light lunch

Sunday arrived with a judder and at around midday we were wandering the streets looking for a place to eat breakfast when we ran into Val and Ray, so we all decided to convert from breakfast to lunch and became the first visitors of the day to Sante, which served a great lunch menu. By around 4pm it was time to move on, and we noticed outside that the Christmas lights had been switched on accompanied by a raucous band and an even noisier Radio station live broadcast.

Tag: sunday, dining

kitchen chaos

By the middle of the evening, the kitchen was becoming cluttered, so I had to brave the icey Northern air to nearby Ask!, where I ordered us some takeaway pizzas. Just after they took my money, the fire bell rang, and a few moments later a fire engine arrived. The pizzas were fine, except that walking back, some of the toppings slid off.

cone centrate

So much for an early start to Saturday. I was several hours late starting the 250 mile drive to where the Warhol work was getting ready to hit the Sugar House. Unfortunately, I also selected the A34, unaware that it has been perma-sprayed with cones all the way from the M4 to the M40. Many hours later, by which time it was almost dark, I arrived and started an evening of making as many household objects as possible look silver, in preparation for their mass shipment to the venue.

Tag: driving, motorways

banged to writes

I've taken my eye off the ball; hung out with the wrong right crowd; been chillin' when I shoulda been quillin'.

And I've realised that my triumphant 30k of words a couple of days ago could turn into a deficit of 6k or 7k by the end of the weekend unless I get scribbing again - I have full weekend of stuff.

So please tiptoe past my blog tonight and comment softly so that I can stay concentrating on the words.

Tag: nanowrimo, novel, writing

baroosh

Out with Nicky and Guy and a whole gang of others tonight. We hit Baroosh and luckily John and John had arrived at the time we said we'd meet and therefore had grabbed a large area with lots of sofas and tables.

By the time I arrived we had about fifteen of us already together in animated conversation and then progressively more arrived as the evening really got under way. Conservatively finishing in time for last trains, it was still the next day by the time I reached home - but I shall still count this as Thursday, in any case.

signs of the time

A couple of British road signs, photographed in North Hampshire.

The first one is normally the sign for a 30mph speed restriction, but today it also means I have just gone through the 30,000 word barrier on NaNoCraZee.

The second sign below is the UK sign for a clearway, which basically means no stopping.

I think this sign also needs to apply to NaNoWriMo, don't you?

Tag: nanowrimo, novel, writing

a moment to chill

A visit to Nirvana this afternoon- well the spa called Nirvana anyway. Time to look at the stars whilst floating suspended on mineral rich water. And Roman bath. And jaccuzzi. Unwound.

not to be outfoxed

Had to hatch a few plans for 2006 today, so Sue drove us to the Fox and Hounds for lunch and some scheming. Last time I went to this particular pub I got lost in the twisty lanes.

Sue's mushroom risotto looked good and my Caesar Salad was fine. A modicum of wine and some cappuccinos rounded off a pleasant lunch.

And we've made a great start towards putting our 2006 ideas together.

never bored

Some of my life is stranger than the fiction in the nanonovel. Someone queried whether my trip to Cannes was real (it was) and the fancy penthouse(it was, even the bit about the S Class and the Hamman steam bath). And in real life, as a social request, I have just been asked to drive around London to look at a particular genre of roadside billboards.

Jake's house

Luckily Jake was elsewhere when the Russians arrived and Bigsy and Clare were already on the Eurostar. The two cops were not so lucky and you can see the aftermath above. Of course, this is my nanowork, now at 25,555 words, which seemed impossible on Friday, particularly with an already busy weekend.

I must admit, when these characters were in Starbucks earlier, they could have ordered 'two coffees' but instead had 'a tall skinny latte, a grande cappuccino and, after some indecision, a piece of carrot cake' [2 words vs 16 words]. Oh dear.

Tag: nanowrimo, novel, writing

Nanoprofile

Well, I'm still hanging in on the NaNoWriMo thing, although today I've been out in Hampshire and Surrey's November sunshine, which gives me a challenge to keep up with the wordcount. If you click on the page above, it should take you to my profile and if you are a kindred nanospirit, please feel free to add yourself as a buddy. I see there's a writer's drink in central London on Tuesday; it doesn't say where at the moment, so maybe it'll be like a flashmob.

Tag: nanowrimo, novel, writing

blue guitars

Julie thought of a great present for my birthday. Its a music album of different blues genres written and played by Chris Rea. Clearly a labour-of-love, Rea has assembled 11 CDs and a DVD packaged with a rather elegant book including his own paintings and commentary about the music. The CDs fit inside the book and the whole thing looks quite lavishly produced.

Yesterday I was listening to the Chicago Blues volume and the fully and sympathetically supported tracks are fluid, well-produced and have Chris Rea's gravelly voice adding a strong vocal dimension. Whilst some may consider this a showcase, one gets the feeling that Chris Rea really wanted to make this all-new set (it says it took eighteen months) and included are photos of the guitars and other instruments used.

I think it will take over ten hours to listen to them all just once, but I'm enjoying selecting a genre, cranking the volume and just enjoying the vibe. Excellent and I didn't have to wait until Christmas either!

Tag: music, guitar, Chris Rea