under another sun

A quiet morning, enlivened only by a walk with Lorraine to the local shops. Feeling a bit peaky and hot again today, but perked up enough to heft the stumps from the car boot to the back garden. I enjoyed hanging about with Pat and Maureen, listening to Frank Sinatra, Perry Como and Nat King Cole, before Lorraine drove them off to the station. Also had a chat with Mum on FaceTime who was able to say howdy to them. In the evening I broke out my Twin Peaks DVDs and Lorraine to enjoy the Pilot and first episode. Not watched them in ages (and Lorraine not since they came out) and really loved it. Just the shots are so memorably Lynchian, the traffic light against a black background changing colours seems to stand for all kinds of things in his loaded world. Seeing it afresh, you realise just how influential it has been on dark thrillers and cop shows since, but for my money nothing comes close. Below: Laura Palmer.

Undeck the halls of boughs and holly For many, today is the The Great Monday of the Year. But I just want to get stuck in again, and feel very grateful to have the opportunity to do so. But first... Spent the day on admin of all kinds: chasing freelance payments (my old agency again ), working through emails, hoovering, and taking down the tree and other fripperies of Christmas, with Calliope diving noisily into the bauble bag. Had a long chat with Matt about This concert will fall in love with you. Both very excited about it. Before the concert I need to start strutting about on stage again. But I feel rusty, and need to get back in the saddle somehow. Had a much needed quiet night sipping Japanese green tea. Very cold, so I sat on the sofa under a blanket (and a strategically placed Calliope) and started watching my all time favourite drama series Twin Peaks again. Poor Laura Palmer, wrapped in plastic.