Eleven Daze on Planet Steve

Thursday 7th November 2013

Had a great Building Suspense and Narrative Structure workshop with my Consett group and a nice little catch-up session at Waddy this afternoon. Just an absolute cracker of a night at Poetry Jam. So many great people there. Some newbies, some superb stuff. One of the students from Clayport Library came, bought two books. Nice to see Asa there, Sheila, people who heard word-of-mouth. All the guests were mint. Lovely warm atmosphere, Robert Lonsdale went down well. Thanks to Jane Burn for doing her Biscuit Baby story poem; she was fantastic. Great set from Ettrick Scott and nice to see people queuing up to buy his pamphlet afterwards. Shame Jenni couldn’t make it, just pleased she is okay. Fergus gave me a lift home. Had some tomato soup then cut pix from video clips. Will crack on and get them done. One less job tomorrow. Sold seven books. Mint. 11.44pm.

Friday 8th November 2013

Slow day. Thought getting Poetry Jam pix up on Facebook last night would give me a head start but got very little done. Read through some Sunshine stuff in bed. Really please to sell six copies last night. Went out to Consett for food shopping this afternoon. Checked out magazines in the big new Tesco. Martyn Ashton update in Mountain Biking UK: still no feeling in his lower body after back-slamming during a trials demo; been that way over a month. Fish was in Prog Rock but I didn’t buy it. The Morrissey autobiography is only £3.85. I watched the Velvet Underground documentary from South Bank Show 1986 this evening. Then started watching The Smiths from a year later. Then Jenni arrived. She’s staying here for a while. We’ve been watching rock videos on ‘4 Music’ in the living room. Couch cuddles. Lots of food today and I’m quite sleepy now. Not be awake much longer. 10.45pm.

Saturday 9th November 2013

Bit of a lie in. Breakfast by ten. Jenni was away this afternoon so I made up some books. Took a lot longer than usual coz my left hand is still pretty sore. Very quiet this evening. Put the tv on when Jenni came back. Both very tired now. 10.37pm.

Sunday 10th November 2013

Seemed a milder day. Only had the heating on two hours. Got eight books trimmed. Me and Jenni watched Big Bang Theory and Day the Earth Stood Still. But I had a little sleep near the end. I often fall asleep before the end of films. No computer use today. 10.10 pm.

Monday 11th November 2013

Police here tonight. Someone smashed all the windows out of next door neighbour’s car. Happened early evening. Heard some thudding but thought it was wheelie bins. Soap opera: Jenni calls it wallpaper tv. She’s playing computer games. I just spent a while copying up notes, washing clothes in the sink. Kids outside doing backhops off the wall. Can’t really complain as I used to do likewise, albeit not so much in residential areas. Don’t think I’ll be able to do any biketrial stuff again, to be honest. Hands haven’t been too bad today. Jenni priced up some one-off books I made. Says I should hand stitch and sell some. OK. 8.55pm.

Tuesday 12th November 2013

Me and Jenni left around twenty to eleven this morning. Didn’t get back until twelve hours later. Jenni has been back to Gateshead to check up on things there and I’ve done two workshops. The Waddy Writing for All went well but I’m so tired now I can’t remember much of it. Time before evening class consisted of setting up tomorrow’s marathon and reading through student poems and prose. Evening class worked pretty well. Some of the group are keen to buy copies of my books. Nice to meet Jenni in Consett tonight. We had a chicken mayo sandwich and carrot cake. Bed soon. 11.15pm.

Wednesday 13th November 2013

Waddy Marathon postponed till next week. Played the Furniture Game instead and showed how to make a single-signature spined paperback. Took about an hour. Seemed strange going to a spoken word event in Newcastle tonight when Jenni is staying at my place in Moorside. She is having a few weeks out from the circuit. I was probably a bit too tired to fully appreciate Fiction Burn. Second half I perked up a bit. Mandy Maxwell was on form with new material and Asa had his set down. Enjoyed John Farthing but best for me was Improv guys. I had the opportunity to do a bit of open mic tonight but didn’t take it. Good to see Mandy and Claudia and Bev and Shelley and Andrew and AJ. Had curry and chips afterwards. Not great. Bus is stalled at Metro Centre, safety door open… 11.32pm.

Thursday 14th November 2013

Jenni nudged me while I slept. Apparently I snore every night. Got up just before eight, out just after nine and walked up to MIND. Marathon was rather short coz we started late and had to finish early to be out by twelve. Got a book about World War One Conscientious Objectors from the library and an itch this afternoon to make a hardback book. Took ages. It’s smaller than A6; paper is 135gsm cartridge with burgundy Canson endpaper and a black stretch denim cover. Not much on Facebook. Jenni on her laptop downstairs. Big Bang Theory and a Brian Cox lecture about the realities of Doctor Who. How do people learn all that science stuff? Eaten lots. All junk really: crisps, pork pies, bakewell tarts. Good to have an easy day. Pleased I’m here till Tuesday. 10.10pm.

Friday 15th November 2013

The only musical salvation of Children in Need was the kids from Matilda at the beginning. The rest has been bland, boring, anodyne, two-dimensional vapid, insipid, manufactured pap. Even the Kings of Leon sounded like they’d put a U2 riff and a bit of You Can’t Hurry Love in a blender and slowed it down to 16 rpm. One Direction? Down the plughole!. Sure, they aren’t offensive – but come on: I remember being bollocked age twelve just for mentioning the Sex Pistols; what the fuck is all this tin-foil plastic chocolate bullshit? You know you’re getting old when you criticize popular culture. And I’m not even a parent… Anyway, a slow day. Upped some pix of the book I made to Facebook. Edited a prose-poem/flash fiction, whatever it is. Watched an episode of Tales of the Unexpected, read Rollins, Gaffney and Cadwallender. Ate my weight in pizza, crisps, bread and cake – if only… Nuff said. 10.32 pm.

Saturday 16th November 2013

Checked out some wraparound rustic journal making techniques, had a look on injured Trials rider Martyn Ashton’s Facebook page, listened to eighties alternative group The Bolshoi. Copied up notes. Went out this afternoon to buy some cloth and embroidery thread for book binding. Was in Tesco’s checking out magazines, books and dvds. Think I’m getting another cold. Watched Black Swan this evening. Good film starring Natalie Portman. Queen live in Budapest now. Seen it before. Eggy bread then bed. MUST work on college stuff tomorrow. 11.05pm.

Sunday 17th November 2013

Surprisingly mild again. Only needed the heating on for an hour after lunch. Perhaps ice cream not the best idea for dessert. Repaired a 42 year old copy of the Mersey Sound which is holding up nicely. Jenni has been writing letters, playing computer games and watching Little House on the Prairie simultaneously. We’re both sniffing a bit but not too bad. Far from Lazy Sunday for me, but pleased to get a good start on the students’ paperwork for Tuesday night and a lesson plan sorted. Still quite a lot more to do tomorrow. Going to watch Book of Ely later on. Enough. 8.32pm.