Category: writing

Silly Stories, part 6: A Story For Someone: Fiachra The Snake

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these silly stories. In case you’re newish to the blog, they’re just nonsense that I do to amuse myself and started to put up online after a friend asked me to write him a story, so I wrote him the first of this set, and then keep adding to them when something suitably ridiculous comes into my head.

They make me laugh, and that’s why I do them. This one was inspired by a sliver of cheese that looked like a snake, so we called it Fiachra. Obviously you’ll be totally jealous of my awesome rhyming skills. I’m a poet.

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Fiachra the snake,
really wanted to bake,
so he could whip up the tastiest food,

Recipes in his head,
for cakes and for bread,
and desserts that seemed so good.

but Fiachra would never get further,
than getting ingredients together,
as he had no arms.

Part 6 of an irregular series.

Wires album liner notes

I’ve been busying myself making the special funders edition version of the cd covers, but also putting together an online version of extended album liner notes here on the website. It’s one thing I’ve always loved about CDs and Vinyl records – being able to pore over the pages of lyrics while listening, or look at the photographs, see who the musicians are on each song, and read the little thank you notes. It’s something that’s less easy to do when you’re buying music digitally.

But with this online version I’ve put together, you can listen to the album in full, investigate songs individually and see the lyrics, musician credits, and read about the recording experience, or what inspired the song in some cases. There’s some photos from behind the scenes in the recording studio, in the printmaking studio, and now in the dancers studio too. Each page will be updated as more of the videos get shot and made available online, and I’m toying with the idea of putting up some music score parts for some of the songs in future as well. So, the liner notes are something that will hopefully continue to grow and develop over the next few months as I keep realising the “Wires” project fully and will then be a wonderful document of the record when it’s time to move on to the next project.

So, why not grab a cuppa, and Check out the liner notes as they are right now.

I write in cafés

 This post on Edible Geography struck a chord with me. I’m definitely one of those people who sits in cafés for hours working.

Usually though, people can see what I’m doing, as I’m rarely on a laptop anymore since the death of my Powerbook G4, and I’m usually switching between a notebook (yes, actual paper one), manuscript paper (yes, more actual paper you use for writing music), and my phone (for my twitter addiction).

For example, I took this shot of my “workspace” last month while sitting in Kelly’s Bar & Restaurant, which is one of my favourite places to do some work:

Scoring an arrangement for NUIG's ChoralSoc

I love working while in cafés and actually prefer it to working at my desk at home. I’m more productive and more focused when I’m working in a café and get a lot more work done in that kind of environment than I do pretty much anywhere else.

It’s always been that way – throughout uni, I’d get my composition assignments written in the canteen, the students union bar, or any of my favourite cafés in town. The noise and the bustle meant I had to focus on whatever work I was doing. I had to really concentrate to get the work done. That kind of atmosphere works for me. True, I may have also been using the lunch hour before the assignment was due to both eat and get the work done at the same time, but a bit of last minute pressure always helps. ;)

These days, I sit and write out arrangements for songs of mine, or for various different work that I do with choirs, or singing classes. I work on lyrics for my own songs, or write other things like this that make me happy.

I do get some strange looks sometimes, if I’m sitting with a full score out on the table while I have lunch or coffee, quietly working away writing down notes. And it’s certainly not as handy as using MuseScore (a free, open source Sibelius-like software) on my iMac at home, but it’s a bit more comfortable for me and I don’t make as good coffee as those cafés do.

Silly Stories, Part 5: A Story For Amanda: Greta The Grinder

Amanda’ coffee grinder is often a cause for concern. So, recently I was in her café one one of those afternoons when the grinder stopped working, and she had to get another. It inspired this addition to my silly children’s stories for adults, which as you are aware, is ~amazing art~

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Greta the grinder moaned and groaned
For she was far too fond of complaining.
Some days she just stopped,
As some form of silent protesting.

Eventually, however, her protests grew too many
And the people began to grumble,
in need of some fresh coffee,
As their stomachs began to rumble.

So it happened that Greta the grinder
found herself sitting unused
As Garbo the Grinder sat right beside her
Munching and purring all afternoon.

And Greta no longer mumbled and grumbled,
But sat silently on the counter,
And watched the people be re-caffeinated,
Until the garbage man took her.

The end.
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Part 5 of an irregular series.

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Silly Stories, Part 4: a story for Lorcan: Lorcan the Chameleon.

Lorcan was bored in a lecture and asked for entertainment, so I texted him this quick little story that I wrote on the spot. Obviously it is ~amazing art~
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There once was a chameleon called Lorcan,
Who could change his skin to blend in,
But soon Lorcan realised,
That it’s far more fun to stand out in a crowd.

So Lorcan the chameleon began to change his skin,
No longer to try and merely fit in,
But to stand out in a crowd,
Feeling quite proud
With colours as eye-catching as could be.

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Part 4 of an irregular series.

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