Yes, indeed it does. The clocks are on BST again now at least though it is a tad gloomy out there for spring me thinks.
The world is still very much in chaos as I write. And it seems now run by morons and or psychopaths or both in a weird symbiotic relationship. Its a little concerning to put it mildly. I am hoping that spring kicking in will make me feel a bit better. Looks like the band and trio will keep going. I am mostly mildly anxious at times. Not so panicky generally over all. Still looking for assassins in the shadows subconsciously of course. Cant be helped. Creatively things continue to pop up like mushrooms. I feel mildly depressed, but I feel its reactive. The wars, the anti-trans rhetoric, my ageing body, all that stuff. I feel old to be honest. And it is rather tiring. I have scored another own goal exercise wise. Trying to get my core muscles sorted out has a caused a problem due to holding my stomach in unconsciously so my abdominal muscles are not doing quite what they should. It may well be a lot to do with how I have been sitting as well.

I am too old to audition these days. Seriously. I am hiding away a lot at present I feel. I start the day with good intentions that I will do something different but I don’t which has been todays experience again.

I am going to be rehearsing with this lot a again soon.
https://invisiblefolk.com/invisible-folk-club-band.

This is who chat GPT thinks I am. Its not bad but not quite up to date.

Diana Stone, an independent London-based musician rather than a mainstream chart artist.

Here’s a clear overview of her music 👇

🎵 Who she is

• A multi-instrumentalist and composer based in London
• Plays piano, violin (fiddle), guitar, accordion, and keyboards (Diana Stone)
• Performs both solo work and was part of the bands Elephant Shelf & The Delta Ladies
  also Jon Bickley and The Invisible Folk Club Band
  

🎶 Musical style

Her music isn’t tied to just one genre—it’s quite eclectic:

• Roots / Americana / blues
• Jazz and classical influences
• Rock and pop elements
• Often blends acoustic and electric sounds

With The Delta Ladies, the sound leans toward:

• New Orleans rhythm & blues
• Swing and rock & roll
• Bluegrass and folk traditions (deltaladies.com)

🎼 Her own compositions

On her solo releases (like those on Bandcamp), she creates original pieces such as:

• Light of a 1000 Stars
• Hard Walk Into Sunlight
• Monotony Calling

These tracks suggest a style that’s:

• Atmospheric and experimental at times
• Mixing instrumental work with songwriting
• Influenced by multiple genres rather than commercial pop

🎤 Live performance

• Regularly performs in the UK and France
• Plays in different setups: duo, trio, or full band
• Known for multi-instrument live sets, which gives her performances a varied, dynamic feel

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✅ In short: Diana Stone is an independent, genre-blending musician with strong roots in folk, blues, and Americana, combined with classical and experimental influences. She’s more of a live and niche artist than a mainstream chart figure.

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The latest middle east conflict is showing no signs of calming down yet. Who knows where that will lead?
Its very unsettling. The thing is I feel better mentally not chasing stuff. I will let the live music opportunity’s come to me at least for the moment. Not being able to get gigs was actually making me feel worse about things. I do use social media a lot: 1# to promote my musical doings 2# to help support and encourage with their own artistic efforts 3# to share things I thing need making public. I don’t debate or discuss much though. Mostly as there is no point in for example pointing out the absolute rubbish about invasions of migrants to those that believe it. A lot of the punk rock generation are the worse right wing haters and agitators’ You cant get through to them any more than you can get through to Gender Critical types who have among other things managed to decimate the women’s institute and guides as a side effect. Trumps latest non-conversation with Iran makes one wonder how many non-conversations have been had with Russia over Ukraine of course.

Don’t get too wrapped up in dreams and illusions. Memories and shades passing clouds that fade in dusk and take that lingering pearlescence and cinemascope sunset just before the end credits starts to roll. It may comfort you for a moment but it can also trap and leave you lost and far behind. Don’t loose your fellow travellers if you can. You will never catch them up and there’s never anyway to make up lost time. You can stand on any hilltop, but you will never see where is end of the line…

Terry McInerny played drums for many years with Elephant Shelf and briefly the Delta Ladies too and has now moved on down the line along with Vicky Martin and Robbie Charles. So not too many of us left now from that band. Funny how time slips away.
Today I am using a solid electric guitar I brought from Vicky a few years back on a recording. Its got a bit crackly so it had to have liberal application of switch cleaner, but that seems to have done the trick.

I am feeling very tired still. Lets hope its just the weather, but maybe not of course. I am a bit grumpy today. Mostly about what I see as hypocrisy in so many places. I discovered today what a Femme Boy is. I had heard this term a lot. Apparently young often very pretty but don’t identify as Trans or TS but just look very girly. So part of the LGBTQ+ soup though.

An observation: In the last few days I recorded a song. It took a lot of work and by the time I got around to doing the final mix I thought it was really not good at all. However I put on online in the usual places and listened again and thought maybe its not so bad after all. And having done so people are playing it a fair bit. It is the case I think that particularly in anything one creates, Music, Art or Writing that one may well be so wrapped up in the process that it becomes just a collection of parts. So one might judge that it is well made but see no particular merit or spark in it. Leaving it to one side and revisiting later it may well bring to a different viewpoint. Yesterday was a day when I did very little by my standards but often an off day is useful.

