Countdown to Lethargy

Saturday 19th July 2014

Seems no matter how late I go to bed I still wake up around six. Too tired for work today. Decided to take the weekend off. Got soaked in Consett this afternoon. Asleep most of the way over to Jen’s. TV tonight. Been sleepy most of the evening. 10.16 pm.

Sunday 20th July 2014

Didn’t sleep well last night. Me and Jenni had some singing malarkey this morning – trying to come up with songs for our September HOT WORDS @ The Chilli appearance. Jen was at Scratch rehearsal club this afternoon. I went book browsing then returned for the BBQ. Think I overdid it on the burgers. Home to email checks and an hour of surfing the net. Gonna take things easy for the next couple of days. 11.13 pm.

Monday 21st July 2014

Had a little session on the longboard tonight. Only about fifty minutes. Forgot my backpack so had to strap board bag and spare t-shirt to my belt. Getting more absent-minded all the time. Had a pretty decent but cautious ride due to feeling lethargic much of the day. Maybe it’s the heat. Been messing around with yet another set-list for Quiet Compere gig. The organiser has asked for a poem on volume. Think storage space rather than deafening stereo. I wanted to do a full Shades/Sunshine set but will probably compromise. Requests for college paperwork this afternoon. Need to put in a full day of admin tomorrow and I’d like an early night as well. Think I’ll be sleeping on top of the duvet. 10.45 pm.

Tuesday 22nd July 2014

Ultra warm out tonight. Rarely do I ride the bike in shorts and t-shirt. Out till nearly nine. Had a bit of breathing trouble on my first ascent which kind of marred me for the rest of the night. Went over to Annfield Plain then Lanchester and back up the cycle path to Consett and Moorside. Home to watch Utopia but fell asleep before the end. I don’t like the geeky characters, they just seem too fucking ridiculous to be involved in mass conspiracies. IT crowd meets X-Files. Pleased to get the end of term paperwork ready to go tomorrow. Have a gig to prep and rehearse and a final workshop with my private evening class. Hot in the house tonight. Hope I get some decent sleep. 11.35 pm.

Wednesday 23rd July 2014

This is the first summer I’ve had hay fever since childhood. Wheezing like an old man last night. Morning pages. Student poem feedback. Gig set prep. Down to Waddy. More prep. Handed in paperwork. Session was free association warm-up, group senses poem on theme of The Return. Then cut-ups. A bit on journals and Home Town Slog. Run-through of gig set options on bus home. Kathleen Kenny’s Tattoo is poem of the week at the Poetry Library in London from my “Moodswing” magazine. In the house by 10.00pm.

Thursday 24th July 2014

Had lots of fun carving the smooth slopes of Blackhill and Consett Park on my longboard this morning. Then home to a bit of admin and set prep for tonight’s gig at the Cumberland Arms. I have about seven or eight pretty decent set openers – and tonight I’d like to use Jumping Jack from Shades of Grey. I’ve had the first part off by heart for a few years now, but the final lines trip me up every time… No matter, won’t kill me to have the book in my hand.

I’m at the back of the 45 in the more spacious seats on a sweltering 22 degrees afternoon, and I don’t know if it’s the heat or just burn-out from a stressful few weeks but fatigue is getting the better of me. I wanted to take next week off entirely but will have to fit in a Home Town Slog solo writing day before the end of the month.

I’ve not eaten much today and am looking forward to some fuel when I get to Newcastle. Looking forward to the gig tonight. I’ll spend my earnings on a ticket for Wayne Hussey’s solo October show at The Cluny. I’d like to be at Toyah’s show in Settle, North Yorkshire tomorrow evening but logistics and finances said no. Tonight she’s in York, which would have been ideal. But hey, my own gig is a good enough reason for not being at someone else’s… 4.40 pm.

Friday 25th July 2014

“Okay it’s summer, you’re having a BBQ, we get it – now turn down the eighties compilation cd so the rest of us can get to sleep!”

