under another sun

A poor night's sleep. Woke up in the middle of the night certain that I had wasted my whole life writing poetry; that I had invented a machine to invite continuous rejection and failure into my life. Got up and had a cup of chamomile and asked the I Ching if I should just give it up. The hexagrams of my reading were  Treading  changing to The Creative. Essentially that I should not be foolhardy in my conduct and suggesting a time of creativity is coming, which cheered me up. I don't consult the I Ching often, but given that there are 4,096 possible readings to every consultation the fact that it always seems to supply such a precise and pertinent answer seems statistically improbable. I always come away from reading it as if I have had a dose of wisdom and feel generally much more philosophical about life. Back to bed, then up early and Lorraine drove to the flat and I followed shortly after on foot. Various people round today to check on Pat. Paramedics where there, as ...

A busy day today. Up fairly early, and preparing vegetables before Lorraine and I headed into town. Walking down London Road we bumped into Reuben and Claire and their two youngest bairns. Reuben had just run a half marathon for the charity Water Aid, which was really impressive. Reub said he was going home to a hot bath and around 6pm a large gin and tonic. Then to Kommedia, where we saw  Manchester by the sea with Rosie and Innis. Such a good film easily the best film I have seen for ages. As a study of grief and masculinity it was absolutely brilliant. And the central character's struggle with grief, guilt and depression was brilliantly portrayed by Casey Affleck. Quite a few people in tears at the end of the film. Emotionally gruelling film, but a must see. Then we walked back home. Innis and I discussing the film in great detail. Also Rosie telling us she had been invited to do some work in Brazil, and she was flying over soon, and taking Innis with her. Met Beth an...

Last day in Guernsey. Met up for an early breakfast. Lorraine and I both had strange stomachs after last night, but found ourselves able to fork down yet another breakfast with the others. We all split up to pack. Lorraine and I walked up near the Captains to photograph where Wendy had lived, and then back to walk to Icart to drink in the beauty one last time. The morning was beautiful and rainwashed. Then back to the Barbarie where we had an early lunch meeting Jade's mother Sian, and then Jade's Aunt Lynne. To Sian I gave a copy of A Guernsey Double , as it came out in our conversation. Fond farewells with Sam and Jade, and Sian -- then Lynne was kind enough to give us a lift back to the airport. She lives on the island and Sam and Jade and Sian were going to stay with her.  John had been on a walk on his own this morning, looking to find the water lanes again, which he fell in love with and cramming quite a few adventures in back from St Martin's village. A fairly un...

Leg all wrong and needing resting. Worked variously on scraps of poems and other stuff related to Telltale from a near horizontal position. Sonia here, and as no fan of our stairs, felt thoroughly vindicated by my hobbling. The day's gloom much improved by watching clips on YouTube by Stewart Lee, who I think is very funny indeed and a really good writer as well as having a marvellous deadpan face. YouTube him if you need a laugh. Cheerier in the evening with Lorraine and Beth home. Ate fish and chips and watched the final of Masterchef, in which people and had a laugh with the pair of them.

Started some freelance work, working for Germans on stuff for a new product launch all day.  More lined up for next week, which is good as there are some bare boards showing at the bottom of the Kenny coffers after the trips to Guernsey and Paxos. Lorraine working companionably next to me. Spoke to Pat Norrie, for whom I was doing this work, who called me from the airport on his way to Malaysia, and Hong Kong for a large holiday. Sounds exciting. While I was waiting for final feedback on the copy watching bits of Stewart Lee, who is currently my favourite comedian. See this for example. A plumber came to fix the boiler problem, which took him some hours. Otherwise little excitement till Lorraine started cooking and sent me out to find some turmeric. Weirdly this proved impossible to find but led me into several shops I don't normally go into, including one staffed by a slightly wild eyed man who after I asked him about turmeric, which he had none of, he came up to me and said, ...