EYE-PODS...

A Podiatrist appointment at the health centre today to check on the condition of my feet, my usual five or six weekly inspection because of the dangers that Diabetes causes to the feet.

Despite having lost most of the nerves and feeling in my 'pods', things seem no better or worse than my previous visit, so not too much to worry about at this point in time.

Tomorrow is my regular eye injection routine though. Have to be at the hospital by 10 am for this and, as always noted here in this journal, not at all looking forward to needles being stuck in both my eyeballs.

Work nearing completion on 'Old Haunts' (as mentioned previously,) but a new vocal track underway which I'm rather fond of. Will try to complete this tomorrow and set it up for a mix, though my reduced eyesight, as a result of the 24 hour impact of the eye injections, may slow the progress of it.

I have to admit that, all modesty aside for a moment, 'Old Haunts' is going to be a very good album with a great deal of personal insight. At least a couple of the songs are plain speaking, emotional recollections of my past, romantic life. It's a kind of exposing of some areas of my emotional travels, albeit in symbolic, metaphorical terms. But anyone who has followed my story with a certain amount of curiosity may be able to draw the lines between the dots.

When I contemplate where I've come from, where I am now and where I might possibly end up in the future, I'm amazed and confused. How to take in the variety of experiences and the long journey to here and now? It's like a vast catalogue of happenings that I can't quite get a grip on, pages turned and then forgotten in the desire to read the new page.

I guess this is what happens when we arrive at our senior years, a lifetime of loves and failures, ecstatic moments and deep depressions, moments of joy and sadness. We stack all this stuff up and attempt to count it, evaluate it, trying to figure out what it all means, to discover whether our brief life here amounts to anything or nothing.

I think, when all is said and done, that is what most pre-occupies my 'art' for what it's worth, and has pre-occupied my life since childhood. Always aware, somehow, of the fleetingness of life, I can't seem to escape my thoughts about the fragility of our existence and the shifting sands of time and tide.

It's both depressing and elevating. My mind is a flip-book of images that are precious. But those images are not just an individual's personal reflection, but the reflection of a particular generation who have experienced similar moments in their lives.

Artists have to articulate their own experience. Peter Blake once said to me that we have to make art from what we personally know, and I heartily agree with that. Make art from where you are and it will speak to those who share your space and time. But it may also universally address the human condition, from which we all suffer with both joy and pain.

Plans going ahead for a November album launch party, including a live performance. Guitar techs Andy Newlove and Pete Harwood unable to take care of my live tech requirements but just heard today that Gordon White is available and willing to take on the task, for which I'm very grateful and very pleased. Looking forward to this although I'm sure to become more and more freaked out by the creative preparations that will be required over the few months coming.

I always say 'yes' to these things, then regret doing so, getting myself tied in knots of anxiety until it's all over, then wondering if it's possible to do just one more...I guess I suffer from a 'love-hate' relationship with live performances. Something, somehow, keeps me doing them, though I don't really know what that 'something' is. Maybe it's a fundamental need to feel the love of an audience and the satisfaction of imparting, in a live situation, music that I believe in...