artsyhonker – Page 18 – The Artsy Honker

Concentration, Flow and Procrastination

Byartsyhonker November 9, 2013 1 Comment

Over at "Wait but Why" there are a couple of excellent posts on procrastination and how to overcome it. If you procrastinate, or you are continually frustrated by those who do, I commend these posts to you: they explain the experience of procrastination well, and the strategy suggested to overcome it is sound enough, if not a complete toolkit. I do have an issue with the portrayal of the state of...

In which I show up anyway

Byartsyhonker November 8, 2013 4 Comments

Each winter, I help out at the Forest Churches Emergency Night Shelter. This is an ecumenical project, open the five coldest months of the year. Guests (or "clients") visit different local churches on different nights of the week. They get an evening meal, somewhere safe to sleep, and breakfast. St Andrew's is too cold to offer sleeping facilities, so some of us help out at Leytonstone United...

Love something? Pass it on.

Byartsyhonker November 1, 2013 0 Comments

There is a certain Christian festival looming on the horizon, one often associated with the giving of gifts. Most of us don't need more stuff. Many of us are struggling with finances. So here's a gift idea that is economical and personal: Find some good music on Bandcamp that is "Pay What You Want" and released under an appropriate Creative Commons license. Pay what you can, and download it. Take...

Wedding Hymn

Byartsyhonker October 28, 2013 0 Comments

When I was choosing music for the wedding, I had a bit of a hard time: there was so much that was good, and that I wanted to include, but it was also important that the wedding itself not be completely taken over by the music; also that the service itself wouldn't go on for too long! With some regret I limited myself to five hymns and an anthem. One of my favourite hymns is "O Love divine, how...

Early Music Experiences

Byartsyhonker October 13, 2013 1 Comment

Ruth of Moss and Jones asks: What are your earliest music experiences? What do you remember, perhaps vaguely, being played in your house when you were a toddler / pre-school aged child? This is interesting: I think for me, the first question and the second aren't necessarily the same. My instinctive answer to "What are your earliest music experiences", you see, isn't to do with listening to music...

Blessed are the Cheesemakers

Byartsyhonker October 8, 2013 0 Comments

If things have been quiet on the blogging front recently, it's for a good reason: Beloved and I were married on 28th September, and only returned from honeymoon a few days ago. Now, life returns to "normal" -- except it isn't the same. I'm getting on with various bits of practising, fundraising, Song Cycle planning, and the like. I was back at work playing for the service at St Andrew's on Sunday...

London Gallery Quire Church Crawl 2013

Byartsyhonker September 19, 2013 0 Comments

This Saturday, London Open House day, London Gallery Quire will be going on a Church Crawl. We will be singing music from our book, Your Voices Raise, at the following churches and times: 1. St Mary Woolnoth 10.30 a.m. 2. St...

Liturgical Hair

Byartsyhonker July 31, 2013 1 Comment

The organ at St Andrew's needs the bellows re-leathered. So far fundraising has been going well -- we've had a hymnathon, concerts, and various other events, and raised over £11500 of the £25000 we need. We're also planning Mystery Plays next summer, and if the money isn't raised yet, I hope to do some fundraising as part of the Song Cycle pilgrimage. These are all events that take a lot of...

Of baptism, press releases and consistency

Byartsyhonker July 24, 2013 3 Comments

The Church of England published a press release yesterday about baptism. There was something of a mixed response on Twitter: broadly, it seems that some people are concerned that the press release contained too little theology, while others insist it must be as broad and general as this in order to be accessible rather than unwelcoming. I think it is good to make things accessible and clear, and...