Facing Friday – Starmen

What a terrible week to be a British national treasure, eh? RIP Bowie and Rickman. Your contribution to UK culture was massive, in both cases.

It is a funny thing, to see, and to participate in, the grieving of someone you’ve never met. Sometimes comforting, sometimes slightly stifling somehow. Often annoying. I can’t help thinking, if I posted about someone I knew personally, a non-famous person, no one would be there commenting that they have a “theory” about it or pointing out that actually, my neighbour got a blow job off a fourteen year old once, so really they were awful. The way I want to process death is incompatible with this age of endlessly publishing every thought that passes through your head*. I am sad and perhaps you are too and let’s say that to each other and maybe play an album or a film if we want. But out in public, there are a lot of opinions, and the opinions of others are not compatible with the strong emotions of the self. So I think I would like it more if we played the music and the films in private.

*HYPOCRISY KLAXON! HYPOCRISY KLAXON!

I read

The Girl On The Train. I have avoided this book for mor than a year because it was “so hyped”. Hahaha, what a dickhead. If lots of people like something, Past Lucy, that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be rubbish. Often, the reverse is true! Anyway, I loved this. A taut, pacey thriller, full of satisfying sleights and twists. It’s told through the voices of women only, which I loved because I am a massive feminist and I hate novels to be told from a male perspective, because I hate men. 

I watched 

A lovely documentary about The Barrier Reef, presented by David Attenborough. Always a winner, obviously. Manta Rays are delightfully weird. 

Derren Brown’s Pushed To The Edge. Holy mother of crap! What a frightening thing. He wrote about social compliance a lot in his book, which I read last week, and it is terrifying. Has made me reflect a lot on my own compliance, in a not very flattering way. I am such a little people pleaser. Maybe I should learn a bit of assertiveness before I get per pressured into committing a murder. 

A total of TEN HOURS of spoken word, not including breaks, at the Hammer and Tongue National Final and my own local slam night. GOOD GOD there’s a lot of talent out there at the moment. My favourite was Caroline Teague, who you can see here – http://youtu.be/zy1G112Ko

I have not seen this poem – the one she did want on YouTube and I can’t watch it because I’m in a bar, but I bet it’s bloody good. 

I wrote

Absolutely nothing at all. I have received one rejection for my novel. And yes yes yes I know, of course I’ll get a load of rejections, par for the course and all that, but still. Not an encouraging week. 

I did

A performance at the Royal Albert Hall! In the group section of the above-mentioned Hammer and Tongue National Finals. We came last. They hated us. Still pretty cool. 

Oh, also I am still doing healthy eating/shredding. It is fine. Obviously I have lost some weight and gained some tummy definition, as will happen if you do lots of sit ups and have salmon and stir fried veg for dinner every night. Let’s see how long I can resist the siren song of pizza and prosecco this time. 

Right now, I am in Amsterdam, celebrating my Dad’s birthday! Hurray. I love Amsterdam. It is so beautiful, and small enough to be manageable, and has the winning custom of serving cheese as a bar snack. Just cheese, cut into lumps. This is my current view – 

My face