Seven Days

Monday 15th August 2016

Got morning pages edited, came up with a rough outline for a ten-week block of workshops, rehearsed The STANZA set again. Comes in nicely at fifteen minutes. Got a reply from Vandem Longboard Shop. They liked my review of the Lush Pinnacle complete board set-up and would like to post some of it on their website. I’m more chuffed about that at present than I would be about getting a poem in a magazine, to be honest. Had a grand ride out along Waskerley Way this evening on my Specialized 27-speed bike. Didn’t get quite as far as Parkhead café coz I was unsure if I’d make it back before dark but had a mint return blast for 35 minutes. Had a bath and listened to Dirk Wears White Sox by Adam and the Ants. My mam took this album back to Lancaster’s record shop in Consett when I was eleven because of the lewd imagery and vulgar language. Still sounds good to this day. 10.19 pm.

Tuesday 16th August 2016

Away from the desk for a meeting at Mind this afternoon hoping to get some new sessions. Bought some spare inner tubes for the Specialized bike as I’m keen to ride over to Rookhope next weekend. Very hot in the house. Listened to a Stuart Lee lecture on writing. Then watched one of his stand-up shows. Very funny bloke. Had an all-day breakfast. Good to hear from Jenni this evening. Checked Toyah dates on the off chance she might bring her acoustic show up north. Closest is Richmond but it clashes with October’s Poetry Jam. Maybe next year. Washed clothes in the sink. Drank lemon juice. Worried about income. Slept on the couch. The usual stuff. 11.04 pm.

Wednesday 17th August 2016

Awake from three till well after five this morning. Really annoying. At least I got to lie in till after nine. Five hours round trip for a seventy-minute workshop today. Was fun to be a bit more spontaneous in session. I wrote two new drafts but don’t know if they’ll get used for anything. Got some reading done. Plus another full read-through of a 45 min gig set for next Saturday. Spoke to Mam and Ernie; and brother Mark, who chatted about bikes. Wanted to go longboarding tonight, but as I’ve been tired much of the day I thought it best to stay indoors rather than risk falling off the day before a gig. Watched lots of Hans Rey and Chris Akrigg vids again tonight. Saw some good footage of Lydia Lunch being very funny. I think she’s brilliant. Pleased I get to do two gigs this week. 10.47 pm.

Thursday 18th August 2016

Enjoyed wrapping up Jenni’s birthday presents. Didn’t enjoy my bike ride. Wanted to check out the rocks at Shotley. Just as I was eyeing a section a woman came along and sat in the middle of it and started looking at her mobile phone. I tried to ride up off the bridge onto the road but I’m feeling weak as a kitten today. Hope I pick up for the gig tonight. Wrote Jen’s card in the bank, hope it’s okay… 46 to Newcastle. Bumpy as hell. Just ate an orange and a banana. The bus voiceover woman tells us we’re approaching Chaytor Road. Back in the day I used to wheelie along it from Pemberton Road to South View. Oh, to be young… Getting hot. These clothes will be sticking to me by the time I get to North Shields. Me and Jenni are getting a lift off Sky Hawkins. 4.40 pm.

Bigly thanks to everyone at The Stanza tonight. Had a great time. Enjoyed the work of Judi Sutherland. The full-on performance of Michelle Fisher, with her politically-charged poems, got a mega warm reception. Open mic had some class stuff – Sky Hawkins, Tony Gadd, Ken Creen, Aaron Wright, lots of others. Thanks to Jenni for doing her new ‘worst’ poem – which keeps going down well. She got a bigly happy birthday from the audience. And cake! Enjoyed doing my set in the second half. And seeing Janis Freegard from New Zealand. She was literary and funny. Bigly thanks to Renata and Trev for playing ‘Good Quality Darkness’. I wore the eponymous t-shirt. Thanks to Mandy Maxwell and Harry Gallagher and the Stanza team for putting it together. Great night. Cheers to Sky for taking us there and back. Awesome! 11.15 pm.

Friday 19th August 2016

Jenni’s birthday! She was well pleased with her presents. Especially the tiger notebooks and the Monk dvd box set. We went out for lunch at the Goose, who thankfully have a selection of vegetarian meals as Jenni is off meat. Chris Harland joined us for a while then we went off for a wander, checked out some mountain bikes at Start Cycles. They have a 16.5-inch-framed Merida that would be great if it had rigid forks. We went down to Hustlers and played a few games of pool on a whacky L-shaped table – great fun. Had a look in Fenwicks then a wander along to the big comfy seats outside Paperchase in Eldon Square. We ate baguettes from eat4less. Back at the house it took ages to find the tv remote before settling into a couple of episodes of Breaking Bad. 10.42 pm.

Saturday 20th August 2016

At ‘Never Mind the Ramones #3’ by twelve o’clock. Good to see Harry Gallagher perform. Then the Roadhouse Blues Band – a final gig for the current vocalist who is retiring from performance. Aaron Wright did a strong poetry set with special appearances from his alter ego Bruce the Australian who hates summer and a couple of poems read by his cardboard-faced Mr Shakespeare. One Dollar Zombies were on top form – good to hear the electric stuff. Thought my set went okay but I had a buzzing in my right ear throughout. Then Skinmechanix created a great atmosphere with dark electronica. Northern Horizon were pretty good modern pop punk but my sensitive ears can’t take full-on guitar, drums, bass in a confined space so I stood at the door for much of their set. Big thanks to Mark Speeding and Gateshead Central library for putting on the event and all the stallholders who added to the vibe of the day. 11.23 pm.

Sunday 21st August 2016

Left Jenni’s place about an hour after she left for Edinburgh. I got home at twelve. Unfortunately she only got to Edinburgh at quarter to five, due to a well dodgy train. By that time I’d been forced to give up on my ride along the Rookhope trail when a sign informed me it was dangerous to continue and closed to cyclists, despite being part of the C2C cycle route. Bugger! The whole point of my ride was to do that trail. Tonight I listened to Dresden Dolls and The Cult. Work tomorrow. 10.45 pm.