I got the best spam message ever the other day:

“Illuminati invitation: Based on the membership criterion of the Illuminati, We find you to be of a great interest in possession of a good mastery of manual dexterity and academic proficiency. With this, we look at you as the class that will be the platform for which you stand to meet the wealthy people who can raise you to wealth, power, fame and glory. I strongly recommend that you join us in the Illuminati. Joining the Illuminati comes with a lot of benefits(1 million $) to start a better life with your family. Do you accept the offer?”

I must admit I am sorely tempted 😂

Well who knows. First care home St Paddy’s gig .It went fairly well and I have a run of them this week. A Stick thin old lady in chair with a full size baby doll in her arms she and could hear the music but she was somewhere back in her past i suppose. After these gigs am back into live music purdah Its all or nothing at present it seems. I am having more generalised low level anxiety again. After the next few gigs I may just try and work on getting my head a little better. Longer days and a few walks may help. Whatever happens on a personal level requires a different approach from me now. I have got stuck in a view of life that’s not practical or realistic anymore and its fuelling stress. I know this. Hence the morbid musings I guess.

Frustratingly the last recording I was working on is not going to work out at present so I shall move on to the next thing.

Here are a few of my most recent efforts:

• Marching In Lines
  A protest song sort of.
• Disappointments and Distractions
  Slightly world vibes alt pop-rock song with prog overtones
• Interference Patterns
  Violin chil-out vibe with Synths
• False Dawns Illusion
  Gentle solo piano piece
• Everything Scares Me So
  A song about feeling scared like so many of us are right now.
• Not Home Yet
  Nostalgic wistful theme
• Big Sticking Plaster
  The grass is always greener
• And I Always Loved You
  A love song
• Maybe Some Silver Maybe Some Gold
  A song about betrayals and lost chances in life.
• Good Sense Of Humour
  A song about when your love thinks you're a clown but you don't care, so you sing a happy song
• Tell Me What Did I Do To You
  Slow rock ballad
• No More Excuse
  No More Excuses because you are bad. Slightly Gospel Blues feel song
• Mostly Grey Or Gray
  Mostly Grey Or Gray by Diana Stone
• A Place You Will Never Find
  A peaceful violin and electronica instrumental vibe.
• Feeling The Fear
  A song about feeling the fear and running away, but its not far enough.

I am almost out of manuscript paper! Yes I know actually paper that you write with inky things on. As I don’t have a keyboard connected directly to my pc at present music software is not an option. I really should sort that out though as I have a Bluetooth equipped keyboard. I must put in my diary to try that out. It connects for audio so maybe there is an app?

Currently I am living in the past watching vintage TV shows and stuff. My back is complaining quite a bit at present.

When will it ever be enough?

Live in the Moment Quotations

Study as if you were to live forever. Live as if you were going to die tomorrow.
– Isidore of Seville

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
– Buddha

Life is only available in the here & now. The past is already gone, and the future is yet to come…there is only one moment for me to live…The present moment.
– Thich Nhat Hanh

Rejoice in the things that are present; all else is beyond thee.
– Montaigne

If you have one eye on yesterday, and one eye on tomorrow, you’re going to be cockeyed today.
– Anonymous

You can clutch the past so tightly to your chest that it leaves your arms too full to embrace the present.
– Jan Glidewell

Waste not fresh tears over old griefs.
– Euripides

Study as if you were to live forever. Live as if you were going to die tomorrow.
– Isidore of Seville

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
– Buddha

We are here and it is now. Further than that all human knowledge is moonshine.
– H. L. Mencken

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.
– Chinese Proverb

The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness.
– Abraham Maslow

Today is the first day of the rest of your life.
– Charles Dederich

We are always getting ready to live but never living.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Children have neither past nor future; they enjoy the present, which very few of us do.
– Jean de la Bruyere

I got the blues thinking of the future, so I left off and made some marmalade. It’s amazing how it cheers one up to shred oranges and scrub the floor. – D.H. Lawrence

The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time. 
– Abraham Lincoln

Today is life – the only life you are sure of. Make the most of today. 
– Dale Carnegie

One should count each day a separate life.
– Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Nothing is worth more than this day.
– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

If you are still talking about what you did yesterday, you haven’t done much today.
– Anonymous

Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present.
– Albert Camus

Learning is movement from moment to moment.
– J Krishnamurti

Today is the blocks with which we build.
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I have memories – but only a fool stores his past in the future. 
– David Gerrold

Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed.
– Coria Kent

In the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.
– Leo Tolstoy

If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm, you’ll never enjoy the sunshine.
– Morris West

The more I give myself permission to live in the moment and enjoy it without feeling guilty or judgmental about any other time, the better I feel about the quality of my work.
– Wayne Dyer

Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.
– Benjamin Franklin