Muse

The creative muse has left me.  When I started this blog there were loads of things that I needed to get off my chest, but recently I've struggled to come up with the high-quality posts my loyal readership has come to expect (a big shout out to each of my 7 followers!).

There are a few obvious subjects that still need to be addressed.  Retirement plans are never far from my mind at the moment.  I've done blogs on Bowie and the Pet Shop Boys, so The Beatles have to be next.  I also need to tell the world about my mum in the same way I did about my dad.  I've tried with each of these, but not managed to come up with the right words.  So I figure that I should leave them and, at some point, the muse will return.

Under some pressure from friends (who have been very kind about my efforts) I've started posts on topical subjects or stuff that has struck me as interesting. If I consult the detailed planning notes that I prepare in advance of each post I can tell you that you've narrowly avoided my thoughts on the following:

• The passing of the Guardian newspaper.  I've read it all of my adult life but the recent price increase to £1.40 is a step too far
• BMW and Audi drivers.  They drive too fast, too close and generally annoy me
• The fact that I have become 'asocial'.  I like people and I'm not anti-social, but I prefer my own company and that of my wife
• My hairstyles through the years.  During 2012 my hair started receding faster that the sea at Weston-Super-Mare.  I thought a tonsorial ramble down memory lane might be interesting
• The wonders of tinnitus

I'm sure I could have cobbled together a few words on any of these subjects interspersed with the occasional witty aside, but my heart wasn't in any of them.

I'm also conscious of the need for a level of 'quality control'.  Blogging is a wonderful thing, but do people really want to read that I find the Guardian a bit expensive or that I have a ringing in my ears?  This feeling is reinforced when I look at the wonderful blogs from my some of my on-line chums and, this week in particular, A Drake's Progress.

I've written it before and I'll write it again, but Carolyn's blog about her daughter who has Prader-Willi Syndrome is a thing of beauty.  Always interesting, always funny, plus you get a free video with each post. This week's post is probably one of the most moving things I've read for some time.

So, while you're waiting for me, go over there this minute.  Start with this week's post, followed by the first post and then work your way forward.  Just make sure you keep popping back here to see if my hair-loss is getting any better.