New Year’s Day

As the first day of Freshers’ Week, today – if you work in higher education – almost felt more like New Year’s Day than 1 January itself. There’s a buzz around the campus again, the kind of buzz you miss when everyone’s away over the summer months. Its absence stands out like a sore thumb, but so does the warmth you feel when it returns. As it turns out, that warmth may well be conducive to creativity too. I’ve spent nearly every week since my last post scribbling waffle in my notebook to varying degrees of desperation, but ultimately, nothing I wrote had any life in it. Most of it stopped making sense in the end – I was flogging a dead horse. Happily, I don’t feel that way typing this. It feels like the fire underneath has been reignited, to an extent.

I gave four short appointments to students today, new faces who were each looking for part-time work. I obviously can’t go into detail about who I spoke to or what we discussed, but I can tell you that seeing them become visibly more relaxed about their prospects was immensely satisfying. There can’t be many situations where you can see weights lifted from people’s shoulders in real time. I always say that I’ve felt valued over the last 18 months, but that’s never been truer than it was today. I made a difference, however small, and when that happens you can’t possibly struggle for new material. There are virtues to extol, and not only in my professional life, but my personal life too. My archery beginner’s course looms on Saturday – the first session, at least. I’m looking forward to it, and to hitting more than the woodwork this time. I just need to make sure I build up my upper body strength a bit first, because those bows are tough without a decent pair of biceps. I’m sure I’ll let you know how it goes. Here’s hoping I have another reason to smile by next Monday!

Mason

Is Here Now

A lyrical analysis of Oasis’ Be Here Now, originally written in 2019

Oasis released their third album, Be Here Now, on 21 August 1997. It was met with significant widespread anticipation, and went on to become the UK’s best-selling album of 1997[1] as well as its fastest-selling album of all time[2] – internationally, it also proved a sizeable hit. It was initially given an enthusiastic critical response, with several reviews consisting of unanimous praise. Over time, however, Be Here Now’s sales and supporters dwindled and it has been retrospectively seen as excessively ambitious, too long and overproduced. In 2018, NME described it as “a rock folly, a coke-fuelled monument to ‘90s excess.”[3] It is cited as the album that prompted the decline of the wider Britpop scene, but it still produced three UK hit singles in ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’, ‘Stand By Me’ and ‘All Around the World’. The latter remains the longest track ever to reach number one on the UK Singles Chart, indicating both the scale of the music on Be Here Now and Oasis’s colossal commercial appeal.

Noel Gallagher – the group’s main songwriter – had been inspired to create songs that “escaped the strictures of orthodox rock composition”[4] and were “Bigger, Louder and Longer”[5]. In addition, the success Oasis had achieved by the time Be Here Now was written and recorded meant that they were virtually entirely unrestricted by deadlines or budgets. The decadence evident during the album’s production may have influenced its lyrics, although they largely display the same typical Oasis elements of arrogance, relentless optimism and melancholy.

Be Here Now was released following Labour’s landslide victory at the 1997 general election, and this developed a feeling of positivity that had existed for some time beforehand, fostered by events such as the aforementioned political changes as well as cultural landmarks including “Euro 96 and Britpop in general.”[6] ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’, Be Here Now’s opening track, has been described as “more rally than song”[7], and is an example of how many lyrics exist “to propose ideas about life and the world.”[8] It progresses with an authority and forcefulness that is difficult to deny, conveying this most notably in the chorus; “all my people, right here, right now/d’you know what I mean?/yeah, yeah.”[9] The first part seems to cultivate a sensation of togetherness and unity among band and audience; in addition, it reinforces the reputation of Oasis as a working-class band of the people, since Liam is singing to “my people”. The listener is thus part of the story, allowing the band’s message to gain momentum. In the rest of the song, this is used to encourage the listener to brush off life’s setbacks and approach everything with confidence. Through lines such as “get up off the floor and believe in life/no-one’s ever gonna ever ask you twice”[10], they are subjected to a degree of ethos in the lyrics, since the narrator is evidently attempting to convince the listener of their own personal strength and inspire faith in their message. It has been noted that the song’s chorus provided a particularly apparent “note of hubristic confidence”[11], linking back to the aforementioned arrogance that featured in Oasis’s earlier lyrics. Looking deeper at the words themselves, we can establish that there is use of both perfect rhymes and family rhymes. In parts of the song, they almost seem to alternate; for example, “step off the train all alone at dawn/back into the hole where I was born”[12] is swiftly followed by “the blood on the tracks, and they must be mine/the fool on the hill, and I feel fine”[13]. These lines, varying in their rhyme style, are separated by standalone ones – in this case, “the sun in the sky never raised an eye to me”[14], which helps to establish a pattern running through the rest of the song. This format, along with the repetitive nature of the chorus and the steady AABCCB rhyme scheme in the verses (the pre-chorus is ABBCC), can potentially make the song easier for a listener to memorise, thereby increasing the effectiveness of its message. The video develops this, showing Oasis performing the song in an apparently post-apocalyptic world while helicopters fly overhead and a crowd gathers. Smoke grenades are thrown, adding colour and chaos to a grey setting and bearing a resemblance to the uprising and sense of fearlessness encouraged by the lyrics.

