under another sun

Storm Eunice today. Lorraine zoomed off to work early, and then closed the school. A rare red weather warning for the south of England. Really was very windy. On the top floor the water in the bowl of the toilet in our little en suite slopping about merrily. I went out for a very short walk armed with my camera. A big tree had blown down on Cleveland Road, which is on the edge of the Blaker's Park but it was all tidied away by the time I got there. Other than lots of broken branches strewn about, and rubbish bins blown over there was not much to see. Certainly blew the cobwebs out though.  Lorraine working from home again, having had a meeting and closed the school. I finished reading The Memory Illusion , did some writing and am now well into Metaphors of Memory by Douwe Draaisma.  Also finished reading what Gilbert Ryle had to say about it. Nothing remotely interesting to me. Sometimes I wonder if philosophers in the Anglo American analytical tradition deliberately fillet ou...

Monday and finished off a mind map about the podcast branding and sent it to Robin. Also had an idea for a short story, which I had to get down too. It was partly brought about my one of my frustration dreams, and an incident in a Kafka story I read at the weekend. I have never been able to finish either The  Trial or  The Castle , as they make me feel incredibly anxious. I finished re-reading Metamorphosis at the weekend. This is such a perfect story in so many ways. It seems to me so many of the anxiety dreams I have been are absolutely Kafkaesque.  Tinkered with the plot of Invisible Grace, which is the name of the follow up kid's story. I am going to keep going. A chat with Anton this morning, on his way into an actual office for the first time in months. Sugar soaped the bathroom downstairs in preparation for painting it tomorrow.  Received an email from Lynne in Paddington wondering if I had any availability this week for them. I said yes. They were not askin...

Poet and Piano Off this morning to Glen's house where Fingers and I got down to business right away rehearsing the new pieces which we are going to play on Saturday. These are Ophelia and Kafka, the second and third parts of "Three Portraits for Poet and Piano". Both short pieces utterly excellent, and Glen and I found our way through them quickly. Met Dipak for coffee this afternoon in the Marwood. Chatting among the eclectic and haphazard decorations and paintings. Often a young clientele so there is a fair degree of sitting about in a cool way which I enjoy observing. Then bits of admin, laying out the programme and all the other stuff that needs to be done. I can't help worrying about snow. I cooked using a Madhur Jaffrey recipe tonight and it turned out rather nice. Very simple. Lorraine and I scoffed it, then played cards and listened to an album by Lamb rather than stare blankly at the goggle box. Went to bed reading R.S. Thomas. What an amazing poet he was. I...

Nipping about Nipping about town with purpose sending concert invites, a few CDs, picking up posters, dropping in on Anna to leave a present for Klaudia, leaving the CD for Alison Fearns at the local BBC, and generally being about my business. Anna's house covered in scaffolding and the roof being removed, Anna apprehensive about the forecasted cold snap sans roof. Nice to have a chat with her. Lorraine back early today, and we watched Melancholia the Lars Van Trier movie as we tucked into a takeaway.. Splendid intelligent movie about depression and the end of the world. Read all kinds of reviews of this film, but it is well worth a look, if a bit terrifying. Would have liked to have seen it in a cinema. Matt has now chosen a third poem, to put into a sequence called Three Pieces for Poet and Piano, which will be unleashed on an unsuspecting public next month. They are Minotaur, Ophelia and Kafka and work well. Kafka will be good too I think, as it is a bit of a throwaway poem t...

An interlude in Shoreham Lorraine came by this morning and drove us off to Shoreham, which is just a bit further west along the coast, the other side of Hove. This is where her new school is, and she wanted to walk around the area to get a feel for it. Actually some really nice bits there, and close to the Adur river. It occurred to me that being a deputy head teacher is an important job. It was interesting to look at the little school, and walk about the nearby streets and think how much the job is rooted in a community, and a real place, and making a real difference to the lives of children and their parents. It struck me just how physical and practical this is - and far more meaningful than working as a copywriter. Had a large brunch at a cafe called Teddies. There were two teddies on the street outside the cafe and inside there were several dotted about. A very friendly place. From there to a farmer's market, where I bought a large leek and some Sussex butter. In the afternoo...