another strange day...

I thought I would go into work late today, and use the time to get caught up with some paperwork. I diligently started writing at 8am, and didn't stop until 2.15pm. I wrote 4864 words. I was then overcome with tiredness and thought I'd have a little lie down on the couch. I woke up two hours later, and that was a struggle. During this time, I kept half waking, but found myself just unable to rise from the couch. But I'm up and bathed and feelng a strange combination of washed out and refreshed. I really needed that little bit extra sleep.

I did have a little break from writing to find a holiday for us. We have decided to go back to sunny Madeira. I very quickly found the perfect holiday at a hotel we have stayed at before, and I was in the process of booking the holiday, when the salesperson asked me if our passports had at least 7 months to run on them. I suddenly remembered that Mrs McMuffin's passport expired in March this year and she hasn't renewed it. I had to cancel the whole thing.

I am sitting here listening to a massive box set of Marty Robbins singing country. He has such lovely mellow voice, and I have very fond memories of his gunfighter ballads from when I was a child. He was always one of those singers, along with the likes of Willie Nelson, Jim Reeves and Kate Bush, who surprised when they sang. How could that voice come out of those lips. When I recently visited my little brother I was shocked to find that in amongst all the show tunes, hi-energy, and the tragic female singers, I found a copy of the ballads album. Once the country is in you, there is just no taking it out! Hey, that could be the title of a country song. Now, if I could just write a few more catchy words and some music, and learn to play the guitar and how to sing, I could make a lot of money.

The problem with these box sets is that sometimes you hear music that you wished you hadn't heard. Marty lends his beautiful voice to the fight against the commies on Ain't I Right and then goes into a tirade against providing aid to foreigners on My Own Native Land. I always knew he had right-wing leanings but hearing him singing these songs has soured my enjoyment a little. I have always been a little bit confused by the Godly right-winger, but here he is on the sublime An Evening Prayer, a song that will give you some idea of what loveliness he is capable of.

For those of you who want to know more about Marty Robbins, I've found this fan site called Kirsty's Marty Robbin's Page. Do think this is our very own lovely Kirsty?

Ah well, I think he will now be filed in the "a great singer, but not a very nice man" section, which is right next to Woody Allen, who is in the "a great film maker, but a paedophile" section and Jim Reeves, "a great singer, but racist bastard" section. By the way, we have a Black Jamaican friend who was also raised on Jim Reeves and buys his records just to spite him! And don't get me started on my struggle with liking Woody Allen!