‘Don’t Go Away’, on the other hand, is much more personal and introspective in nature. Its lyrics take the form of a plea to a loved one not to abandon the narrator. It opens with “a cold and frosty morning/there’s not a lot to say/about the things caught in my mind”[15], immediately setting a solemn scene, establishing a clear sense of pathos, and succinctly illustrating the narrator’s frustration at being unable to properly express their inner feelings. Its production was supposedly an emotional experience; Liam claims to have cried while recording his vocal, saying that “I had to go away and sort myself out”[16]. The emotional angle is reiterated notably in the lines that lead up to the chorus – “and I want to be there when you’re coming down/and I want to be there when you hit the ground.”[17] When the chorus begins, the aforementioned plea fully manifests itself; “don’t go away/say what you say/say that you’ll stay/forever and a day.”[18] As well as desperation, a sense of loss is also apparent: “me and you, what’s going on? All we seem to know is how to show/the feelings that are wrong.”[19] Such lines suggest an emotional vulnerability that is at odds with the resilience and defiance evident in other Oasis songs; on Be Here Now alone, ‘Don’t Go Away’ is preceded by ‘My Big Mouth’ (“I’ll put on my shoes while I’m walking slowly down the hall of fame”[20]) and ‘I Hope, I Think, I Know’ (“’cause baby, after all/you’ll never forget my name”[21]). In rhyming terms, the lyrics employ more examples of perfect rhymes, and more evenly so than ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’. The scheme can be established an ABABCDD, at least in the first two verses; “damn my situation and the games I have to play/with all the things caught in my mind/damn my education, I can’t find the words to say/all the things caught in my mind.”[22] At the end of these, the words “coming down”[23] are sung after a pause, separating them on their own line and disrupting the flow of the pattern, although much like ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’, the consistency of this method can again allow the song to stay in the listener’s mind.

The video matches the melancholy theme of the song, while also using more surreal elements. It depicts Liam singing in a house and caught in moments of deep reflection while the rest of the band appear around him, and an orchestra play in a desolate and blue landscape. The visuals are likely to attract attention, but they all seemingly serve to isolate Liam and what he is singing, which can in turn provoke thought and reflection among listeners.

‘All Around the World’, however, is inherently optimistic and the album’s most blatant display of grandiosity. This orchestra uses strings and horns to create a juggernaut of positivity and convince the listener that everything will be right in their world; “all around the world/you’ve got to spread the word/tell ‘em what you’ve heard/we’re going to make a better day.”[24] Such a message can be interpreted as another attempt to inspire more confidence in the listener, albeit in a manner that displays less attitude than ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’. Its lyrics are even more consistent than those of the aforementioned two songs; certain sections are repeated numerous times (“yeah, I know what I know/it’s gonna be okay”[25]), and the verses contain a series of identical perfect rhymes in an AAAA pattern, followed by AAAABB in the pre-chorus sections. In addition, “please don’t cry, never say die”[26] features an additional rhyme, with an internal one occurring on the same line.

