Seven Days

Monday 26th August 2019

Prepped Hexham workshop for Wednesday. Finished reading The Long Hard Road Out of Hell. If everything in it is true then Mr Manson and crew were a seriously depraved bunch. Switched to a Mister Men parody called Mr Mid-Life Crisis and Friends then watched a load of eighties Toyah Willcox interviews and performances on DVD. 10.13 pm.

Tuesday 27th August 2019

Wrote a supernatural vignette in morning pages. Keyed in notes this afternoon. Read a few Raymond Carver stories and packed up stuff for tomorrow. Watched six o’clock news but was interrupted by torrential downpour. Stopped slanting rain seeping under front and back doors – with a sponge. Had an online conversation with Jenni then admin for writing half marathon taking place in Haltwhistle on Saturday 7th September. 10.05 pm.

Wednesday 28th August 2019

Up just after seven to get ready for the workshop. Read a couple of Carver stories on the bus to Hexham. Set up in the Abbey then went over to the library and read a bit of Wrong Time, Wrong Place by Simon Kernick. Workshop went well. Group character sketch then solo poems. Bus to Newcastle then Bensham. Good to see Jenni. Ate Bournville Orange chocolate and a ten-day-old jam doughnut. Watched Corrie and The Best Little Prison in Britain. Three buses to get home. Watched Newsnight. Hope Johnson gets his arse kicked. 11.24 pm.

Thursday 29th August 2019

More book work. Made a multi-image page for DIY Book Nut poem, sent an invoice for yesterday’s workshop. Read a lot of stuff on the prorogation of Parliament. Listened to loads of Marilyn Manson whilst lying down this evening. Made a Bukowski meme using a quote from The Mathematics of the Breath and the Way. Jenni was in touch. She’s away working at a festival this weekend so I’ll be staying in Moorside. If weather holds tomorrow I’ll get the grass cut. 11.10 pm.

Friday 30th August 2019

Wrote a bit for morning pages about getting in a clarty mess. Referenced Donnington ’87 when I vowed never to go to an outdoor all-day music festival ever again. And getting up the eyes in mud at Cowm Quarry in Rochdale where I won a biketrial medal by virtue of being too stubborn to quit when most sensible competitors retired due to bad weather making conditions treacherous. Today I cut the grass but didn’t bother doing scraggy edges. Then into town for bank transactions and groceries. Back home with aching right arm – bicep tendonitis kicking in again. Booked a poet for October Poetry Jam. Keyed in some notes and got annoyed about the Brexit situation. Listened to Depeche Mode live in Germany on Spotify. Real drums and guitar, not just keyboards, and a couple of reworked early tracks. Big apple porridge and more Newsnight Brexit bullshit. 11.28 pm.

Saturday 31st August 2019

Canny way to end the month: all fourteen Depeche Mode studio albums back to back whilst reformatting and printing out the fifteen signatures (booklets) of Anomalies Deluxe. Chuffed to have a proof copy. Chuffed to hear more of the Mode. I’ve only ever had three or four of their albums 80s/90s plus some concert footage here and there on VHS from TV and YouTube. My big hardback book is going to be good to make. Just the big proofread and photo inserts then I’ll be ready to start sewing up. 10.40 pm.

Sunday 1st September 2019

Lay awake an hour then morning pages. Scrolled latest Brexit nonsense. Sausage and veg dinner. Slept most of the afternoon. Read more of Dissecting Marilyn Manson by Gavin Baddeley. Cakey teatime. This evening I watched a supernatural horror film called The Diabolical. It was okay but I looked scarier for last year’s Terror in the Trees than the main frightener of this story, so it had little impact. More Mazza then bed. 11.46 pm.