under another sun

Back to a more normal routine today. A much cooler day than of late. Lorraine in school this morning, but returned at lunchtime. Beth looking after little Tilly again. I uploaded the new episode onto Skelton Yawngrave TV, and recorded tomorrow's one, and quite a bit of the Thursday's too. A couple of minuscule scraps of work for my amigos in Hampton. Went for a walk up to Hollingbury Hill at 4 o'clock while listening to the Lord of the Rings . Very beneficial in maintaining my sanity. Home and pressed on again for a bit, spoke to Mum. Had supper with Lorraine and then I repaired to my study to have a drink over zoom with the beermonsters. Nice to chat to Steve, Richard and Nick. I sometimes forgot I was sitting in my study staring at a screen with a few tins of beer. Nick drinking all kinds of superior home brewed drinks. Steve self isolating as much as humanly possible as he has asthma, Richard meanwhile has just released the third CD, by the Shakespeare Heptet, which is...

In a strange state of mind, very tired and I look haggard, but poems are pouring out of me at the moment. Only time will tell if they are any good. Just had my head down all day.  Preoccupied with Mason at the moment too. Spoke to Mum in the morning and later. Was phoned by the hospital to say Mas was being moved from intensive care. In the evening, a delight, seeing The Shakespeare Heptet playing to a good sized audience, listening in rapt attention at St Mary's Church in Kemptown. Lots of chums in the audience, including Glenn over from Greece, we chatted to him and Steve Cartwright, and Maria-Grazia Richard's wife and Claudius. Lorraine also spreading out on the tables flyers for the Christmas play.  It was very atmospheric, and the band though a bit nervous at first played beautifully. They've also taken to projecting the sonnets onto the wall so you get to really dwell on the poems as you listen to the music.  Then Lorraine and I walked with Steve and Mari...

A slightly more purposeful day today. Found myself having chats about the pitch on this morning. Went out in the car with John and Beth to Martlett's charity warehouse, which turns out to be a good place. John got a desk and an office chair there for £20, something of a bargain. Having loaded up the car, Lorraine left them to bus home. We went to Homebase bought some bits for the afternoon's DIY. Drove everything home. Discovered that we had the wrong bits, so drove back to Homebase. Then fixed the dungeon door, replaced the light in the dungeon too, so now we can see how much it needs tidying up. Then a two hour business with ladders, replacing the light fittings and light in the hallway, a process that dragged in Beth and John too. Lorraine phoning Pat to make sure we were doing it correctly from time to time. However. After an appallingly long time hand screwing the rose to the ceiling the light was in place. We flipped the switch and it was on. Stood back to admire our ha...

Up early and working on a film script for the charity, then off to London to meet the Matt and the folks from the agency in the Duke of Sussex  in Chiswick. Sat along from the actor who played Mr Norrell in the recent BBC Series Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. I also had to fend off an offer for work over Christmas as I went. The pub's big back room which now is used as a restaurant area, and it was full of tables with a big office party on it. Ours was smaller. A good meal (duck for me) and cheery company.  I couldn't help thinking of Bob, also known as Mad Dog who gained this nickname in this pub in the days of yore, when it was a pool room, and he was charging about it with a pool cue champed in his teeth. A pleasant meal, then off to another quieter pub to have a quick drink with Matt, with Jo and Dave before I answered the call of the seagull and headed south. Also phoned up the doctor's surgery. The tests were back and all were clear, as I'd come to expect. T...

Tetchily working on various bits of freelance today. Felt like eating bread. Ate bread. Did lots of stuff about Chad. Lorraine home late due to pilates, so I sauntered down to The World's End to watch The Shakespeare Heptet . Sat with Steve Cartwright and Maria Grazia and enjoyed seeing the Shakies do their normal pearls before swine business in the pub. Lots of lovely new music. I had a vision of Richard's material being used as a musical stage play woven around some of the threads that go through the Sonnets. Talked to him about this a bit. Had a nice time catching up with them, chatting to Dipak too. Steve told me how he was responsible for the death of legendary singer songwriter Nick Drake. Apparently Steve was watching him play in Leicester, Drake was the support act and there were few people to see him. Drake mumbled something about one more song and then he's going, and Steve who loved Nick Drake applauded enthusiastically. This was misinterpreted by the fragile D...

A peaceful Sunday, and off this evening to the Brunswick for a Folk Night. The Shakespeare Heptet were playing, tonight featuring just Richard and Dipak and the singers Sylvana and Rebecca, in a hark back to the original Shakespeare Trio. There were two other acts, and a troublesome drum playing woman who invited herself onstage to ruin the last song of the first act and then had to be asked to leave after playing her drum really badly from the audience in the second act. The second act were called Grand Palace, a subtle brush-playing drummer and a woman with a lovely voice and songs. The Shakeys were fine and it was good to hear a cleaner sound. A good chat with Dipak who we sat with, and his pal Michael, and said hello to Richard and Maria Grazia. Enjoyable night, and I had a few beers and relaxed greatly.

Got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning. Grumpily got on with kindle-readying the marketing stuff, and sending some more words to Helen. Mood a little better, in the afternoon I made off to Helen's place on the bus, which went down along the seafront again. Lots of folks on the beach lapping up the sun that arrived this afternoon. Helen and I working on what can now only be described as an Opera. She played me the first 12 or so minutes of the first section on Sibelius, and it sounded very good, organically whole and effortless. I was very impressed. Another section, which is a Love duet is done too and a similar length, and Helen has other sketches and bits. Then we had a lengthy discussion about content of the next section, and of pre-Socratic philosopher  Parmenides  whose thinking Helen is rather keen to bring into proceedings. My challenge is to do so in a stabby, fighty, passionately operatic way. I walked home to find Lorraine at home. Feeling irritab...

