new poem

i was 'given' this poem recently in the anthology Issue 1:

Past

Light and heavy
Yellow and easy
Easy and uneasy
Meaning a hot cold poem
. from above carpentry frigid past
This poem may think and retrieve,
. but it is slowly woodwork
His thigh frowning, thirsty and inhuman,
. his hand wondering
Stand beside the most other
. writing of the frigate
Thrive some lamb
. to jostle a
. . night of trees
Everyone looks to an age, where
. writings and kings and souls wear
. . want
Close existence, close convenient houses

i didn't write the poem. i think a computer wrote it. i am going to read some of my own poems at this thing, which is the October version of the reading night i help organize. i might read the computer poem, too. i quite like the idea of saying 'his thigh frowning, thirsty and inhuman' out loud to a small crowd of people.

new stuff

i was part of a 'collaborative' story thing at Beat the Dust. lots of other 'good sports' wrote things for it, too. (Jenn Ashworth and myself did silly things with post cards for our author photos, while i was round her house.)

short 'author profile' thing in this week's Bookseller (featuring a one-off special 'limited-edition' photograph where my head looks like a baked potato).

and, and, and: my 'new favourite all-time favourite band of all time', WITCHIES, have finally recorded three songs.

the strange kitten at the top of my blog interviews some cats

manchester review, first chapter of The Bird Room

the Manchester Review is now online.

it has the first chapter of The Bird Room in it.

the miniature plastic horse decides to make a phone call

i just drew a face on a mint imperial and ate it:

i feel worried about my second novel.

reading night, interview, louis gossett, jr.

the third 'there's no point in not being friends with someone if you want to be friends with them' reading night went really well. have a look at the 'official blog' -- Sally's written more about it, and there's also Tao Lin's video reading and some general photos posted.

i was interviewed by the What to Wear During an Orange Alert blog ('WTWDAOA').

then, just when i thought 'things can't get any better', this came in the post:

please come to this tonight if you live in manchester:

more last-minute publicity here, here, and here.

hooray.

Derby photo journal

i read at this book launch thing on Saturday night in Derby. i had a good time. the 'book' is actually two small books and a badge and a leaflet and an envelope made from an old map and a bit of string and a small key and a postcard. i feel like i'm forgetting something. my copy probably has a piece of my flatmate's hair in it too or something from the bottom of my bag, an old crumb from a marmite sandwich or the small torn-off corner before you eat a mars bar. i'm going to take a photo of it, to explain better, which will probably look 'ominous' because something bad has happened to the electrics in our living room recently. the lightbulbs don't work but the lightbulbs are fine. anyway, here is the photo:

yep, pretty ominous. it doesn't really look like a nice, self-produced, hand-made book that took three people a lot of time. sorry. the time travel opportunist people -- Emma, Nathan and Biff -- were very nice and put us up for the night. we went to a dancing club after the reading. i drank blue drinks. i took my camera with me for the trip. i think i was planning to do a 'photo journal' or something for the blog (i'm not exactly sure what a 'photo journal' is, just photos of things, i guess.) i only took a few photos on my trip.

i had tea at Jenn Ashworth's house in Preston before we drove to Derby. that teapot cost a lot of money apparently. you could buy lots of pairs of those glasses, i think, for how much the teapot cost:


[then lots of other stuff happened -- the reading, the dancing club, etc. -- and i didn't take photos of it]

then we went back to the time travel people's house and i looked at their record collection and hoped they had a copy of 'Born to Run' by Bruce Springsteen and found a copy of 'Born to Run' by Bruce Springsteen and put it on and tried to take a photo of it:


[that's the end of my photo journal.]

i'm listening to this band a lot at the moment. i think they have 'everything i require' in a band. they make me feel very sad and excited at the same time. they sound (to me) like a 'wildly talented' child drawing a gigantic intricate picture of something like a 'cityscape' or a 'series of cat faces' or a 'huge yaght' or something.

news

i'm reading something at the launch for the Time Travel Opportunists' new book 'HOME' tomorrow. i have a short story in it. the launch is in Derby, 8pm, at a place called the 'big blue coffee company'. click here for the poster. Jenn Ashworth is also reading, and lots of other people.

city life did a quite 'professional' little profile on the reading night i help organise, and the manchizzle blog also gave it a plug.

i added things to the bird room website, in the 'about' section.

i was going to link to something else i wrote online, last night, but now feel a bit 'ashamed' of it. i don't know.

i think if i had to live somewhere that was made out of songs, i would live in a small town made out of shins b-sides and 'unreleased/rarities'. some days it might be a bit bright to look at and give me a headache -- i'm imagining lots of lurid green grass and cartoon-y white clouds with faces and things -- but in general i think i'd have 'quite a nice time'. where is that in real life? Brighton? the Isle of Man? i want to move wherever it is, anyway.

"holy shit"

i'm really excited. i'm going to be reading at a thing called 'Crossing Border' in the Netherlands in November, which is a music and literature festival. i kept checking but they hadn't announced the bands.

i just found this, and looked at it, and said "holy shit" out loud when i saw the name Cass McCombs.

my name is in the third paragraph, about halfway down alphabetically, on 'Zaterdag'.

how to make a miniature swan:

**warning: 6 minutes long**

[i just thought, if anyone wants to make their own miniature swan and email me a photo of it, i'll post it on here with a link to you or whatever.]

nopointinnotbeingfriends3

i 'photoshopped' a poster for the next reading night. thank you to the people who offered to help if i got stuck over the weekend. i was fine, i think. click here to see the poster i made.

date me

i have a dating advert now online at This Zine Will Change Your Life. i'm expecting to be 'inundated' with offers.

my friend Jenn's novel recently appeared on Amazon.

Jenn is one of the people booked for the next No Point in Not Being Friends night -- 23rd of September. we have lots of people confirmed now: Jenn Ashworth, Joe Stretch, John McAuliffe, David Gaffney, Tao Lin (for the 'video reading'). i also asked someone in a dream early this morning, who turned into someone else with the same name shortly after they'd agreed to do it. that was awkward. more info nearer the time ...

i'm in charge of designing the poster this weekend. it needs to be done by monday. i was planning to try and use photoshop, after reading about photoshop for a bit on the internet. does anyone reading this use photoshop regularly? is there someone willing to give me their email address, so i could email them with questions or whatever if i got stuck?