under another sun

Recording with Robin this morning, and talking to Mum to see how she and Mason were. Then set off at lunchtime to go to Chiswick to get my gnashers checked by Lucinda. Raining enthusiastically when I walked to Preston Park, luckily I took my old golfing umbrella. Trains cancelled and delayed, so that I almost turned back after waiting on the platform and seeing my travelling time shrink. Luckily the train gods were with me, and I had a seat in faux first, and did some work for a bit, before changing at East Croydon and Clapham Junction. Having spent so many hours of my life at both, almost nostalgic to go through them again after two years of not commuting. Enjoyed the train ride to Kew Bridge from Clapham too, a glimpse of a former life. Reached the dentist with a slim minute to spare.  Teeth all good according to Lucinda. I felt as if I had been given a gold star when she said that I take good care of them.  A long wait for the train at Kew Bridge, the wet platform steaming ...

All work and no play. Me up early and working. In the garden, six wood pigeons in the little hedge eating ivy berries. Dawn around, collecting Lorraine to take her off to have a tooth extraction under sedation. Dawn kindly waited for her, and then drove her back into my care.  Lorraine sweetly befuddled on arrival saying it was the best way to have a tooth out. She remembers sitting down and then little else. She spent the rest of the day dozing happily on the gold sofa, being given paracetamol and periodically being given soft, blood warm orange squash and mushy things to consume.  Meanwhile a classic Monday. Keith and I mired this morning. Keith raging and made furious by various issues he was having with his design software. Me devoid of much inspiration. Meanwhile the Germans demanding work, which I ignored till they fixed their tone, and was able to do in an additional two hours this early evening after Keith and I euthanised the working day.  Warmed up soup for Lorr...

Up early and made several amends on the stuff I was doing for mes amis in Paris, and then sent this off as a pdf to Val. Then I nipped down to Preston Park Station and made off to Kew Bridge to see my dentist.  Amanda messaging me from NZ for the inside skinny on the Nintendo Switch games that Lorraine likes, as she has just got one too. Quite busy on the way up. I read poems from Finished Creatures, and the latest PN Review on the train for a while, but just felt like rubbernecking out of the window. I arrived a bit early at Kew Bridge so was able to sit by the river, and look at the flotillas of Canada geese and other riverside delights. A beautiful day. Sauntered up to the dentist's office and Lucinda herself opened the door and told me to go straight in, even though I was early. No nasty surprises, which is what you want, and just a bit of scraping and polishing. As I was leaving I told Lucinda how much I appreciated how calm she made me feel over the years. I have not had a mo...

Took my life into my own hands today, and a quick dash up to Kew Bridge on the train to visit my dentist. London now trembling on the edge of Tier 3, but my experience of the train was fine. I went off peak, and only around one in six seats were being used. When you add in people travelling together, I was always had a seat with nobody around -- what's more every train arrived on time. I arrived early so I got off at Chiswick station and walked past some of my old abodes before ducking into the dentist. Nice to see Lucinda who, admonishing me for a build up of plaque, said she had to go old-skool with a metal hooky scraper as there are many restrictions on what equipment they can and can't use. You even had to rinse your mouth drinking from one cup and spitting into another. Home again to get on with some work for mes amis in Paris, and a long chat with Mum. Once home, Lorraine busy making videos of dancing festive elves with family faces on them and writing cards for pupils. ...

Up to London after a spot of early morning work. Finished The Haunting of Hill House on the train. A satisfying book.  Met up with Mum in Waterstones, and then mooched to the Wellcome Collection where we strapped on the nosebags, had a chat before we looked at shrunken heads, a shrivelled Peruvian mummy, a Chinese torture chair made out of blades, fetish objects and ranks of hideous medical forceps and knives and so on. Needless to say we both really enjoyed it, Mum even more than me. We will return, if only for fodder for horror stories. All this excellent preparation for a trip to see Lucinda the dentist. Zoomed off to Chiswick. I am always amused by the wildlife films scrolling overhead to distract from the dentistry and drool management. Watched lion cubs feasting on a gory hole in the side of an antelope for a couple of minutes. Pleased that my teeth are okay though. In Brighton I made for The Evening Star, where I met Nick, Richard and Steve to talk about Glen and hear a...

