Another Ten Daze on Planet Steve

Saturday 7th June 2014

Long lie in. Felt tired all day. Should’ve bussed home last night after longboarding to get in the bath sooner instead of walking forty minutes soaked in cold sweat. Watched some longboard vids on slides and stopping. Has taken all day for limbs to start working properly again. Me and Jenni watched the ‘I Love 1980’ programme: Kickers, horrid designer casuals, Sheena Easton, The Human League, Duncan Goodhew… Just been out to get pizza. It’s in the oven. Bigly calories. Will need to cut back. 10.48 pm.

Sunday 8th June 2014

Lazy day. Not up till eleven. Me and Jenni intended to go out this afternoon but stayed home watching talent shows on tv. The Adam Hills DVD followed by Despicable Me 2. Then Fargo. That series is really drawn out. But I’ve stuck with it so far. Might as well go the full distance. Go North East have knocked off the 10.20 pm bus from Newcastle so I had to wait an hour for the next one. Walked into Newcastle. Got chips and gravy. Won’t be home till 20 to one. 11.24 pm.

Monday 9th June 2014

Started to get stuff together for a gig in Edinburgh. Watched some Rik Mayall vids on YouTube, some Pistols stuff. Keyed in journal and lesson plans, bit of writing marathon. Haven’t shaved since Thursday. Heel still a little sore so I didn’t go on the bike. Disgusted by my own lack of physical ability at present. Might read a bit of Viv Albertine, might just put out the light. 10.38 pm.

Tuesday 10th June 2014

Pleased I didn’t over-plan for today as I didn’t get the turnout required to do a proper session. Worked on preliminary selections for the anthology. Hassles and obstacles, bureaucracy boils my piss. In two minds how to proceed. Got some stuff typed up. Read online stuff about the nasty coalition, bullshit on energy prices, religion in school and British Values. Good session with my evening class on characterization. Home to peanut butter on toast and more bullshit propaganda. 10.45 pm.

Wednesday 11th June 2014

Felt like shit when I got up: grumpy about end of term college paperwork in mental health setting. Reading a couple of Degna Stone’s poems on the bus released me a bit. Wish I’d been at Saturday’s launch of Butcher’s Dog magazine that she co-edits. Pleased that Jane got published there. I think a lot of my grumpiness is really misplaced animosity: the summer is here and my failing body won’t let me do the things outside that I used to do ten years ago. I’ve aggravated my left Achilles tendon, so I’ll be unable to longboard tomorrow. But hey, I may be okay for a gentle trundle out on one of the bikes. Feeling confident about today’s sessions. Need to slow down and do smaller exercises. More time on composition and reflection. It’s a warm day and I’m just about to get on the 15 to Durham. Positive mental attitude - do try to maintain, Mr Urwin. 8.56 am.

Good session for the Intermediate group. Some new pieces to add to their booklet. Got stuff typed up today. Help from student. Similes and metaphors session with the evening class. 10.31 pm.

Thursday 12th June 2014

You have days when you think: what’s all the hard work for? Then someone tells you that after years of so-called therapy, the writing course you run has been more beneficial than all of it and that engaging with other writers has become something to live for. You come home blown away by their writing, decide to take advantage of the lush weather and find yourself riding a longboard in Blackhill park for an hour with no major mishaps. Later, in Consett library you read two fantastic poems by Kim Addonizio in Being Human. Ninety minutes later you are watching an amazing spoken word show by Kirsten Luckins in an intimate Durham venue. On the bus back home you marvel at the miles of countryside in the last hour of daylight. The chip shop on Derby Drive sells you 50p worth. You get home and are grateful for a good day.

Thanks: Consett Writers, Mind staff for negotiating future sessions, Blackhill and Consett park for a great place to learn longboard, Kirsten for superb The Moon Cannot Be Stolen. Dave’s for 50p portion of chips. 11.10 pm.

Friday 13th June 2014

At Jen’s place. She is getting ready to go out to The Moon Cannot Be Stolen at the Customs House in South Shields. I am hammered. The evening classes on top of day-work wipes me out. Last two weeks I’ve been out four work nights in a row – facilitating or at gigs. Ready for a break. This morning I went out on the 27-speed down the river. Thought the trail would be okay after this week’s sun, but bits of it were really muddy. Had a good spin of the cranks and rode back from Shotley via Sandy Path near Bridgehill. Responded to some student poems and college requests, type-ups and a bit of online reading. I will be doing as little as possible tomorrow. Slept on the bus over here. A Venture mini-link, strangely, not the big old clunky double decker. Looking forward to Moon show tonight but need to wake up a bit. Jen is eating a Galaxy cake bar and trying to abstain from nicotine and alcohol. I need a sandwich from Tesco. Enough. 6.15 pm.

Saturday 14th June 2014

Long lie in. Chewed through morning pages. Really sunny this afternoon. Me and Jen went food shopping. Hot this evening. Watched Columbo and some eighties nostalgia shows. Tired all day. 11.35 pm.

Sunday 15th June 2014

Lazy Sunday. Baked potato, stewed steak and green beans for lunch. Then another episode of Columbo followed by Lewis this afternoon. Apple pie and custard for tea then more television. Read some of Viv Albertine’s memoir on the bus home. Watched Fargo then The Virgin Killer documentary – so-called supreme being blew his own brains out after a killing spree. Fucking monster. 11.16 pm.

Monday 16th June 2014

Just like the Rats, I don’t like Mondays. Huge amounts of fuck-off prep. And paperwork that might not see the light of day. So to ease the mood I rode over to the Post depot first thing and picked up #0207 of 1,500 limited edition book ‘A Grim Detail’ by Henry Rollins. The print run sold out in 48 hours, so I’m chuffed to have a copy. Got lesson plan stuff sorted. Spent entire evening working on a student’s solo poetry collection. The Waddy office printer has a booklet option: A4 series of single-sided pages can be printed out as a double-sided A5 booklet at the click of the mouse. Everything has to be set at twice the size; so you’d reckon 12pt on A5 would be 24pt on A4. No, no, no – doesn’t work like that. Struggle to make 20pt fit. Such a hassle setting margins for prose. Think we might revert to the A5 duplex layout on landscape A4. None of my own stuff done. Tomorrow is a late one. And the next night. End of term in two weeks. Bring it on! 11.15 pm.