Seven Daze

Monday 27th June 2016

Keyed in prose most of the day with sporadic trawls through social media for some hope that the country might not be going straight down the drain. Struggling to keep momentum. Way behind on my workload. Hardly drank more than two thirds of a cup of  juice all day. Not eaten a great deal either. Haven’t been outside today. Probably not tomorrow either. Mouth ulcer. Backache. 11.40 pm.

Tuesday 28th June 2016

Another excruciating stint at the computer trying to drag myself through admin and session plans. What should have taken two hours lasted twelve. Pleased to have less work on this week but after summer break I’m going to need new stuff in place. Pleased I have some money saved. Wrote a few Tanka this evening. Be good to see Jenni tomorrow. 10.51 pm.

Wednesday 29th June 2016

At Waddington Street Centre for soup and some photocopying then off to a workshop at Cambian Appletree. American sentences then Cinquains from pictures. Bus to Gateshead and walk to Jenni’s place. Food at The Goose then off to Bar Loco for the Literary Salon. Enjoyed much of what was performed – Reuben Blue, James Fisher, Marie Lightman, Ben MacLeod, plus open mic – despite being dog-tired. Sat talking for an hour afterwards. Then bus home. 11.55 pm.

Thursday 30th June 2016

End of term session at Mind this morning. Looked at American sentences and Cinquains and a couple of flash fictions. Big grocery shopping session followed then pork steak salad. Keyed in some morning pages, did some online research. 10.47 pm.

Friday 1st July 2016

Stayed away from the desktop computer today. Just a bit of surfing on the tablet. Finally got round to de-cluttering the living room and spent much of the day in a beige calm. Lots of ham and pease pudding sandwiches. And Kettle chips. Started a new ‘summer scrawl’ notebook this evening because morning pages aren’t producing much of late. Researched some workshop material. Read some Daniil Kharms. He’s the Russian author that poet Ann Porro told me to check out a couple of years ago. She thought I might like his short vignettes and she’s right. Been trying to think about how the next six months might play out. It’s good being downstairs on the couch. I like my solitary Fridays. If the weather wasn’t so changeable I might have been out somewhere today. Bike or longboard. Or maybe just mowing grass. Listened to some Blondie tracks and slept a bit this evening. Almost bedtime again. 11.05 pm.

Saturday 2nd July 2016

Ordered ‘The World of Kevin Cadwallender’ book and cd this morning. Wrote a big list of simple pleasures, most of them involving food. Had a bike ride into Consett to pick up Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. Keyed in some pages and looked at some 26-inch rigid mountain bikes online. Good ride to Jenni’s this afternoon via the Derwent Walk, but a bit messy. We watched a documentary about seventies comedy Rising Damp. A good evening of food and funnies. 10.37 pm.

Sunday 3rd July 2016

Long lie in after morning pages. Ditched Sunday Politics coz it was annoying Jenni. Bought a cooked chicken for lunch. Watched final three episodes of Breaking Bad Series 4. No idea where it will go from there as final minutes seemed to wrap things up nicely. Bit of Columbo starring Faye Dunaway. Gruelling ride home. Knees are wrecked. 11.30 pm.