Fourteen Days

Monday 2nd May 2016

Okay, so I should be super motivated today but it’s a bank holiday and it feels like a solo Sunday. I’ve got my lesson plans done for tomorrow, but still have college paperwork to do. Haven’t been over the doorstep today. Tried to get in touch with Mam and Ernie but no answer on the phone. Will try to read student papers in bed and get notes down in the morning. Can only plan a day ahead of workshops. My brain is battered. Was good to have a ham and mushroom omelette today. Listened to The Mission. Should have worked more. Good to get head shaved this evening. 11.11 pm.

Tuesday 3rd May 2016

Seem to have been on the go since about half seven this morning. Didn’t get home till ten tonight. Both writing sessions were good. Brilliant turn out at Waddy this afternoon and a rather quiet evening class. I’m well tired. May have done just a bit much today. Wrote a piece of descriptive prose but I’m pining for a few new poems. Must have dozens unfinished in marathon notebooks and journals. Can’t remember the last full-length piece I completed. Writing mainly prose since last autumn. Bus ride home: heat was a bit overwhelming. Hardly anyone onboard tonight; maybe something amazing on tv, I don’t know. I’m back in bed and looking forward to putting down the pen. All frazzled out. Did about half an hour of brainstorming / listing for tomorrow’s sessions. Back on the porridge twice a day. Chilli and rice and ham sandwiches and easy peel oranges. Haven’t heard from Mam and Ernie for a long time. Maybe they’re away. Ok. 10.36 pm.

Wednesday 4th May 2016

Think I wore the wrong coat. My big black anorak a bit too warm now the sun’s remembered its job description. Been re-reading How to Disappear by Amanda Dalton. The book came out in 1999. Saw her read from it around that time at Live Theatre. A lot of the poems are character monologues based on a newspaper article – a woman jilted by her lover decides to live outside and build a nest of leaves. There’s a good essay by Dalton about the research and creation of the poems in the UEA Creative Writing Course Book. Both my sessions were good today. Nice to see some triolets written at Appletree. And more character sketches in Ways with Words this evening. Ali from Waddy shared a matter spot splat video on Facebook which went well with my cheese and tomato sandwich. And I always thought she was such a nice girl. Seem to have written lots today. Just need time to develop it. Ears are ringing big time. 10.58 pm.

Thursday 5th May 2016

Quite a few people absent from the session at Mind today but a good one nevertheless. A repeat of last night’s from Waddy. The weather is pretty good. Warm sunny days when there’s a rumour of a heat wave – that’s the best time to buy your black leather ankle boots with DM style air cushioned soles. £15 brand spanking new from Consett market. Good enough to wear as dress shoes with the right trousers. Magic. Was only home for a couple of hours this afternoon then down to Waddy to prepare for Poetry Jam. It was a rather intimate little gig, but all the guests – Megan Pattie, David O’Hanlon and Harry Gallagher were brilliant and the jammers on form too. Some books and pamphlets on sale. People had a good time. Fergus told me to take some Marks and Spencer bread from the stockpile in the library. I got quite a lot, plus biscuits, doughnuts, apple Danish and other sticky buns. All sorts of stuff for free. Reckon I got enough food leftover from last week to not bother much with shopping this week. Just as well – bought more poetry books. 11.21 pm.

Friday 6th May 2016

My intention was to leave the computer off today and get in the garden by ten o’clock this morning, but noticing next door’s when I pulled back the blind, I decided to leave it till this afternoon. The guy works nightshift and the last thing you need when trying to sleep during the day is a bloody lawnmower chewing away at elephant grass. Did some admin first then went out to do the deed. Took a couple of hours. The Poetry Jam pix came out a lot sharper than usual this month. Computer being very slow. Took a while to edit and upload. I watched some trials biking and longboarding videos this evening. I’m all aches and pains from my gardening stint. Been eating sweet things much of the day. Healthy food gets boring very quickly, doesn’t it? Anyway, it’s another good day all but done. Hope I’m ok to bike to Jen’s place tomorrow. 11.20 pm.

Saturday 7th May 2016

Made up a booklet of my final JibbaJabba set. Keyed in some notes. Feeling better on the bike today. Rode over to Jen’s. She was out when I got there. Later on we watched Alfie Joey and one of Jen’s friends on Britain’s Got Talent, then Mrs Brown’s Boys. Been eating ham and pease pudding sandwiches for two days. Thanks to everyone who put likes on Poetry Jam pix. Not much to post really. But a canny day. 9.57 pm.

Sunday 8th May 2016

First day out with just a single layer of clothing. Me and Jenni had a look down the quayside market. Tempted by all the lovely burgers, chips, ice creams, doughnuts, pig flesh, coffee and cakes. Checked out a second hand vinyl stall. Saw a copy of Alice Cooper’s ‘From the Inside’ album with opening doors on the sleeve but it was torn. A tenner. Jen said if it had been mint it would have been about fifty quid. We had pork steaks and vegetables for late lunch then watched three more episodes of Breaking Bad. Ride home took ninety minutes on the cycle path. 10.45 pm.