Up early, but my eyes still bad after yesterday's migraine so peering at the computer wasn't great. Off at lunchtime to London, first to my dentist on Strand on the Green where there were no dramas just a bit of scraping. I like and trust Lucinda, my dentist of 25 years so I still keep going back rather than have a dentist in Brighton, which in many ways would be more sensible. Then a train from Kew Bridge to Waterloo, and an interlude of a couple of hours walking along the river. I went into Tate Modern and using my Tate Membership card, zoomed in to look at the Pierre Bonnard exhibition .  Found myself absolutely sucked into one large painting Salle à manger  à la campagne painted in Normandy. I must have looked at it for fifteen minutes (one reason why going to exhibitions on your own can be fun) and drinking in the fauvist colours. Fascinating how he painted white things in shadow violet in several pictures. There was also a free exhibition of pre-war German...

World book day. Lorraine off to school in a onesie and dressing gown, being a book at bedtime and looking sweet. I went up to London today, mercifully not in a onesie. Reading Peter and Wendy on the train however, (doing some background reading for the story I am writing). Surprised by the psychological and flirty undercurrent to the story published in 1913. I'd never read this before. And the setup is quite interesting. Some interesting imaginative leaps. Off to Strand on the Green to my dentist. She was a bit late, and then did x-rays, and found a filling to do. I had to book another appointment, luckily there was a cancellation in half an hour so I mooched about some of my old haunts for a few minutes, snapped the photos below from Kew Bridge, and then had the filling. Feeling a bit stressed lately, and found the whole process a bit more claustrophobic that usual. Luckily Lucinda is very pleasant and she has been my dentist for decades so all was well. A bill of £190. Relea...

Rain. Off to Strand on the Green early this morning to see Lucinda my dentist. The transport system apparently taken aback by the wholly unexpected event of Autumn and I missed my appointment. Sat working in the waiting room for an hour or so till they could squeeze me in. Naturally this morning, the pea-like lymph node and the throbbing in my gums had both vanished. They took the precaution of an x-ray, and Lucinda my dentist showed me the wide grin of my entire set of gnashers. No problems, luckily. She asked me if I had sinus infection, which I have had, so this might explain it. The head is a strange old lump. Slunk away lighter of wallet and slightly sheepishly. Lucinda has been doing the Kenny Hampsteads for decades and is a far cry from the butchers of my teens. I haven't needed a new filling for thirty years. Dreary rain. Train cancelled at Kew Bridge and a lengthy journey home. Worked on the train and made off to Starbucks to finish it and send the thing off. As soon as ...

Off to Chiswick this morning, and to my dentist Lucinda, for a check up and to moan about a twinging tooth.  Settled back in the chair, and watched the tv screen above me as Lucinda investigated. On the screen was film of a whale corpse on the deep sea bed being grazed on by hagfish which bury their heads and raspy mouths in the rotting flesh. Nice. X-rays were taken and shortly after I was shown my teeth and their roots. The troublesome tooth okay for the time being, as I could see with my own eyes on the screen. Then downstream to The Bull's Head, now calling itself 'Bull's Head' for some reason, where I met Matty boy and Stephen for lunch and a chat about 11 London. Really nice to get to know Stephen a bit better. A very amiable man, despite having broken his leg a week ago which was still giving him some pain. Like Matt he is a listener as well as a broadcaster, which is refreshing. Stephen hobbled home, and I abandoned plans to do some research in the Natural His...

