under another sun

Recording with Robin this morning, and talking to Mum to see how she and Mason were. Then set off at lunchtime to go to Chiswick to get my gnashers checked by Lucinda. Raining enthusiastically when I walked to Preston Park, luckily I took my old golfing umbrella. Trains cancelled and delayed, so that I almost turned back after waiting on the platform and seeing my travelling time shrink. Luckily the train gods were with me, and I had a seat in faux first, and did some work for a bit, before changing at East Croydon and Clapham Junction. Having spent so many hours of my life at both, almost nostalgic to go through them again after two years of not commuting. Enjoyed the train ride to Kew Bridge from Clapham too, a glimpse of a former life. Reached the dentist with a slim minute to spare.  Teeth all good according to Lucinda. I felt as if I had been given a gold star when she said that I take good care of them.  A long wait for the train at Kew Bridge, the wet platform steaming ...

Took my life into my own hands today, and a quick dash up to Kew Bridge on the train to visit my dentist. London now trembling on the edge of Tier 3, but my experience of the train was fine. I went off peak, and only around one in six seats were being used. When you add in people travelling together, I was always had a seat with nobody around -- what's more every train arrived on time. I arrived early so I got off at Chiswick station and walked past some of my old abodes before ducking into the dentist. Nice to see Lucinda who, admonishing me for a build up of plaque, said she had to go old-skool with a metal hooky scraper as there are many restrictions on what equipment they can and can't use. You even had to rinse your mouth drinking from one cup and spitting into another. Home again to get on with some work for mes amis in Paris, and a long chat with Mum. Once home, Lorraine busy making videos of dancing festive elves with family faces on them and writing cards for pupils. ...

A leisurely start chatting to my lovely wifey before before I walked to Brighton Station and trained it to Hammersmith for a long planned meet up with Bob and Carl. As I was a little early, I walked past the offices I had worked at while at what had jokingly been called the 'Glamoursmith agency. For years I looked down from my office onto a large bit of fenced off empty land. This is now all high end housing. I met Carl and Bob standing by the river wall outside the Blue Anchor. It was a hot sunny day, and we decided to sit down inside for a drink, the first of many. We fixed on a policy of swapping beer for regular soft drinks so that despite going on a long pub crawl we were drinking sustainably. We sauntered from pub to pub along the river: the Rutland, The Dove, Black Lion, then cut inland to go to The Tabard, The Duke of Sussex, The Packhorse, and then finally to the Anarkali restaurant in Hammersmith for a fairly decent curry. During this eight hours we spent hours talking ...

Up to London after a spot of early morning work. Finished The Haunting of Hill House on the train. A satisfying book.  Met up with Mum in Waterstones, and then mooched to the Wellcome Collection where we strapped on the nosebags, had a chat before we looked at shrunken heads, a shrivelled Peruvian mummy, a Chinese torture chair made out of blades, fetish objects and ranks of hideous medical forceps and knives and so on. Needless to say we both really enjoyed it, Mum even more than me. We will return, if only for fodder for horror stories. All this excellent preparation for a trip to see Lucinda the dentist. Zoomed off to Chiswick. I am always amused by the wildlife films scrolling overhead to distract from the dentistry and drool management. Watched lion cubs feasting on a gory hole in the side of an antelope for a couple of minutes. Pleased that my teeth are okay though. In Brighton I made for The Evening Star, where I met Nick, Richard and Steve to talk about Glen and hear a...

Slept like a log, and as the new day dawned my guts were tranquil. I had a toast based breakfast, and Lorraine dropped me off at Preston Park and I trained up to Chiswick, to see my pals there.  Had an idea for a new ghost story on the train, and started it quickly on my laptop. Happy to be back to see my pals in Chiswick, as I'd not been there for two years. Good to see Matty and other pals there. And weird as ever, to leave their office, and find myself looking down at the flat I used to live in in my last year in Chiswick. Only half day briefing this morning. The excellent brief, from a woman called Fi, appallingly, involved looking at the Bristol Stool Scale , and discussion of poo colours from a medical point of view. Something that brought the realities of yesterday to mind rather too vividly. Liked Fi, and it turns out she is a writer too, and we chatted lots in the Roebuck at lunchtime. Most of the team there, and great to catch up with Matty and also Lucy the poet...

