Looking back at 2013

Looking back on what I wrote this time last year, it’s fair to say there was a lot of cynicism and negativity about my future. 2012 was the year when the security blanket of university was taken away from me, and 2013 seemed rather bleak. I was facing an uncertain future in the BBC, and had resorted to taking a dead-end job at PC World to keep the money flowing in. I left my mum who moved to Scarborough and moved in to a small terrace to stay in York, and just kept on going.

How things have changed for me!

I don’t think I had imagined how rapidly things would change, more so for me this year than at any part in my life. Time to look back on what a smashing year I've had.

Work

                                           

At the start of this year, I had 2 jobs. One which I loved (BBC Radio York), and one which I despised (PC World). Sadly the latter paid more, and I found myself having to give more priorities to it. In any case, shifts at Radio York were starting to dry up – so I began investigating possibilities like the Mark Forrest show. It was particularly tiring, most days I would work the breakfast shift (6-9) at Radio York, go off to PC World to do a 10-6 shift, and then get the train to Leeds and work from 7 till 10pm. I was shattered most days, but it helped me chase potential jobs in the radio world.

Trying to flog things to people was never my forte. In fact, before I left PC World things were coming to a head – I was going to be counselled every week until I sold more insurance. Looking back on it all, I can’t believe how long it seemed at the time, and yet it was only 2.5 months that I spent there. I don’t think I will ever set foot in one of their stores again.

The search was on for a permanent BBC contract, something I had been looking for since I joined the corporation on a freelance contract. This year I applied to Tees, Essex, Wiltshire, Cambridge – and finally Bristol. Far too much money was spent on train tickets to various parts of the country for my interviews, until I got an email in February inviting me to the BBC Bristol site in March, and the only date available was the 5^th March…my birthday.

So off I went to a city I had never visited before, my birthday cards were in my bag and a lot of uncertainty was in my head. Would I do it and finally be able to break free of York? The day itself was unseasonably warm, and I ended up being 20 minutes late due to delayed trains. Still, I arrived in the reception of this huge BBC complex and sat down to wait.

The board itself didn’t go at all well. I thought I panicked on a few questions, and left feeling a bit dejected. I had a wander round Bristol before getting the train back up north. What a crap birthday that had been. Even the wine I bought on the train to celebrate tasted like vinegar. I stacked my birthday cards on the table in front of me and slumped in to my chair.

On the 8^th March 2013, the call came.

I had a voicemail on my phone asking me to call them back, so I sat down in the canteen at PC World and rang. A piece of paper was in front of me ready to receive the feedback from the inevitable rejection, and then something remarkable happened.

“We’ve decided that we’d like to offer you one of the two jobs, working on the breakfast show. We were impressed with what you demonstrated, and see a real potential in you”.

I promptly thanked them, punched the air and left the shop. I think I was in tears when I rang my mum and my grandparents – things were so awful at the time that the job offer was my escape from it all.

Best of all, I had made my family proud of me. That’s all I ever wanted when I left university.

So in April 2013, I joined the BBC on my first full time job. Not bad going, considering I had only started doing work experience in April 2012 at BBC Radio Lincolnshire answering phones. Now here I was working on the peak programme for 80,000 people in Bristol!

My new "office" for half the day

Though the job has its many draining aspects (not least the 4:30 starts every morning), I am happier now than at any other point in my life. This is what I studied for 3 years at university, and what I love doing. All of a sudden so many doors have opened to me, trying to create an iPlayer brand for our show, social media stuff, packages on the radio – and all because I persisted through the awful times at the start of the year.

It’s just so rewarding to feel like part of a proper team, who are all very supportive of me. I do look back and wonder how I made the transition, being given about 2 weeks to find somewhere to live and move my life to the West Country.

Bristol

At the start of this year, I had never even been to Bristol – now I can’t imagine life without it. It just oozes creativity, whether it’s in the pop up shops, the graffiti in Stokes Croft, or the clothes you see some people wearing. Bristol is certainly a lot more different to any place that I’ve ever lived in.

The transition was a little bumpy. I spent a week here before I moved, living with Nick’s parents, Dave and Sarah, who very kindly took me round endless amounts of houses to find the right one. They also put me up for that week, I honestly don’t know what I would have done without them!

The houses were…interesting to say the least. One house even had a couple making rather loud love to each other in the next bedroom whilst we were looking around. After the first week, I couldn’t find anywhere and returned to York wondering what to do next.

