and I do feel a tinge of regret as I was there along time and if I had no ambition to do anything else maybe I could have kept on, but I think I would have been barking mad before very much longer. Also I had got used to a fairly maverick way of doing things and me and the corporate culture have got very far apart now. In a sense it allows me to complete the re-invention of self thats been coming for a long time.. Everyone was very nice but many were shocked as I had been working there 13 years and they had assumed that I would be there until I retired I suspect. I told them what I was expecting to do in future and everyone was very positive.

Most people were aware of my TG Status by the time I left and I was told that if I had wished to transition at work I would have been fully supported but the braincells were already well fried by that point and tempting as that might sound the job was just getting too much for me in the end. I was so stressed that I was forgetting how to do things which was quite scary. I am sort of in freefall at the moment and I will be trying to make a living from the music side of things for the next year, but if it doesn’t work out then I will be back in IT in some respect or maybe just filling shelves between gigs. I have a portfolio of other practicle skills that should get me through one way or the other.

I now feel a lot more relaxed and I am going to take a calculated risk on a new career (though its not really a new career as its something I have been envolved with for a long time) and also will take some time to study and improve my skills a bit. I am giving myself about a year to see if I can support myself as a musician. I don’t know how realistic that is but I am going to give it a try.I don’t need a huge income just enough to pay the bills and I Hope that is realistic…

Anyone remember this tune:
It’s a great tune

Nicked from Wikipedia

“Cast Your Fate to the Wind” written by Vince Guaraldi, was a track on Guaraldi’s album featuring his versions of music from the film Black Orpheus

It’s me blogg in it alright gorblimey apples and pears strike a light thank you god bless you govenor