Category: status

What do you grow in your garden, Warren? Well, mostly cat shits the size of suitcases, but some of the bulbs are rising now.

ON DECK: accepted two phone conference requests with film/tv companies yesterday, and by phone I mean Zoom, which means the first three minutes of each call will be people complaining about Zoom and saying “whatever happened to simple phone calls” while being on Zoom. And my apologising for my aspect ratio because I have to do Zoom on an upright iPad. Today might be a notebook day. I need to assemble some thoughts.
INBOX: 54
LISTENING:

READING: GRAVITY’S RAINBOW, Thomas Pynchon
OUTSIDE: evidently Twitter is partly down again. And “Russian intelligence ignored facts in favor of wish-casting.” Wish-casting is a lovely term.

ON DECK: just signed an attachment agreement with a tv company for one of my properties, have to set a call on another today, and I need to take a look at some scripts, but it’s bastard cold, I have to clean the kitchen and there’s a birthday meal to attend to, so I’m bailing out of the office in an hour to take care of stuff,
INBOX: 55
READING: Well, I was reading a book about the transitions of postmodernism, which was difficult and complex to start with, but it swerved over into “was Derrida an atheist or not” and I’m out
LAST WATCHED: rewatched TWO YEARS AT SEA, which remains marvellous.

It is bloody freezing out there today. Don’t be fooled by the “5C” stamp.

ON DECK: I have two documents to finish generating. Otherwise, I may just see what the day brings.
INBOX: 76, but those are mostly delivery tracker emails, as it’s my partner’s birthday this week. Available by email all day.
LISTENING: LASTGLACIALMAXIMUM, Richard Skelton
READING: JEALOUSY, Robbe-Grillet
LAST WATCHED: ROTHKO: PICTURES MUST BE MIRACULOUS
OUTSIDE: I told you, it’s bloody freezing, and somehow the breaking news alerts are still Brexit-related

False spring is passing, and winter nights are coming back. Not ideal, as I have seedlings to put out in the unheated mini-greenhouse and have more clearing and building to do. But I’m going to enjoy the last of winter as much as I can. For some reason, I woke up this morning wishing I had an actual physical newspaper to read again.

ON DECK: technically, finishing a rewrite on that pitch document. Actually? I may just put the radio on and read a book.
INBOX: 62. Available on email all day.
LISTENING: I just got gifted this by Zoharum.
READING: LRB
LAST WATCHED: KUBRICK BY KUBRICK
OUTSIDE: Stones and Jinns. Time between Layers of Sedimentation and Hauntology

At 1215am I finished the first tranche of the consult job, which means I’ve generated around 180 pages in less than an month. Today I just have to draft an accompanying document. And then it’s on to the other rewrites on my desk. But my plan for today is to just wrap that one document and then rest my eyes for a day or two. I still have to get Sunday’s newsletter started.

INBOX: 62, getting to emails shortly.
LISTENING: Radio 3 In Concert
READING: a re-read of this fine interview with JG Ballard.
LAST WATCHED: re-watched GRAVITY for its fine structure.
OUTSIDE: “The long and satisfying 28,000-year history of the dildo“

SHIPPING FORECAST: all quiet today.

Been a busy day, too full to keep up here. These are bare root strawberries I had to plant up before I lost the light. Catching up with emails in a couple of hours.

ON DECK: I rewrote three entire documents yesterday, generating probably a dozen new pages in the process. Today, frankly, I am a little dizzy and off. But we continue! I want this first tranche revised and filed fast – they need it for their schedule, and I have plants incoming and rebuilding to do in the garden.
INBOX: 59
LISTENING: THE ROOTS OF THE MOMENT, as seen above
READING: returning to THE MODERNIST NOVEL: A CRITICAL INTRODUCTION. It’s a monster.
OUTSIDE: China’s newest action show is a propaganda hit

I have a pea seedling!

ON DECK: Rewrites! And hopefully chopping out the last of the wisteria on the patio surface so I can reseat the mini-greenhouse and install the new one.
INBOX: 56
LISTENING:

OUTSIDE: the brilliant Richard Belzer passed.

My last two bare root apple trees arrived. The thing I learned about buying dormant, bare-root apple trees is that they generally cost the same as a new hardback, fat graphic novel or DVD. They are not, in the grand scheme of things, the vastly expensive indulgences I had believed them to be. These two, from the East Of England Apples And Orchards Project, were twenty quid. The other two were 17.99.

ON DECK: Honestly, I’m home alone until Sunday and thinking about taking a long weekend for myself. I’ll probably finish the newsletter today.
INBOX: 68, avail on email all day
LISTENING: Faure’s Requiem, apparently
READING: I’m across a few different books, none of which seem to be hooking me. It happens.
LAST WATCHED: THE POTENTIAL OF NOISE, a fantastic documentary about music producer Conny Plank. I did not know that he produced “Vienna”!
OUTSIDE: So sad to hear Bruce Willis has been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. I’ve met him a few times, and got to introduce my daughter to him on one of those occasions, and he was never less than kind, warm and engaged.

SHIPPING FORECAST: probably back to making notes here on Monday. A long weekend and a refocus is probably a good idea, as I have shit to do and record.

Selecting the day’s soundtrack. Just ordered a shitload of garden supplies, which was dumb because I’m still stemming the bleeding from buying my partner’s immense birthday present, but this batch should be the last garden expense for a while and should get me where I need to be for spring once I’ve chopped some more stuff down and reduced the woodpile.

ON DECK: finishing the second draft of a document for a prodco. Setting up for DEPARTMENT OF MIDNIGHT polishes. Probably various other things I’m forgetting.
INBOX: 80