Jonesieblog

Pure nostalgia - here’s an imperfect list of my favourite albums since I began listening back in the late ’70s.

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• Sat drinking weissbier by the litre at the Tollwood festival in Munich
• Went to see exhibitions of Gilbert and George, Warhol and Picasso
• Snowboarded on the Hintertux glacier in Austria
• Wandered around the Forbidden Corner in Yorkshire
• Fitted a loft ladder in the house
• Sailed a Laser in the Firth of Forth
• Learned to surf at Belhaven Bay
• Wrote songs on my 12 string guitar
• Cycled around East Lothian
• Discovered how hard skimboarding is
• Read Chronicles Vol 1 by Bob Dylan, Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami, the last Harry Potter and the first Gervase Phinn book.
• Poured pints at the ELYC bar
• Watched all 23 episodes of Heroes in 10 days
• Correctly predicted every Big Brother eviction
• Relaxed

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Last Friday I took a sailing dinghy out for the first time.  It was a pretty hairy experience, involving 4 capsizes.

Today I was out in a Laser, and I sailed single-handed around Craigleith (a wee island in the Firth of Forth).  I loved it - and we saw puffins and a couple of seal pups on our journey.  I should say that I was guided all the way around and back by Jane Robertson - thanks Jane!

As Jane said, we live in an amazing part of the world.

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Hope you all had a great xmas.  I did!

So….John tagged me, and I’m supposed to tell you 5 things….

I’m very tempted to follow Tom Hoffman’s lead and make up 5 bits of nonsense.  You decide if these are true or not

1. I have passed exams in French, German, Latin and Spanish
2. I used to play in a band called The Catburgers
3. I have travelled in a car with Nico (she sang with The Velvet Underground).
4. I have led an E1 rock climb (Captain Birdseye at Cummingston)
5. I am a Buddhist, and have attended a number of week-long silent meditation retreats.

I tag Tess, Paul, David, Brian and Don.

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I’m afraid it’s happened already - the tree is up in our living room!  My wife gets a free tree as a perk of being employed by the Foresty Commission, and this weekend was the only time we were free to go collect it before the holidays.

So here it is - a picture of minimalist subtlety as ever

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