Sanitized and Brain Fried

Monday 5th March 2018

Morning Pages, prep for Tuesday. Online research. Sick of Facebook squabbles. Sometimes feel like ditching social media… Jenni says she is enjoying her new job. Hope it all goes well for her. Tired. Sick of winter. 11.29pm.

Tuesday 6th March 2018

Pleased I checked my tablet first thing. Road flooded at Lanchester, so I took the long route through Stanley to Durham. Session was prompts based then writing in different voices. Finished ‘Plum’ by Hollie McNish on the bus to Gateshead. Quite liked a few of the final poems but could have done with a bit more of an edit. Compared shit weather notes with Mark Speeding in the library then off to Tesco for supplies. Still need to sort Mother’s Day. Really warm outside, walked to Jen’s with no coat on. Had chocolate muffins, rhubarb pie and custard. Chatted about recent events, watched Dave Goreman’s Modern Life is Goodish and One Foot in the Grave. Bus home has no WiFi so I’m scribbling then sleeping. 10.42pm.

Wednesday 7th March 2018

Today was good. Got some work keyed in, spoke to Ernie on the phone about Mother’s Day. Evening workshop went well. Shopping in Consett, last bus back to base. 11.51 pm.

Thursday 8th March 2018

Listened to Paula Varjack and co on Lunar Poetry ‘Show me the Money’ podcast then a couple of late eighties spoken word videos from Henry Rollins live at the Lhasa club. Also Joolz Denby. Read various articles on benefits and drawbacks of MA courses. Not that I’d ever go on one. Posted Mother’s Day card. Bit warmer today but still ended up in the fleecy dressing gown this evening. Bit of online chat with Jenni. She ordered my laser cartridge on her Amazon Prime account to save me the postage. Tonight I watched a load of Madonna footage. I’d like to listen to all her albums again. 11.09pm.

Friday 9th March 2018

Keyed in some morning pages and other stuff whilst listening to a few Madonna albums. Read some David Gaffney flash fiction on the bus into Newcastle this afternoon. Got a two for a fiver book deal at HMV: Renegade – The Lives and Tales of Mark E Smith; plus ‘Nirvana Tour Diary’ by Andy Bollen, who drummed for Captain America, one of the support acts on the 1991 UK Tour. I saw Nirvana at the Mayfair that year. But I know very little about Mark E Smith’s band The Fall.

At the Emma Press anthology of Love Poetry launch event in Blackwell’s tonight. It was Alix Bromwich-Alexandra’s last day working for the bookshop and she hosted a great event. Readings from Catherine Ayres, Jane Burn and others unfamiliar to me, but all great poets. I got an opportunity to check out copies of Poetry London, Poetry Review and The Rialto. Lot more expensive than when I used to buy them mail order back in the day. The joys of inflation.

Went to Quilliam Brothers’ Teahouse for drinks with Jane, Catherine and their friends. Then had a drink with Alix and David in the Trent House pub. Haven’t been for years. Used to love JibbaJabba nights upstairs there on Saturdays. Me and Jenni got chips at Clayton Street then back over the Redheugh Bridge to Bensham. Jenni is now tucked up in bed. 11.45 pm.

Saturday 10th March 2018

Woke early but me and Jenni stayed in bed talking poetry and politics for a while. Diagnosis Murder on TV. Read the first few chapters of the Nirvana book. Had lentil soup then, after Jenni’s surprise haircut, we went out to Gateshead for supplies. Thanks to Jen for preparing our meals. Watched The Voice and vintage Status Quo on TV. 10.12 pm.

Sunday 11th March 2018

Lazy day. Coronation Street and Columbo. Big Sunday dinner made by Jenni. Phoned Mam – her present hasn’t arrived yet. Watched Black Mountain Poets comedy film on DVD – basically ‘Withnail & I’ on a writers’ retreat. Veggie Burger tea. Dancing on Ice and Auf Wiedersehen Pet. More Nirvana on the bus then walk home from Consett. 11.33 pm.