Less Than Seven Hundred and Twenty

Monday 7th November 2016

Last night was the first with over six hours sleep since Wednesday. Really fucking cold in the house. Heating on awhile to dry some washing then resorted to double joggers, triple shirt, slanket and hat to keep me warm whilst typing. Good to find new pix and vids of The Mission up online. Really chuffed to see the band in Whitby… Need to copy lots of stuff up into my home journal. Not much proper work done today. Got a new toner cartridge for the printer so I can do test copies of ‘Anomalies 1989-2014’ page layouts. Ate lots of biscuits plus tracker bars, ravioli, fried eggs, shredded wheat, cheese toasties. 11.29 pm.

Tuesday 8th November 2016

Pretty good little half-marathon at Waddy this afternoon. Used prompts from the one I did in Newcastle last month. Good to have another crack at them and come up with new writing. Got better results for some this time round. Less pressure, shorter time frame and I was writing much slower as well. Been reading 'Blow Your House Down' by Pat Barker. Jenni said it’s pretty graphic and it certainly is, but well written and I like the dialogue. Tonight I had a chicken pizza and ate more sweet peanut bars. Drank hot orange and listened to a live set by The Sisters of Mercy from last year. They’ve never released a record since 1993 and yet still tour. It was okay. But I prefer The Mission. Very cold again at home. Double layers and slanket to save money. I’m at the computer most of the time, why heat the whole house? 10.59 pm.

Wednesday 9th November 2016

Choose your meal: a bowl of vomit or a plate of excrement. Democracy? Freedom? Hilarious! – not! Session at Appletree went okay. More basic prompts, attempted group Pantoum. Went out to Tesco, got twelve quid’s worth of food and thumbed some music magazines. Back home in my slanket with two days to myself before the weekend. 11.42 pm.

Thursday 10th November 2016

What puts me off sustained prose is the typing up from notebooks. And I dislike composing straight to computer. Good to read some Matthew Sweeny poems this morning. Going to buy more of his stuff. Feeling a bit under the weather. Headache, snotty nose. Took a long lie down earlier. Pleased Jenni enjoyed her first day of work training. Watched Pistols videos and listened to The Cure this evening. 11.05 pm.

Friday 11th November 2016

Not so cold today. Heating on nearly four hours this morning while I copied up stray worklogs. Tying up loose ends takes a long time. Big news today, of course, is that the melancholic bard from Montreal, the godfather of gloom, one of the most influential poet singer songwriters to grace a page or stage – however you wish to describe him – Leonard Cohen has died. The documentary shown in tribute on telly this evening is the one that introduced me to his work nearly twenty-five years ago. I remember hearing Bird on a Wire, Chelsea Hotel and Take This Waltz for the first time and becoming enthralled. I bought his ‘Stranger Music’ book of lyrics and selected poems soon after, and although never owning many of his records, I’ve enjoyed the later material and recent live versions of early songs. Again, today has not been so cold, but not without pain. 11.59 pm.

Saturday 12th November 2016

No need to double bag myself today. Uploaded last week’s Poetry Jam pix to Facebook, listened to The Cure. My ticket for their Wembley show has been despatched. Yes!! Walked into town and got the bus to Jenni’s place, read some more of Pat Barker’s ‘Blow Your House Down’ on the way. Ate peanut butter and blackcurrant jam on cheese boule, watched Rebus and Blackadder Goes Forth. Bed. 10.55 pm.

Sunday 13th November 2016

Lazy day on the futon in long johns, joggers, t-shirt, polo neck, fleece and slanket watching back to back episodes of Columbo, then a magic show and New Tricks with Jenni. Walk home after the bus to Consett was good. Really warm, had to take my coat off. Back home to fried egg then cheese on toast, now wrapped up for bed. 11.25 pm.