After the fairly taxing week and the particularly stretching last couple of days of it, I had to do something to celebrate being released from the office into the weekend. In fairness to myself, I had managed, on the last day of the week, to put some fairly troublesome issues to bed. These issues are not things which I feel like I am usually equipped to deal with, and there had been a significant quantity of guesstimating and assuming going on, but I'd done what I could and had nothing outstanding to worry about over the weekend.

I got into my car and set off. Within a few seconds, I was headed in a completely different direction to home. A friend of mine was doing a gig on the Isle of Wight and I didn't want to let geography and time stop me from being in the audience. So, I headed to Southampton (what is it with that place) and rang the Arts Cenre on the Island, as I drove (handsfree) to book myself a ticket for the show.

Arriving in Southampton, I took a free parking spot near the ferry and then bought a ticket for the ferry. The Red Jet is more of a big sitting room on water. We had quite a bumpy crossing, which was as much fun as it was slightly scaring. Then I took a taxi ride to the Arts Centre, while waxing lyrically philosophical with the taxi driver about getting out of your comfort zone and surprising yourself.

Then I breezed into the gig and said hello to my friend who was MCing and was also gobsmacked that I'd bother to travel all the way to the Isle of Wight just to surprise her. This was the friend that I'd randomly sent an Englebert Humperdinck CD to previously in the week, so she should really have been prepared for anything.

The gig was fun and we followed it with the ferry back to Southampton and then retiring to her place for Chinese food and chat. I left late in the night to get some sleep, ready for the next morning's recording session.

Rock and roll. In the case of the Red Jet, it was Rock, Roll, Lurch and Bounce.