Musical journey (104)

The Easter holidays are over and it's back to work and my manager just told me that I have to go offshore in the next week or so. However there's a training I need to attend next week and a pre-organised PrEP appointment the week after. Therefore I have to let him know I'll get offshore in the second half of the third week of May which I think should be fine. When I interviewed for this role, I was told I was supposed to be offshore twice a month and I have yet to visit any platform since I started almost five months ago so I think that's long overdue. Well work is work and at least I get to experience something new so it can't be that bad. Hopefully it's not too much colder than in the city as autumn is truly underway now.

Work aside, I'm trying to build up my social circle with people who drive and like to travel out of the city for some fresh air and to see different things in the weekends. I'm a home-body but I think I'm really spending too much time at home lately getting bored and having "I-shouldn't-waste-the-weekend" and "I-shouldn't-deprive-myself-of-new-experiences" thoughts. I know Ision would be much happier than me when I get out more so he can arrange "sessions" at home or at least get some "peace and quiet" which is something he constantly harps on about not getting enough of. I've been chatting to three different people so far but nothing real has happened yet. Actually, one person just dropped off the list as he seems unstable. So you see, this making-friends-out-of-nowhere non-organic approach isn't going to be easy so I'm going into this with zero expectations.

On the artistic front, I've just completed a posing session yesterday for an artist (here is some of his works) who wants to win the "Naked & Nude Art Prize" (i.e. this competition). It's a rare paid gig for me and all I had to do was to pose nude for half an hour or so and photos were taken which will be used by the artist for painting. Both of us came out with the poses as he wanted this to be a collaborative effort. I don't know whether you can call that a "photo shoot" but at least I didn't have to pose for the entire painting process which will take a LONG time. The painting due to be finished in June will be part of an exhibition and he did say that if the painting (which he values at $2,500) is not sold at the exhibition, he'll give it to me. This might create a problem if it's too big but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Here's a grainy sample of the type of posing I did followed by the final three paintings entered in the competition by the artist.

As for musical creation, the kink-themed band is not going anywhere as the lead/organiser is busy travelling for work but I know he's still interested. I've always thought it was a wild conception to begin with anyway so I'll not be too upset if it doesn't amount to anything. That doesn't mean I haven't been writing though. In fact I pumped out two songs this month and one each for the past two months. You do need to get in the mood to write (some people call it "inspiration") and I consciously don't want to make myself an assembly line churning out similar-sounding and soulless pieces so I'm pretty satisfied with my song-writing rate.

Another way to get in touch with my musical side is of course to record covers and this month's musical journey features "一半" (or "Half") by a singer/songwriter from China called 薛之謙 (or Joker Xue - I know, I know, they always have weird names). I quite like his music as it sounds different from that of others. A lot of new singers in the Chinese pop scene nowadays write their own material. This ensures that not everything sounds the same in the market and thus can only be a good thing.