The music video for the song emphasises its positivity – Oasis are shown performing the song in a yellow spaceship while travelling through a surreal fantasy world, apparently inspired by The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine film. The jovial tone and bright colours of the video effectively compliment the lyrics, placing Liam firmly at the centre – he and the rest of the band are dressed in white suits, thereby rejecting darker attire, and he and Noel exchange light-hearted glances, abandoning their usual seriousness and revelling in their spectacular surroundings.

The relative extravagance of Be Here Now’s music and videos extended to its promotional materials. The album’s cover featured Oasis standing around a swimming pool at Stocks House, Hertfordshire, surrounded by various props; the pool had a Rolls-Royce lowered into it, and the items included a calendar displaying the album’s release date. It is believed that this was included to equate buying a copy on release day to participating in “some kind of historical event”[27] – the album’s title may convey a similar idea. Indeed, customers who purchased it at HMV stores were given a certificate confirming they had “been there then”[28], emphasising the perceived magnitude of the occasion. On the album’s supporting tour, the stage set replicated some of the cover artwork items. A Rolls-Royce grille was used as Alan White’s drum riser, and the band entered through a red telephone box, preceded by a ringmaster who walked the stage to enliven the audience.[29] Despite such ostentatiousness, the band themselves often donned more casual attire in keeping with their working-class reputation, remaining a degree of relatability to the audience despite the nature of Be Here Now’s music and retaining the image for which they are best known to the public.

Mason

Bibliography

The Official Charts Company. ‘End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 1997’. Accessed 6 November 2019. https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/end-of-year-artist-albums-chart/19970105/37502/

BBC Newsbeat. ‘Sorry Adele, Oasis are still the album chart record breakers’. Accessed 6 November 2019. http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/34919975/sorry-adele-oasis-are-still-the-album-chart-record-breakers

NME. ‘Oasis’ ‘Be Here Now’ – Was It Really That Bad?’. Accessed 6 November 2019. https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/oasis-be-here-now-at-15-was-it-really-that-bad-770068

Harris, John. The Last Party: Britpop, Blair and the Demise of English Rock. London: Fourth Estate, 2003.

Dorian Lynskey, ‘’Flattened by the cocaine panzers’ – the toxic legacy of Oasis’s Be Here Now’, The Guardian, 6 October 2016. Accessed 6 November 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/oct/06/flattened-by-the-cocaine-panzers-the-toxic-legacy-of-oasiss-be-here-now

Eckstein, Lars. Reading Song Lyrics. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2010.

Oasis, ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

Oasis, ‘Don’t Go Away’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

MTV. ‘MTV Oasis Uncut Documentary’. YouTube. 24:35. Posted by Whenallwozkool, 4 August 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evCXwh0vcNM

Oasis, ‘My Big Mouth’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

Oasis, ‘I Hope, I Think, I Know’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

Oasis, ‘All Around the World’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

Loud and Quiet. ‘Don’t just blame the cocaine for Oasis’ Be Here Now – it was kinda Richard Ashcroft’s fault’. Accessed 6 November 2019. https://www.loudandquiet.com/short/dont-just-blame-cocaine-oasis-now-kinda-richard-ashcrofts-fault/

Oasis. ‘Oasis – G Mex Arena Manchester Full Concert December 1997’. YouTube. 1:49:35. Posted by headshrinker666, 18 July 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N-ylUkGV2Y&t=168s

[1]‘End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 1997’, accessed 6 November 2019. https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/end-of-year-artist-albums-chart/19970105/37502/

[2] ‘Sorry Adele, Oasis are still the album chart record breakers’, accessed 6 November 2019. http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/34919975/sorry-adele-oasis-are-still-the-album-chart-record-breakers

[3] ‘Oasis’ ‘Be Here Now’ – Was It Really That Bad?’, accessed 6 November 2019. https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/oasis-be-here-now-at-15-was-it-really-that-bad-770068

[4] John Harris, The Last Party: Britpop, Blair and the Demise of English Rock (London: Fourth Estate, 2003), 334.

[5] Harris, The Last Party, 334.

