There Goes a Fortnight

Monday 30th May 2016

Lazy bank holiday. Watched an end of the world movie, the plot of which Jenni totally predicted. Then an episode of The Incredible Hulk, some of which I predicted. After all the flitting about of the last few days I was pleased to stay in one place for a while, then back to Consett. Surprised to find Tesco open so I got a ream of A4 to make pages for writing marathon booklets. Also bagged a reduced price cooked chicken and a steak pie. Home to email checks. Sorted Talking Pen stock boxes then looked at some stuff online. There’s a skateboard weekend at Tyneside Cinema starting next Friday night; might check some of that out. Still lots of typing and copy-ups to do over the next few days. As well as number crunching for tax purposes. Knees are hurting after pulling a suitcase from Consett. 11.07 pm.

Tuesday 31st May 2016

Full day at home. Mainly catching up on admin, some gig publicity and a bit of reading. Had a lovely chicken dinner this evening. Made up some half-marathon booklets and selected the writing prompts. Otherwise, just at the keyboard. Morning page file getting so big now Word said it won’t highlight spelling errors on it. Will have to export sections to a new file, spell-check then paste back to original document. Would be wise to start a new file for July onwards. 11.05 pm.

Wednesday 1st June 2016

Very productive day. Planned loads of fiction stuff that I won’t be using till next week at the earliest. Good session at Cambian Appletree. Lush chicken rendang curry plus some apricots and an orange for tea then a very satisfying half-marathon at Ways with Words this evening. Group produced some cracking bits and pieces of fiction and poetry. We finished at quarter to nine and I was out the building by five to. 10.48 pm.

Thursday 2nd June 2016

Out the house earlier than usual to purchase new pens for the half-marathon at Mind this morning. 32 biros for a quid. Thank you Poundland. There were a few absences but we made the most of it and wrote some good pieces. Pit-stop at home to key in pages, read a Rollins LA Weekly column and pack for Poetry Jam. Lots of people turned out to see Tom Kelly, Julie Hogg and Aaron Wright and a bunch of great open floor jammers. One or two raucous moments but lots of well crafted stuff too. We overran by half an hour and didn’t get locked up till twenty past ten. Really pleased that some of this week’s workshop participants got to see it. Fantastic event. Thanks to Fergus of Waddington Street Centre for the lift home. Enjoyed today immensely. 11.38 pm.

Friday 3rd June 2016

Pleased to finally remove the contact lens that lodged itself under my eyelid before Poetry Jam last night. Thought it might fall out by itself, but fifteen hours later eye still sore and weepy with mucus this morning so I had to dig in to extract it. Totally bloodshot. Jenni’s Facebook post stated that her vision is blurry today. Hope that rectifies itself quickly. She says it’s happened before and usually goes back to normal overnight. Got none of my usual Friday stuff done. Spent hours going through paperwork and providing evidence of legitimate business practice for HMRC. At least it was all stuff I’d generated for myself anyway. Still have a bit more to do. Really knackered. 11.37 pm.

Saturday 4th June 2016

Worked till two this morning then slept till nine. Tidied the kitchen then off to Jen’s. Saw Catherine Scott’s “The Littlest Homeowner” show at Jesterval this afternoon. Had pork and spicy tomato soup this evening, watched Columbo and 12 Years a Slave. 11.28 pm.

Sunday 5th June 2016

Awake at five and working on lesson plans in morning pages then back to sleep for a few hours. Me and Jenni mainly just lazed on the futon watching back to back Columbo. Got the 8.23 pm to Consett, walked home, uploaded Poetry Jam pix. Wanted to have an early night but the ‘To Do’ list won’t let me. At least I saw a good longboard video and caught up on emails. 11.26 pm.

Monday 6th June 2016

Didn’t even realise it had been such a nice day until eight this evening when I crossed the doorstep to buy emergency copier paper. Used a full ream since last week. No Waddy workshop prep done, no blog post. But hey, I know exactly how much I earned last year and it wouldn’t entice a sensible soul to pack in the day job. Just as well that I can’t stick a day job. Fear and desperation. Two good reasons to keep me clawing away relentlessly. 11.37 pm.