Had to have a little sleepy on the couch when I got home this evening. Me and Jenni out and about on Tyneside. The Skate Shack has moved to Gateshead. Some lovely Landyacht and Mindless boards in there. Very spacious shop. Jenni liked some of the t-shirts…

I sent info Kevin requested for the BBC slam at the Fringe. Looking forward to it. Me and Jenni have our travel sorted. I wanted to ride a bike tonight or my board. The heat has got me floored. Still lots of work to do. Riding to Jen’s tomorrow on the 27-speed. I put the tv on for an hour but find it hard to watch anything for long these days. Pleased to catch my breath. 10.37 pm.

Saturday 26th July 2014

No air left to breathe. Had windows open all day. Finally got round to clearing away all the paperwork from the living room. Got the Poetry Jam event page uploaded to Facebook. Had a great ride over to Gateshead via the cycle path. Jenni has been doing lots of work programming daily Jibba shows for Edinburgh. Hot in the attic. Listening to Bowie, Maiden, etc on Absolute Radio Classic Rock. 9.48 pm.

Sunday 27th July 2014

Gluttony – flapjack, chilli and rice, crisps, peanut butter on toast, yoghurt, rice pudding, carrot cake, ginger biscuits. Lots of televisual entertainment. Best of which has to be the epic fantasy film Solomon Kane – dark lords and warriors, bloodshed and sorcery. A far-fetched thrill ride through Sunday evening. Thanks to Jenni for bigly food this lazy Sunday. 11.10 pm.

Monday 28th July 2014

First bike ride home from Jen’s for almost three years. Took the cycle path. An hour and forty minutes. Taking a week off work. Well, that is except for tomorrow’s Home Town Slog. But otherwise, just going for walks, riding bikes, watching documentaries, listening to classic rock and reading whatever takes my fancy. This afternoon I walked by Motech cycle shop. They’ve reduced the price on an Onza 20-inch trials bike by 25%. I never liked 20-inch. The shop appears to be distributing We The People bmx bikes as well. I walked by the mini skatepark. Teens on bikes and scooters, no skaters. Ate salmon and scrambled eggs for tea, drank orange juice, watched Zeitgeist Moving Forward. Can’t see the powers that be buying it. 11.03 pm.

Tuesday 29th July 2014

Up at six to do morning pages then porridge with strawberries and a walk into town to do Home Town Slog writing exercise of one hundred A5 pages in a day. Always start flagging after fifty pages. Did the best I could but it becomes almost impossible to avoid being self-reverential to the task. Took me almost eleven hours. Completed the challenge in the library then home to Facebook updates. News on Middle East gets worse by the day… Took a look at some poems with the idea of submitting some to a magazine. Watched Utopia but fell asleep at the end. Rest of the week is time off. 11.16 pm.

Wednesday 30th July 2014

Slept in quite late after eleven hour slog yesterday. Kind of drained myself. The clickfree external hard drive arrived this morning. Took ages to get going and with ten years of stuff to back up it wasn’t done by the time I had to leave this afternoon. Had a good bike ride down to Jen’s. One hour and twenty minutes. Cut my hand on cracked sink basin getting tidied up. We went out to the Dog and Parrot to see Asa and Dan’s play Best Bitter. Really great set, great poems, lots of character changes from two lads on stage; some hard hitting scenes and some laughs as well. Talked to a few people afterwards but keen to get away. Had chips and gravy and walked with Jen. Entry a bit late but can’t be helped.

Thursday 31st July 2014

Tough ride back to Consett. Only had a slice of peanut buttered toast and a couple of ginger snaps. Kept the bike in easy gears. Quite a bit of head wind. One hour and forty-five minutes. Have not eaten much today. My computer is now fully backed-up to a new external hard drive with twice the capacity of the previous one, so it should last a year or two. Slept for a while this afternoon and watched some current affairs videos on YouTube. This evening I read a month of 2012 journal entries. I’m still keen to do a book of that year. But taking a few days off at present. Good to just potter on, doing this and that, but I soon start to feel like I ought to be productive. Last proper holiday I had was in 1976. Thirty-eight years ago. I don’t own a passport. I don’t drive. Public transport for major travel. The bike is fine for summer visits to Tyneside.

10.50 pm.