What was in my March newsletter?

[You may or may not know that I have a monthly email newsletter. You can sign up to receive it using the box at the bottom of the page. For those that hadn’t signed up in time to receive my March newsletter, sent yesterday, I’ve included the text below.]

At the start of February, I took the plunge and opted to go solo, working as a freelance writer and charity fundraiser. This decision was made a lot easier by the fact that I was able to significantly increase the amount of time I spent on what had been my side gig - writing for Lonely Goat Running Club.

It's been a fun few weeks so far, even as we adapt to the changing world courtesy of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.

I would prefer for this newsletter not to be all about me, so I'll share what I've been reading and other recent cultural highlights.

Books

Barbarian Days: A surfing life, by William Finnegan is excellent and I have enjoyed reading it a lot. Even if you're not a surfer, you should give this a go.

I don't want to provide spoilers, so won't give too much detail, but it's a memoir told through the lens of his relationship with surfing throughout his life. Beyond the waves he catches, this is also a book about the changing world of the second part of the twentieth century and start of the twenty-first.

Music

At the start of March - before the coronavirus lockdowns - I went to the Saturday night of the BBC 6 Music Festival at the Roundhouse in London.

EOB, the new project by Ed O'Brien of Radiohead was excellent, but the highlight was Róisín Murphy. I was aware of some of her solo work, plus that with Moloko, but her show was far, far beyond what I had expected. It was incredible.

Murphy is a dynamic, captivating performer, and the re-worked live versions of her songs show that bands shouldn't always just play their songs as they were recorded.

Art

My friend, Nina Fraser, an artist based in Lisbon, was due to have an exhibition open this month, but this has had to be delayed.

Instead, she has decided to host an online auction of some of her pieces. You can find full details on her website.

The auction closes at 10pm (Portuguese time is the same as British time) Saturday 28 March, so don't hang around and miss your chance to own one of Nina's unique pieces.

My writing

If you're a runner (or just interested in what I write) and haven't already done so, you may wish to check out the Lonely Goat website.

The following pieces probably have the broadest appeal beyond the Lonely Goat community: "Goals - stay in charge", "International Women's Day", "How to adapt your plan when your race is postponed", and "Going solo: Running when social distancing".

I've got a blog on my website [You’re reading it!], where I've started posting every Friday. "Why the 'S'?" was fun to write, and explains why I've chosen to brand myself with my middle initial.

That will do for now. I look forward to sending you another update in a month's time.

Thank you for reading.

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