Miscellaneous - Ad Libbed

  by Fiona Hutchings

published: 16 / 4 / 2012

intro

Our Website of the Month is Ad Libbed, the blog of our regular WOTM columnist Fiona Hutchings

Our Website of the Month columnist Fiona Hutchings is taking a break from the column for a couple of months so that she can concentrate on her studies. We will be looking after the column in her temporary absence, but before Fiona went off on her sabbatical we interviewed her for this month's WOTM about her own blog, 'Ad Libbed' http://adlibbed.blogspot.com. 'Ad Libbed' focuses on motherhood, Fiona's recovery from a brain haemmorhage last year, and above all music. Fiona reveals herself on it to to be an obsessive list maker, and for those who check it out regularly to have a frightening fascination with the Osmonds. PB: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? FIONA: Now you see I ask other people these questions. but I have only just realised how hard this one is to answer. Okay, well. I am a music lover, writer, into obsessive geekery of various types, a bookworm and a film buff who is trying to learn to play the ukulele (badly). I have two daughters and an even geekier husband. PB: What inspired you to set up Ad Libbed? FIONA That's a lot of 'stuff' up there in my first answer for one brain to handle. About four years ago when I created 'Ad Libbed' it was more a parenting focused blog. I had written personal ones before, but with two very young children I needed some sort of outlet for my thoughts and experiences. But no one was reading it other than a couple of friends and my mum so I lost interest, and 'Ad Libbed' languished unloved for about a year. In 2009 around the time I started writing for Pennyblack, the music muse struck. There were lots of songs, albums and artists I loved and wanted to write about that didn't necessarily fit with the reviews and column I wrote for PB. I love the film (and the book) 'High Fidelity'. It was the film I went to see on my 21st birthday. I still have the ticket stub. Anyway Top 5 songs and albums are an oft used plot device and it inspired me to start creating Top 5s, Top 10s and on one occasion a Top 25 on topics as varied as wishes, newspapers imploding and what I had played most on my iPod in the last 12 months. Suddenly people were reading this stuff! Occasionally they were sharing it too and commenting, the more people read the more I wanted to write. I added none music based pages for Osteogenesis Imperfector (OI), a bone disease I have and Subarachnoid Haemorrhages (SAH) since I had one of those too (I know, greedy or what!). I had searched for pages about both in my own attempt to understand my world a bit better. I couldn't find them so I wrote them myself. In the early days after my brain exploded my blog was a really useful way of letting my friends and family know how I was doing too. Far less tiring typing it out once then over and over in emails and text messages. In 2011 I logged every book I'd read and for 2012 it is films - because I fancied it. PB: Do you only feature music you like? FIONA: Yes, this is my hobby so I don't see the sense in inflicting music on myself that I can't stand. I had a lot of songs I wanted to write about that didn't easily fit into a Top 5 so this year I decided to write posts celebrating musicians on their birthdays. It also gave me an excuse to feature tracks by artists whose work I don't generally enjoy. PB: How do you interact with your readers? FIONA: I respond to comments and tweets. I also recently set up a Facebook page for the blog ( https://www.facebook.com/AdlibbedMusicBlog ) to try and increase the blog's audience, and get feedback, ideas and engage more with my readers. It is a slow burner so far. PB: What is the best thing about blogging? FIONA: Talking about music with people. It doesn't matter if they are agreeing or disagreeing with my choices. Sometimes I am reminded of songs I've forgotten or really obvious choices I over looked. I also love it when people share their own memories of songs and what music means to them. I have also had messages from people around the world who have found my pages on OI or SAH reassuring, it helps to know that there are other people out there living with these conditions. Even some of my own family and friends have found these pages helpful. PB: And the worst? FIONA: There have been a few difficult moments. I enjoy robust debate about all and any type of music and always open to the opinions of others. I have chosen to share quite a lot of my post brain haemorrhage experience on my blog and that has attracted the odd difficult comment. Having motives and actions attributed to me incorrectly about something so personal is hard but I've toughened up a bit now, I feel less vulnerable. Still, I prefer arguing about who would win in a diva off between Elton John and Aretha Franklin or why 'Christmas Wrapping' is the best Christmas song ever. PB: Why should Pennyblack readers come and check out 'Ad Libbed'? FIONA: Because it's eclectic and personal and written with humor, passion and honesty. PB: Thank you.