Housework Is A Dirty Word

Monday 17th July 2017

The money comes. The basket fills. The queue annoys. The money goes. The bag fills. ‘The bus is late,’ she says. ‘Ten minutes.’ She’s been looking at Saturday, not Monday. She adjusts her shades, shrugs. The Blue Diamond slows to a halt. We all get on and start to feel sticky. At least the roadworks are finished. Good to see blue sky and be away from the computer. Still dread about the state of carpets, dust everywhere. Remembering summer asthma and fucking up lines at a prestigious poetry slam. The weeks fly by. Mid July and still overweight. Still irate and still paperwork incomplete. Shelves creak under the weight of paperbacks. Lines scattered across tables and floors. Years of scrawl between covers. More spewed up daily. Only two workshops this week. Hot evening. Floundering. 11.02 pm.

Tuesday 18th July 2017

Only went outside to check the wheelie bin. Hot as hell indoors, upstairs, but too much to do; too many loose ends. More time on admin than face to face delivery. The internet seemed slow today. I never got to see the six o’clock news. I took a little time out to get a shave. Eaten well today. 14 items on my salad plate: pork, ham, pease pudding, baked potato, mixed peppers, etc, etc… Good to revisit some of the little pamphlets and anthologies I’ve made for / with people over the years this evening. Good to sit on the couch awhile. This time next week I’m aiming to have the house pretty tidy. I reckon it’s going to be too hot for blankets tonight. If I didn’t have work tomorrow I’d possibly go out on my longboard. The summer is speeding away from me. A moth darts about the room. My ears ring. My eyes ready to close. 11.04 pm.

Wednesday 19th July 2017

Sessions at St Cuthbert’s and Appletree went well. In between I was back at Waddy to sort some paperwork. Later I was at New College Durham handing it in. Just found out the course I run for them on Tuesday evenings is being upped from eight weeks to ten. But unfortunately, due to places no longer being subsidized, the cost for learners has increased… Thanks to all at Pop Recs Ltd who made tonight’s Punk Lecture happen. Enjoyed Pete Dale’s talk and mini workshop creating a song made from word lists written by the audience. 11.35 pm.

Thursday 20th July 2017

Internet is on a go-slow today. Doesn’t really matter – after tomorrow I don’t intend to use the desktop PC for a week. Today I did admin till lunchtime. Intended to be at The Stanza in North Shields tonight, but I’m low on funds and energy so stayed home, did promo work for Poetry Jam. Jenni is off to Deer Shed Festival near Thirsk tomorrow, so I won’t see her till next Wednesday. Great to see footage of Ian MacKaye speaking about punk on YouTube this afternoon. Loved Fugazi back in the day, saw them four or five times. Once at Leeds University in 1995 with my friend Stephen Clark, the rest at Newcastle Riverside. In fact, the last band I saw in Melbourne Street was Fugazi. And before that, Roger Taylor of Queen. Talk about eclectic. Read some bits online from poet Kim Addonizio’s ‘Bukowski in a Sundress’. She signed some books for me a couple of years ago. 10.29 pm.

Friday 21st July 2017

Took some books back to the library and stayed all morning copying up workshop drafts into my blue book. Finished them off in the Empire Theatre café then did some food shopping and a walk home. Watched a performance by Jaqui Abbot and Paul Heaton covering Whitesnake’s ‘Here I Go Again’ which worked surprisingly well. Just waiting for David Coverdale to respond with ‘Don’t Marry Her’. Keyed in notes and tweaked a careless typo on a poem of mine; read poems from ‘Orange for the Sun’ by Joan Johnston. Had a lie down for an hour then ate some Kettle Chips. Jenni is off to the Deer Shed Festival. I’m not big on outdoor events. Not since Monsters of Rock in Donnington Park when it pissed down most of the day in 1987. It’s getting late but I’m considering The Great Rock and Roll Swindle. YouTube has been slow all week, but seems to be working okay now. 11.07 pm.

Saturday 22nd July 2017

Big sleep in. Read more of Joan’s book. And quite a bit of my own. Cleaned the kitchen. Still lots to do in other rooms. Was offered a poetry hosting gig for August Bank Holiday Monday. Did some set prep and watched comedy nostalgia. Unusual for me to be at home, down in the front room on a Saturday night. Dog tired. Soon to bed. 11.35 pm.

Sunday 23rd July 2017

Okay, so I didn’t get as much housework done as expected. Wanted to read instead. Memoir stuff, including the first thirty pages of Viv Albertine’s book. Been invited to a 50th birthday party. Currently watching a Film on 4 called Sinister starring Ethan Hawkes. Multiple families murdered on reel to reel tapes discovered by writer in crime scene house. On till after midnight. 10.30 pm.

