Gainful Employment?

Monday 16th July 2018

First big rain of the month. Intended to go to Gateshead library to do some typing, but didn’t want to get absolutely fucking soaked. Did more promo work for Tesco writing course. Hope I get enough takers to go ahead. Read more of the Charles Bukowski biography by Barry Miles. Rain stopped and dried up at teatime, but its pissing down again. Currently in Station East after a night of comedy and spoken word at Arch Remarks. Greatly enjoyed David Morgan’s show – good mix of songs, narratives, rants and dialogues. Tom Little’s stand-up was a bit patchy in places but well worth seeing for the really funny bits. Thanks to Ken Brady, the feature artists and open mic people. Thanks to Richard who has just offered me and Jenni a lift back to Bensham 11.30 pm.

Tuesday 17th July 2018

Bit of a lie in. More rain. Cycle path not too muddy really. Legs fine. Got back to Moorside at one. Had a cheese and tomato sandwich. Checked emails and updates. More Brexit bullshit. Why don’t they scrap it? Suppose doing so the Tories would lose whatever shred of cred the deluded masses actually believe they have, never to be elected again, leaving Labour to come in and say: look what a fucking mess you’ve made. Think that’s Labour’s plan: let May fuck it up. Edited stuff. Read more of Jo Brand’s novel ‘The More You Ignore Me’ before bed. 11.05 pm.

Wednesday 18th July 2018

Reading ‘Paper Promises – Money, Debt and the New World Order' by Philip Coggan; my second attempt. I often get sidetracked on full-length books, but will try to stick with it. Wrote some pretty harsh words inspired by the contents for my morning pages which I’m considering calling ‘But Mammy, Why Do People Have to Go Out to Work?’ Proofread most of Anomalies. Forty more pages to go. Reckon I’ll be ready to move onto expanded multi-signature hardback by next week. This evening I listened to Henry and Heidi podcast about spoken word shows. Typed up morning pages, read Julia Eff tweets ahead of new zine releases. 11.42 pm.

Thursday 19th July 2018

Haven’t been far for a couple of days. Got August Poetry Jam event page done this morning. Cut the grass again this afternoon then tried to read but fell asleep on the couch. Foods supplies running low – mainly porridge and toast – but had chicken salad for tea. Went out on Giant STP trail bike tonight. Bit of a ride through the quarry. Only one day of heavy rain this month but already lots of puddles over there. Rode down to old Allensford. Talked to a fishing bloke about doing biketrials on the rocks there twelve years ago. Rode along riverside trail to Shotley Bridge. Good fun. Back home: just watched a couple of prison documentaries – drugs in HMP Durham on Channel Four, then a completely extraordinary situation in Honduras on Channel Five where inmates officially run the place; the authorities actually handed them the fucking keys! Now watching a thing about the death of Heath Ledger till bedtime. 11.10 pm.

Friday 20th July 2018

Today mainly involved proofing Anomalies then out in the rain to Consett for bank transactions and food. Not enough interest from people locally to go ahead with writing course at Tesco. It’s a shame, but hopefully autumn will be a better time. I put some money into my current account to cover the cost of two new perzines by my favourite zine writer Julia Eff via paypal. A short video showing Julia’s hands flicking through the black and white text-heavy handwritten ‘Tear the Petals Off Of You’ appeared on Twitter this morning. The ‘CRAPANDEMIC’ online store reopens tomorrow. All Hail Julia fucking Eff! I read about seventy pages of Jo Brand’s novel tonight: Alice has received a written reply from Morrissey but missed The Smiths gig at Leicester University coz her nan died on the way. Alice became pregnant earlier but has just miscarried. Meanwhile, in real life ‘Brexit meanz Brexit’ means no fucking idea whatsoever. 11. 06 pm.

Saturday 21st July 2018

Chuffed to work a full shift on Anomalies 1989-2014. Standard version pretty much proofed. Just need a final sequence of colour photographs for glossy insert pages. And dust jacket design, of course. Reckon in a few days I’ll be ordering assorted paperstock from Eco Craft and I’ll need some super strong book thread. Ordered two Julia Eff zines. Both look amazing. Been eating ham sandwiches and listening to The Smiths. 11.33 pm.

Sunday 22nd July 2018

Reading Jo Brand’s ‘The More You Ignore Me’ has prompted me to listen to The Smiths again today. I never had time for them in my teens. Always thought they were the musical equivalent of Coronation Street, whereas I wanted something a bit more pyrotechnic and veered towards hard rock, glam metal then back down to the gloom of Goth. Listening to The Smiths now, I appreciate Marr’s guitar work and of course Morrissey’s lyrics are by turns poignant and hilarious. Most of the singles I remember from Top of the Pops and bedrooms of one or two bookish school friends…

   A hot Sunday dinner of potatoes, carrots, peas, broccoli, sausages and gravy wiped me out by mid-afternoon so I lay down for an hour. Tonight I should be able to cope with a bike ride on the 27-speed Specialized Rockhopper, but might read some poetry or fiction first.

   I’m anticipating some big editing sessions on deluxe Anomalies in the coming weeks. The expanded version leans heavily towards recent years; I’ll trawl again through nineties and noughties files for a few days in hopes of restoring balance to the selection. The prototype is four hundred pages, but I might have to rein it in a bit. Should be fun to revisit the past for a while, anyway. Cheers! 6.12 pm.