Meeting The Living Dead

Monday 24th September 2018

Long day. Chilly at home. Bones aching. Knees and back. Took a while to get going. Got stuff keyed in by lunchtime. Loaned Jenni my last tenner yesterday so I'm just eating what I can cobble together till Thursday. Spent a few houses looking through National Poetry Day exercises. Got a message from Don Jenkins asking my t-shirt size for NPD performance attire. I wrote up lesson plan lists and got the old anxiety. Felt like pasting Don't Like Mondays by the Boomtown Rats to my Facebook page. This term for Waddy I'll mainly use old plans so I can spend time keying in student work. Been selecting images for personalized copies of standard Anomalies tonight. Most of my good stage shots are copyrighted, so I'm using Lamplight and Jam pix. 11.30 pm.

Tuesday 25th September 2018

Despite the early start I didn't get all my prep done before leaving the house. Only a fifteen minute lunch break. Waddy session was good. Nearly all new people taking part today. Reused stuff from previous courses. Was chuffed to get an old tenner I found amongst papers in my cupboard changed at the bank this morning. Ah, the cashier said, then dipped into the till and gave me a newbie. That'll pay for over half my food shopping. Got a canny book called AFTERTIME by Sophie Littlefield from the library. It's a zombie novel, but I'm engaging with the female lead and the dystopia is well done. Read bits of it on three bus journeys. Had my tea at Jen's. Didn't get there till half six coz I stayed late at Waddy to prepare photo inserts. 10.15 pm.

Wednesday 26th September 2018

The pages on a new archive copy of ANOMALIES came out fine at Waddy – good enough to print for sale – but some of the pix are really dark, particularly one of me and Toyah Willcox. I want to have another crack at getting them right. Tonight when I got back from the evening class I adjusted the brightness and can now see the whites of Toyah’s eyes a bit better. I will go through all the pix for the sale copies tomorrow. Might get them printed on Friday, might wait until next Tuesday. Did a canny session this evening. A mix of what I’d planned but bailed on last week and what I did with the Waddy afternoon group yesterday. Read a bit more of the Aftertime novel on the bus. Checked out Kerrang! and Q then bought a true crime magazine in Tesco tonight. Veggie burger for supper. And chocolate. 11.54 pm.

Thursday 27th September 2018

Bastard fucking computer! I just want to print Travelling Typewriter typeface onto heavy paper stock for MY DARK MATTER. Can’t do it at home coz the laser printer won’t double-side anything over 100gsm without smudging. Can’t do it at Waddy from my word file coz their computer doesn’t have the typeface I need. So it has to be a manually scanned PDF made from single-sided A4 sheets printed out of my computer. Despite the scanner glass looking pristine after three cleans, the file still had tiny flecks appearing in the page margins. I uploaded the PDF to an editing website and paid a download fee to white out all the marks. The website wouldn’t let me review the final page with my low credit, so I took a leap of faith, downloaded and printed the file, only to find that 7 of the twenty pages still have flecks all over them. Even though I did whiteout twice. BASTARD! 11.42 pm.

Friday 28th September 2018

Mainly prep for Terror in the Trees. Shaun at Bits 4 Bikes gave me a discount on a really bright rear bike light. So bright just switching to fast flicker mode is enough to induce a migraine if looking directly at it whilst adjusting the settings. I watched a few feeding-zombie YouTube clips just before setting off for Beamish this afternoon. My only concern is getting there without any bike issues. I don’t mind things going wrong on the way back, but please no fuck-ups on the way to work. It was nice of Beamish Hall staff to let me use the State Room to store my bike and the hotel toilets to get changed before scoffing my tea. I intend to turn up about an hour and half early each session. Pleased to get the job and hope the weather holds out. Enjoyed meeting the scare actors and crew, getting out in the woods for a few hours and seeing the place after dark. Not allowed to disclose any details, but it’s going to be pretty fucking hellish. Next Friday is eight hours of rehearsals. But tonight I was back at Jen’s just after ten. She is out with workmates, I think. I’ve had my porridge and seen the new Doctor Who, Lady Gaga and Rod Stewart amongst others on the Graham Norton Show. Good day. 11.33 pm.

Saturday 29th September 2018

Woke early but felt hammered coz I didn’t sleep properly till about half two this morning. Stayed in watching telly all afternoon. This evening me and Jenni are down at Cycle Hub for Sarah Hammersley’s party. Lots of her friends here, including Ian Waugh and a few people who have accompanied Sarah to poetry events. Great buffet as well. We’ve been told to eat as much as possible coz there’s lots. Me and Jenni were asked to do a turn – she performed Greatest Story Never Told and I did (This is Not A) Prose Poem. Sarah read a poem of thanks to all for being here, then performed Vajazzle. I enjoyed dancing to lots of eighties electro and indie hits. Was a bit full-on during The Cult’s ‘She Sells Sanctuary’ – much to Jenni’s amusement. Still going strong. 10.47 pm.

Sunday 30th September 2018

Big lie in. Up just before eleven. Did the morning pages and watched a bit of Diagnosis Murder. Then out to Gateshead with Jenni. Couldn’t get the paper and cardstock I needed. Back to Jen’s for game shows, quiche and chips then cherry pie. Big night ride via Beamish. Over two hours coz speeding isn’t safe on unlit country roads. Watching Question Time online. 11.39 pm.