Meeting Martin

Up early and doing a little work for my French amis this morning, before I got back to writing my latest short stories. I am not sure I have known a period of such fluency in writing before, and I am just getting it all down while I can. 

To Brighton station, after a chat with Beth, who is not feeling well today, via my pharmacy. Simply handed a bag of drugs there, and paid nowt. One of the benefits of being older. NHS God bless it.

In the afternoon I went to London, popping into Tate London near Victoria, and had a quick zoom around the Blake exhibition, and looked too at a giant installation by Mark Leckey, whose work I have liked a good deal before, called O' Magic Power of Bleakness. I felt I did not do either exhibition justice as I was in and out quickly. I will reserve judgement. There was loads of work in the Blake, really comprehensive exhibition.  I did squeeze in time for a pot of Earl Grey and a flapjack in the members only area upstairs though. 

From there I walked back to Victoria and trained off to Chiswick where I met my old pal Martin for a long overdue drink. I bumped into him in Chichester a couple of years ago. Nice to see him looking well and typically wizard like, and to have a leisurely pint and burger in The Crown and Anchor on Chiswick High Road, opposite Turnham Green. A location which took me right back to the late 80s, when we first knew each other. Good to see him, and catch up and talk. We sat near a big stove, which belted out lots of heat. Martin was fine and having had a stent put in after a MI three years ago and is still thinking creatively and toying with designs.

I left at a respectable 9.00pm and made it home not long after eleven from Brighton. Reading a couple of stories from one of the horror books I bought the other day, The Best of Richard Mattheson on the train home. Below, Martin, and a detail of Adam from a Blake picture, The body of Abel found by Adam and Eve.