under another sun

Less twitchy going into work today. Little to do, other than read through things, and research the nature of the pharma company for whom I shall be writing copy. Sat through several conference speeches. It amazes me how these leaders of industry are a) so self congratulatory, and b) say so little in their speeches. It is full of business phrases but when you boil them down they say almost nothing. Fifteen minute speeches that can be boiled down to three or four sentences. It's a different world. Mooched about in a solitary way at lunchtime again. Found an area just around the corner a bit like an amphitheatre with shops. Bought some food there. Then called Mum for a chat and started walking along a canal side, which was pretty. Lorraine and Beth off at a spa day today being pampered together and getting some quality time together, which I was pleased about, as typically I got an in-house freelance job just as half term started. Have been reading Autumn , by Ali Smith, which J...

A curiously excellent day. I hadn’t been looking forward to it at all, as my first job was to walk down to the doctor’s office and be wired up to my 24-hour blood pressure test. I have appalling white coat syndrome when it comes to having my blood pressure taken, so I always get an alarmingly high reading. Having half hourly blood pressure checks is not a perfect recipe for a happy day. Much to my own surprise I did not get hysterical all once. Every time the automatic sleeve inflated, I just said to myself, imagine how pleased you’ll feel when this comes back as normal tomorrow.   On the way to the surgery and on the way back I was beset by several good creative ideas about how I can make the most of projects I have been working on. Once home I simply spent the day executing one of them, a short story assembled from previous material, that I think works far better than I had hoped. I also had the idea of how I would start the sequel to The Second Kind of Darkness (now in an...

Up to London again. Full of a nonspecific foreboding on the train, but nothing bad happened. After eating a lovely lunch prepared by Lorraine, I took myself off for a half hour lunchtime walk feeling full of the beginning of my own mellow Autumn. I wandered through interesting London backstreets through Clerkenwell towards Exmouth Market. Little scraps of green dotted with people stealing moments from the day's work in the intermittent sunshine. Back to the agency to work on letters from a bank. I may actually write one that will be sent to me, seeing as the client is my bank. Working with an art director called Andy, who is a nice enough guy. Home remarkably easily. A relaxed evening, watching the Great British Bake Off with Lorraine and craving doughnuts before an early night. Below a few snaps from the day, from my phone so not so great.  A doorway into a disappeared school, making me think of the HG Wells story and of stepping through into another reality. The ...

Flesh unit rebellion Feeling really rough today. Gave myself the chance to actually be ill and spend most of the day hacking in bed and on the sofa, after a brief foray into the outside world to score honey and lemon linctus, an egg hog (egg wrapped in a falafally sphere of goodness)and drop an envelope through Callum's door. The day suddenly feeling Autumnal and the big horse chestnut tree in Ditchling Rise has been spilling brown conkers onto the street for a couple of weeks now. Managed to fall asleep briefly in the afternoon, but was woken almost instantly by a man ringing the bell with a delivery for three doors away. As the day wore on, my left ear, which has been roaring with tinnitus and mostly deaf for the last 48 hours began hurting really, really badly. In fact it felt as if someone had rammed a screwdriver into the depths of my ear and was continually stirring it about. I went to bed early in as much pain as I can remember, easily equivalent to the worst migraine. Lorr...