I’ve been writing this blog since 2011. Mostly about music, which is my greatest passion. I’ve written a book called I Was There – A Musical Journey, which you can buy on Amazon and Kindle. The story of music – my music, my life – over the past 50 years.
I dabble in other culture too – mainly art and books, though there have been forays into cinema. It’s whatever takes my fancy.
I cover sport intermittently, mainly football (soccer). I can’t resist a moan about my favourite team, West Ham, from time to time! And England, the perennial underachievers. I follow Harlequins in the rugby, so they get the occasional look-in too.
I like to share photos, especially of my home city London and the mighty River Thames. Infinitely fascinating, both. I have a series called lovelondonscenes, which is self-explanatory.
I tend to avoid politics, not because I don’t think it’s interesting or important, but because I have a job which precludes me from being partisan. That won’t stop the occasional rant about Brexit or Trump though.
I’m on Twitter at @Jasthoughts
Thoughtsfromwestfive 
Hey! You’ve been nominated by me for three separate awards: the Candle Light Award, the One Lovely Blog Award, and the Versatile Blog Award. You can check it out at here: http://someoneiswakingupforgetting.wordpress.com/2012/01/23/overwhelmed-by-awards/.
Congratulations! This is pretty awesome.
Thanks! Appreciate your support. Checked your page about this. Seems like a nice concept if it’s real. I haven’t yet really understood the ins and outs of the blogging community. Slowly but surely!
I agree about photography I really appreciate seeing what people see through their lense. To see the area around them that they live. It does not have to be fancy camera. I think you can learn a lot about other places just by looking at their photos. Happy Blogging!
Thanks for the comment. The photos that people take have been the real revelation for me since I started blogging. So much good stuff.
You have the same idea as me – going travelling around London and my borough to take some shots. I just got my Camera last week on my Birthday, scared to touch it, lol, but I am taking the plunge today!
This, like you through WordPress, is how I got into photography, taking part in the weekly photo challenges. Always had an interest but it boomed here. Seeing other’s work is so inspiring, your right there, and there are some fab, basic (not as complicated as Photo Shop) photo editing software and many are free. You can have a lot of fun with them.
And as for the Blogging Community, you will pick it up gradually, just takes a bit of time and I too am still learning, I think it’s about 6 months ago I began.
My Husband is an Gunner too….and my Dad’s Chelsea – (Exactly!) – I keep WELL out of the conversations!!
Pleased to meet you, Imogen 🙂
Thanks for this great comment, Imogen. I’ve been photographing things and places for years and am now really enjoying sharing them, wrapping them round with a bit of commentary. I find myself taking photos, specifically so that I can put them on a blog. It’s great that we can do this so easily now – no longer do we have to find publishers or other intermediaries. I think there is a release of creativity as a result. Some of the bloggers I’m following on WordPress are doing extraordinary things – would they ever have had the chance to share their creations before?
My highlight so far on WordPress was when I got on Freshly Pressed with my air guitar top ten and had 6,000 hits over four days as a result. Even better was all the wonderful comments: some inspired by the post, others offering their alternatives. Exactly what I hoped to achieve when I started blogging. That volume was obviously exceptional, but I still love to receive comments – and to make them in responses to other people’s blogs.
As for Arsenal and Chelsea, I’m with the Gooners every time!
Stay in touch!
I stumbled on to your blog from one of LittleByListen’s blog posts. You have a good thing going here and I look forward to visiting often.
Thanks for the comment and welcome to my world! Little by Listen is a great blog, I’m sure you agree.
Yes, LxL is. There are a few others on music that I find very interesting – Notes on notes, Say it with music (a.k.a. I made you a mixtape) and Bob Dylan wrote propaganda songs (yup, that’s what it’s called)
I’m not sure about your views on awards. My own are very guarded. I do believe that it’s important to show one’s appreciation for another whose work evokes respect and admiration. But at the same time it should be merited and not gratuitous. I’ve been following your posts for a while and I’d like you to know that I thoroughly enjoy these. I have taken the liberty of nominating you for a ‘Sunshine Award’. There are NO strings attached and it’s perfectly fine for you to ignore it. There’s absolutely no need to take cognizance of the rules – it can get quite meaningless if it’s done as an obligation. If you’d like to get to know a bit about it, you could check this http://dyingnote.com/2012/06/04/sunshine-in-my-life/ .
Thanks for the work you do on your blog. You bring much joy.
Thanks very much for nominating me, and for your kind comments. I’m not really into the awards thing, but I do appreciate your interest in my blog and am really grateful for giving me a mention on your Sunshine nominations. Best wishes, John.
You’re welcome.
I’m not surprised – nobody among the bloggers that I follow and interact with is into it. Some like Elliot and I accept it and move on. I think the joy’s really in the writing and sharing. And oh! looking at the stats page once in a while when it spikes up feels nice too 🙂 But that may be because I’ve spent the bulk of my professional life working with data.
John,
This is Todd from LxL. I was hoping you might want to do a write-up for us on your thoughts on the Opening/Closing ceremonies for the Olympics. Could you email me at tmreynolds23@gmail.com if you’re interested and I’d give you more details on our thoughts. I couldn’t seem to find your email, otherwise I would have contacted via email. Thanks!
Hi John, you might be interested in this WordPress piece on embedding audio with a neat looking slider player tool instead of using a link. I’d been lazy to search for this for quite a while, but when I recently resumed my blog after a 11 week gap, I did. I rather like it.
http://en.support.wordpress.com/audio/
Had a look and couldn’t see which option that tool was in. No 2? I’ve not clicked “none” before so maybe that does it?
Yes, clicking on ‘None’ (no link) should do the job. I assume you upload songs to WordPress
I hope you like the painted gold gown I just made!! I think it’s art. Do you?
Resa, I thought it was brilliant. Have left a comment on the blog. Been catching up tonight after a few busy days.
xoxoxo!
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Ahh yes, London and the River Thames. I became quite obsessed with both for many years, still am in a way. Since moving to the Kent coast some years ago, my love has not diminished but my time allocated has. I don’t often get into London these days, but I’m looking forward to when my grandson is older and I can take him on adventures to London and show him its many many wonders and secrets.