Blog from the North Country ( with apologies to Mr Zimmerman)

This is slightly introspective, and not about music - this is a blog about aspects of the process of blogging. I have been writing the Historic Gig Guide for some time now - there's no shortage of material - memories, things I want to comment on and share, connections that leap out of the ether - everyday coincidences and occurences. A friend - who writes a blog as Wonderman, a man who wonders - told me about Blog North's events. The second get together was planned for August 4th at the Tate in Liverpool. So I looked and I booked, feeling more excited than nervous at the thought of being in the company of more than three bloggers at once! To get to Liverpool for 10am by train I left the house at 7am. An adventure in itself. The train passed through Widnes station - famous for being the place where Paul Simon wrote 'Homeward Bound' when he visited the folk clubs of England in the early sixties. Layers of meaning in unlikely places.Gazing at the engineering and back breaking work that had gone into creating a route through sandstone as the train pulled into Liverpool I remembered school history lessons - Stephenson's Rocket and the unfortunate death of Huskisson, the MP for Liverpool in the Rainhill trials.There was an amazing vertical wild garden set into the rock and dressed stone - grasses, buddleia, mosses, ferns and worts.Visible only to passengers who looked up. A white feather drifted slowly through a patch of sunlight. When I stepped out of Lime Street station I was momentarily overwhelmed by the sense of being at the seaside. A seagull's cry, and that quality of light you get in cities built on estuaries. I live as far inland as you can get, in the heart of the Peak District, so a visit to the coast is a treat. I usually visit Tate Liverpool two or three times a year. I recently visited the city for the Sea Odyssey - an unforgettably exciting event to witness. The Blog North event was great fun. Very inspirational, very exciting to be in a room of interesting and passionate people, and to realise that there is a spectrum of age, experience and practical application and I am somewhere in that mix. It gave me confidence in what I am already doing, and sparked lots of ideas for the future. It was fascinating to hear about developments in social media, and the joy of twitter. The food was good. The Monet/Turner/Twombly exhibition was amazing, and I will be back for another look. The views from the gallery windows were breathtaking on a day of sunshine and showers - weather blowing in from the Welsh mountains I guess.I got a press pass, but had no camera - oh well! The best aspect for me was the opportunity to share in person what we are all trying to do with our blogs - to educate, inspire, bear witness, provoke thoughts and test attitudes, promote our talents and ideas. I loved the presentation about the more arcane possibilities of phone apps - but if I'd had one of those clever ones that tell you who is where and whether they share your likes on facebook I wouldn't have had the added delight of bumping into an old friend at the event, and then two more friends from Derbyshire outside the gallery. Looking forward to Blog North 3.