Finishing the new ghost story today, almost five thousand words, quite creepy and based in Guernsey.   Quite nice to have a Friday without having to go to glass. Sore throat slightly better today. To the gym if to trundled on the cross trainer. I have to step things up if I am going to lose any weight. Chatted to Sonia when I got back, who said it has been really cold and snowy in Bulgaria last weekend. Brief chats with Mum and Toby. I was contacted by the agency in Chiswick about some work, and this is being confirmed on Monday. So that was a good end to the week. Nothing from accountants despite chasing, and I am close to sacking them. One rejection from an agent for the children's book. Lorraine home, and we went to The Park View for a cheeky burger and a beer, feeling a bit more positive about everything.

To London. Lorraine and I left early, she dropped me at Preston Park. I had left with bags of extra time, but the train was cancelled, the next one slow and delayed. At Victoria the District line so crowded that everyone was kept outside the station. Some days the travel gods are against you and there's nothing you can do about it. After about 25 minutes people, led by a particularly aggressive  woman, began hectoring the young woman on the gate. Then at last we were let in. Late, I still scraped in just before the big meeting with my chums in Chiswick. A new client, and quite a nice one. An interesting project; a lengthy brainstorm and a working lunch. I managed to shun Maltesers, M&Ms etc. that others were picking at during the morning. Nice to see my Chiswick pals again. And one particularly nice client. All done by early in the afternoon. A fairly smooth journey. Lorraine home on time having picked up a stomach bug from school. She spent the evening curled up on the sof...

Monday, and raining. Off to the gym this morning, to do something about my festive plumpness. Then home before going off to London. Trains are utterly diabolical at the moment, Preston Park ominously deserted, with signs about disruption and strikes (all blamed on the union and not mentioning the world's most incompetent railway company, and the world's most incompetent secretary of state for transport Chris Grayling of course). Travel hard to impossible on any day this week apart from today and Thursday -- when I will go up to see Mum and Mas again. Spoke to Mum and it sounds as if they are going to give Mas a pacemaker because he is not recovering and is still in intensive care. Apparently he is the person who holds their record for being in intensive care after a triple bypass. Otherwise by judicious choices, I managed to get to Chiswick with only three trains. Walked to the City barge along Strand on the Green, passing Isis Court where I once lived, and felt pleasantl...

Up at six with Lorraine and up to the smoke, while Lorraine off to school. Foggy south of London. I worked on a poem, called Cholesterol Focus Group that I was working up to send into the National Poetry Competition, which is no better than a lottery but you gotta be in it to win it, eh? I worked it up from notes I had made on a focus group many years ago in the midlands, watching people behind mirrored glass. Early in Chiswick, settled down in a cafe to drink coffee, and tinker with the poem for ten minutes before arriving. Good to see everyone, and meet a recent graduate called Lucy who is a poet. The briefing took some time to arrive, and Dave only had a couple of hours, and we had to work in a cafe. There was lots to do and my French amis had got in touch too with more work to do this week, so instead of going to stay with Mum and Mas I returned home and worked late. Bought some long sought after yellow note pads at Victoria as I had a bit of time before the train came. Yellow ...

Up to London this morning to work in Chiswick on the rabid dogs business, and to work with Bei Li with whom I haven't worked with since she was a junior art director. She's all grown up now with two kids. Very easy to work with her, so the day comparatively easy. It finally clicked that the front door of the office I work at in Chiswick, is just behind the garden of the flat I lived in in my last year in living in Chiswick before moving to Brighton. If I chose to, I could peer into my old bedroom. Strange looking at it now, and realising how far life has moved on since that unhappy year in Thornton Avenue. Weirdly, still feeling a tad groggy after the weekend's arse invasion. But I suppose it is only to be expected. After work, I rain dodged up to Stanmore on the train. Met someone I used to work with, Aaron, on the tube. Had not always seen eye to eye with him, but found myself wishing him all the best and meaning it. Walked to Mum's house and we went out for a...

