Dust and Scratch and Punk Rock

Friday 15th June 2012

Had a lazy day. Jenni made up hilarious depressing poems using the ‘goth-o-matic’ poem generator on the internet. Listened to King Blues, Frank Turner and New Model Army. The national news is Greece and the imminent euro meltdown – 5 year recession, half of the young in Greece out of work. Later watched Lewis: an old rock group get back together with a resurrected female vocalist played by Joanna Lumley. A good story of deception and murder. An entertaining two hours. Have eaten lots of stuff today. Corned beef and beans, oxtail soup, peanut butter on toast. Tomorrow I’m off to Stockton to take part in Shake the Dust youth slam. Bed soon. 11.10pm.

Saturday 16th June 2012 

I was reading through my regular diary/journal yesterday and realised that a lot of it is just daily routine. Not good enough for a published book. I know what I want from it – short vignettes, philosophical comments and observations on my actions, but it doesn’t stick to the topic or flow like sustained prose.

Today is the Shake the Dust regional youth poetry slam final at Arc in Stockton. From 10.15am this morning poet teams from five schools across the region will descend upon Teesside with poet coaches and teachers for a day of final workshops and rehearsals before the evening event. Five teams of young performers will take to the stage in hopes of impressing a panel of judges and winning a place in the national finals to be held in London next month. The Greenfield kids know their group pieces back to front and that makes me think there’s a good chance they will do well today. If they win me and Kate will accompany them to London on 5th July.

This morning I will go through a few poems of my own on the X10 bus from Gateshead for a poet coach mini slam taking place this afternoon. There’s a thirty minute workshop on the theme of Identity from me as well.

My bag is packed. It’s only seven o’clock. I have a good while before the bus. A good while before breakfast even. Lil’ Jen is asleep beside me. She has an afternoon gig in Whitley Bay followed by her regular monthly spoken word night JibbaJabba. I have been told to wake her before I leave or she’ll sleep in this morning.

I have no idea how many dreams I had last night but none of them as far as I can remember were about poetry. I rarely write poetry. I work with poetry and poets all the time, run workshops, host events – but poems come in their own space and time, I never know what they will be about and I never know if they’ll work on stage or page or neither.

Last night Jenni asked me if I am excited about today. I will probably be excited when the sessions start. Or before the slam, but right now I’m just gearing up to put on my public face and do a day of work. My bladder is about to burst and my throat is dry. By the sounds of the traffic outside, I gather it is or has been raining. Yep, another grey day. Shake the dust – or splash the mud? Bring it on! 7.03am.

Later: A botched porridge breakfast, a laugh and a cuddle with Miss Pascoe, a facebook update then lucky me on the 8.31am 97 bus from Bensham to Gateshead easy peasy. I get the food and liquid and precautionary ibuprofen and a newspaper for the journey. Reach stand H with minutes to spare. Sophie and Amy are there, talking about the day ahead; duties for shadows, participation in the preliminary slam, the chances of supporting a winning team in London next month. Optimistic the bus will reach Stockton with plenty time to reach the Arc by 10.15am. Getting a bit excited now, butterflies. I have a quick run through of poems but I am undecided, I reckon Risk and Death Street might do me well. It’s a grey day but its warm and I’m rather regretting the fleece-lined top I’m wearing. I’ll be wearing a grey Shake the Dust t-shirt in less than an hour. I’d much rather a black one.

Later: Very long day in Stockton Arc. Shake the Dust workshops were a bit gruelling here and there but the kids held up really well. Our team were awarded most striking line. Afterwards only a couple of negative pointers from the judges – some of the emotional weight of the delivery didn’t match the content of the lines - but on the whole strong writing and strong choreography. Kate said we worked well together.

I have been sweating all day – really surprised I didn’t dehydrate or get a migraine. Right now I’m on the X10 back to Newcastle. Amy and Sophie onboard. Tired. 10.15pm.

Sunday 17th June 2012

Today was SCRATCH TYNE rehearsal club and performance evening with Kirsten Luckins from Apples and Snakes and the Tyneside Poets. Really tired after Shake the Dust. And a bit down probably after the adrenalin rush. Lots of facebook updates. I’ve put ‘likes’ but no comments yet. It’s Lamplight Open Mic next Monday and I’ve done no promotion for it yet. Don’t know if my Clayport Library creative writing course is going ahead and won’t until tomorrow. Things might change for the better soon. 11.15pm.

Monday 18th June 2012

A walk to the bathroom alerts me to the fact that the sun is shining and that I could probably get out on the bike for an hour or two. The bike makes me think of other exercise that I have neglected in the last seven days namely abdominal workouts. I really want to get fit again. I want to get out of the financial cul-de-sac of having to give one hundred percent attention to creative employment at the expense of domestic and physical wellbeing. There has to be a balance.

    Yesterday’s Scratch session started off really well. I enjoyed the discussion about gig sets and scripting intros and links and doing a ten word intro from walking onstage neutral but didn’t like being put on the spot when the group split into two and I was asked to critique. Was really tired following Shake the Dust and my early enthusiasm at the beginning of the session soon dissipated leaving me in a grump and unable to really focus on anything at all. This morning I felt a bit brighter. 9.38am.

Later: I just spent an hour and forty minutes this evening watching an Ian MacKaye interview on Youtube. An audience with thing in which people come up to a mic and ask him a question. He goes for about five or ten minutes on each - answering questions on ‘straight edge’, Dischord House, the DC scene, Fugazi, The Evens, the punk rock DIY ethic, booking your own shows, bad venues, stage-diving, digital verses plastic. It’s great, really inspiring. I’ve not listened much to his band The Evens but I like the idea that they play galleries, coffee shops, junkyards, anywhere but a conventional rock venue. Ian Mackaye is one of the true independents. He once said if Fugazi ever made logo t-shirts the band would be millionaires, but he flatly refuses to sell tour merchandise. A great interview and much better than tv if you’re too tired to read.

   This morning I picked up Hillaire Belloc’s Complete Verse from Consett Library. Have thumbed through but not read too much. I’m taking a break from poetry for a day or two. I only have one workshop at Waddy this week, two next week and that’s me almost done there work-wise till September. I might have to go and get a summer job if the bank balance gets poorly. But ideally, I’d like to work on a 2012 book and put out an issue of Ink Bomb magazine. Looking forward to bike rides and late night couch reading sessions. I’ll live on as little as possible. Ok. 11.20pm.