Sh’maya – look for him. Great poet. Plays Ronnie Scott’s Sunday night. Alongside PolarBear & Zena Edwards. Great show. http://on.fb.me/mfKzfY

Yesterday, in the front room, while Mercy was on the phone to the bank, Anna was noodling about unassumingly on the guitar in the background. I say unassumingly because though Anna is something of a virtuoso–a multi instrumentalist, who trained for a time at Berklee–she has the gift of humility in equal measure. I felt like calling up Bluenote and thrusting the receiver toward the sound and saying, in my best Back to the Future imitation, ‘Listen to this!’

But then something better happened:  The customer service adviser on the phone stopped the conversation to ask what these captivating ‘noodlings’ were.  Suffice it to say Mercy and I gave the single a good plug to HSBC customer services, and in like fashion, let me commend it to y’all; Endless Possibilities,  available now on iTunes, go get it.

I was totally honoured to be nominated for the Learning Without Frontiers Hero Innovator award for the curriculum I’ve designed for Apps For Good and the poem ‘Nobody’, which found its way into the course I taught last year.

Turns out that I won!

Great to be recognised for contributing to international arts and technology. Who says they don’t mix? or that you daytime hustle and your music are in conflict?

Shout out to the incredible team who have supported me in the UK, stateside and Brazil as I try and take what I do beyond frontiers, I couldn’t do it without you.

Yesterday night, the project I work on, Apps For Good, also won in the innovation category, so we left with 2 crystal star awards, Nintendo prizes and Prometheus hardware. Stoked.

You’re not successful because you win awards, but it’s also true that there’s no motivator like progress, especially early on. (The project is 11 months old for me, and the album ‘Nobody’ appears on has just dropped.)

When I got started in education about 6 years ago I found this quote, from Denzel Washington’s mum and put it on the wall above my desk:

“Life comes down to 4 things: the grace of God, the will of man, the hand you’re dealt, the way you play it.”

At length, I’ve found it to be true.

Thanks again for voting, but also for supporting. Rock, rock on!

Piece!
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If your voting from overseas, your vote counts twice, so text +44 7950 080 667 if you’re dialing from overseas. Standard SMS fees apply.

You can also vote for the course I’ve designed in the by texting  APPSFORGOOD to 07950 080 667

Thanks y’all!

Love Is Not A Rumour from matthew tanti on Vimeo.