No Point in Not Being Friends

I am going to be reading at the second no point in not being friends night.

It starts at 8pm, in the Basement Bar of the Deaf Institute, just off Oxford Road in Manchester.

There will be fiction and poetry from: Annie Clarkson, Emma Unsworth, Zack Wilson, Richard Barrett, Chris Killen and Michael Halmshaw, a video-reading from Sam Pink, plus lots more things TBC.

It's free, and it should be fun and interesting. I don't think anyone will be wearing berets or anything like that. Today, I had a beret placed on my head as a joke. I didn't get to see what it looked like, but I am sure it scored 2 out of 10 in the 'amusing' stakes. I think I'll smile every time I see someone wearing a beret from now on. I think I do that already. I've just decided on the story I'm going to read. I think, anyway. I am a bit nervous, but I am mostly excited. I am looking forward to hearing all the people above 'do' their thing. I think it will be a brilliant night.

Jealous of Outdoor Walkways

I watched a lot of Grand Designs yesterday. I used to watch it all the time, but gave up when I realised it would be a good long while before I would be building my own house. But it was on yesterday, and it must've been Grand Designs Day or something, because episode followed episode followed episode. It was great. It was grand.

I live in a rented house. I will be living in a rented house for quite a few years to come. I like the house I live in. It's three storeys tall, old and rickety, and it has a lot of heart. It is also next to a funeral parlour. The funeral parlour is an amazing building. It has outdoor walkways connecting parts of it, and loads of adjoining buildings and secret bits.


They have CCTV cameras, so I've only ventured into the yard once. I got a close up look at the coffin chute, and also got to see the side of our house, and all the flowers that are growing on the walls of it that I never knew were there.


I think if the funeral parlour was a house, it would be great to live in. Our house used to be part of the funeral parlour, but I don't think they did any "dead body" stuff in it. The owner just used to live here. I think.

I'm thinking about home a lot. We are putting HOME together tonight, so we can print it this week and hopefully get it all bound before the last minute, this time. We'll see. There's a lot going on. But I think it will all be okay.

Captain Casio

Tomorrow I am doing writing at a summer school. I think it will be fun, but I am also a bit nervous. I’ve had to come up with a superhero identity. My superpower is the ability to stop time, obviously, so my name had to somehow reflect that. The best I could come up with was Captain Casio, though I’m not even sure Casio make watches anymore. I think they are all about the keyboards nowadays. Oh well. My costume, I think, will be a clock worn over my normal clothes, just like Flavor Flav. I think he’d be okay with that.

It’s taken a bit of planning. There is a tear in the space-time continuum scheduled for 11:20 am, or thereabouts. I hope 8 year olds are still cool with suspending disbelief. I’m a bit worried they might just see it as a chance to have a cigarette break.