Camera Lucida
I sold an old camera on eBay at the weekend, to a guy from China. This phased me at first, when bidding had stopped and the necessity of despatch began. Why does someone from China want to buy an old TLR (Twin Lens Reflex) from someone in England? Is that the beauty...
Waving not drowning
Took my little boy to school today. Recently, he insists on waving to us all the way in, the last wave taking place as he stands in the doorway of the classroom, not looking sad but instead smiling a toothy grin. Still, you would think I was leaving him at the very...
Signs
I've been going through some poems, tidying parts up, preparing them for the ritual of submission. It occurs to me that a lot of them are about death. That's not because I'm overly worried about it; on the contrary, death seems to me the catalyst for life. Put it this...
Fringe benefits
Talked to my friend Ruby last night. It seems that the citizens of Bury St Edmunds are to get a fringe festival to supplement the annual version that runs for two weeks in May. The idea is for local people to offer events outside the main ones (John Williams! Toyah...
Whale water
Further to the Christmas sprout, it’s whale water time! On the back of the saga of the Thames whale, I note on ebay some new items offered. One is the genuine watering can used to keep the famous cetacean hydrated in its last hours on the planet. Another is a jar of...
Puncture repair Kit
Busy week, let’s see – highlight: finishing Slow Man by J M Coetzee. Now, I know I rave about this guy and it’s easy – he is a Nobel prize winner after all – but I just love his style. Someone once said about Beethoven that every note seems to be the right one, the...
Money for old sprouts
It’s Sunday evening. I’ve just listed some stuff on ebay to sell – old videos, Playstation games, that sort of thing. I see it as a form of recycling; and while I don’t expect to make too much money from it, it’s nice to think that stuff lying around for years in...
Making time
It has been an uneventful start to the New Year; after a leisurely morning we go to Pizza Hut for lunch. The children manage to eat more than we do! Then we wander around the few shops that are open in Bury, as if we haven’t had enough of shopping. Other dazed...
10K Run
Sunday: 10k run (that's 6.2 miles in English), hot (27 C) 11.00am start Framlingham Castle, Suffolk, England. I haven't done much running over the summer, concentrating on the bike instead. I'm quite fit (in one sense), but this was an ordeal too far. The friends I...
Spring break
Not that I had one, but the break is over. I have discovered Coetzee, courtesy of fellow members of my writers' group, sent off some poems to a regional competition, decided to put in the hard work necessary to fuel a 'career' in writing and not expect fame (and...