[6] Dorian Lynskey, ‘’Flattened by the cocaine panzers’ – the toxic legacy of Oasis’s Be Here Now’, The Guardian, 6 October 2016. Accessed 6 November 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/oct/06/flattened-by-the-cocaine-panzers-the-toxic-legacy-of-oasiss-be-here-now

[7] Lynskey, ‘’Flattened by the cocaine panzers’.

[8] Lars Eckstein, Reading Song Lyrics (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2010), 10.

[9] Oasis, ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[10] Oasis, ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[11] Harris, The Last Party, 338.

[12] Oasis, ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[13] Oasis, ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[14] Oasis, ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[15] Oasis, ‘Don’t Go Away’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[16] ‘MTV Oasis Uncut Documentary’, YouTube, 24:35, posted by Whenallwozkool, 4 August 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evCXwh0vcNM

[17] Oasis, ‘Don’t Go Away’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[18] Oasis, ‘Don’t Go Away’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[19] Oasis, ‘Don’t Go Away’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[20] Oasis, ‘My Big Mouth’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[21] Oasis, ‘I Hope, I Think, I Know’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[22] Oasis, ‘Don’t Go Away’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[23] Oasis, ‘Don’t Go Away’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[24] Oasis, ‘All Around the World’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[25] Oasis, ‘All Around the World’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[26] Oasis, ‘All Around the World’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[27] Harris, The Last Party, 341.

[28] ‘Don’t just blame the cocaine for Oasis’ ‘Be Here Now – it was kinda Richard Ashcroft’s fault’, accessed 6 November 2019, https://www.loudandquiet.com/short/dont-just-blame-cocaine-oasis-now-kinda-richard-ashcrofts-fault/

[29] Oasis, ‘Oasis – Live G Mex Arena Manchester Full Concert December 1997’, YouTube, 1:49:35, posted by headshrinker666, 18 July 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N-ylUkGV2Y&t=168s

Take A Deep Breath

I’ve just received a new notebook. Of course, it’s not my first, and it certainly won’t be my last either, but it is somewhat more precious than those I normally acquire. I tend not to write explicitly about my job, but yesterday, my line manager Liz left for pastures new, and it’s fair to say that all of us in the office are already feeling her absence. She works very hard, but has a habit of injecting a healthy dose of fun and laughter into every day, and never leaves you feeling anything other than 100% supported. Let me tell you, that kind of backing goes a long way – especially if, like me, you put yourself down at nearly every opportunity. I made both that and my gratitude for my hiring clear to her when we said our goodbyes. In return, she told me how well she thought I’d settled in, and how valuable my help had been. It soon turned out that that wasn’t all she had to say, as I discovered when I opened the notebook – a parting gift – upon getting home.

The book itself wasn’t unique to me, because we’d all been given one, but the handwritten message on the first page was. I’m going to leave it here so you can all appreciate it as much as I do. Sometimes we can all benefit hugely from some simple reassurance, no matter who it’s from or what the situation is, and this will certainly put a smile on my face whenever I look at it. Not only do I put myself down a lot, but I’m also constantly concerned about my timekeeping, because it seems like there are always ten Very Important Things to do at any one moment. Priorities are never far from the front of my mind – not to mention how the hell I manage them – but Liz does her best to put my fears at rest here. That’s typical of her.

“Dear Mason,

“Enjoy this notebook at work, so you can chuckle each day at the so-called ‘jokes’ at the bottom.*

“Congratulations on all you have achieved in this role so far. Take a deep breath – you are doing far better than you think and you are far smarter than you realise. Don’t forget to fill your diary with your plans for your work each day, then it will remind you to complete it.

“All the best, Liz x”.

Mason

*The notebook is both lined and includes questionable one-liners: “My wallet is like an onion. Every time I open it, it makes me cry.”

