Kevin McGeary

Here is a brief overview of my English-language album TMItastic, to be released March 19th.

After months of false starts and messing around, The Kev’s English-language album ‘TMItastic’ and Chinese-language album 《失败博物馆》should be available by the middle of March, ahead of the launch party on April 18^th.

Activities

This month I have continued teaching Mandarin, and now have four regular clients. I have also learned my first Spanish-language song and may put the effort online at some point.

In writing, I have had another piece published in LA Review of Books China Channel. I have given the novel a rest for the past three weeks pending another beta reading; however, I have had an acceptance letter for ‘Kobe Bryant and the Freedom Swimmer’, a short story that I started working on in 2015, which is very encouraging.

Output

I have completed some last-minute additions to TMItastic. One of the songs, “Childhood”, had B-side written all over it, so I replaced it with this one

Then I decided “Catholic Love” was not quite right, so I replaced it with this one, about how technology has improved millions of lives in a way that is not often talked about.

Wider World

Bernie Sanders is now clear favourite to be the Democratic nominee to oppose Donald Trump in November. He would be the oldest ever president by some distance and his policies imply massive tax increases, but it is not completely impossible that he will win.

As the Economist has pointed out, if the election is simply a referendum on President Trump, then he will be very vulnerable. However, all of the Democratic contenders have major flaws, Buttigieg is too green, Klobuchar lacks national name recognition, Bloomberg is too compromised, Warren – probably the most viable – is too left wing in most people’s eyes, and Biden is barely medically alive.

One of the possible knock-on effects of the Coronavirus is a recession, which could cause the incumbent problems at the ballot box. Only a fool would predict anything too confidently.

After what was a great year creatively but a bad year professionally, January 2020 has had plenty of positives.

Activities

My tutoring business has had a very encouraging month, particularly of Mandarin (though I also teach creative writing, essay writing, and the guitar).

There have been some reviews:

This was also the month I decided to get strong enough to bench my own weight and reach a higher level in spoken Spanish by the end of the year. Sporadic progress was made on both fronts.

Output

I finished recording both of my albums ahead of the launch party in April. English-language album “TMI-Tastic” and Chinese language album 《失败博物馆》(“Museum of Failure”) should hopefully be available for purchase within six weeks. The latest song to be recorded for the English album is an ode to drinking:

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I have also been working on the fourth draft of my millennia-spanning, transcontinental novel (working title “In a Lonely Hour”). After finishing the current draft within the next week, I will leave it for at least another month before tackling the fifth attempt.

I am also halfway through the Comma Press short story course and should have a fresh body of work to show for it afterwards.

Wider World

I had been invited to go to a wedding in Eastern China in Spring, and I was highly tempted, but ultimately the decision has been made for me by the terrifying Coronavirus.

Dan Harris of The China Law Blog had this to say about it:

“I am angry at the Chinese government for initially trying harder to hide it than to stop. I will never forgive it for arresting the first eight people caught writing about it. I am also angry at the Chinese government for refusing to allow Taiwan to participate in the WHO meetings on the coronavirus, cementing for me that it is still more interested in preserving its own power than in saving human lives. I also do not trust the numbers coming from China regarding the virus, nor do I trust its competence or its willingness to get appropriate help to stop it. I am convinced this virus will spread around the world and thousands will die. And that is the saddest part.”

With my experience of the Chinese government, I am not one bit surprised by what has happened. “Out of Mao’s Shadow” by Philip Pan is a great read on the subject.

With Brexit finally becoming irreversible, marked by a graceless farewell from Nigel Farage, and Trump looking certain to survive his impeachment trial in the United States Senate, it has never been so obvious that there are no grownups in charge.

One of the biggest sacrifices of the expatriate’s life is the perishability of the friendships we make. Attempts to maintain contact with those we once lived and worked closely with often fall victim to geographical distance and changes in lifestyle.

One person who I had not met for six and a half years but left a deep impression on everyone who knew him was Wade Schroeder – a South African former water polo player known throughout our place of work as a gentle giant. After arriving in Huizhou, Guangdong Province in 2006 to work to work as a language tutor at Thames School of Languages, the following year he became the school’s sole full-time kindergarten teacher.

Wade had a laugh like Mozart in ‘Amadeus’, would do anything for anyone, and was the only long-term China expat I met who responded to every shout of “hello” from a stranger with a broad smile and a like-for-like response (in Huizhou at that time, friendly attention directed at foreigners was as oppressive as paparazzi).

While the 23 other expatriate teachers who taught primary and middle school-aged children had the linguistic safety net of a teaching assistant and the cultural safety net of each other’s company, Wade was getting an entirely grassroots-level experience of China. Despite being in a very different world from his native Port Elizabeth, there was no danger of Wade saying or doing anything insensitive or inappropriate as he would never wantonly hurt anyone.

