One For Each Finger and Thumb

Saturday 3rd August 2013

Worked all day. Preliminary gig set for Alnwick next Thursday. Cut some more pieces for Sunshine sleeves. Did the rest of the bands to be glued in place. Marked up dark brown board for sleeve panels. Read some bits and pieces on facebook. Copied up old notes, listened to Fish, Emilie and Adele. Really tired now. Don’t think I’ll get much more done tonight.

Sunday 4th August 2013

Worked all day again. Fourteen hours. Got the book bands glued and all the front panels lettered and glued. Free-written titles won’t all be centred exactly with limited edition lettering. Usually I’d have the ruler out in such situations. Don’t think everything will be glued up tomorrow. Should be ready by Tuesday though. Ok. Enough here. 11.27pm.

Monday 5th August 2013

Didn’t go to see The Cruxshadows tonight. Still way too much work to do. And it suddenly dawned on me this morning that the gig would cost me about forty quid if I include travel tonight and home again from Jenni’s place tomorrow.

Had a very productive day on the book – but not without mishaps. Cleaning out the nozzle on a can on Photo Mount I accidentally pressed the button and sprayed glue all over my glasses. And later on this evening I somehow managed to ruin three dust jackets by getting greasy smears across them. Just as well I have spares. I’m almost through the glue-ups on the book sleeves. Well, only ten to go.

Jenni has been in touch a couple of times. Having a good break in Edinburgh. She sent me info on some open mics I might like to try out.

At present I’m feeling a little tired and irritated. I thought the books would be done by now. And there’s now going to be extra work on top of the lengthy process. Be good to get onto something else for a while. Books do look excellent though. Okay, done here. 11.18pm.

Tuesday 6th August 2013

Don’t often write regular journal in bed but tonight I almost forgot altogether. Book is done. Hope it’s going to be okay for people. Whilst signing copies one cracked at the spine and the cover came loose. I checked the entire stock. Most were fine. A little reglueing on one and it was fine, will sort the others in due course. I’ll keep them for legal deposit copies anyway. I’ve used Photo Mount for binding on a number of occasions and it’s been absolutely fine. Pleased to be done with it for a while. Had a celebratory pizza and a mini-trifle tonight. And a bottle of cream soda. Tomorrow is a workshop at Waddy. I’ll plan it first thing. Don’t expect to be lying in long. Only had five hours sleep last night. Could do with a few daze rest but have lots of other work to catch up on. Find journal late at night in bed really difficult whereas I love doing morning pages. Just want to be asleep really. Will be off to Alnwick and then Edinburgh on Thursday. Days racing away again. 10.21 pm.

Wednesday 7th August 2013

Well, today was pretty good. Had a cracking little book-making session at Waddy, showing David and Mary some of the perfect binding and case-bound books on SeaLemonDIY.com. Mary brought in a couple of little monographs made after the last session. They looked great and she broke the sections of verse well for each little page.

Actually got round to mowing the lawn this afternoon. Then an evening of work stuff peppered with facebook activity. Keyed in student poems, answered messages. More people want the book. Didn’t get much prep for the Edinburgh trip. Have got my twenty-minute gig set for Alnwick tomorrow night though. Can practically do the whole set from memory.

Good to hear from Jenni today. Must remember to pop over to her place tomorrow to pick up a few things. So tired. Really just want to be in bed now. 11.31pm.

Thursday 8th August 2013

Okay, so the bus is fifteen minutes late but at least I’m on it. A regular service bus that’s actually a coach with seatbelts. Doubt I’ll be in Alnwick until about half seven. I haven’t rehearsed my set today. I should know it poem for poem. Let’s see: Onion, Box, Risk, Voices, No Law, Oliver Dearest, Gutter Man, Death Street, Slaughterhouse, Tightrope Walker, Bin Truck and Coming Back to This. Yep, twelve pieces. Twenty minutes tops.

Well, I don’t think Arriva buses blow out hot air in summer. It’s been a canny day, just pretty hectic. Started off at six with morning pages. Then an invoice for workshops, then a list of ‘activities so far’ for one of the social workers who sits in on Mind course. Had three lists of stuff to look at to get everything together.

The session at Consett Mind went well. Took in a load of little poems that I typed up for people last night. We did an hour of read-backs and selecting of material. Then I showed them the little monographs by Longfella and Joolz. Showed them how to make one and then passed around the ones that Mary made. Went down really well.

Good to be back home by twenty to one. Had a curry then packed for the trip. Books for the gig take up half my case space. Packed up copies of Sunshine. Hope they are okay.

My wrist is aching again. Very hard to write. Very tired. Was in Jenni’s place this afternoon to pick up a few items of clothing. She went to Scotland last week without a coat. I took her Powered by Poetry hoodie, a dazzling tie and black shirt. She has a gig on Wednesday. I don’ think I’ll be performing; haven’t heard back from ‘Other Voices’. Think I’m going to need an hour’s sleep or I’ll forget my words for tonight’s gig. Doors open at eight. Should be there okay by then. 6.12pm.

