under another sun

Gauling and galling Working today on a job to do with France, which made a change. Much of the day in my study enjoyably scribbling concepts, and intermittently leaning out of my window in a roll necked sweater to smoke a Gauloise and think about the reality of nothingness within existentialism. In short a pretty fine day. Also put another coat of paint on my front door in the early morning sun before I got down to my work. Returned to look at it a couple of hours later and it had about two dozen bubbles, each about a centimetre-round, standing proud from the paint. Sigh. This door is galling. At about four Lorraine called by. She is on a school holiday at the moment, and we wandered down to the sea, and sat on a groyne with the sun at our backs, and waves gradually encroaching under our feet - and all was well. After a busy half an hour doing this in which my decision to go freelance yet again seemed powerfully big and clever, we sat outside listening to a singer play lots of soul cla...

Barding it in Brighton Enjoyable night at a Poetry South event down at the Joogleberry Playhouse. A plentiful and attentive audience and several good poems. Heading the bill was a poet called Stephanie Norgate reading from her new book from Bloodaxe, which - from what I could tell on a first listen - has some really good moments. There was a short open-mic section and, despite being late, I blagged a spot. I read An Adumbration of the Light Age , for the first time in public, and was pleased with the response it got. Amazed at how nervous I felt beforehand, given that in a former life I have given poetry readings (without exaggeration) about a thousand times. The poetry was being held above a rather groovy gig in the basement below. This made it a little harder to concentrate for people later on in the bill, especially when the evening was wrapped up by an unaccompanied folk singer, who had to resort to the traditional finger in the ear to keep in key. Look forward to getting more invo...