A tap on the door at eight and I had forgotten that Cass had come around again to build a few wee shelves in my office, so had to work downstairs. Cass whistling Life on Mars by David Bowie. However off to Chiswick a bit later, quite enjoying a bit of a commute. Managed to pop into Waterstones and using the present of a Waterstones card I'd been given, I bought poetry books by Claudia Rankine, Sarah Howe and Don Patterson. Then into a room to work with Dave the art director on a welcome pack. On the train home I read Don Paterson's  40 Sonnets . Not much time to do anything other than work, or exist under the shadow of work. Interesting things like poems and books and all the other stuff I want to think about seem incredibly vivid and out of reach edge. Beth had cooked a healthy supper as I was late and Lorraine was doing her Pilates.  My new shelves are great. Enjoyed rearranging my study before bed, listening to Station to Station , one of the Bowie albums I liked most...

Up with the keener avian fraternity this morning, and off after Lorraine had very kindly ironed a shirt for me at six nasty in the morning. Working in the train and to Chiswick where I met Matty and had a most of the day meeting with two of our nice clients about the work we'll do based on the Chad trip. Nice to be working in Chiswick, I can see where I used to live in my less than happy year before moving down to Brighton. But coming back again regularly is beginning to make me feel nice about the place again. I spent many years living in Chiswick. After the meetings a quick beer in the Tabard with Matt discussing various subjects before leaving for  Brighton. Home briefly before going out with Lorraine to the Red Roaster Cafe to see Sarah Barnsley read. We were very early so found a little pub that served cocktails at your table, called the Plotting Parlour, which we liked a lot. It was like a mini-date. A reasonable Pighog night. I read in an open slot. I did Someone-else...

Up at six thirty and getting myself organised to zoom off to Chiswick. Nice morning, and Lorraine gave me a lift to near the station. Getting off the train at Chiswick station, having gone via Clapham, reflecting on how life returns you to the same place.  Spent the day with Matty boy, Stephen, and Yas working out creative and strategic responses to pitch brief. Working in a room upstairs in the City Barge, a pub I know of old, with the sun glinting on the river just outside. Nice to meet Yas again, who impressed me a good deal when I first met her, as she and her husband set up a charity in Sri Lanka which has now been running for several years. I'm finding that I'm noticing the people who actually make a difference these days, and find I'd like to be a bit more like that. A couple of beers with Matt and Stephen after work downstairs in the bar, then I trained up to Stanmore where I met Mum and Mase in the Man in the Moon. I was late, but they had secured a booth, one wi...

A bit of a social media focus this morning, wrote a piece about a  lovely poem  I'd heard Sue Rose read a couple of weeks ago. Lorraine working at home today, and her  pal Tracey came around to do some work with her, bearing chocolate eclairs. Chocolate eclairs are a fine thing, and along with whisky, the occasional cheese sandwich were a basis of my Grandmother's diet in her last years. Matty boy launched his brand new agency today, 11 London, and I find that I am an associate, so hopefully will be working with Matt and other chums like First Matie off and on this year.  The agency is based in Chiswick, and I got off at Turnham Green station, so it felt odd to be back somewhere so familiar. The meeting was above a bar restaurant on Chiswick High Road. Some familiar faces, including, naturally enough, Matty, First Matie, Stephen Buckley, and Freddy and April who I'd worked with at Tavistock Square, and some people new to me. A jolly kick off, and nice to meet ...

Woke up in Chiswick, and soon found myself downstairs where Matty had kindly made me a cup of tea and some toast. More than arrested by the sight of Gremlin, Matt's bizare long haired cat, which has been shorn with long hair remaining on its head, legs and tail. Also chatted briefly to Isy who is off to the doctor to for hearing tests after a bug has affected her hearing and balance. Surprisingly 50 minutes long journey from Chiswick to North Acton. At work, Mark, a cheerful and funny Mac designer I have been sitting next to, and I adopting crazed smiles for the day. Mark eventually assembling a collage of mad smiling from others in the agency. Melting away at lunchtime to pick up some Thai grub from Kitty's. All well until bizarrely briefed at 6pm for several radio ads to be ready first thing tomorrow morning, to which my response was somewhat dusty. Gratefully home listening to the endless  The Count of Monte Cristo . As Lorraine was out, and Betty getting ready for a big...

