A look back at my 2011. Nothing to see here, move along please.

Subject	A look back at my 2011. Nothing to see here, move along please.
PostedDate	1/6/2012 8:29:00 PM
	2011 - OK, so I'm a week late with this. Sue me. Not too bad a year overall from my point of view - my first whole year of stability (as in a stable home life) for several years. 2011 was my first full year in my new home, and it passed very smoothly with no problems keeping a roof over my head. Settled and comfortable in my new(ish) smaller home. It's not ideal, but it could be a lot worse - I'm lucky compared to many people. More room would be nice, but I do like having everything readily to hand. Selfish bastard that I am I actually enjoy living on my own and having absolutely no responsibilities to anyone apart from myself. I managed to remain in employment - just. There may be storm clouds on the horizon on that front, but for the time being things continue ticking over... No big dramas or massive ups and downs over the year - a nice change from the previous couple. I bought a couple of new guitars, and actually managed to play some gigs - not enough mind, but it's a step in the right direction. I went to countless gigs, both large and small. Saw loads of great bands - some world famous, some unknown - and everything inbetween. Far too many gig highlights to mention, or even remember - if you want to know more then just scroll back through my blogs - you'll find virtually every gig I went to last year (and quite a few previous years) apart from local cover bands which I don't count. I won an award. The only festival I went to was High Voltage, which I really enjoyed for the second year running. Loads of good times with friends, good family times around Christmas - tempered by the unexpected loss of a favourite Uncle on Boxing day. That sort of thing always seems to happen around what should be a happy time of year. It brings you down to earth, but at least makes you grateful to have a family - some people aren't that lucky. Other than that, no real low points to speak of - apart from the drama of nearly losing my job a few months ago - I wouldn't go without putting up a fight - a fight which I won. Rather to my surprise to be honest, but even a waster like me gets lucky once in a while. Not to say that there isn't room for improvement, but overall life is good and in many respects I am happy and content. How did that happen? So what does 2012 hold? Probably more of the same. I can live with that. But I want to spend more time out playing rock 'n' roll myself instead of watching other people doing it. Not that I don't want to still be out at lots of gigs, because watching other people is part of where I draw my inspiration from. DON'T buy any more guitars! I said that after I got a new one in January last year - that didn't last... I am thinking of getting another amplifier though - seem to be getting a lot of small ones recently - each one smaller than the last. Sometimes less is more.