Monday 6th April 2015
Woke pretty early, did the
morning pages then read ‘Port of Entry’ by Geoff Hattersley in its entirety.
Think I’ll alternate prose one day and poetry the next. Didn’t start college
paperwork until one this afternoon. By nine o’clock I had the emails done. Just
need a couple of student signatures and photocopied samples of work to go in an
envelope at Waddy on Wednesday. Bit noisy around Derby Crescent this afternoon. Sunshine
always makes people think others will love their taste in music. And of course
there’s always the lawnmower mob as well. I now have the 25th Anniversary
Mission Live at Brixton Academy DVD on downstairs. “All over this land, all
over this wasteland.” OK 10.25 pm.
Tuesday 7th April 2015
Went to bed with a bit of a
headache last night. Pleased to wake up pretty early and feel okay. Posted out
a monograph to Chicago and a pocket broadsheet
to Cumbria.
More keying in text then I was lawnmower man. The back of the house is a
disaster: lintel crumbling, drain blocked, fences collapsed, dogshit, plastic
bags – just awful. I am not mister DIY – unless it means paper, stapler and
glue stick. Worked on Jane Burn’s pamphlet this evening. Listened to Fish. It’s
a shame his voice isn’t the same as on the old Marillion tracks. His recent
solo output written to suit his current voice is ok live. Also listened to
Wayne Hussey of the Mission do a cover of
George Michael’s ‘Careless Whisper’. Someone is setting off fireworks on a
spring Tuesday night. Closedown. Ok. 10.55 pm.
Wenesday 8th April 2015
Doesn’t matter what time I go
to bed I’m still up with the larks. And it doesn’t matter how early I get up I
still end up rushing around like a blue-arsed fly to get ready. Check list the
length of my arm. The workshop wasn’t till two. But I did a bit of photocopying
at Waddy first. Session at Appletree was okay. One of the writers has put
together a folio of poems to submit for an award but only wanted to use dark
stuff to show what ill mental health is like. Back of Waddy I got some more Joe
Brainard Riff monographs printed at an unbelievably low cost. Then some more
last minute paperwork before wolfing down lamb rogan josh and rice. On the bus
to Newcastle I
had numerous run-throughs of poems for the Great North Slam. Poor Jenni and
Alix have had to pull out due to ill health. 6.55 pm.
Slam had a sort of backstage
(sidestage) area. I did as expected – out first round. Me and Sky Hawkins tied
and the audience vote went to Sky. My piece was ill-chosen given that most of
the audience probably had no affinity with gothic sub culture. I should have
done Oliver Dearest but didn’t want to trot out the funny poem that’s got me
through numerous times before. The standard was well high and I knew it would be just from
looking at the entrants list. It was great to see Ann Porro in the final
against Scott Tyrrell. He nailed it with Coitus Interruptus. But Ann’s
performance was super strong too. She’s one of the best. haven't seen her
perform in the region for over a year. I hope she starts getting back out on
the circuit. Thanks to Jeff for putting on the slam and to all the
participants. Back on the bus now, homeward. 10.21 pm.
Thursday 9th April 2015
Struggling. A bit burnt out
really. Tied to the computer but making no progress. The weather being really
great, I decided, Fuck it! Need to get outside. Rode the 27-speed down the
river and along to Hamstersley Mill Garage then back along the Derwent Walk. I
am so unfit. Nearly a stone overweight. And only being out on the bike for the
second time this year could only really just trundle along a lot of the time.
Will take a month or two to get up to a decent speed. Got to watch I don’t
knack my knees up like I did last spring. Talked to Jenni on the phone. She is
off to King Ink tonight. I was meant to be working but haven’t done a great
deal today. Too tired to read or edit. I’ll put in a decent shift tomorrow.
9.31 pm.
