Thankful
Well. Bit of a rollercoaster. I'm just back from this year's UK Filk Convention, and my head is spinning - in a good way. Quite apart from the fact that I got to watch my dear friend Rika perform the most fabulous pair of Guest of Honour sets - the first utterly stonking and energetic and thrilling, the second intimate and intense and compelling - quite apart from the fact that she covered three of my songs, beautifully, and made my cry by saying nice things about me as she did so, quite apart from the fact that several other people and entities performed songs of mine or parodies of them, quite apart from the fact that when Rika finished her explosive Saturday night set with my 'Paper Worlds', apart from all those, was the fact that on the strength of her and her band's performance she won a 'Best at Con' Sam award, and I got a 'Best Filk Gold (over four years old)' Sam award.

Apparently it's the first time the same song has won in two categories simultaeneously. 

Not that that was all; there was the usual reprise of the winners just before the closing ceremony, and Rika invited me to join her and the band onstage, and we shared the performance. However, she was playing guitar, so I - ha! - got to go hand-held with the mic and bounce about the stage rather. I had seriously Too Much Fun doing that, and it was one heck of a way to close the con, for me.

Let's see, if I recall correctly;

Rika sang my 'Still Catch the Tide', and 'Paper Worlds' and Crystal's German translation of my 'Highwayman'.
Mike Stein sang his wonderful and witty parody of my 'Archetype Cafe'.
The GKs sang my 'Fairytale of Die Hard' which was a lovely surprise.
The NMC sang Simon Fairbourn's arrangement of my 'Relativity Mall'. 
Kathy Songbird sang my 'Your Crimson Bride' in her set. 
Steve MacDonald sang my 'Still Catch the Tide' in the dead apple circle.

Have I missed anyone out?

I did do a one-shot, of 'Dead Susan', written for Girl Genius Seanan McGuire last Hallowe'en, and the vastly talented and lovely Tim Walker agreed to drum for me on no notice at all. I'm not sure how it came across - oh my, it's a long time since I was up there doing that, and I was out of practice with managing the nerves... my daughter was the only person in the room who had heard it before, and she was sitting with her Dad singing away on what is really NOT a very pleasant song... at least now she has some idea what I do, or what I can do. I was also given such an introduction for my one-shot as makes me want to cook a very nice dinner for the committee member in question...

Last year with its troubles sent music to the back of the queue in so many ways. This year's convention has inspired me tremendously, and left me with a wanting to do more of it - record some of my considerable backlog, and perform more at conventions again.

Oh, and as another side effect I have today written a couple of new songs as well. That feels indescribably good, because, you see, 'Dead Susan' was all I wrote over a period of more than twelve months, and that's a long gap even for me. These things have always ebbed and flowed, and when the tide is in it's lovely, and when the tide goes out, one can feel utterly bereft. Oddly over this last year, I haven't even missed music, which has been less painful than missing it would have been, but I had got to missing the missing, and felt it a bad sign that I could be so neutral about the absence of performing or writing at all in my life.

So I have now a number of projects in hand, which I need and intend to further over the coming months, which will I hope include plenty of recording.

Delightfully, the convention also included a great deal of pleasant chatting and renewing of friendships, and although I'm deeply sorry to have missed several sets which I had hoped to see, I can't regret what I did instead, which was as nourishing to my soul as the music I listened to was.

This evening I have played guitar till my fingertips hurt.