The Flowerpot

Of course, this isn’t really a flowerpot, it just looks a bit like one from the side. Actual flowerpots aren’t nearly as interesting as this one anyway, because this is full of baked goods – or it was, up until I scoffed them all just before this photo was taken last night. There was a mini biscuit, flapjack, scone (complete with cream and jam filling) and brownie, and I have the two ladies of the cloth handing them out to students to thank. As luck would have it, I’m still boyish enough to pass as a student, so they never suspected a thing. The treats came inside a paper bag that had “have a snack on St Paul’s” scrawled on it, and they’d thrown a little leaflet on top for good measure, in addition to a sachet of Galaxy hot chocolate. None of that changed much for me faith-wise, because I’m still firmly an agnostic, but you have to hand it to the Christians. They’ve always seemed to grasp that the way to my heart is through my stomach. Yesterday, when I needed a sugar hit and a nugget of motivation, I got both – and free of charge, too.

Maybe He does answer my prayers after all?

Mason

You Owe Yourself £2.85

If the title of this post looks familiar to you, it’s because it’s already shown up on this blog once before, when I wrote it on a Post-It note a couple of months ago. I presented it entirely without context, and predicted that I’d soon forget what the hell I was talking about. Sure enough, I have – it’s just as well it clearly wasn’t anything important. I actually found the note in the corner of my desk the other day, and now it just amuses me as a completely random sentence. I thought of it again over the weekend, when I was crossing the cemetery that separates the University of Winchester from the city centre. Passing a couple coming the other way, I heard a guy say to his girlfriend:

“You see, Milton Keynes is a brilliant middle ground.”

As it turns out, that cemetery is awash with out-of-context lines. I overheard this one just this afternoon:

“A lot of Hampshire is very Austenesque.”

What makes something Austenesque, I wonder? I don’t exactly know, but I bet you wouldn’t hear that in many other graveyards.

Mason

Mountain Goat

I’ve come to realise that with all of the recent job-related excitement in my life, I have neglected Dracula somewhat. In fact, I don’t think I’ve opened it at all since I last wrote about it some weeks ago. As I said in that post, it can be a tricky book to get into, even if you’ve read it before as I have. That means that I could be forgiven for being reluctant to dive back in, and in any other situation, maybe I would be. I’m yet to have a DNF in this book club yet, but if any novel were worthy of one, Dracula is surely it. Having said that, though, I will finish it – and when I do, I’m certain I’ll have seen it with fresh, reinvigorated eyes, because this new job has made me feel like a new man. And I’m only three days into it!

Yes, any link this post actually has to books or book clubs might be tenuous to say the least, but stick with me for a minute. Ever since I was offered my role, I’ve felt physically lighter. It’s amazing how much weight this has lifted from my shoulders – all that pressure to find ‘the next thing’, whatever that may be, is gone. If I were able-bodied, I’d be skipping around like a mountain goat. As it is, I’m still in the wheelchair and fairly static, but my life is finally going places, and so is my mind. For much of the last year it’s been foggy, and I’ve struggled to see the wood for the trees. Dad told me that things were far worse for the people of Ukraine, and while that might be true, everything is relative – remarks like that certainly didn’t help me at that time. Happily, things look a bit brighter again now, and I’m full of enthusiasm. My eyes are wider and my head feels clearer, and I think that’ll benefit not only my work, but also my personal life.

I’ll enjoy my solitude again – it started to bother me while I was unemployed – but in addition, I’ll feel better about mixing and mingling with others. If you’ll indulge another flimsy link to literature, I think there’ll be dividends where my creative pursuits are concerned too. When the book club started and I was still getting together with Lara and Nora, I’d often be the one keeping them waiting as I finished the last few chapters long after they had. Whether it was laziness or lethargy, I don’t know, but this time I have a feeling I won’t be dragging my feet. Instead, I’ll be surging forward with my head held high. I’m hoping the text’s density might not irk me quite so much along the way, but as we now know, that might be a promise too far…

Mason

Tote Bag And Pen

These days, if I’m going out and about or have an errand to do, I have to leave the room/house having listened to the right song. It sounds strange, I know, but pausing Spotify after just any old tune won’t do. What the right song is varies depending on the day or my mood, but on Tuesday I needed something upbeat, something that would really motivate me to power on through the day. I was somewhat undecided between Prefab Sprout and Bruce Springsteen, but ultimately Bruce got the honour of being the final song on this occasion, so “Hungry Heart” triumphed over “Looking For Atlantis” (they’re both cracking songs though, and you should definitely check them out using the links I’ve generously provided).