Later: I’m in a small bedroom in Alnwick. A very technicolor bedspread, a full-length wall-width wardrobe mirror makes the place look quite big. There’s a demin jacket with a Guns and Roses patch on the left shoulder hanging off the bed post. Four guitars in a rack: Washburn, Gibson and Ibanez plus one more I don’t know. At the end of the bed is a drumkit. This room is in John’s house. I don’t know his surname. He is Ann Porro’s boyfriend. I am supposed to be on a train pulling into Edinburgh Waverly station. Unfortunately we got kind of lost going to Alnmouth station. Fortunately John was good enough to put me up for the night.

Alnwick looks very nice. Wish I’d arrived sooner to check it out. Will definitely come back again.

I had a really good gig at the Bailiffgate Museum tonight. Sold some books: four copies of Sunshine, two copies of Reflecting Hurt, one Tightrope Walker and one Shades of Grey. Curiously, no Hypomaniac.

Enjoyed doing my set immensely. It seemed to go over in about five minutes but was definitely around the 20 mark. I liked having the book to hand even though I only glanced at it sporadically. Felt more at ease doing the set. Nearly all old standards but I threw in Bin Truck as well.

Some Northumberland folk players were on after me. They were very good and I could’ve listened to them for ages.

Tomorrow I will get the train to Edinburgh. Will ring Shiela to pass on a message to Jenni. Maybe it’s times like these that a mobile phone would be a good idea. But no, refuse to own one. Anyway, tomorrow’s another day.

Gratitude: Thanks to my writing group for being into the book-making session. Thanks to Sheila for buying two copies of Sunshine; to Shelley and Ann as well as others. It was great to get such a warm welcome from the Museum staff and audience. And great feedback for my set. Totally loved it. Thanks to John for letting me stay at his house tonight. Thanks to Sheila and Ann for arranging that. Awesome! 11.37pm.

  

Friday 9th August 2013

Alnmouth station. John brought me here at nine oclock. Had an oaty bar for breakfast, read all of Sunshine before I left. It reads like what it looks like: a notebook of journal pieces and collected poems and fragments and because it’s handwritten that’s okay. It’s a grey morning, cool – but the sun is starting to break through. Little bits of blue showing too. It’s nice to be sitting here, no real work as such today. None till Monday. Train to Edinburgh is due in six minutes and gets into Waverley at five past eleven. Think I’m becoming a little subdued. Possibly just come-down from the gig. Was one of my favourite performances in a long while. Best get over to the platform. 9.58am.

Later: Saw five shows in Edinburgh today: Martin Daws, Sophia Walker’s Around the World in Eight Mistakes, Kirsten Luckins’ The Moon Cannot Be Stolen, Kate Fox’s Good Breeding, and Forget What You Heard About Spoken Word. Very tired now. Jenni got me around all the venues. A good day. 11.04pm.

Saturday 10th August 2013

Saw another five shows in Edinburgh today. Dominic Berry’s The Dragon Who Hates Poetry; then Other Voices Spoken Word Cabaret followed by Rob Auton’s The Sky Show – which was my favourite of the weekend. Then Stephen Frizzle’s Plinky Plonker and Viv Gee’s Age against the Machine. Jenni says Viv stormed it the other night but unfortunately it just wasn’t happening tonight.

Took us a while to get back to the bus station. Bus leaves in quarter of an hour. Just eaten an oaty bar and have Ribena in my bag. Won’t get back to Jenni’s in Bensham till about two o’clock in the morning. She is staying here in Edinburgh for another week.

Megabus filling up. People are getting annoyed coz they can’t sit together. It’s a six-pounds-fifty fare for me to Newcastle. Sleeping in the luggage compartment would be satisfactory for six-pounds-fifty. People going to London are kicking off coz they can’t sit in a group. It’s an overnight bus. You should be sleeping. What’s the problem? 10.37pm.

Sunday 11th August 2013

Left Jenni’s place at half ten. Was messaging her from Consett two hours later. I had a good time with her in Edinburgh, saw some great shows. Today I mainly checked out stuff on facebook and tidied up the front room. Have felt exhausted for much of the day and needed to sleep. Will take it easy for a few days, but still have lots of work to do before JibbaJabba gig next week. Mainly admin and copy-ups. Ok. 11.14pm.

Monday 12th August 2013

Well, it’s taken me most of the day to re-orientate myself and get caught up with the notebooks and typing. I could have been out on the bike, but I’m taking it easy.

Found the whole of Fish’s 2005 Return to Childhood DVD on YouTube and am listening to it. I'm still a bit lethargic but feel okay. Misplaced Childhood was one of my most listened to albums in my mid teens. Me and Andy McNally used to listen to it on school nights of discontent. Andy was a big Queen fan too. I listened to Marillion more than Queen. I like Fish’s lyrics, the layers and atmosphere of the songs. It’s a shame his voice isn’t what it was. He’s had a few touch and go throat operations so it’s amazing that he’s still recording and touring. I’m looking forward to his Feast of Consequences album and the tour in 2014 when he plays Durham Gala Theatre.

It’s only half seven but the farthest I’ll get tonight is the local shop for more food supplies. Summer passing me by. 7.33pm.