He had slightly old-fashioned ideas about being a perfect gentleman, holding doors open and letting people get off the elevator first, regardless of how unlikely his courtesy was to be reciprocated.

Wade had a different schedule to the other expatriate teachers, but whether you wanted a wild night in a noisy bar or to sit on the balcony talking about life the universe and everything, Wade was among everybody’s favourite people to spend time with. His death, aged 31, inspired people across continents and time zones to pay their  respects.

My favourite memory of Wade (among many) involved a prank that woke him up in the small hours of the morning. He had to be up at six for work the next day, but as he sat alone at breakfast, instead of being angry, as was his right, he could only sit laughing to himself in that inimitable way.

The children who were our students are now teenagers, and the teenagers are now adults, and our colleagues have scattered around the world. But the memories are still with us, and what memories, and what a man.

This is a slightly late edition of Beyond the Wings, the last month of the 2010s, the decade of smart phones and social media, and when the world went from Obama to Trump. Still, it was a considerable improvement on the 1910s.

Activities

As always, December was a month of festivities that aim to distract from the terrible weather. At a wedding weekend in Ireland I gave a brief performance that inspired new songs, and sets me up further for the album launch in Manchester on April 18^th.

I also reached the halfway point of my Comma Press short story course and finished the third draft of my novel (working title ‘The Watcher’). New Years’ Resolutions are:

1. Release at least two albums
2. Get novel up to submittable standard
3. Get fit enough to bench press own weight
4. Reach a higher level in conversational Spanish

Output

I sent my Chinese-language album 《失败博物馆》off to be printed. The English album should be finished by the end of February. Recently finished songs include a song about love:

And a song about avoiding having inappropriate thoughts about friends’ wives:

Wider World

As expected, the Labour party fell to a defeat in the UK general election. This means that in the early 2020s, Brexit will happen. It will be bad but not catastrophic. Also, Trump was impeached, but he is still expected to survive his senate trial and the favourite to win the November election.

Here are some of my highlights of the 2010s:

Books:  Fiction 1. The Incarnations by Susan Barker 2. Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng 3. Spoiled Brats by Simon Rich

Non-fiction 1. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari 2. The Antidote by Oliver Burkeman 3. Skin in the Game by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Movies: 1. The Irishman 2. Twelve Years a Slave 3. Inside Llewyn Davies

 

 

It is almost the end of the decade and people are reflecting on how their own world and the wider world has changed over this time. I happen to have been thinking a lot about what life was like a decade ago because a colleague of mine from that time died in November.

My biggest concern at the time was balancing paid work with passion projects. It still is.

Activities

Teaching Mandarin and creative writing over the Tutorful website is coming along nicely. You can sign up with me here for lessons in Mandarin, the guitar, essay writing, creative writing, and more.

I have also started working again on the novel (working title The Watcher), having had another round of professional feedback, this time from Fish Publishing. It is a millennia-spanning epistolary whodunit that has just passed the 40,000-word mark.

Output

Ahead of a double album launch at The Lion’s Den in Manchester on April 18, 2020, I am writing and recording both English songs and Chinese songs that will make the final cut. Among the newly recorded Chinese songs is this one:

Wider World

This month, the UK is in the middle of an election campaign. At the time of writing, the Conservative Party is leading the polls, despite the unpopularity of their approach to Brexit. I will be voting Labour (without much enthusiasm) in a key marginal.

If elected, they will hold a second referendum (which I hope will avert Brexit), and massively increase public spending, which could help save the National Health Service and tackle my pet issue, homelessness.

This  month has involved making baby-steps toward monetising some passion projects and big steps toward getting established professionally.  I also finished the second draft of a novel and will return to it  in November.

Activities

I have started teaching Mandarin on a freelance basis. I am available to teach anywhere in Greater Manchester or online. More details can be found here.

I have also been translating  for a Russian gaming company and, once more bureaucratic hoops have been jumped through, can hopefully start interpreting on a freelance basis soon. Lastly, I have written a stand-up comedy set that I will  unleash in a live performance in November.

Output

Much of my music is now available for purchase on Bandcamp. This  month,  I re-recorded some Chinese-language songs that  I have particular affection for:

I also self-published a short story on Kindle that wasn’t quite right for any publication. It has already been well-reviewed.

Wider World

Within 24 hours of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi being killed, Donald Trump was booed at the World Series. There are myriad reasons for  booing Donald Trump but this was not the time to do it, and only serves to make his opponents look irrational and boosts his chances at reelection.

The impeachment is building up steam, but just as important is what will happen afterwards. Democratic candidate Tulsi Gabbard is one of the few to have taken a principled and sensible position on opposing radical Islamism, but her chances of being accepted by the establishment seem slim.