I went for a walk today, now that the pavements are (mostly) free of compacted snow and ice. It was nothing too exciting, just to Tesco and back via the pharmacy, but it was nice to be out.

Although this is the first day of what is effectively a new lockdown, it was noticeable how many people found compelling reasons to be out, especially in their cars. On foot, it was pretty straightforward to dodge around people, the new street etiquette. 100% mask usage in the shop. The message from England tonight is that the lockdown there might last until March. I reckon it will have to be longer. One of the more obvious things in 2020 was that the rush to ease restrictions was a contributory factor in the resurgence of infections because a core driver of the virus spread is human behaviour.

I didn’t write anything today (or, at least, haven’t written anything yet) but I did start the process of building an options appraisal for self publishing. I’m a newbie to it, a complete beginner, and want to know what I’m getting into before I start the process. Aside from technical stuff about formatting and platforms, there are the key issues of costs and marketing. Realistically, the costs will almost certainly outweigh the return by some significant margin, so I need to figure out what I’m comfortable with.

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Music: tonight’s random selection from the LP shelf is Weather Report’s Heavy Weather, released in 1977. I got my copy in January 1979. The opener, Birdland is a great one for testing your speakers. I saw them in Edinburgh in November 1980 on the Night Passage tour, in their classic line up with Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter and Jaco Pastorius.