Sunday to Sunday

Sunday 20th January 2013

Up early to get ready – shave, poems for Scratch Tyne rehearsal. Saw Jenni for an hour but she was tired so didn’t come along. It was an interesting session. Got some feedback on new work and saw some wonderful performances. Hardly any snow in Newcastle. Threat of more this evening though. 8.15pm bus home. Felt dizzy and drained after walking in the snow. Pork pies, peanut butter on toast. Bovril, Vimto. 10.25pm.

Monday 21st January 2013

Knew the moment I rolled up the blind and looked out at all the white – cars, walls, paths and roads – that there’d be no Lamplight Open Mic tonight. I phoned Leisureworks and it was greed that we’d give it a miss. Loads of schools s closed. Hope it clears a bit later in the week. Looking forward to slams on Thursday and Friday. Spent a lot of time on my own writing today, found prep for workshops hard going. It’ll all come clear in the morning. The house is like an oven but the temperature drops like a stone soon as you switch the heating off. Avoiding cliché – there’s an exercise we can revisit. I want to find the time to read but can’t seem to settle into it. Years on the net has made me impatient. Need to get used to not using the computer so much. Haven’t been across the doorstep today. I bet tomorrow is hilarious. At least I don’t need to be out first thing. Watched an episode of Lewis this evening. Going to try to read in bed for a while. 10.20pm.

Tuesday 22nd January 2013

After a pretty lethargic day at the computer a good edit session downstairs at the old drop-leaf table. I didn’t go to Durham today, no V8 buses and still very snowy in Moorside. Wrote to a photographer in Tel Aviv this afternoon in hopes of being able to use one of her image for a book cover. Fingers crossed. Listened to Adam Ant is the Blueblack Hussar in Marrying the Gunner’s Daughter on Spotify this afternoon. Apart from one or two tracks I thought it was pretty good. Enjoyed listening to the really early White Sox era material as well. Was good to talk to Mam and Ernie today. Think I nailed a poem this evening. 10.28pm.

Wednesday 23rd January 2013

A seven o’clock check of Go North east’s website led me to believe the bus would be at the top of Derby Drive at ten past eight. Half an hour later I was dodging cars and lorries as I walked up the main road to Consett. And then the Durham bus was quarter of an hour late. Waddy session went well regardless. A couple of new recruits in. Six hour round trip. Didn’t do much this evening. Watched some music videos, listened to some eighties rock, read a few political articles. Do I need to be specific, I don’t think so. Too tired to work on the book this evening. 10.54pm.

Thursday 24th January 2013

A good end to a rather lethargic day. SLAMalgamate was a great spoken word event. Pleased there was such a great turnout for it. 14 slammers reduced to eight to four to Jeff Potts and AJ Mckenna. Both did extremely well but AJ had the edge. I bought AJ’s pamphlet A Lady of a Certain Rage. It was a spoken word slam so not strictly all poetry but poetry came out on top. I did the scores and time-keeping and filmed the whole event. Jenni did a great job of hosting it. Rowan McCabe  got a shockingly low score for what I thought was one of the best poems of the night. Looking forward to seeing him do it again in the near future. On the way home me and Jenni stopped off at the chippy in Gateshead. I got a pie. And some juice for tomorrow morning. Thanks to Jenni for putting on great night. 11.50pm.

Friday 25th January 2013

At last check before leaving Gateshead this lunchtime I had over fifty birthday greetings from Facebook friends. Jenni bought me some lovely things: tickets to see the band Zombie Killers at Washington Arts Centre next month; Look Around You – a comedy science DVD, a gift voucher for carveries at The Goose and six bottles of Juice Burst black currant drink which taste like raw jelly chunks; a vinyl to mp3 turntable and Self Loathing Ostrich Tragedy – Stephen Barnaby’s book of fifty word epics; a pair of Stewie socks that say I HATE THIS PLACE – made me laugh out loud; got a tin to save my book pennies in and some sweetie supplies for my emergency food tin plus a great alliterative birthday card and an ‘I Am 5’ badge with a skateboarder on it. We had a mega meat six veg lunch at the Goose and a swift train journey to Edinburgh. Nowhere near as cold as forecast. Checked out the performance space at National Library of Scotland and it looks ok. 5.05pm.

Good night at the slam. Only did the first round but that’s okay. It was more literary than I expected but enjoyable. Good to see Graeme Hawley do a couple of pieces. Had a chat with Kevin Cadwallender about poetry and workshops and doing what feels best for your own piece of mind. We got conflicting directions for the bus station and got there only a few minutes before it was due to leave. Haven’t eaten anything since Goose carvery which is pretty impressive for me. Relieved to find a toilet onboard. 10.50pm.

Saturday 26th January 2013

HUGE THANKS TO EVERYONE who sent me birthday wishes yesterday. Me and Jenni had a great time in Edinburgh at the National Library of Scotland Burns Night Grand Slam. Saw some amazingly talented poets in action and got to take to the stage briefly myself, as did Jenni with her haiku and limmerick competition pieces. Well done to everyone involved and conratulations to Rachel Amey, a worthy winner. Great to hear Graeme Hawley read again, lovely chat with Kevin Cadwallender and some of the slammers afterwards, and Sophia Walker dropped by too. Had a little bit of a late night panic trying to find the bus station for our 10.45pm coach home but made it with a few minutes to spare. Had a lengthy creative discussion on the way back and were scoffing pizza and chips from Clayton Street Chippy in Newcastle by 1.35pm this morning. No snow on the ground in Edinburgh - think the forecasters were telling fibs. Whereas a day later, back in Moorside, still can't get moved for the stuff. Cheers!

Dropped my case off around twenty past three this afternoon then back into Consett for food shopping. A lazy day at home with Jenni. Read Stephen Barnaby’s chapbook this morning, a bit of AJ Mckenna this evening. Too tired to form a cohesive paragraph. Pleased I don’t have to go outside tomorrow. Bed soon. 10.45pm.

Sunday 27th January 2013 

Lovely to have a visit from Mam and Ernie this afternoon – although for Jenni it did mean temporarily changing out of her tiger suit. Got a great belated birthday present: a hand made book press. Been after one of these for months. This will be great for glueing up perfect bound book and flattening pamphlets. Bit of a catch-up day today. Next poetry gig for me is a double-header with Jenni back in Edinburgh on 6th February at Kevin Cadwallender’s Tenor Bull 10 Red. 9.03pm.