Friday 10th April 2015
In Consett early to do bank
transactions and buy food. Trying to go the salmon/tuna salad route for a
couple of months. Posted Joe Brainard Riff monograph to old friend Gus Gunnion
today. Worked on Jane Burn’s pamphlet. We have some space on pages that only have
the endings of poems on them, so we’re going to fill up the gaps with more
pieces. Knocked off work at six. Filled a large suitcase for the laundrette and
now on the bus to Jenni’s place. Tomorrow I’m going to the Small Press Expo at
Travelling Man’s Nerd Hutch in Newcastle.
8.45 pm.
Saturday 11th April 2015
Lie in. Me and Jen watched
some Jeremy Paxman tears strips off various
politicians on YouTube. Went into town for food at Eat4Less. I was round all the zine
stalls at the Expo in Nerd Hutch in about twenty minutes, got a canny stash of
zines. Decided to go back to Jen’s afterwards. Got a bit of sleep before coming
out again to see The Punk Singer film about Kathleen Hanna. It starts an hour later
than billed so I’ll probably miss something good at Chris Stewart’s Palace of Varieties Special at Alphabetti Theatre.
6.53 pm.
Sunday 12th April 2015
From MORNING PAGES: Jenni has
a gig this evening at Alphabetti Theatre’s new venue. We were there last night
for Chris Stewart’s gig. Which went quite well. I must confess that I’m a
little burnt out on spoken word stuff at present. And I’ve spent a fucking
fortune on books, gigs, food over the last month. Supposed to be saving up for
a new boiler. Got a few workshops to prep for. First week back at Waddy is
always a little thin. Don’t think there’s been any rain in Bensham overnight
which is good because my clothes are still on the washing line. Well, half of
them anyway. When I finish these pages I’ll go down and get them in. Jenni will
probably be in bed a bit longer. I enjoyed the Punk Singer last night. Kathleen
Hanna is an interesting person. But the Zine expo was too comics based for me.
I wanted perzine stuff. Don’t know if there’s much of that in the North East.
Seems everything I take an interest in outside of spoken word is totally
obscure and requires great effort to engage with. Anyway, all I know is that
at present I’m spreading myself a little thin and need to cut back on my spending.
I’d really like a month off from gigs. Just go to Poetry Jam and do the door
for Jibba. But I know it won’t happen. Really want to get to the end of these pages so I
can get the clothes in before it starts to fucking rain. I’ll go down and see
if there’s some basket or something I can use. A shame to miss most of Kirsten
Luckins’ set last night. Punk Singer started forty-five minutes late. I have no
idea what to pull out of the bag for workshops this week. I’m not character
driven and have totally avoided NaPoWriMo. Just a two hour session on Tuesday,
three sessions on Wednesday and one on Thursday. Keep on top of it. Keep
photocopying everyone’s work and let the content dictate the exercises chosen
for the new term. That would be the best thing. Anyway, five minutes from now I
will probably be outside getting all the clothes in and sorted. Maybe get
another load washed and bagged a little later on. Even if they are a bit damp.
Bugger, I’m going to have to take my case to the gig.
8.56 am.
Monday 13th April 2015
Last night’s gig at
Alphabetti Soup was good. Enjoyed the stand-up guy Deage Paxton, who reminded
me a little of Steven Wright. Jenni did a set which included Geordie Noah’s Arc
and Nightmare but said it was difficult to read from the page and adlibbed some
lines. It was good though, she has a knack of putting sets together on the fly.
Asa Maddison gave a strong performance beginning with Jesus and ending with a
poem about the real meaning of gagging for it. Enjoyed Wilf Stone’s acoustic guitar
playing. Ditto classically trained Marcus Foster. Enjoyed ‘Rory and Rascal’
from Rundown Theatre’s Liam Tweddle. A play set on a beach about the end of the
world – great stuff! Don’t know the names of the actors though.
Today I prepped a bit for the
workshops, read some essays from the National Association of Writers in
Education magazine, prepped an exercise in Tesco using ten of their new paperbacks, read
some Zine history and copied up notes whilst listening to Hole’s Live Through
This and Pretty on the Inside. Would like to see the Kurt Cobain documentary
Montage of Heck but don’t like cinema prices. As Jenni often says in jest: “My
name’s Steve, I don’t like most things.” 9.27 pm.
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