charles barrow's writing

I was very saddened to hear of the death of singer/songwriter Linda Lewis two days ago, on 3rd May. Two months ago, in February, I wrote a post which included details of the time I met her, and how much I enjoyed her music, and especially her album Hacienda View. You can read that post  here

So anyway, it was a really wet start to the day, and that is all the excuse I needed to stay inside and finish the book I was reading, Find Me by Andre Aciman. I don't do that as often as I'd like, sit and read all morning, but I'm glad that I did, and I decided to feel no guilt about it. The only downside is that I now have to choose another book to read, and I've decided on a re-read, so it's either going to be Howards End by E.M. Forster, or The History of Mr Polly by H.G. Wells. I've read both of these twice each before and I love them equally. I've been trying to decide between them all day, and I can't, so I think the best way to solve this crisis is to read the first line of each and let my gut decide on that evidence alone. I've only just noticed that both writers use two initials instead of a first name. Do I even know their first names? After I finished reading, I picked up a drawing (of fishes) that I had started a month, or more, ago and ...

I never considered myself a fan of Barbershop Quartet singing. All the straw boaters, waist coats and harmonising, moon, spoon, and June. Then recently I discovered Ringmasters. The only non-North American winners of the World Championship, which they won in 2012. They hail from Sweden. Here then, are four Swedes, singing in English, with French accents. The song is from Walt Disney's Beauty and the Beast. They are singing this for comedic effect, but that shouldn't disguise the fact that this is extraordinarily accomplished. They make it look easy. That is their super-power. If you've ever tried singing harmony with a few other people, you'll appreciate just how good this is. And if you haven't ever tried singing harmony with a few other people then, trust me, to achieve this wall of sound (without the benefit of music to support your voices, supply the pitch or the tempo at which to sing) is truly astounding. I return to this (and their other performances) regular...

I go out walking daily, regardless of the weather. I walk by the sea, mostly, but do have a shorter more local walk, through the park, if the weather is especially inclement. I walk for exercise, for the fresh air, to clear my head, to give myself thinking time, creative energy, and to just 'be' in nature and monitor the seasonal changes that can easily be missed during a fast walk to the station, or a struggle back from the supermarket with an overladen bag. And while I walk I sing to myself, under my breath, sometimes more loudly if I've checked behind and know that no one else will hear me. Sometimes one song will lodge in my head for weeks and become the oft repeated soundtrack to my walks. Often that can be just a snatch of verse and the chorus of a song, stuck on repeat, which, after a while becomes annoying, as any song stuck on repeat would annoy, and I have to make a conscious effort to shift it. Mostly this can be achieved by simply replacing it with another song,...

Please follow the link to Smashwords.com to download your free copy of The Stolen Days of John Mann. This book is the first part of the John Mann trilogy, All the Days of John Mann. You can choose to download the book in an epub, mobi for Kindle, or pdf format. I hope you enjoy it, and if you do then please consider leaving a review, because that would really help me out. Thank you.  https://www.smashwords.com/books

More than a week of January has passed already. It's usually such a long (seeming) month that it's a blessing that a quarter of it has passed before I really noticed. The weather has been continually wet since the new year began, and I've been feeling rather under par since Christmas, so what outdoor exercise I've managed to get between showers has been welcome but short lived. I have, however, very much enjoyed catching many signs of an emerging spring - emerald spears of the early daffodil, crocus and snowdrop. Songbirds singing to ward off trespassers in their territory, and nest building. Buds on the hydrangea. All of these things help to lift my spirits. My mental health has not been good recently, so I've actively been thinking about what does bring me joy, and what brings the dark clouds into my life. I'm making lists. It's difficult to find any consistency when it comes to self care, it has to be worked at. And life has a tendency to poke a stick in ...

So. Snow. We woke up this morning and the world outside was blanketed in it. When I say 'we' I mean us on the the south coast of England. If you don't live in the UK you may not fully appreciate the enormity of us Brits waking to find that snow has fallen in the night. In essence it means the country grinds to a halt. It's like a public holiday, but without any warning, or the themed special offers stacked high in the supermarket. It only takes a smattering of the stuff and our trains stop running (although they're on strike anyway at the moment), and our postal workers can't get through to deliver the letters (although they're on strike at the moment too), the roads become impassable (the gritter lorries can't get out of the depot because of the icy conditions), and everyone generally thinks "Fuck it, let's just take the day off work and head to a local hill with a tea tray toboggan." Just don't end up in A&E folks because I actual...