Up to London this morning to get my broken tooth sorted.  On the train, as I sat there feeling both wan and sweaty, nearby was a woman in her nineties, a jewish refugee from Hamburg in the 30s, who was bright as a button and radiating optimism and charm. It sounds a bit patronising to say people are inspirations, but she was one. At the dentist I was told it would eventually need a cap but for the time being she patched it up. Decades since I had a filling, and my dentist did it with a resin which was set with ultraviolet light. I like and trust my dentist Lucinda in my old Strand on the Green stomping ground. I like the way she describes what is about to happen, and what does happen is usually fine. Walking along by the river and remembered the first time I saw that view, as Janet and Ken's new lodger on one autumn day in the late eighties. It was the first place I'd lived in London that I really loved, that felt like somewhere that was somewhere. Long FaceTime chat w...

Sloped up to London working on a poem, appositely enough, about commuting. I saw Lucinda, my dentist, who pronounced my gnashers in good nick after a quick x-ray and a bit of scraping. The x-ray took a mere 0.18 seconds, much shorter than the steady head fry of yore. Chatting to Lucinda afterwards I discovered she has been my dentist for 25 years, and as I have not needed anything other than a clean and polish for most of them I am entirely relaxed about my visits. But as she was about her business in my mouth, I couldn't help thinking of Matt, who told L and I about his dentist phobia recently, and arrives sweating with fear. Phobias are wretched things, as I well know having a bristling collection of my own.  I had intended to be the very model of correct deportment in London after the dentist, but instead I returned to Brighton at the earliest opportunity, feeling wan, antisocial and in need of sleep.  Luckily Lorraine perfectly happy to stay in tonight, a...

Between Cheese and a Mitre Working on re-laying out the CD cover today, and also a long phone chat with Sophie. Then off to London this afternoon to go to my dentist in Chiswick. More The Black Dahlia on the train. Was 45 mins early so got off at Turnham Green station and mooched past my old flat in Thornton Avenue, where I lived for a year before moving down to Brighton. That was a particularly depressing year, and I found I had blanked the street name and house number. Then through Chiswick down towards Strand on the Green, where Matty boy, First Matie and Graeme now live, past pubs where I used to read poetry, or places where friends had lived. I moved to Chiswick in 1986 which is a long time ago. Melancholy fading light, and by the time I had arrived at the dentist I felt as if life is fleeting and everything I've done was a no more than a hill of beans. A 40 minute wait in the dentist's reception not helping much. I was delayed by a massive job on an older man, requiring ...

Spidering about Up in Edgware after a wine befuddled sleep, and scoffed hurried toast and tea with Mum and Mas, interrupted by a sizeable spider legging out of the sleeve of Mason's fleece. It bolted onto the breakfast table amid some uproar before Mum trapped it in a cup and set it free outside. Arrived at my Chiswick dentist early. The receptionist, who has been there for more than the 20 years I've been going, treated me for most of this time with a deep and motiveless suspicion. But now I'm greeted as a long lost friend. I've had the same nice dentist too in all that time whose name is Lucinda. Between her filling my mouth with scrapey sucky things, we had a conversation about electric toothbrushes. Apparently the Philips Sonicare I have is highly recommended. I told her that I had at one time written the copy for Philips about the Sonicare. Did my words persuade my dentist to convince me to persist with the Sonicare toothbrush? It's enough to turn a chap all Bi...

Greengage jam and the darkness at the centre of everything Spending money today. Booked plane tickets to Guernsey, booked into La Barbarie - a process that for some reason required four phone calls - and went into town to buy the splendid stripey armchair I'd seen yesterday. Now, when I have guests, everyone doesn't have to sit in a row like monkeys avoiding evil. Spoke to Mum who is off to Budapest to get her broken tooth sorted out. Mase is also going to have his gnashers sorted too while they're there - those Budapest dentists are certainly Hungary for business and are cheap and excellent by all accounts. Also wandered through the food festival again but confined myself to buying two jars of jam: one of greengage and the other of plum. Watched some interviews with David Lynch in the afternoon. I find the way he thinks really inspiring. Despite the fact that he constantly wriggles the fingers of his right hand in the air when talking, which is very distracting. Later, I ...