Meeting K-9 at the BBC Children In Need event, Bath

As luck would have it, I was offered an attic room of a family house in Cotham. Dave and Sarah were to store my things, and I would be living out of a suitcase for my first month in Bristol. After much searching, I visited my current home and decided to settle there.

What a shame things didn’t work out, for now I am desperate to leave again! Most people will know what I’ve had to endure living at this place, whether it’s naked men bursting in to your room after house parties, finding the word “cunt” scrawled on pieces of Tupperware I own, or endless subwoofer noise – it’s not been the nicest place to live in. There are just too many people in the place, which is not a good combination considering how early I get up for work.

However, spending some time here has allowed me to get to know Bristol a bit better. All being well, I will be moving in to a 2 bed apartment with a friend from Bargain Hunt. Fingers crossed this goes well or I shall be back scouring Gumtree.

Friends

One of the things I have admittedly struggled with this year has been making friends. Bristol is chock full of young people, we've got 2 universities and endless trendy cafes and bars – so meeting people shouldn't be so hard, or at least you’d think so. Outside of work, I still don’t know many people in Bristol, and I have at times felt lonely. 

A lot of weekends are spent just sat at home, so something needs to be done to rectify this. It’s always such an uphill battle trying to fight the constant feeling of weariness you get from living such a different day to everyone else. Most house viewings recently have seen me dead on my feet, as people ask me to turn up at 8:30 or 9pm, when I am usually thinking about getting in to bed.

I say this to be honest, not for some inadvertent cry for help. Far from it, things could be a lot worse...

The vintage stuff

For want of a better title, this has positively exploded for me this year. This time last year I was worried about cutting back on record purchases as I couldn’t afford them, and now here I am making regular trips to dine and dance at The Savoy Hotel. I can’t quite believe it myself. Walking in to that glamorous lobby in my finest dinner jacket and patent shoes just feels so right.

A lot of it started with a trip to Blackpool in February, where I had the pleasure of dancing at The Blackpool Tower Ballroom, along with 1,100 other people. The sheer number of people, and the period dress was an amazing sight to behold. For that night only we were whisked away to the time, or at least it felt it.

Neil, Sue, Lisa and myself in the Savoy Hotel, London

When I moved to Bristol, I started looking at mini trips to London, as it seemed relatively close – and I was amazed at how cheap it could be too. With a few weeks’ planning, I can get a return ticket to London Paddington for £23 with my railcard. Naturally I’ve been most months this year!

It’s all thanks to Sue, who I met at Blackpool – she has very kindly allowed me to stay with her at all of these vintage events. In fact, it was her who encouraged me to visit London in the first place. In return, she gets a glamorous dancing partner in me!

Events like the Palais De Danse, and later Alex Mendham’s Orchestra at The Savoy have really opened the lid on the London vintage scene for me, and I now feel like it’s my second home in many instances. It is just so much fun to leave work at 2pm on a Friday, and be dancing in London that night.

The following day is usually spent sifting through records at my favourite shop in Walthamstow, Tony’s Tunes. I’ve lost track of the great finds I’ve made there.

Some resolutions

This time last year, I wrote:

“My resolution this year will be to get serious media employment in radio. I don’t care what, or how – it is going to happen”.

I guess that pretty much happened as I had wanted it to. I still consider myself a lucky man to be doing what I am doing, so more of the same please! Up to this point I had put so much energy getting in to the BBC, so I’m still trying to figure out what direction my life should take next. I guess I’m starting to take steps towards this, such as learning bulletin reading, coming close to passing my driving test, and other bits for when I should hopefully move on up the ladder. I do worry about not setting anything specific, but for now I just seem quite content to carry on doing what I am doing.

I’d like to stay in Bristol for the time being, I just feel that this city still has a lot left to offer me. Whether it’s the new circle of friends, or the job, or just the experiences I can have in London – I think I will end this year with a smile on my face when I look back at what I wrote last year, and think that things ended up going better than I could have hoped for.

So thanks for a fun year, and here’s to the next time. 

Jonathan Holmes and Pandora Harrison, relaxing at The Savoy Hotel, 26th July 2013.

A difficult weekend, but time well spent

"Did you have a fun time off work?"

"No, it was awful"

I had packed my large suitcase with so much anticipation - at the friends, dancing, and general fun that is the Whitley Bay Classic Jazz Party 2013. For non jazz fans, I must explain. It is like Glastonbury for me, a yearly highlight and pilgrimage to Newcastle to hear some of the best classic jazz played by some of the best people around.

