Author Archives: Paul Ariss

HOW THE BURDEN OF SORTING MEMORIES BECAME A VIDEO TRIBUTE

In the last few months I have had the unenviable task of working through a huge pile of old family photographs and items that needed to be either kept or thrown away. Anyone who has ever been in this position knows how the responsibility can weigh heavily. This can be extra difficult when you areContinue reading “HOW THE BURDEN OF SORTING MEMORIES BECAME A VIDEO TRIBUTE”

HOW NOT TO FEEL OLD IN A MUSIC WORLD DICTATED BY THE YOUNG

Yesterday at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall in Hope Street, Liverpool, between the city’s two iconic Anglican and Catholic cathedrals, I attended the Music Career Industry Festival. The festival, being organised and run by Sentric Music, a music publisher founded and based in Liverpool but also with an office in London, is mainly for people planningContinue reading “HOW NOT TO FEEL OLD IN A MUSIC WORLD DICTATED BY THE YOUNG”

A NOWHERE MAN SITTING IN MY NOWHERE HOME

For those of you about to read this blog beware, I may not be who I say I am. I may not even exist. I only mention this because over the last couple of months, authorities in my country have yet to be convinced that my identity is genuine. In this world of identity theftContinue reading “A NOWHERE MAN SITTING IN MY NOWHERE HOME”

THE DAY I DISCOVERED JAMES DEAN HAD BEEN STAYING IN MY SPARE ROOM

For about 15 years a painting by Alice Dalton Brown hung on the wall in front of me in the small bedroom where I did all my writing. The painting is called Tomorrow Morning. It is a large print, 24” wide and 84” long,  and with a nice frame that was of course slightly largerContinue reading “THE DAY I DISCOVERED JAMES DEAN HAD BEEN STAYING IN MY SPARE ROOM”

THE EMBARRASSED CONFESSIONS OF A HIGHLY IMPRACTICAL MAN

I often wonder when gripped by one of my regular feelings of severe inadequacy whether there are two types of person in this world -those who can do DIY and those who can’t. I’ll take it further; is it possible that there are those who can do ‘stuff’ ,such as build a garden wall, fixContinue reading “THE EMBARRASSED CONFESSIONS OF A HIGHLY IMPRACTICAL MAN”

A LITTLE WINDOW INTO A BRAND NEW CHRISTMAS

Having just moved into my new home just over seven weeks ago and still tripping over boxes – though a lot less than there were – and putting up curtain rails and applying paint (badly) onto walls and making room for new and old furniture, the space available for Christmas decorations is at present somewhatContinue reading “A LITTLE WINDOW INTO A BRAND NEW CHRISTMAS”

SHEDDING OFF THE RURAL LIFE FOR THE HOMETOWN RETURN

On the 31st October, I returned to my hometown after spending the previous four months – eighteen weeks in all, or 126 days if you prefer – living from my sisters spare room in northern Cumbria. This was not planned, or at least not for that long. I expected to be away for a coupleContinue reading “SHEDDING OFF THE RURAL LIFE FOR THE HOMETOWN RETURN”