Why was my choice of musical accompaniment so important, I hear you ask? Well, I’d woken up in a buoyant mood because of what awaited me, and I was determined to ride that wave of positivity for as long as I could. You see, that afternoon I dropped by a little Careers Fair on campus, and I knew beforehand that there was the opportunity to make a lot of progress. At the very least, I could pick up a load of leaflets and brochures or a tote bag and pen – and I did, of course. You’ve got to get your hands on the freebies, everyone knows that. Luckily, though, I also got much more than that, and any nerves I felt about making the first move soon dissipated once I got talking.

I found an abundance of warmth and advice. I found people who took an interest in me and where I wanted to go – one company took down my details after I’d spoken to them, and another replied very kindly to an email I subsequently sent that included a couple of examples of my writing. It’s nice to feel you’ve accomplished something after so long getting nowhere, and I can’t help feeling that there’s still more to come. More smiles, more happiness, more hope. I met with one of the Careers and Employability team the next day, and at the end of a very fruitful meeting she told me: “you’re a great candidate and we’ll find you something, don’t worry about that.” I didn’t realise how much it would mean to hear those words from someone in her position, and now I have even more reason to be optimistic about the future – particularly as I’ve sent off another two applications since then. Looks like I might need a few more upbeat songs to play in the morning, because they must be good luck charms!

Mason

Another Satisfied Customer

As of last Monday, I am unemployed once again – for a few reasons, the job at Classic & Sports Car was just one of those things that didn’t work out (not that that should reflect badly on them, since they’d been nothing but supportive from the start, and they were more than happy with my contributions). What that means is that I have to go back to the drawing board, and while I might normally relish the opportunity to wipe the slate clean and start again from scratch, this time it feels markedly different. That job was, on paper, a perfect opportunity for me. Indeed, it would be ideal for any budding motoring journalist, and I sincerely hope my successor settles well. When it didn’t pan out as I’d hoped, though, it left me in a somewhat strange position. I feel somewhat lost, unable to trust my own judgement with my confidence knocked, and not knowing where to turn at all.

With that in mind, I’ve a lot of thinking to do, but thankfully there are a few personal projects I can throw myself into in the meantime. For starters, there’s the voiceover I’ve been writing for Abi, which I alluded to last time. I spent days bashing out and deleting just over 300 words, convinced I still wasn’t the man for the job and that they’d be much better off coming from her. When I’d finally ended up with a draft that I didn’t completely hate, I took a leap of faith and sent it to Abi, hurriedly assuring her that I’d be fine with any edits she made, or if she wanted to discard it completely! To my considerable relief, however, she loved it, saying it was as though I’d taken the jumbled ideas and words in her head and put them in perfect order. It therefore looks very likely that it will be used in her video, and the icing on the cake will be the fact that she’s actually going to credit me for it, which is always a good thing for an aspiring writer.

That’s what I’m trying to focus on in the absence of full-time employment – getting my name out there as much as I can, no matter what it’s for. In addition to Abi’s commission, I’ve spent some time browsing some websites that were recommended during my Copyediting module in Winchester, including Fiverr, Textbroker and People Per Hour. These allow freelancers in all manner of industries to advertise themselves or pitch for projects posted by others, and I’m hoping that one or more of them might help me to gain some editing or proofreading expertise, since building a portfolio makes it a lot easier for people to make a name for themselves. Besides that, I’ve got an online meeting on Wednesday for something else I might get involved in, to which I’m hoping to take some interesting ideas. I can’t say what’s going to come from that just yet, but I’m sure you’ll hear about it in due course if it develops. I’m just glad to have leads to consider and pursue, helpful ones that could help me make my mark while I search for something more permanent. These are uncertain times for me, but such things really do remind me that there may yet be a light at the end of the tunnel.