Up and at 'em this morning. Pleased to get a call from Val in Paris saying they are going to brief me on something later in the week. Otherwise I'm working hard getting my marketing book kindle-ready, and re-editing it. Time is a great editor. Beth recovering eating dry toast and later sipping miso soup and noodles. She still managing to surge off and teach a drama class this afternoon, and return looking a tad wan. In the evening I walked down through the park, where there were outbursts of cricket and rounders, to London Road and The World's End pub to see Richard and Dipak in the latest version of the Shakespeare Heptet performing in the corner of the pub.Richard's wife Maria Grazia there too. Nice to catch up with them. Rather wonderful music, despite the car or shop alarm going off nearby and the boozers roaring at each other in a pearls-before-swine manner.  Their latest incarnation has two women singers, which was interesting and led to new arrangements. Fe...

Racing the deadline for getting the poems ready for The Nightwork, which meant I spent all morning muttering through them while Lorraine was working at the next desk. Finally, after some big (in terms of the manuscript) decisions, sent them off to Robin. Felt good to have got it done and sent off. I hope Robin likes it.  Both exciting and nerve wracking by turns. Confirmation of more freelancing in London next week, which is good. The Kenny coffers in increasingly good shape. This is directly to do with me buying a new green wallet of course. Otherwise, focused today. Apart from going to the gym, which was a great mind-cleanser and enabled me to be decisive and non stressed when I got home again. A five o'clock snooze that set me up admirably for the weekend. Lorraine and I zipped off in taxi to The Blue Man this evening to see the Shakespeare Heptet. We had been given the wrong time,  early of course, so we popped next door to the noisy rock venue the Hope where we met An...

A pleasant day of diverse activities. Did not spring from bed this morning. Eventually got up and walked to the nearby Japanese shop to buy fixin's for the easy Japanese meal we had selected to cook from Everyday Harumi , by Harumi Kurihara. We bought essentials like Japanese soy, Mirin sauce, konubu seaweed, katsuobushi (flaked of bonito fish)  and some cooking sake from our new friend in the Japanese store. Home and making our basic Ichiban dashi stock, from the konubu  seaweed and the flaked fish filled the room with an unmistakable Japanese aroma, we cooked Japanese rice in this stock (with added soy and Mirin) and followed the recipe and cooked a simple pork and carrot dish to go with it. Lorraine hammering the pork with a rolling pin to tenderise it. Good wholesome grub it was too. Quite enjoyed the seaweed part of the process, which made the seaweed grow mysteriously in the pot. When not doing this Lorraine and I were tidying up and interrogating furniture, in our ...

Rather a full day. Lorraine working at home today too, still nurturing her heel. I pushed on with the book, did more stuff connected with the infernal house sale,  and sloped off to the gym despite having a bit of a swollen knee, which after a long workout weirdly sorted itself out. Odd.  Called by my amigos in Tavistock Square to book me for the rest of the week.  Dawn called me too, and we are going to do a session together for gifted and talented children about poetry and advertising, which should be really good fun. Also called by Sophie about an advert for her too. A rice and fish and steamed veggies supper, then I made off to the a bar full of Scandinavians called Northern Lights, where the Shakespeare Heptet were playing. I have to say they were absolutely excellent. Percussion, bass, banjo (Steve) and two guitars (Dipak and Richard), and a complex lovely sound they are making now was a bit of a revelation.  The Northern Lights a cool place too. Ser...

Had a vivid dream about Calliope. In it an expert on cat intelligence was assuring me that Calliope was off the scale in terms of her IQ and also that she had highly developed empathy. Lorraine laughed when I told her about this. Working on the sex in advertising section of the book, and it is getting increasingly complicated. One of those bits that the more you work at it the further away from finishing it you become. Grew slightly infuriated with this as the hours rolled on. Gave up. If in doubt: tidy up. Tidied up, sorting through endless pieces of drivel which made me swear. Lorraine, working at home, zoomed off on her bicycle. L and I off to Lewes this evening with Rosie. Stopped to consume Spanish tapas in a bistro packed with ladies of a certain age. Sat next to a fatter man than me slurping down oysters with evident enjoyment, and chatted to Rosie who was looking all sunny and relaxed. Then off to The Dorset, which serves Harveys Bitter a stone's throw away from Harve...

Slightly unfocused this morning, and spent some time working on the wrong file. However, eventually made some progress on the book during the day. Lorraine working at home this morning too before heading off to a meeting. I made off to the gym, then to Starbucks where I worked for another couple of hours, despite the attentions of an infernal hell-child banging the back of my chair. Also wrote to Helen in Germany. She and her daughter Katy have translated my Heidegger poem, to be exhibited at the Heidegger Archive to help celebrate the 125th anniversary of the great man's birth. Amazingly kind. Another gorgeous day however. Home for a light salad supper, before Lorraine and I went off to The Eddy, which has now reverting to an earlier name of The Edinburgh (it will always be the Eddy to me), to watch the latest incarnation of The Shakespeare Trio: The Shakespeare Heptet. This evening's configuration included Richard of course, plus Steve Cartwright plucking a banjo, Claudiu...