Sunday 3rd March 2013
Up a bit early after a late
night of reading, but I wanted to get an acknowledgements page sorted for my
chapbook this morning. Made lunch for me and Jenni then started to prepare
layout for pages but until I actually buy the paper stock and work out the
thickness of the body I won’t be able to set the margins correctly. Tried to
read but too tired really. Wasted evening. Want things to move forward!
11.00pm.
Monday 4th March 2013
More work on the chapbook. Been
on with it most of the day. Got some new cover options mocked up and am pretty
chuffed with them but I’m still in need of permission to use a photograph. This
evening I prepped for tomorrow’s Waddy, listened to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
“Nocturama”, shaved for the first time since last Thursday, got offered a
couple of gigs. Tried to write a page of journal in the time it takes to boil
an egg. Nowhere near. Jenni laughed at my dunky eggsploits. She says you can’t
use snackbread as soldiers but it’s a serving suggestion with a picture on the
box so it’s valid. “There’s pictures of Nazis committing murder,” she says, “but
it doesn’t mean you should do it.” But there’s a world of difference between
genocide and a boiled egg. Oh well, another day. All work and no play. 10.10pm.
Tuesday 5th March 2013
Sitting on the couch, some tv
drama that I’m not watching blaring away. White noise in my right ear. I’m
tired and I’m stuck. I have a workshop tomorrow and none of the ideas I’ve
looked at feel good enough. Hoping I’ll see things with fresh eyes in the
morning. Got some paper stock today for my chapbook. Too many distractions –
the workshops, domesticity, etc – to get on with it. Must remember to promote
the Poetry Jam tomorrow.
It was really warm out today.
No need for a hat or scarf. Some good material from the Tuesday writers in the
informal half marathon.
I’m getting really impatient.
I want my book done and I don’t want any distractions. I could go to an open
mic tomorrow night but think I’ll just crack on with my little book. Wish this
fucking tinnitus would fuck off! Came on about five, hope it’s not permanent.
Up for another hour. Frustrated. Big time. 9.16pm.
Wednesday 6th March 2013
Jenni boarded the X71 to Gateshead around twenty-five past eight this morning. I
went to the Heron shop for my bottle of Apple Tango then did a bit of prep on
the bus to Durham.
Session went okay. Overheard conversation, dialogue prompts. Was good to play
them The Garden by Einsturzende Neubauten. Sat in on the staff lunchbreak,
answered some quiz questions. Got an email from Claire Quigley about the image
of hers I wanted to use on the cover of my book. Unfortunately it’s under
licence to some online distribution company and she’s not allowed to sell it
except as individual prints. Stuck at present. The dummy copy assembled well. Tonight
I re-proofed everything on screen and will hopefully tackle a master copy at
the weekend. Tinnitus in right ear really annoying. But three Nick Cave
and the Bad Seeds albums in a row blotted it out for a few hours. It’s nearly
bedtime and the house is otherwise quiet. 10.05pm.
Thursday 7th March 2013
Poetry Jam was great last
night. Room pretty full, lots of great jammers, fantastic guests. Good mix of
material, lots of laughs. Great to see Catherine Graham and Viv Wiggins on the
same bill. Pleased Mel McEvoy was able to step in – wonderful to see so many
talented writers in Waddy again. Loved it. And home by ten past ten, Jenni and
me, courtesy of Sheila Wakefield - fifteen minutes before the bus from Durham headed
for Stanley. It’s
eleven now. We’d have to wait for the last 78 back to Consett then a half hour
walk. No wonder I was pretty exhausted last December after a full-on year. Pleased
I’ve slowed down a bit. Enjoy the gigs more. My stuff from “…Sunshine” went
down well. Feeling good about the book now. Another month and it will be here. Jenni
is in the kitchen making a fish finger sandwich. 11.03pm.
Friday 8th March 2013
Phoned Ernie about Mother’s
Day this morning. And he says tinnitus could be due to a sinus infection, recommended
a doctor’s examination. Hope this proves to be the case. Can’t be doing with
fucking full-on frequency buzz in my lughole for the duration. Cut stills from
vids of last night’s jam and posted on Facebook today. Had a bit of a migraine
but it went away when I went out for food shopping. Bought a DVD set of Batman
Begins and The Dark Knight for £4.99 in Home Bargains! Coincidence, I was just
thinking about seeing those films a couple of days ago. Only went in for a
couple of bottles of Vimto. Ordered a DVD online for Mam, should get there
tomorrow morning. Had a lazy evening at the computer. Intercepted a creative
writing work opportunity via 1-5-7-1. Of course I’m up for that! More book work
this weekend. 10.38pm.
Saturday 9th March 2013
Think I’ve finally found a
supplier this morning for the card I need for my book. Ordered a load of
samples for future projects as well. Emailed another photographer last night
but am starting to think about other options. Have been trying out various drawings
and paintings but am still in a quandary about it. Obtaining permission for author
quotations wasn’t anywhere near as troublesome – Jarboe got back to me in a
couple of days and let me use two lines of her song Scorpion for Hypomaniac free-of-charge;
and the Pessoa quote that I used in Shades of Grey turned out to be in the
public domain anyway – but bloody photographs – ggrrrhhh!
Apologies to anyone expecting
wit and wisdom from me at some point during this blog post. I’m all graft at
present. Trying not to mention work stuff to Jenni too much, coz for the most
part it’s just someone pushing words and images round a screen or page all day
and getting frustrated by it. She went to bed long before me last night. She’s
still there now. Almost teatime. 4.22pm.
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