GIGS AND GRIPES, TANTRUMS AND TRIUMPHS

Monday 29th April 2019 

Me and Jenni stayed in bed till nearly eleven coz we were up into the small hours watching I Know My First Name is Steven. Did a little meditation piece in morning pages. Chocolate Porridge for breakfast. Chilled out. Jenni made veggie burgers with crunchy red peppers and lettuce for dinner. Top stuff. I walked to Newcastle library to return a Kevin Brooks book and was back in just over an hour. Watched Frasier. The one about a ham Shakespeare actor was really funny. Also enjoyed naughty schoolboys at car maintenance class and Roz versus Marty on dog-training. Arch Remarks was mint tonight. Well hosted by Joby Mageean. Guests were all good – enjoyed Ken Brady’s comedy. Jordan Best was canny but not on very long. Sky Hawkins read new autobiographical work. Good to see Jen’s mam on the open mic with three music related pieces – Freddie Mercury, The Beatles, mosh pits. Well done for taking the final open mic spot – a long time to wait. I have yet to come up with a Steve Achieves with only half an hour left to get it online. 11.31 pm.  


Tuesday 30th April 2019 

Bit of a lie in before bag pack for work. Had to change lesson plan at last minute. Didn’t want to alienate newcomers by working on anthology edit they haven’t submitted to. Got the long bus back home. A drunk couple had a bit of a domestic over broken eggs. We had to change bus at Consett coz the messy floor was a safety risk. Good to get a phone call from Jenni. Good to listen to Michael Monroe songs. And to post brief Facebook responses to Helen Steadman’s novel ‘Sunwise’. I’m still avoiding political articles – too tired to give a shit. My feet stink. Hope I’ve got decent socks for the rest of the week. No porridge for tomorrow. Want hot chocolate. 11.20 pm.  


Wednesday 1st May 2019 

Took ages to get started this morning. Didn’t get notes keyed in till teatime. Tension headache and stomach ache. Had to lie down. Watched some snooker to take my mind off things. Then stupidly attempted a whole load of dictation/edit work on the tablet for a book I’ve been trying to complete for over four years. Too tired. The tablet kept cutting out – keyboard not popping up on Talktalk site. Lost my temper, knocked on the screen and it shattered. Less than two months old and I’ve fucking wrecked it. Repair shops don’t touch tablets – I’ve asked before. Fucking sick of everything at present. No money, no tablet. No work coming in. Bills to pay. Places to be. Reputation to live up to. Just fucking exhausted with all of it. Pig-sick of the whole fucking charade. 10.26 pm.


Thursday 2nd May 2019

Didn’t sleep much and the knock-on effect meant I wasn’t sure how I’d get through the day. Had hassle trying to find somewhere to get tablet fixed. Was going to buy a new one but a company in Birtley can fix screen for just over half the cost of a full replacement. Dead on my feet in the supermarket this morning. Bus to Durham this afternoon was diverted via Sacriston due to a road accident. Pleased to get all the admin done for Tenth Anniversary Poetry Jam. Had a chicken jalfrezi then went downstairs to the Waddy lounge for prep with Fergus to ensure the room could cope in case of a big turnout. We got a canny gathering. Twenty-seven of us in the lovely little café venue. Shifts in poetry tone and pace made for an interesting night. Some ace turns from open floor jammers: Christopher Short, Tom Moody, Ian McGregor Hart, Ivy Hudson, Karen Middleton, Pauline May, Steve May, Ken Mood. And names picked at random from the jam jar for our thirteen special guest feature mini-sets worked really well: David O’Hanlon, Keith Parker, Jenni Pascoe, Annie Moir in the first section; Jane Burn, James Oates, Aidan Clarke, Jeff Price in the second; Mel McEvoy, Sarah Hammersley, Susie McComb, Tony Gadd and Alix Alixandra in the final section. We a fabulous chocolate cake made by Jeff Price – which came with fireworks – and a selection of others kindly paid for by Waddington Street Centre. Manager Steve Wakefield joined us. Staff member and Poetry Jam co-worker Fergus Grant set the room and served in the café. Thanks also to Ian Waugh, Helen Steadman and Claire Stokoe for being there too. Massive thanks to Waddington Street Centre and all the poets who took part. Also, those who sent best wishes and wrote tribute poems – including Harry Gallagher whose words were read by Jenni. Thanks, again to Fergus the ride home. 11.26 pm.  


Friday 3rd May 2019  

Pleased I didn’t have to be anywhere today. Absolutely knackered. Poetry Jam pix were easy to select from video clips but uploads to Facebook took a while. Had a lush veggie burger for dinner. Got more sleep this afternoon then watched a bit of snooker. Gary Wilson was trailing Judd Trump six frames to nine but pulled one back on the first day of their World Championship semi-final at The Crucible. I had fish fingers, peas and chips for tea. Then watched the other match. John Higgins down six frames to eleven behind Dave Gilbert and missing chances – ‘no form, no confidence’ tonight. Watched Top of the Pops with clips from The Cure, Pet Shop Boys, Erasure, Kiss and Bananarama. Newsnight focussed on hammering of the Tories in local elections. Serves the fuckers right. Ate chocolate, read some flash fiction. Need to read more of it. Need to write it and submit it to some online zines. 11.16 pm


 Saturday 4th May 2019

Awoke early. Rant and work prep in Morning Pages. Phoned computer repair guy about my tablet. Then spent a couple of hours looking through poetry videos on my hard drive. Watched remainder of semi-final snooker. Higgins beating Gilbert was a much better match than Trump beating Wilson. Slept awhile, watched a bit of QI and a Bowie at the Beeb documentary. Knackered. 11.10 pm  


Sunday 5th May 2019

Thanks to a recommendation from Catherine Ayres, I spent a good bit of the morning checking out fantastic poet Liz Berry. Found a couple of Royal Literary Fund podcasts featuring Ian McMillan interviewed by Geoff Hattersley – some great crack about Yorkshire folk with readings from Jazz Peas. Another veggie burger for me with grilled potato slices. Saw the Snooker, give or take a slight nodding off once or twice. Awesome stuff from Judd Trump who has a seven-frame lead on Higgins; but tomorrow, like Saturday, things could swing the other way. Had a bit of online chat with Jenni. Struggling to write today.11.41 pm.