Having set myself a goal of posting every day in January this year, it is most of all a slight relief to get to the end of the month having managed to keep up the effort. New year targets, resolutions, habit changes, whatever you want to call them, have to be managed to avoid leaving one’s self open to self-recrimination or disappointment. ‘Managed’ in a couple of senses, I suppose. This is one that I managed.

The most significant habit change has been to stop couching my material efforts as aims, in the simple future tense formation “I’m going to…”, or that worse and most wistful phrase “I need to…”. About a week and a bit in, I had a mental shift from “trying to post every day” to “posting every day”, and it became a self-sustaining endeavour.

Anyway, an ongoing positive experience. That’s enough end-of-month own trumpet tootling. Here is Bix Beiderbecke on cornet – much nicer:

Frankie “Tram” Trumbauer Orchestra feat. Bix Beiderbecke – Singin’ the Blues