Mason

Graduation Day

Well, that’s it. Having been a graduand up to this point, I am now officially writing my first Third Time Enabled post as a bona fide BA (Hons) Creative Writing graduate. One shake of Alan Titchmarsh’s hand in Winchester Cathedral was all it took, and it was the icing on the cake on a day quite simply awash with pure, unfiltered joy. It’s now been just under a week since the ceremony, and already lots of people have asked me how it went. I’ve noticed that the one word I’ve used consistently when describing it has been ‘infectious’, and I stand by that (although not in a COVID-y way, just to be specific).

What was infectious was the happiness in abundance, and the pride everyone had not only in themselves, but in each other. Creative Writing was always a very friendly course, and I can say that I’d probably stop and talk to the majority of people I met regardless of how well I knew them, but even so, it was heartwarming to be congratulated before and after the ceremony by so many people. I got the sense they were all genuinely interested in what lay ahead for me, and that feeling was entirely mutual. There was a lot of applause from everyone as each graduand took the stage in the cathedral, but it very much occurred to me that nobody minded one bit – we were all in this together, so no clap was too vigorous and no cheer too boisterous. I know I actively tried to be as loud as possible for everyone I knew! I’ve met a lot of people over the last three years who I think will go far in life, and I look forward to seeing and hearing what they can achieve.

Of course, those people include Lara and Nora, and as always it was delightful to be reunited with them again. As with a lot of people, my palms were practically red raw from applauding them so hard in the cathedral, and afterwards we got the chance to celebrate further by having a couple of drinks together (non-alcoholic for me, obviously). We were joined by Lara’s mum, who was also over the moon for her daughter, and Ben, who just happened to have been working in the nearby museum. Many laughs were had by all, and they were definitely made all the more special by the fact that we likely won’t see each other for some time. There’s been talk of us meeting at Christmas, or in the spring, but in the meantime we might just have to stick to our Zoom quizzes. Lara’s already volunteered to write one, and now that our schedules all differ, she’s suggested that we focus on making them more streamlined – otherwise we tend to mess about and let time get away from us! It’s all about optimising the moments we can spend together, and all of those are precious indeed, especially now we’re entering the next busy stages of our lives. We therefore ended a brilliant day in the best possible way, and the nerves I felt going into it became a distant memory. Trust me, I was physically shaking as I put my robes on – as brilliant as everything was, I dread to think when I’ll next be that apprehensive!

Mason

Nora, Lara and little old me – official Winchester graduates!

Getting Warmer

In eight days’ time, I will start my new job at Haymarket with the brilliant team at Classic & Sports Car, whom I met via video call on Monday. They very kindly allowed me to sit in on one of their weekly editorial meetings, in which they discussed different elements of the next issue, which will be complete when I join them. While I therefore didn’t have any proper input, it was interesting to see their way of working first-hand, and I know it will come in very useful when I actually get going. We all seemed to gel nicely, which I would say bodes well for that day and the 18 months that lie ahead. It was also reassuring to find that they had a great deal of confidence in my abilities, which I must make sure I repay as fully as I can. If I can do that, anything is possible going forward.

Another thing I need to do is find accommodation in London, which after several weeks is still proving to be very difficult, although there could soon be a small light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve been referred to an organisation called the Journalists’ Charity, who offer a fund for those breaking into their first job in journalism who need additional support. In my case, a little more money to cover my expected rent would come in very handy! With that in mind, I submitted an application with Haymarket’s help a few days ago, and even though I’ll have some questions to answer from a caseworker before a verdict is reached, we all seem pretty confident that it will be favourable. I’m hoping the financial boost will allow me to look at a wider range of properties which may be more suitable for me and my needs. I’ve already browsed some of these, and although there have generally been small details that have ruled each of them out – a shower over a bath, for example, which would be inaccessible for me – but in my gut I feel I’m getting warmer. There are fewer and fewer of these obstacles to be seen now, so I feel that I surely won’t be waiting much longer before I find somewhere I can properly look into. In the meantime, I’ll start my new job from home, and that milestone is getting ever closer – but there is, however, the small matter of my graduation to attend to first. We’re setting off for Winchester in the morning, and I can’t quite believe the time that seemed so far away in September 2018 has finally come…

Mason