Monday 9th May 2016

Challenging day. The final session of a short block of workshops coming up and the paperwork is always a nightmare. Tomorrow is a catch-up session for Waddy. I tweaked my little Jibba booklet and trawled through my paperwork. Still got poems to read for student feedback. Will do it in the morning. Listened to Toyah and The Mission. Saw a great Lyndsay Mclaren longboard video. She is brilliant. Looked at some zine stuff. Got my morning pages typed in. Nearly a hundred thousand words now. Will take forever to edit. Haven’t been across the doorstep. Only two days of workshops. Looking forward to making up book stock later this week. 11.14 pm.

Tuesday 10th May 2016

Bit of a stressful day. Too much end of course paperwork for a short run eating into creative time. Went looking for suitable cardstock this morning for a small pamphlet. Made various coloured covers. Haven’t decided which one to go for. Craig the art teacher liked the dark blue one, and the green. But purple may be the winner. Will see what happens at the weekend. I doubt I’ll get them done before next Tuesday. Session this evening seemed a bit rushed. Memoir, DIY, Perzines, Outcomes, evaluation forms then some flash fiction. A number of people made note on the feedback sheets that too much obligatory paperwork was cutting into the sessions and disrupting the flow. One of them was a former teacher. I totally agree. Pretty much exhausted. Never stopped since half seven this morning till I got in at ten. Will get home same time tomorrow at the earliest. But the rest of the week is all mine. 11.12 pm.

Wednesday 11th May 2016

Long day. Morning pages done by ten past six. Couldn’t get back off to sleep. Dog tired. Was all packed up and ready to leave for work by half ten. Bought cardstock to do my little pamphlet but couldn’t print as there’s an error on the title and font isn’t a standard on Word so I can only change it at home. No worries, I have a fortnight to get it sorted. Afternoon highly enjoyable Cambian Appletree session, ditto Durham Writers. A2Z warm-ups, compound words, pantoums, sonnets and story triads. Good stuff. I read some Neil Gaiman on the bus back to Consett. Okay, but not really getting into it. Went to Tesco to stock up on meat and eggs. Checked out music mags. 90 percent of the bands in Kerrang! are alien to me. Had a cheeky apple doughnut at the bus stop then a ride back to base. Pleased to have a couple of days at home to make up book stock. 11.140 pm.

Thursday 12th May 2016

Was good to chat with Mam and Ernie on the phone this morning. They’ve been on holiday in Welsh countryside for a couple of weeks. Said it was okay for the dog but not somewhere they’d return to in a hurry. They prefer towns. I got a bit of the clutter tidied up in my room and the spare room. Made up eight copies of Joe Brainard monograph, covers hand-inked in gold. Want to take some to the Festival of the Zine 2016 in Newcastle at the end of the month. This evening I got pages printed and folded for three copies of ‘Easier Ways’, my debut self-published book from nearly twenty-five years ago. Gluing them up tomorrow. Been listening to bits of Iggy Pop, The Cure and Peter Gabriel. Surfing the net as well. Made a blank paperback as a trial run this evening. Haven’t eaten much – soup, peanut butter, tuna salad. Have an itch to re-read ‘High Adventure in the Great Outdoors’ by Henry Rollins. Could do with some raw vintage. Ok. 11.35 pm.

Friday 13th May 2016

There’s something deeply satisfying about making up a perfect bound book of stuff you wrote: running off pages on your own printer, folding, gluing, stapling, scoring spines for covers and trimming assembled card and paper. Been downstairs most of the day replenishing stock in hopes that I can shift some Talking Pen stuff at the upcoming Festival of the Zine 2016. My books aren’t really zines (although some might consider So Much for the Sunshine a perzine) but I love DIY publishing. The possibility of another five week writing course came my way today. Been very fortunate of late. Been listening to old school rock and surfing the net between stints of typing up notes this evening. Jenni phoned. She is out on Sunday afternoon so I’m staying home most of the weekend. Lots to catch up on work-wise. Whenever I take time for my own creativity I fall behind on the paid workload. DIY bookmaking, isn’t really cost effective, considering all the manual labour, but I love doing it. Chuffed with the results today. 

10.45 pm.

Saturday 14th May 2016

Been putting off doing some awful paperwork and had a bit of a blow-up when I finally sat down to tackle it. What a bummer after two days of blissful absorption in the craft of DIY book-building, to have to look at forms for inspectors to pass on to their inspectors. But at least I made a 300-page blank perfect bound paperback notebook, listened to Chelsea Wolfe and heard from Jenni. 

11.40 pm.

Sunday 15th May 2016

Didn’t sleep well after work hassles last night so I stayed in bed till half ten this morning. Keyed in some work this afternoon. Jenni is still busy rearranging her room so I’m staying at home this weekend. Probably for the best. Totally hammered and not a good idea to be biking. Not good company. Edited some Home Town Slog tonight. Trying some pieces out on Facebook for a few days. Taking it easy tomorrow. Need to pull back a little. 10.10 pm.