SEVEN DAYS

Monday 4th September 2017

Prickly throat, snotty nose. Feel hammered. Good to get some stuff typed up. Had a phone chat with Jenni. Listened to a load of Motorhead stuff. The recent live albums aren’t so good but Lemmy’s studio vocals were pretty clear. Read up on the 40th anniversary release of Queen’s News of the World box set. I love the band and this particular album has two of my favourite tracks on it (‘Spread your Wings’ and ‘It’s Late’) but come on – do we really need a repackaged with b-sides and demos in a box retailing at over a hundred quid? I own very little of the catalogue these days. Most of the vinyl was loaned out, sold off or lost decades ago. Read Alex Wrekk’s BRAINSCAN 33 zine and sniffed my way through the evening. 10.18 pm.

Tuesday 5th September 2017

Throat is better. Read some extracts from a book called ‘DIY Magic: A Strange and Whimsical Guide to Creativity’ by Anthony Alvarado, having seen it listed in Alex Wrekk’s zine this week. I listened to Anthony’s podcast on zine culture and felt compelled to check stuff out. I have my Appletree workshop stuff typed up and good to go, but I’m snotting on here as bad as first thing this morning. Did a final check on ‘Laughter To Split Glass’. Jenni agreed the minute changes and typos. Fixed the file, printed out fresh pages, updated corrections list. Listened to Live at the Rainbow – my favourite live Queen album. Starting to feel shit again. 11.30 pm.

Wednesday 6th September 2017

HATE having to cancel a workshop. Cold worse today than earlier in the week – doesn’t bother me so much, but no good for others if I’m snotting on the whole time. Got the itch to have a crack at making a zine style paperback again today. Culled from raw journals and workshop notes; some poems and vignettes. Previously knocked up a forty page volume in a single evening, but lots of distractions today so only read through what’s already selected. Handwritten, some graphics, typewriter font and photographs. No title yet. Really don’t want to have to bail on Poetry Jam tomorrow. 10.22 pm.

Thursday 7th September 2017

Took loads of stuff into Waddy this afternoon to work on but just too wrecked to do anything but prepare for Poetry Jam. It went well. My cold better this afternoon but I’m ready for a big sleep. 11.33 pm.

Friday 8th September 2017

MANY THANKS to you lovely people who came down to Poetry Jam Last night. Fabulous sets from our three feature guests – Vinny McHugh, Joan Johnston and Tom Kelly – plus a great mix of voices (including some first-timers) during the open floor jam sessions. Thanks as ever to Waddington Street Centre for the brilliant venue and to staff member Fergus for setting up the space, working the café and giving me a lift home afterwards. See you next month for another mega line-up.

Got the Poetry Jam pix up online and selected more stuff for the perzine book. Renata and Trev played a great gig at The Turf pub in Consett tonight. I wore my GOOD QUALITY DARKNESS t-shirt (after one of their songs) and had my photo taken with them. Jenni made friends with some of the locals. 11.45 pm.

Saturday 9th September 2017

Slow day. Received the sad news that Margaret Strickland passed away last night. Went out this afternoon for food supplies and did steamed vegetables for me and Jenni. Selected a few more pieces for the perzine book. Only need two more takers to ensure my private evening class at Waddy goes ahead. 10.28 pm.

Sunday 10th September 2017

Wanted to get on with my work today but still feel a bit wiped out. Was a struggle just to type enough bits of scribble to fill this week’s post. I have all the morning pages but extracts out of context don’t work so well and entire pieces run to about nine hundred words per day. The summer didn’t go as expected – lots of book work sidelined. I don’t have as many workshops this autumn and aim to use much of my time editing transit notes and typing up writing marathon compositions. 4.55 pm.