Allow us to reintroduce ourselves: The Niche Reference

Hello to you dear Interweb reader person buddy. As I write this, it’s a rainy Saturday afternoon on the last bank holiday of the summer, although I did draft this blog a couple of weeks ago, sat out in my back garden on a camping chair when it was a lot warmer, with a cooling, soft breeze drifting through the trees with a bright blue sky above us, and my Chilled Summer playlist airing off my Spotify, and then real life did that annoying intervening thing. Indeed, it’s quite pertinent to my own mind frame, for I have felt the breeze of change coming over us.

And indeed, as you might have spotted, change has come over this here corner of the web that – as of this month – has now been online for 10 years. 10. YEARS! (I know, I can’t believe it either. My moment of realisation about this came from reading one of my very first blogs I wrote on here, but more on that in a soon to be published post).

I’ve felt very strongly, for the longest time, that I’ve neglected writing with regularity about anything beyond my usual retro pop music larks I dissect on here – not that they’re aren’t brilliant, or indeed will they be halting any time soon.

But I’ve also felt for the longest time that I needed to, much like those videos you see on YouTube of crabs molting their shells with some difficulty, evolve this here corner of the web, and get back to using this site for writing with regularity just for the pure enjoyment of it, about things that I love, music one of them, but books, TV, creative stuff being others, as well as my thoughts on the world, my adventures and travels, and also using my platform as a starting point to jump into – and I hate to be an awful tease – other exciting new things I’m currently working on and will be sharing in the months ahead(!)

So consider this, if you will, your first indication that this here corner of the web has now begun that process of evolving. As from now on, my blog will be known as The Niche Reference. So why the name?

Well, it’s an expression I find myself using a lot. It speaks to the fact that my reference points are from across all walks of life and cultural touchstones. In short, I am embracing my quirkiness and my eccentricities. And I really feel like it best sums up where I want my blog to go next in the next decade and beyond(!)

There is, in me, a new page to write on this blog which will properly explain it more which will come with the near time, but for now, I’ve had the decorators in, I’ve still got the builders working on the extensions, and it’s a work in progress with business very much as usual. Hopefully, you’ll be along for the ride.

Anyway, I will be in touch again very soon – this week in fact. Enjoy the bank holiday!

All the best,

Alex ☺️

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