under another sun

Still sluggish, and my brain had all the incisiveness of a block of soft butter. Little written, listening instead to Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre, which is bleakly funny as the 15 year old protagonist makes one disastrous decision after another. Delighted to receive an email from Helen in Biberach in Germany, who I learned was translating Root and Branch into German for a party who had attended the liberation day service from Biberach. It was only by googling did I learn that there had been a prison camp there where Channel Islanders were billeted held during WW2. I need to learn more about this. Lorraine on one of her fasting days, and off singing with the choir this evening. I had a bit of a Frazier fest. Reading a bit of Rilke from the Duino Elegies aloud to Lorraine in bed tonight.  She likes me reading things to her as it sends her into an untroubled sleep, however deathless the poetry.

Up early to arrive at Victoria Hospital in Lewes for 7:30 to have an internal camera investigation of my bladder and prostate, and a prostatic massage -- i.e. send things up my penis and rectum like the worst kind of alien abduction. Beautiful green drive, the dew steaming in the morning sun helping me avoid picturing the day's events. Before we set off I had a word with myself, and imagined seeing a tiny me in a black and white picture taken from an aircraft, just one thing in a billion things going on this morning. Curiously this really helped. Even better, Lorraine had taken a day's compassionate leave to come with me. She was in the best possible way a walking tranqilliser, and made me feel safe. Plus the hospital was clean, the staff were, to a person, calm, friendly and efficient. And at no point did I seriously think that my operation would end up on YouTube. I couldn't help thinking of our friend John was to have a cataract operation yesterday, but was sent ho...

A happy day Up early and some notes I made recently condensed into a what seems to be a storming poem, even if I say so myself. Which I do. Then to the gym. Obviously I'm still an enormously fat bloke, but slightly less so. Listening to podcasts about books as I go about my sweaty business. Then home in time to prepare for a teleconference with First Matie, Julian and Mate from the agency, and spent the afternoon and evening sorting out nine versions of some copy to be translated into Polish. Lorraine out working late, and after my work was done, I simply put on a DVD and sank happily into a Frazier fest sipping a sophisticated glass of whisky and diet coke until Lorraine came home. Lorraine is on the cusp of securing a new job as she is being seconded to work as a deputy head for a school for a few terms. This gives her the current in-school experience that she is missing to enable her to step confidently into headship in a year or so. All good, and she is excited.

Happiness is a Frazier DVD Monastic life continues. Fiddling a bit with a poem about Hammersmith Cemetery first thing. Frazier fixation thankfully fulfilled again after a brief return to the DVD shop. Jane Eyre keeping me fairly cheerful too. Mum skyped me to say she was off to Kent with Mase for a holiday & may track down her Grandparent's house outside Folkstone. The sandcastles in yesterday's entry were bulldozed today. According to the local news they were made from imported Dutch sand and their going signals the end of summer.

A start with thunder Thunder and heavy rain at around 6pm early this morning. Quite nice to hear it lying in bed. Otherwise the monastic life goes on. Started to read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and am finding it absolutely excellent. There was a trailer this evening on BBC, and they have made an adaption of it to be screened soon. The sunny weather restored, I popped into the doctor's office for a prescription. Picked it up at my normal chemist, where there are always people collecting methadone. After went and sat on the pebbles by the sea for half an hour and expressed a noise in C out to the waves (as recommended by Sarah). It felt good. In the evening lamented the end of Frazier as the episodes Anton lent me are American DVDs and won't play in my machine. The world is a dark place without the Crane brothers.