Kate and Matty in The Bull's Head Up to the smoke this afternoon, as it was another non website day. Curiously, I felt a sense of excitement about being in London. The Thames looked like liquid metal as the train rolled across the bridge to Victoria station. It was noticably colder in London than Brighton. Went for a brief walk around Victoria, rubbernecking at some new buildings, before tubing west to Chiswick. Got off at Turnham Green. And was struck by the purple sky and silhouette of chimneys on the road I used to live on before moving to Brighton. It feels good to have moved on. I really like Chiswick, and I was on some kind of pilgrimage as I wandered about old haunts. Paused to buy three books of poetry, and the Children's Writers' and Artists' yearbook 2009 . Then my feet led me down to Strand on the Green and the Bull's Head - where I met a cheerful and relaxed First Matie for a long overdue beer. The Bull's Head is my old local pub, so I am always hap...

Old haunts, new friends Into London today. As the train drew into Victoria Mum phoned to talk about an operation she is going to have shortly. Difficult to talk in the station with loudspeakers barking information about trains. Soon after, I met up with Lakshmi who was clutching a book of London walks, and after tubing it, we vaguely followed its directions into Chiswick, which of course is an old haunt of mine. We went to Hogarth House and the Italianate Chiswick House, enjoyed the Hogarth prints. And although I'd been in Chiswick House grounds many times, I'd never actually been inside Chiswick House. I took some photos of weathered statues that had been in the garden and were now inside as Lakshmi and I wandered about with the audio guides pressed to our ears. The statues creeped Lakshmi out a bit, and I thought their corroded faces were rather magnificent and best not encountered in a dark Twitten. We then walked off to Strand on the Green and met up with Matty, Kate, Graem...

A Chiswick Tanuki This week is becoming rather lively. Work a bit fraught for the first couple of hours and then settled down. Innocently about my business in the afternoon when Matty called. He'd been in the River Cafe strapping on an expensive nosebag. I met him from work. He is between jobs at the moment, and has a new one starting in the new year. And there was lots to tell each other. As Matt lives next to The Bull's Head we zoomed to Chiswick and had a meal in there. However I was scalded in the mouth by some mashed potatoes which had been microwaved to the temperature of molten lava. When I mentioned this to the Hungarian waitress who Matty had been flirting with, she began to argue fiercely that they did not microwave etc. until it made me briefly very cross indeed. She came back later with an apology and some free wine, so all was well. And Matty and I had a good time chatting. We are planning a tour of Lewes boozers in the not too distant future, as Matt has a wealth ...

I resign Off to my nice chiropractor first thing this morning. Because of the timing of my appointment I had a nasty mug of splosh in a working man's cafe in Chiswick (not many of those), while a man in overalls on the next table made a prank call about delivering horse manure. Then off to walk about in the rain in a leafy Chiswick square with the trees turning. I picked up a couple of conkers under a horse chestnut tree, and these seemed to be a good omen. The nice chiropractor gave me a good cracking and mostly solved my neck problem. As she worked I started to wonder, a bit madly, what would happen if you were an invertebrate and needed help. And while she was crunching me, and I was reading things upside down from the couch I was diverted by a book on her bookcase called OUCH . Disappointingly it was actually called TOUCH but the way it was typset though the T was part of the design and almost invisible. Then into the agency. Much to-ing and fro-ing, but nothing had changed si...

Needles/eyes Went to Chiswick High Road today. Literally round the corner where I used to live before moving down to Brighton. Walked past my old flat and felt deeply glad that I wasn't there. It was a lovely flat but I was miserable in it. Because I was early, had a cup of splosh and a bacon sarnie in a cafe and felt cheery about how things have moved on considerably since then. From there to a basement room with several others from the agency, a cast which fortunately included the French Bloke. Spent the day talking about sticking needles into people's eyes, as a treatment for macular degeneration. Apparently there is quite a popping when the needle goes in, which made me gag just thinking about it. Down the development pipeline there should be an eyedrop treatment for this condition, which is deeply good to know. Session ended at 6 and then home. Developed a migrane on the train home, and got the strange sparkling sickle of light again, which went away after an hour or so. G...