Goodbye 2016!

Well can you believe that this will be the final post of 2016?! I can't! It feels like just yesterday that we moved house and were ready to start 2016 in our new home-although I was beginning to feel the affects of no internet I must admit! A blogger without the internet is like fish without the sea!

What can I say about 2016? It's certainly not been my most favourite of years that's for sure. Lots happened that's for sure and we lost a lot of pretty awesome people! I could easily sit here and list each personally individually and list the reasons why they've made such a big impact but it would take quite some time. I do however want to mention one person in particular whom I am completely gutted that we lost this year; someone whom I admired greatly and this time last year I don't think I would have believed you if you told me that an entire year later he would no longer be here and that is of course Prince. As you've all probably gathered, I am a huge Prince fan and had the pleasure of seeing him perform live just once and had hoped that I would get to see him live again. Sadly that was not to be. I always hoped that I'd have the opportunity to attend one of his legendary Paisley Park gigs or album listening parties that often hosted for fans and although I won't get to experience this I'd love to visit Paisley Park one day! So once again, thank-you so much for inspiring me Prince in more ways than just one! The music will certainly live on!

Health wise it hasn't been the best of years for me; the past six months in particular has been a battle for me. My pain levels have been particularly high which as you can imagine is particularly frustrating for me. I've been doing my best to manage my pain to the best of my abilities so as a result I haven't been blogging just as much as I'd like to have. I've only been writing when inspiration has struck and my pain has been minimum otherwise I would have been at it for hours trying to concentrate. However in 2017 I want to get back into the swing of things and write more frequently. I have another post lined up to update you with my blog plans for 2017 so please keep a close eye out for that!

It hasn't been my favourite of years that's for sure however there's been a few highlights and despite fighting with pain I've managed to do some pretty exciting things.

Well 2016 saw me advance with my radio slot as I hit an entire year at 3TFM! Can you believe it? I started hosting a show on a Thursday evening and had my first big interview for my show with Graeme Clark from Wet Wet Wet! I said at the beginning of the year in one of my posts that during the year I would love to interview someone and I actually managed it! It was a great experience and it was great to speak with someone who I admire! I'm ever so hopeful that I can get a few more interviews sorted out for 2017!

I also had the pleasure of hanging out in The E Street Lounge at Bruce Springsteen's gig in Glasgow for guests of the band etc and got to meet the very awesome Jake Clemons, nephew of the legend; the big man; Clarence Clemons! Jake now plays sax in Bruce's band following the passing of Clarence a few years ago. I remember seeing Jake with Bruce back at my first gig in 2012 and thinking that he was so cool and wanted to meet him ever since so you can imagine the sheer excitement when he walked in the room! I think it's worse when you don't expect it to happen and I completely didn't! We even had our seats upgraded to the Royal Box which was pretty awesome I must admit!

We also visited what I would now describe as my honorary home 'Liverpool'-gosh I'd move there given half a chance! And of course it was wonderful to return to some of the iconic places that helped shape one of my all-time favourite bands The Beatles and thanks to Ian our tour guide, I even got to see some more unusual sites-pure bliss for a geek like me! But probably one of my favourite parts was seeing the stage from St Peter's Church Hall where John Lennon and Paul McCartney met for the first time as John Lennon was waiting on the steps to perform with The Quarrymen at the Museum of Liverpool. I'm still so excited that the lady let me touch the stage and have a picture next to it-such a geek aren't I?!

And probably one of the other most exciting moments for me this year took place just recently when I had the opportunity to visit the BBC Radio Scotland studios to discuss disabled access at gigs and live events with Kaye Adams. This for me was a dream opportunity and I loved absolutely every second of it! Obviously it was great radio experience but the most important part was discussing a subject which I've been highlighting for as long as I can remember to a wider audience. Hopefully the particular issues that I was there to discuss have been taken on board and rectified.

And finally, I turned 18 years old back in September. It's quite a scary thought that I'm 18 already- time just seems to fly by these days! Of course I couldn't not spend my birthday celebrating good music so I dragged everyone to see the new Beatles 'Eight Days A Week' film which included the live red carpet premiere at Leicester Square in London. And of course I even celebrated with a gorgeous homemade cake and of course The Beatles had to be on it! Such a geek right?!

Anyway, I won't go much further because I sometimes find myself getting carried away and writing too much. Before I go I want to thank-you all once again for the continual support over my blog and I hope that you'll continue to enjoy what I write in the coming year. I have another new post coming up very soon with my blogging plans for 2017, I have a few ideas in mind which I can't wait to put into action! 

I wish you each and every one of you a happy new year and I hope that 2017 treats you well!

Love & Peace to you all!

The Hat Hippie xx