The last 6 weeks have been absolutely crazy and a sure sign is that I cannot seem to find the time to write…. but this week I am taking the time!! Looking forward to writing about some of the adventures which have taken place…..
Let’s start with some of the fun stuff!!!
THREE WEEKENDS OF MUSIC!!!
It will be hard to summarise the events in a reasonably long blog post so I may have to tell you about it all over a few of them. However let’s start with talking about the three weekends which nearly made my kids wonder who I was!!! (Kidding)
Starting out on the 20thJuly! The Coronas in the 3Arena!! All I can say about this concert is wow…. Road trip started from West Clare early in the day where we as a reunited foursome headed towards the Big Smoke!! Made it as far as Annacotty where we of course had to stop for some cold beverages and food.
This was followed by a sit down in the Gibson for a few pre-concert drinks and then we hit the venue. Unfortunately we lost a team member to an upset tummy but with all her bravery and goodness (I would rather have died) she let us enjoy the concert before holding herself together to drive us back down the road. The Coronas was the best I have ever seen them and the crowd was electric. Came home lyrical and singing for the rest of the week….. also between you and me secretly planning my marriage to one very handsome vocally capable man!!!!
BO**OCK HOLES & HANDSTANDS
Weekend 2 we upped the game to a 2 night ordeal!! This time not too far from home we took to a weekend in Kilkee and Marquee by the Sea.
Friday night was Keywest a band with quite an amount of sad songs… Heartbreak, Mistakes and Hurt! What a night….. after the concert, we hit the (not so age appropriate) night club and danced until they threw us out! Finished the late night with cheese, tapas and pear vodka….. Oh to be (not so) young and clever J
So Saturday morning saw some tender heads which required a drive to the cliffs in Kilkee for a blustery recovery walk. Here I certainly showed my not so clear head when I went to express to my friends that I had never in fact swam in the Bollock Holes in Kilkee and would love to try sometime…… I really did mean Pollock Holes….. One of the memories that comes with the weekend.
We also spoke, yet again, about how quickly we set up barriers and limitations on ourselves. Such as only a few months ago I was doing handstands in the office, now…. Ohhhh my stomach gets butterflies with the thought of it.
Saturday nights we got to see the amazing Riptide Movement. What a privilege to get to see them in such an intimate venue and what handsome lead singer…. The voice certainly aids too…..
The scariest part of the night was the bouncers ability to recognise and DEMONSTRATE what our behaviour had been like on the Friday night…. We went home early…..
Came back to real life on the Monday for four days of training delivery with no voice, tired eyes and a smile on my face!!!
THUMBS UP FOR TENTS!!!
The last music weekend…. Weekend 3. This one the scariest of them all!!! First ever time at a music festival, first time in a tent and certainly the first time in a long time (possibly ever) that I did the no sleep, lots of drink, lots of I’m not sure what to call it moves!!! Still not sure if it was a pleasant experience or a strange nightmare.
Myself and two ladies (well we were ladies leaving not so sure about when coming back) hit the road for Mitchelstown and the Indiependence Festival 2018 on Friday the 3rdAugust!!
We arrived nice and early to the campsite where we were, thankfully, staying in the VIP area (Thank You). We successfully carried our slabs of beer (shouldered) in together with the tent, clothes and lots of other essentials (???) and pitched our tent. Nearly had an argument at this early part of the day due to the stress of tent erecting…..
From there on it all went to drink….. We are not sure whether to be proud or to be ashamed of our ability to cope with the weekend!! After no sleep the first night (for me, whilst others were snoring) and I mean NO SLEEP, NONE we all got up around 8am. Parked ourselves in our chairs at our camping table. Had an orange for breakfast, a mug of tea and a shower. Then at 11.14am we opened the days first can of beer!! Dinner was rice (the curry was too hot) and cider and from there on out you can only guess how it went!!
Saturday night my ability to risk assess camp sites in combination with no sleep, no drink and not sure what else, I managed to come away with an erect thumb!!! That thumb has still another 3 weeks of healing to do before the ligament damage is repaired. In my defence I was off duty……. Safety can’t always be first.
Travelling through the airport last week I saw a quote which I though very appropriate; I didn’t fall, the floor (ground) looked like it needed a hug!!!!
There was a favourite moment as part of hurting my hand…. As I was (at my tender age) talking to my mum about what happened and slightly upset one of our neighbouring campers walked past and offered to make me a sandwich to make me feel better….. and when I turned that down I got a lovely hug instead!!! The spirit of strangers!!!
Before leaving the topic of Indie18 I have to say that we had the most amazing neighbours!!! Steve and Lisa and your spicy balls and hoover, great to have met you!!!
On the Sunday we simply had to admit to enough being enough!! We did again, we didn’t go too far past 11 when we made the attempt to finish the cans of beer, watched the hurling game, walked the festival site and got our caricature painted before heading back home!! I’m still recovering and still eternally grateful for magic friends who coped with me when I barely did myself!!
Not to be forgotten the music was magical in between!!!!
AGAPE…….
Trying to keep this short isn’t really working!!! But here goes the last part of the blog….. Not going to go too serious on this occasion. I will save that for the next one (which is already written by the way!!) For now I want to continue talking about music.
Music is in many instances my rescue! Sometimes it acts as my hide away from reality, sometimes as my awakening to reality…. It can make me laugh, it can make me dance, it can bring back some amazing memories (the list here is endless), it can bring me strength and it can connect me with others as words has the ability to reach out……
It can also make others laugh either at you (when you are in the full swing of car pool karaoke with yourself and the radio) or with you when doing, one of my favourites, car sing song when on journeys with the kids and their friends. We all pick one song each and then all roar it out at the top of our lungs!!!
I love music, new, old, rock, pop, indie, opera, musicals…. All of it, with some genres more than others!
In this blog I want to share a song, that someone shared with me. Oh and this is a song you should listen to. https://youtu.be/q1MmYVcDyMs
There are a couple of reasons why I love this song;
- The total change of use and pronunciation of the word agape. (for me anyway). Who would have thought (without the help of google) that what it would associate with the highest form of love.
- What the lead singer says about the song, that it is looking at that continuous insecurity in a relationship….. and how to much many of those insecurities can lead to its demise….
- It is beautiful.
To finish, here are some of my favourite lyrics from the song;
Agape
Please don’t dissipate
I know that I’ve got it all wrong
I’m reaching out
To touch your voice
But baby I’m clutching at straws
Even though your words hurt the most
I still want to hear them
Every day
I don’t want to know who I am without you.
Would love to hear what special songs you have on your playlist! And of course, you will have to say why!
Simply Malin 