under another sun

Tetchy Alighted from the tetchy side of the bed this morning, but managed at least to do some Christmas shopping, and bought PollardandKenny.com which will be up and running soon. Went for a walk to the sea which was rough and bracingly windy. In the afternoon, I called up by the agency to start work for the next few weeks so I plunged back into the dark to buy a train ticket and try to get ahead on the shopping. I am well pleased that there is another good chunk of work coming, as the Kenny coffers still have a lot of recovering to do. But words cannot express how much I want to get on with some writing of my own. For the last few months this has proved impossible in any sustained way and I feel like a junkie who is going cold turkey. L and I to bed early. Stormy weather and incessant rain. Reading the Black Dahlia again which I have almost finished. Disturbing and dystopian are just two words for it. Below the lively sea.

Deliverance Up at the crack of dawn with Lorraine, and then working in a frenzy on the layout for the CD packaging, everything made more difficult as I am still learning how to use the Corel program. However the result looks entirely smart. Delivered layouts on a memory key, plus the master CD down to Modo at lunchtime, and had a chat with the guys there. A nice bunch, and their creatives working on a pitch. Feeling rather tense with having hunched over a computer tweaking things by millimetres for the last 48 hours. Off to the gym for a much-needed workout and then home to do some chores and luxuriate on the sofa reading The Black Dahlia . Almost finished. The book is unremittingly paranoid, and depicts a world where brutality and corruption are inevitable. Interesting though. Rarely does my blog stray into politics but, my God, Cameron has made a unbelievable hash of the European negotiations, allowing himself to be be cornered into a no win decision. The UK now stands isolated in E...

What torpedoes? At last decided on the CD producers we are going to use: Brighton's own Modo . So full steam ahead now, and damn the torpedoes hissing through the water. Conversations and email with Matt and Dipak and Richard about the launch concert in February. The Shakespeare Trio will be on the bill too. Next step this week is to finalise the cover, deliver the master CD to Modo, revamp relevant websites and, contact The Beacon charity to whom I want to give some of the proceeds. Went to see Janet and Ken this afternoon, popping in for a chat after vising the Real Patisserie and arming myself with pieces of patisserie, guts sufficiently recovered to snap down one wee tarte tatin with them accompanied by a cup of Earl Grey tea. All rather civilised. Generally put the world to rights for some time. Janet managing with her arm, and looking far perkier than when I last saw her. Janet suggesting I might find someone to offer occasional admin support, and knows just the person. S...

Dark places Felt like I had food poisoning, with unpleasantly exploding guts today. I got up very early, however, and watched a documentary about James Ellroy called Feast of Death, which was a wonderful. He's a guy with a weird rather obnoxious public persona, Ellroy was discussing the murder of his mother when he was a boy, and how fed by his father be built up an unpleasant picture of what she was really like. This murder resonated with him on with The Black Dahlia case, a real unsolved murder which he turned into a novel. The documentary focused on this and My Dark Places , which is a memoir about seeking the facts in his mother's murder. Fascinating stuff. I bought The Black Dahlia , which I began to read right away. It is compelling and unpleasant. My French clients finally coughed up what they owed me too, which is rather good. Apparently they are struggling. Met Matt in the afternoon to discuss the CD production and performances. We are looking at a CD launch concert ...