BIG WEEK AWAY

Monday 12th February 2018

Today all geared up towards my Sheffield trip. Awake before eight to do morning pages, have a bit of silly banter with Jenni, then a walk into Gateshead for some travel supplies: cash, notebook and food. Why pay £1.80 for a sandwich when a £1.55 block of Red Leicester will make half a dozen if you already have the bread and pickle back at base? Eye caught a Daily Express with front page scare story about imminent Arctic conditions and travel disruption. Why take any notice of a right wing rag – especially when the sky is blue and you're getting a sweat on? Had a shower and fresh clothes but not sure how best to dress. Me and Jenni watched an episode of Frasier in which an obsessive fan freaks out the star who visits to retrieve a copy of his own radio broadcast. I left around eleven. Coach to Sheffield was okay, but kept falling asleep when I tried to read. Finding the venue for the Rollins show was a bit awkward; ended up getting a city bus. Three young fans hanging out in the corridor at The Foundry were greeted by Henry while I chopped an apple nearby on a flyer, so I went out over and waited patiently. Got a signature on a treasured item and a photograph taken by one of the punk girls. Messaged Jenni on free Sheffield University WiFi. Auditorium was quite small. About 400 capacity. A good venue: no raised stage, but raked seating; front row for me. Hank did two and a half hours. He was great, but if I'm honest not the best I've seen him. The photographs and anecdotes were mainly from pretty unusual faraway places; more poverty stricken than exotic. I know it was billed as a travel slide show and he's moved on from music, but I'd have preferred more tour stories and career spanning stuff. The final images – Ian MacKaye skateboarding on a quarterpipe, Henry three wheels out on same, and a shot of the Black Flag audition taken by record producer 'Spot' – were my favourites… Written quite a bit today. Most novel thing was hearing the punk twins with green and blue hair confessing their undying love for Brian May of Queen. Now I'm in a takeaway half way between venue and coach station with battered sausage and chips. 11.19 pm.

Tuesday 13th February 2018

Played Jen the eight minutes of footage I videoed at last night’s Rollins show. Fucking freezing in her room; haven’t done a stroke of work. Jenni starts a new temporary job tomorrow. We went out this afternoon for more supplies. I am trying to avoid overspending. Amanda Palmer and Andrew O’Neill are playing The Sage in May. I’d like to go but it’s twenty-four quid and I’ll already be shelling out a lot more over the next week on bus fares. One of the girls who met Rollins in Sheffield posted her pic with him on Facebook tonight. I won’t get mine sorted until I’m back home next Sunday. So cold I’m struggling to push the pen. Going to bed soon so I can be up early for a day of typing. Trying to make the most of my time. 9.22 pm.

Wednesday 14th February 2018

Spent the morning keying in Sheffield notes at Gateshead Library. Was there just after opening time. The music / dvd section blasted a full album by Garbage. The band are playing Newcastle later this year. Don’t know much about them. The soundtrack then switched to avante garde stuff but I couldn’t name the artist. Then a compilation of Oasis, Pulp, Joy Division, etc. Gateshead Library is the best. The music book section is better than Waterstones. The poetry shelves have loads of regional authors: Pippa Little, Linda France, James Oates, Bob Beagrie, Lisa Matthews – even me. Wish I’d had a copy of Hypomaniac with me on Monday. Anyway, I stayed a few hours till my android tablet battery was almost dead. Braved the ‘freeze-ation’, as one local called it, and returned to the Bensham house for lentil and bacon soup, a shave and a change of clothes. Meeting Jenni around six for a quick meal then off to Born Lippy spoken word event. Back to the library before that, possibly to read Plum by Hollie McNish. 1.50 pm.

Later: Jenni couldn’t meet for tea coz there’s no bus after four-thirty from her new place of work. I had an eat4less bacon and cheese melt Panini then walked through the spit and shit of a wet Wednesday and found my way to Cobalt studios in Ouseburn for Born Lippy. Very impressive venue. Proper stage lights, two mics, numerous top performers; excellently hosted by Donald Jenkins, Sarah Jane and Tom C. First up was comedian Ken Brady. I’d seen most of his set before, but the sequencing of material and delivery keeps getting better each time. Guests from Manchester – Rosie Fleesheman and Alex Slater – did a fast paced spoken word love set. Jenni won the mini-slam. Kath Tanney was really funny. Rowan McCabe did a mint poetry set. Hip-hop artist Stig of the Dump stepped up as a last minute replacement for Rick Fury and went down well. Great event. Pity I won’t make the next couple due to work commitments. 9.52 pm.

Thursday 15th February 2018

Up early and out for bus back to Moorside to format Poetry Jam event page. Major email fail: provider managed to somehow dump three-thousand-seven-hundred duplicated old emails in my inbox. They’ve done it before with nine-thousand of the bastards and luckily I was savvy enough to isolate as ‘unread’ and delete messages en masse. Didn’t get my blog post sorted, but I cut a still from the meeting with Henry Rollins filmed on my camcorder and put it on Facebook. Chuffed to get a shot of me with Hank, having been a fan for best part of three decades. Me and Jenni went to The Stanza in Cullercoats tonight. Good room, great sets by Julie Egdell and newcomer Michael Pittuck, some good open mic action then headliner Harry Gallagher who played an absolute blinder. Metro back to Gateshead. Gonna check messages again, have some cake, then off to bed. 11.13 pm.

Friday 16th February 2018

Good lie in. Not so cold today. But woken with lower back pain the last few mornings. Went to Gateshead library again. Stayed there from eleven till five o’clock. Read some of Fiona Sampson’s book Poetry Writing and some of Papers by Hollie McNish. Took notes and hope to get inspired for workshops. Talked to librarian Mark Speeding about poetry and publishing. This evening I had a crack at a tabletop football game for a few minutes with Janet (Jenni’s landlady), had lentil soup; watched supernatural TV drama Requiem, but having missed the first episode/s I couldn’t make sense of it at all. Need to sort myself out – shave and shower – before I go away again tomorrow. Only spent 98p today. 11.01 pm.

Saturday 17th February 2018

Lazy morning then down to the chippy with Jenni. Filled massive stotties with chips when we got back. Got ready for the Yarm trip. Venue was awesome. Loved seeing Toyah in a proper theatre tonight. And it was full as well. Biggest show I’ve seen her do. All the hits, plus career-spanning album tracks. Bus back to Stockton really warm. Then another to Durham, then night bus to Gateshead. Will be around one o’clock at the earliest before I’m anywhere near Jen’s house. 10.50 pm.

Sunday 18th February 2018

Veg and gravy with pie (me) and veggie sausages (Jen) for dinner. Final episodes of The Widower and Trauma online. Packed my case for return to Consett then watched The Chase and a bit of Dancing on Ice. Keyed in journal when I got home, whilst listening to the Spike album by Elvis Costello. Back catalogue way too vast to even put a dent in. 11.20 pm.