Slankets, Workshops and All That

Wednesday 13th January 2016

The Slanket (sleeved blanket with hands and feet pockets) that I got for Xmas came in very handy today. About six or seven hours of typesetting. All the morning pages whilst listening to David Bowie albums – Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, Young Americans and Station to Station. Hunky Dory sits most favourably with me. I was only two years old when it was released. Got a bit of a migraine this evening. So not much fun getting a shave. Had to lie down straight afterwards. Then around half-nine managed to list a bunch of activities for tomorrow's Mind workshop and some edits on one of the exercise pieces done last week. Still a load of mini pages to copy up. Looking forward to just getting to bed. OK. 9.57 pm.

Thursday 14th January 2016

18 years ago today I was sectioned and diagnosed with bi-polar mood disorder. Its pretty cool that I’m okay now and able to host writing workshops. Walked to Consett. A slight flurry and the buses stop running. Got to Mind at ten for leisurely start to the session: Wishes, Absurd Words, A2Z questionnaire. Bought food supplies this afternoon and walked home. House didn't seem so cold today. Good to be reminded that The Mission tour dates are announced on 20th January – 30 years to the day since their debut gig at Alice in Wonderland in London. Tonight I'm taking it a bit easy – watching music videos and reading more of Dee Snider's book. All toasty except for my feet. More hot apple shredded wheat, I feel. OK. 9.06 pm.

Friday 15th January 2016

Wrapped in the Slanket for the last ten or eleven hours. And keying in text for a book project. Booked some Poetry Jam guests and been exposed as a crap dancer on social media. I've listened to more Bowie albums up to the mid eighties. So far Hunky Dory and Scary Monsters grab me as complete packages. Also like much of Ziggy Stardust. But Monsters is probably my favourite of the bunch. Bigly thanks to Jane Burn and Louise Larchbourne for including a prose poem of mine in Poems to Survive In from The Fat Damsel. Been a while since I contributed to a magazine. Aim to make more of a habit of it this year. I'll be doing the publicity for Poetry Jam in the next few days. Would've been done this morning but guest confirmations have mysteriously disappeared from a Facebook message feed. So it was touch and go till this afternoon. Good to hear from Jenni today. OK. 10.42 pm.

Saturday 16th January 2016

Decided a day of leisure was in order so besides keying morning pages into the tablet and writing journal snippets, I spent most of the day reading ‘Shut Up and Give Me the Mic’ by Twisted Sister's Dee Snider whilst wrapped up in the Slanket on the couch with a pompom hat covering my baldy. No heating on. Could see my breath on trips to the kitchen. Jenni is due this evening. It's almost suppertime. Hope she makes the last bus to Moorside. OK. 

10.20 pm.

Sunday 17th January 2016

Another day on the couch, watching Columbo and keying in work. I read the final twenty pages of Dee Snider's memoir today. Uploaded a Slanket pic to Facebook from the android. Watched a couple of frames of snooker. O'Sullivan slaughtered the other fella. Read some Fat Damsel magazine and some essays by Julia Eff from All The Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues. Lovely steamed vegetables and sausages lunch with Jenni. A day totally warm and snug despite zero temp outside. 11.05 pm.

Monday 18th January 2016

Good to have the heating on for a few hours this morning in order to be active around the house – washing clothes, sorting paperwork, photocopying. Read some bits and pieces online, keyed in lesson plans, watched a Henry Rollins interview on HARDtalk. Got stung nearly five quid postage on a twenty quid toner cartridge for the laser printer. Sat with Jenni working logistics for various Tyneside to-ings and fro-ings. 11.36 pm.

Tuesday 19th January 2016

First real full-on day at Waddington Street Centre. Place was like an oven. Pleasing number of participants this afternoon then lots of photocopying. Tonight I met fourteen new aspiring writers and we did the session in the café, which was a bit of a novelty. Felt a lot more relaxed down there. The less like a formal lesson the better. Only panic was not being able to locate the correct key of the bunch for steel shutters with time tick-tocking towards last direct bus back to Consett. Just got sorted when the cleaners arrived and heard me chuntering away to myself. Apparently I’m at my funniest when I’m fuming. Jenni posted something about me and a salt cellar on Facebook. Now Dave Gorman is being incredulous on Déjà vu. The house is warm, me and Jenni having laughs. 11.17 pm.

Wednesday 20th January 2016

Meeting at Waddy about college paperwork at lunchtime then out to WHSmith to prep a writing exercise for next week using top ten fiction books. Session was okay this evening but I overran. Read some poetry theory on the bus by John Hartley Williams and Matthew Sweeney. The latter’s ‘Blue Shoes’ and ‘Cacti’ collections were two of my favourites in the early nineties; slim books of strange little poems – Tube Ride to Martha’s, A Diary of Symptoms, How Witches Went Invisible; Digging, Asleep in a Chair, After Closing Time. Want to read Sharon Olds again; Stephen Dobyns and Charles Simic. Nice of Simon Green from the Consett Writers to give positive feedback on my ‘…Easier Ways…’ twenty-four-year-old book. Okay, enough for today. One more to go. 11.34 pm.

Thursday 21st January 2016

Less than six hours sleep and penning more morning pages then up for eggs on toast and an hour to prep the session for Mind in Consett. The workshop went very well: readbacks of previous pieces, journaling quotes from famous authors, simple consequences warm-ups, then a flash fiction prompt into collaborative character sketch as a preliminary for new monologues. Finished bang on time. Went to the library but no word on proposed course there. Got hot steak stotty and chips lunch for me and Jenni. Looked online for a new pocket camcorder in time for a new season of Poetry Jam starting next month, then out to Tesco for more food supplies. Lots of Bowie tributes in the magazine aisle. Always enjoy a little browse before buying the groceries. Did a bit of college admin when I got back, fell asleep on the couch after half a sweet chilli chicken pizza. 10.57 pm.