Familiar Faces in Public Places

Monday 2nd October 2017

Really windy day. Blew the grass dry so I should’ve been out cutting it, but if I did my hands would be wrecked and I’d not be able to fold and trim pamphlets this week. Bought some 200gsm red card in Consett for the FREE TO BE ME monograph. Much of this evening spent on admin for gigs. Chuffed to be performing at Speakers Corner in York next week. Enjoyed looking at some old Poetry Jam footage; wanted to check out Terry Dobson’s and Viv Wiggins’ previous appearances at Waddington Street Centre. Reckon it will be pretty mint this week. Hand starting to hurt from writing. 11.24 pm.

Tuesday 3rd October 2017

Busy day. Session at Waddy went well. Mainly focusing on solo character sketches. Usually I do them as a collaborative exercise. Probably one of the longest continuous writing exercises we’ve done for a while. About forty-five minutes. I get a bit uncomfortable if I go too long without offering instruction or guidance, but it was okay. Managed to get some copies of FREE TO BE ME printed this afternoon. Much better on the big machine than my little laser printer. Then a dash over to Newcastle to guest on Nova Radio North East’s Community Express Show hosted by Wajid Hussain. Wasn’t sure what to expect, but Wajid put me at ease and made some great links from songs to topics of conversation. Talked about musical influences, school, bookmaking, Poetry Jam, writing routines. He played The Price by Twisted Sister, Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division, Heroes by David Bowie, Stand and Deliver by Adam and the Ants, and When We Were Young by Adele. Was going to end on Hurt by Nine Inch Nails but used My Girl by The Temptations instead. Great time. 11.20 pm.

Wednesday 4th October 2017

Up early to get sorted for the day. Biggest chore: ironing clothes. Had to borrow from housekeeping for bus fare as I’ve not been to the bank and don’t like the idea of contactless card payments for local travel. Good to sit in at Waddy and tell Steve and Ali about Nova Radio NE. Session at Appletree was another one to one as people are still away or too unwell to participate. I got on the X21 Newcastle bus, but Jenni messaged to say she’s too tired to come out today – and being knackered myself decided to just come home. Low on food till I go shopping. Scrambled eggs and potato fritters. A cheese sandwich. Intended to knock up pamphlets but will do them tomorrow. Thanks to Wajid for feedback on the poem and pix on Twitter. Listened to the new Jarboe / Father Murphy record and a Jarboe interview. Looking forward to the gig in a fortnight. Will need the earplugs for that one. 10.46 pm.

Thursday 5th October 2017

Made up a batch of monographs this morning. Came out rather well. Reckon the poem will be a slow burn like Joe Brainard Riff. Enjoyed inking up the individual covers. Like making books as much as writing them. Didn’t get to Waddy until about four. Printed more copies. Then did prep for Poetry Jam. Brilliant turn out. Guests Susi McComb, Terry Dobson and Viv Wiggins were all great. And the open floor was full of good stuff. Lots of female readers tonight, bringing the balance back after summer months of mainly blokes. Good to see Jenni, David and Lorna, David Roe, some new people. Will upload pix tomorrow. Just been scrolling Facebook. Thanks to Tony Gadd who bought a pamphlet. Good to get a lift home off Fergus. Looking forward to not being anywhere far tomorrow. 11.37 pm.

Friday 6th October 2017

Slow day. Not out of bed till half ten. Uploaded pix to Facebook. Seems to take longer each month. Gig was brilliant though. Sent out payment requests for writing course. Looking forward to challenging myself to come up with a solid set of ten sessions. Tonight I listened to old Swans songs plus extracts from The Glowing Man album and lots of solo Jarboe. I post things about her, but not many people seem to know who she is. Last night she played ‘Blood On Your Hands’ and ‘Ode to V’ in Moscow.  Hope those songs stay in the set for the UK leg of the tour. House starting to get cold. Another month and I’ll be sleeping in my clothes. Must do a catch-up on paperwork tomorrow. Canny week. 11.07 pm.

Saturday 7th October 2017

Slow day. Up after ten. Penned a gig set idea for next year. Then went into town for food supplies. Went to the new Barry’s Bargain Superstore in Consett. Lots of people I’ve never seen before. Bit overwhelming, to be honest. Chicken rendang and rice when I got back. Copied up bits and pieces this afternoon. Listened to some vintage Henry Rollins routines from 1988. Prefer the old stuff to the more politicised recent spoken word, to be honest. Read twenty pages of Bukowksi’s ‘Factotum’ on the bus to Jen’s. Watched telly programmes on the laptop coz the TV remote is missing. Saw two Newcastle comedians Sean Turner and Ken Brady on ‘Inside Out’ and Teesside poet Chris Stewart on ‘Antiques Roadshow’. 10.14 pm.

Sunday 8th October 2017

Jenni found the TV remote so we watched a couple of episodes of ‘Diagnosis Murder’ then went out for supplies. Had steamed veg with steak pie. Jenni had veggie sausages. Watched one of the best episodes of Cracker – Brotherly Love – and an old Lewis. Read more of ‘Factotum’ on the bus home. Then watched ‘Written in Blood’ crime documentary. Ate crisps, chocolate, cheese on toast. 11.14 pm.