Tuesday 7th June 2016

Came up with a pretty good lyrics and poetry workshop that met with Waddy Writers’ approval this afternoon. I’ll use it for another two sessions this week. Kind of a low grade migraine this evening. Ali Lee tagged me in a link to My Teenage Diary with ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’ author, Lionel Shriver. It was great. Also on the page was a link to The Moth grandslam. Didn’t know the BBC broadcast those true tales told live spoken word shows. Guess they’re still good for some things, even if they do fail to broadcast unbiased news most of the time. Pleased to have an evening off. Bed. 10.31 pm.

Wednesday 8th June 2016

Seemed like an eternity since waking at six and doing morning pages to bag packing and getting out to Consett and Barry’s Bargain Store for a chicken rendang tinned curry and a packet of microwave rice then the bus to Durham and cheese sandwiches in Waddy kitchen before boarding an Arriva off to Meadowfield for a two o’clock 75 minute flash fiction and song title collage poem session then back to Waddy for some typing before eating the big curry and a repeat of yesterday’s poetry and lyrics workshop this time for Ways with Words then home to email checks and more song selections for Consett Writers now just a couple of logbook entries and I’m done! 11.36 pm.

Thursday 9th June 2016

Third time with the poetry and lyrics and it went down well again. Definitely a keeper. So big thanks to Mind, Waddy and Ways with Words for positive feedback. Today I’ve mostly been knackered. Too hot to throw the mower at uneven grassland for ninety minutes so I’m hoping tomorrow starts cooler and stays dry so I can get it done before lunch otherwise I’ll end up with elephant grass. Wanted to listen to another episode of My Teenage Diary but fell asleep. Woke just after three and went food shopping. Pork steak salad for tea then my first time out on the longboard this year. Bailed a couple of times but no injuries. No hassles from people. Nice one. Home to some Facebook action. Really tired again. House too hot. Limbs aching. How can standing on a moving platform be tiring? Looking forward to a few days at home: proofreading ‘Laughter to Split Glass’ again and another run through my set for Alphabetti Theatre. Really zapped now.

11.38 pm.

Friday 10th June 2016

Checked the weather forecast early and got out to mow the lawns front and back before the midday rain. Took some effort; cramps in both hands made it hard to keep the power on. Came in and put together a magazine submission of eight pieces, including poems and journal entries from 2003/4. Fell asleep this afternoon. Jenni phoned and told me about her upcoming projects and workshop with girl guides. I watched the first half of Stephen King’s THE STAND this evening. The whole thing is six hours long. I’ve picked up the book a few times but at over a thousand pages it’s way too bulky for someone who gets their fix from little photocopied zines, flash fiction or few dozen pages of poetry. Been mainly eating ham and pease pudding sandwiches. Plus slices of freshly cut pineapple; never bought one before, always used tinned stuff. Busy weekend ahead. Enough here. 11.14 pm.

Saturday 11th June 2016

Slow day. Mainly keying in a fortnight’s notes, a few emails. Still trying to reach the right decision on the EU referendum. Feels like the run-up to last year’s general election all over again. Being something of an isolationist at heart, I instinctively lean towards Exit but will probably vote Remain. I have no real grasp on world economics, have never owned a passport nor harbour any desire to leave the UK for any reason whatsoever; but I am firmly of the opinion that people should be able to move freely, unhindered by government or racist idiots. I read a little bit more of A GRIM DETAIL by Henry Rollins this afternoon. Been trying to chew through this 518 page travel journal since buying a signed copy of the first edition upon publication back in 2014; I’m just past half-way and skimming over a lot of repetition – not one of his best. I prefer his eighties and nineties prose / verse collections to the newer stuff. Been listening to Nirvana whilst typing. Used to watch their Unplugged show on home-recorded VHS about once a week for a couple of years in my twenties. A few messages to and from Jenni this evening. More ham and pease pudding sandwiches, lots of licorice all sorts. 11.45 pm.

Sunday 12th June 2016

Read some of Bukowski’s ‘The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hills’ in bed after morning pages then put in a work day – gig stuff, edited journal for this blogpost, research for workshops and tweaked the manuscript of 'Laughter to Split Glass'. Think it’s nearly there. Might hang onto it another couple of days. Messages to and from Jenni. Have a bit of toothache. Listened to Henry Rollins sitting in for Jarvis Cocker on BBC 6 Music this afternoon. Lots of weird and wonderful old and new tunes. Gonna knock off soon, get myself a ham and mushroom omelette then watch the second half of Stephen King’s THE STAND. 7.23 pm.