New Term, Zines, Gigs, TV, etc

Tuesday 14th April 2015

Gentle little first workshop this afternoon at Waddington Street Centre. Mainly warm-up exercises to kick-start the new term. Worked on the Wishing Tree Writers anthology this evening. We’re nearly there, just a few permissions for quotes and cover image and it’ll be getting printed. Been good listening to TV Smith. Jenni was in a Harrogate newspaper today for her gig at Poems, Prose and Pints tomorrow. She is well chuffed they mentioned tigers and purple from her blurb. I got some prep done for tomorrow but not much for myself. Here comes another few months of frantic tail chasing. No worries, I signed up for this. It’s what I do. Looking forward to the STANZA this Thursday evening. 10.44 pm.

Wednesday 15th April 2015

Mint day. Good to road-test new combinations of exercises with minimal resources. I’d like to cut back on the number of handouts. Checked out election manifestos after my session at Cambian Appletree. By the time I got offline my head was a jumble of fuzzy policies. Can’t remember much of what came from where. Wrote two ‘noun diary’ entries today. Keyed in a new poem then did the final evening class with the Wednesday group. Chuffed to see rabbit mask pic from the photo shoot done with Tracy Speeding a couple of months ago. Read a great Human Bean Zine on the bus home. My Julia Eff book arrived from Pioneers Press with three button badges. Oh and David Gaffney gave us the green light for title usage in anthology. Celebratory cheeseburger. Bed. 11.03 pm.

Thursday 16th April 2015

Good session at Mind. Everyone got a substantial freewrite from the Begin prompt. Lots of discussion too. I intended to see Montage of Heck this afternoon but it started too early for me. Stayed home, caught up on journal and checked out the book and zine that Julia Eff sent me. Included were a sticker and handwritten letter. Excellent.

Great night at The Stanza. Enjoyed all the guests. Alix Alixandra was knockout. Rose Condo good to see again. Bought her pamphlet. Matthew Lewis Miller: good set of poems. Strong open mic. Loved Ken Creen’s digressions from his poem about sausages. I did a new longboard poem. Not sure it’s open mic material. Maybe okay in a pagey set… I’m at Eldon bus station, have a fruit claw to scoff and a ride back to Consett. 11.02 pm.

Friday 17th April 2015

Been getting chest pains these last few days, but it’s probably just indigestion. This lunchtime I felt sick – but that was probably due to watching the scary video of hikers on the insanely dangerous El Camino del Ray walkway near Malaga in Spain. Ridiculously narrow crumbling paths of concrete on metal frames pinned to the sides of rock faces way up high. I posted it on Facebook; Kirsten Luckins said her palms were sweating. I pretty much took the day off. Watched a Courtney Love documentary this afternoon. I read Every Thug is a Lady by Julia Eff and read some of Wastelands. I’m itching to do a follow up to So Much for the Sunshine but still have a lot of projects to clear before I start a new one. MUST put in a full work day tomorrow. 10.50 pm.

Saturday 18th April 2015

Pleased to hear from writers and work up more stuff for their anthologies. Read some of ‘Notes from Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture’ on the bus. Great to have the evening off at Jen’s place, watching Father Ted episodes back to back. 10.50 pm.

Sunday 19th April 2015

Read some more zine culture in Stephen Duncombe’s Notes from Underground then watched television with Jenni: Horrid Henry, gymnastics, Columbo and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Lentil and bacon soup, strawberry yoghurt, cherry pie and custard. A proper lazy Sunday. More reading on the bus to Consett. Walked home in the drizzle. Cheese on toast and new laces in my Doc Marten shoes. Bed. 11.08 pm.

Monday 20th April 2015

Sick of being at computers. I remember the old days down at the drop-leaf table with the manual typewriter and the music playing. Too many distractions online. Got lesson plans keyed in and most of the journal. Out this afternoon to do bank transactions to cover coach fare to Manchester for Blood Brothers (aka the Mission) next month. Good to see Cameron squirm on the Andrew Marr show on iPlayer at lunchtime. Good to have a game plan for my workshop tomorrow. Pity the new toner cartridge I bought in good faith doesn’t fucking fit the laser printer. Need an early night. Just read through a student pamphlet manuscript for tomorrow. Nice to be out in the sunshine today. 10.40 pm.