Monday 24th July 2017

Enjoying time out this week to just sit and relax and read and listen to music in between stints of getting the house a bit tidier. Nice to not be out and about, racing round. Farthest I’ve been since Friday is the corner shop. Great to see Jodi Ann Bickley (One Million Lovely Letters) on television this evening. Pleased to hear that Jenni had a good time at Deer Shed Festival. I watched a programme on the science of pop music which failed in its use of algorithms to pinpoint exactly what makes a hit record. Read more Viv Albertine. 11.07 pm.

Tuesday 25th July 2017

Had to put the big computer on to key in student poems and print stuff out. Managed to trash more unwanted papers this afternoon. Just looking at formal paperwork raised my blood pressure somewhat after the peace and tranquillity of a de-cluttered downstairs. Got two workshops prepped. Watched C4 news and checked spoken word events on Facebook. Lush to remove nine days of stubble with a full head shave. Had a look through my ‘Anomalies’ file and realize that some of the content has been put to one side for next collection, so which one do I cut those poems from? Probably Anomalies. The file exceeds 370 pages. The ‘deluxe’ handmade multi-signature book will be 270 pages. And the standard hardback will be about 140 pages. If I ever get them finished. 10.24 pm.

Wednesday 26th July 2017

Awake at five. Did morning pages and stayed in bed till quarter to seven. Bags all packed last night. Went to Waddy to make up some booklets then St Cuthbert’s Hospice for first writing session. Lunchtime back at Waddy for tomato soup and Poetry Jam posters. Then a cracking little fiction session with Appletree Writers. Bus connections all great today. Meadowfield to Durham got me onto the X21 into Newcastle by half-four. Checked out some music mags then met up with Jenni. Went to eat4less, wandered over to the Lit & Phil where we checked out Edinburgh Fringe Festival guide, then sat in old Eldon Square drinking Apple Tango and marvelling at a sleeping pigeon. Walked to Gateshead then bus to Consett. Food shopping in Tesco then last bus home. Out fifteen and a half hours today. OK. 11.15 pm.

Thursday 27th July 2017

More unexpected admin. Annoyed at having to put the desktop PC on. Switched it off as soon as possible after completing tasks. Spoke to Mam and Ernie on the phone. They are decorating their house again. Hope they aren’t overdoing things. Mam says it tires them out. I got more of my bedroom cleared but still a fair bit to do… One of the lads next door parked an interesting looking bike behind his car at the side of the house this evening. Itching to find out what sort it was, I went outside with a bag of rubbish for the bin, checked to see if the grass was drying out, then looked over the fence. Only a bloody Danny MacAskell ‘Inspired’ street trials full rig: disc brakes, Hussefelt cranks, riser bars, a seat! – looked swell. Watched a documentary of some nasty piece of work who killed three blokes for kicks and wounded two others over a fortnight. Got life, stuck in solitary. This week is flying by. 

11.11 pm.

Friday 28th July 2017

Chores again. Vacuuming under the bed. No more rain. Two hours to mow the grass. Some clumps almost a foot high, whereas other areas hardly any growth at all. Listened to a great programme online: poet Cliff Yates interviewed by legend Geoff Hattersley. Good to hear them talking about old small press stuff. Got me thinking about ‘Moodswing’. Checked out all my back issues, looking up names of contributors online. Jenni messaged saying watch The Street on tv. Pretty hardcore grim one about boy imprisoned for murder of a baby, but The Street is always ace. What I thought was just a dust sneeze earlier today seems to be turning into summer cold. Hope I’m wrong. Took ibuprofen around nine. In bed now. 10.23 pm.

Saturday 29th July 2017

Read some nineties small press mags in bed, had porridge then out to Consett for bank transactions and supplies. New 99p NU kraft cover 100 gsm lined notebooks in Boyes – lush. Ordered two Cliff Yates books and checked logistics for Jarboe and Rollins gigs. Big journal entry on the bus to Jen’s. Read Jeff Miller’s Ghost Pine paperback when I got there. Then went out with Jen for chips. ‘Book of Ely’ film might send us to sleep. 11.12 pm.

Sunday 30th July 2017

Big lie in till ten. Morning pages produced a piece about dystopian fiction. Me and Jenni went out to Sunday Assembly where we heard about Martin Luther King’s visit to the region fifty years ago and his honorary degree from Newcastle University; also Freedom City 2017 event planned for October. Ali Prichard spoke about the new venue for Alphabetti Theatre. Had an eat4less with Jenni then a browse round shops at books, t-shirts and records. This evening we watched Guitar Heroes, Fleetwood Mac documentary, smiley Brian Cox on the origins of the cosmos, then a documentary about codebreaker Alan Turin and a bit on a search for Nazi scientists before the last 45 bus from Askew Road to Consett. 11.37 pm.