It was also when I got to see my darling twin sister again. I forgot how much I missed her living down here, and so the day we spent together on Wednesday was time well spent. 

There we are! Happy together, and like peas in a pod.

That night I went to stay with Patti, my dear friend from the Party. Oh it was like a school reunion! Sitting in on rehearsals on Thursday and seeing friend after friend walk through the door - I couldn't stop smiling. I just knew that so much happy music lay in store.

So when the call came in only a few hours into Friday's proceedings I was crushed. My granddad was lying critically ill in hospital with pneumonia and a kidney infection. I was so torn - here I was at the highlight of my year, and I had to leave to be with the family I care about so much.

I left the hotel in a flood of tears, after saying a quick goodbye to my musical friends - especially the wonderful Cecile Mclorin Salvant, who came to say goodbye to me in the hotel lobby. Oddly enough I had 5 days' clothes with me, it's almost like these things are planned.

Dashing down to North Yorkshire, I sat on my mum's sofa dejected at the music I was missing, and the situation in the hospital. The visit on Saturday was very distressing. My grandfather has effectively been the only father figure in my life, since my biological father left when I was very young. Seeing him lying there wth an oxygen mask on was too much to bear. One almost feels like a vulture in those situations, waiting for people to die.

Thankfully he has pulled through for the moment, and continues to slowly recover in hospital - but this has made me confront the reality that I will one day have to face. He is 86, and I realise how lucky I am to have had him in my life for this long. He has seen me grow up and mature, and he is so proud of my job at the BBC and what I do. In fact, last time I saw him at home he shook my hands and said "I'm so proud of what you've done". I still choke up now thinking about this.

So eventually that day will come. For now I plan to enjoy as much time with him as is possible given my current life here. 

PS - A big thanks to all my friends who have helped me through this difficult patch. You know who you are x 

September, meh...

Goodness me, I neglected to blog for a whole few months. Not that anybody noticed mind, but I need to keep a note of how life is shaping up in the west!

(Notice how I said mind - that's proper Bristol slang. Proper.)

Things are ticking along quite nicely. There is a routine to my life, and structure where this time last year there was disarray! Getting up at 4:30 every morning is slightly draining - indeed it's a struggle to stay awake when I come home and lie down, but I am enjoying having the afternoons to amuse myself with. At last I have time to categorise my records, play games or read when nobody is in the house.

The job itself is incredibly rewarding, it's a great feeling to think you're having an effect on the station output - however small. I've taken up the job of looking after the iPlayer content for the programme, and driving social media use, both of which should hopefully be drawing in more listeners. I seem to be the person to ask when things go wrong, so it's my job to know stuff. If I do my job properly the listeners shouldn't notice me at all!

The people I work with are lovely, but I am still trying my best to make more friends around my age! When Laurence left to go to Jersey, I was very disappointed. One - because the average age of the station jumped by 10 years, and two - because he was the only person with the same age as me. Although I do repeat how nice everyone is to work with, it's sometimes difficult to relate to someone in their early 30s who has a family and different priorities in life to yourself - the young eligible bachelor!

Given my hours and limited mobility I'm finding it hard to get out in the evening and meet people, but hopefully that should improve with time.

I finally have my room up to scratch, the walls were painted with the help of my able friend Nick Ball, a rug and desk were purchased, and I taught myself how to hang every picture I own on wire. The room itself is a lovely retreat from the stresses of the outside world. Unfortunately my relationship with the housemates is currently on rocky ground. I'm not quite sure how it happened, but we just don't talk much really. It may be the large subwoofer that makes the floorboards upstairs shake, or the random house parties - but I have badgered them a lot to keep the noise down...which didn't go down well!

If it's one thing you are always in need of in this shift, it is sleep and lots of it. It has made me a bit irritable, but sometimes I feel a bit like I'm living in a student house. I was considering moving at one point, but things seem to have quietened down now.

Of course, culturally - there is a vast divide between myself and them. I have nothing in common when talking about women, sex, sport, music...you name it! I sense that even if I did move, it would be the same for most people I lived with.

I don't regret this at all - I'd much rather be wholly individual than a generic sporty bloke. It's much more fun that way!

Speaking of hobbies, my recent trip to The Savoy Hotel was an amazing success. I felt like I was dancing in a dream, I just couldn't stop smiling when I looked up at the mirrored walls and saw the tall gentleman staring back at me - the gentleman who was quick-stepping in time to the music and being admired by the spectators. It was the most wonderful feeling, it really was. Sue and I literally turned heads, I can't wait to get back there again!

Here's to the next time...