Freedom From The Mundane

Image: koka_sexton

Several pints of cold lager were had on Friday evening in my favourite haunt, Clark’s Bar, so much that by Saturday morning I was feeling a touch on the rough side. Not quite sure how it happened myself, but it had been one of those weeks that required some alcohol to start the wind [...]

March 14th, 2010 | Tags: Calcutta Cup, Day Job, Edinburgh: the City & the Festivals, glasses, longhand, Reading, rugby, salary, Scotland v England, Six Nations, Writing | Category: Day Job, Food, Drink, and Bevvy, Poetry, Reading, Scotland, Sport, Writing | Leave a comment

Image: PC Repair

My family loves pizza. It’s official. When Gail was given the choice of where she wanted to go for her birthday meal she chose Pizza Express on Leith’s Shore. She made her decision shortly before we left, and so I wasn’t surprised to see it was full when we got there. Wednesday’s are [...]

March 4th, 2010 | Tags: birthday, computer, Domino's pizza, Excel, ezine, Family, lit-mag, Microsoft, PC, pizza, Pizza Express, Ranfurly Review, software, Vista, Word | Category: Day Job, Family, Food, Drink, and Bevvy, I.T., Publishing and Marketing, Reading | Comments (1)

Fiction
* Write 20K words on BACCARA BURNING – part-done; 5k
* Write one new short/flash story per month – done
* Re-submit any rejected/recalled short stories – done
* Submit more fiction/poetry competitions – done
Poetry
* Write at least one poem per week – done (plus lots more)
* Complete MS for SILLY POEMS FOR WEE PEOPLE VOL.2 – done
* [...]

February 28th, 2010 | Tags: Books, Dreams and Resolutions, Editing, Fiction, Freelance, GDR's, Goals, Poetry, Publishing and Marketing, Reading, Writing | Category: Books, Fiction, Freelance, Poetry, Reading, Writing, Writing Process | Comments (1)

Image: joblo.com

It’s been a busy couple of days with not much writing done and that’s not because of day job work or anything, but purely personal choice.
On Tuesday I took the evening off and spent any spare time catching up on some reading, and last night, after being taken out with a couple of colleagues [...]

February 24th, 2010 | Tags: Cambridge Bar, computing, Day Job, Edinburgh: the City & the Festivals, I.S., I.T, management, Reading, Reward and Recognition, Scotland, snow, Weather, Writing | Category: Day Job, Edinburgh: the City & the Festivals, Food, Drink, and Bevvy, I.T., Reading, Scotland, Writing | Comments (1)

Image: onthesnow.com

A most satisfying weekend. I worked on several projects over the course of Saturday and Sunday, with BACCARA BURNING and SILLY POEMS FOR WEE PEOPLE VOL.2 bearing the brunt of my manic pencil. Things are moving nicely now; productivity and creativity are running side by side like two Cheetahs tied at the waist.
I never [...]

February 8th, 2010 | Tags: France, rugby, Scotland, Six Nations | Category: Books, Day Job, Edinburgh: the City & the Festivals, Fiction, Film & TV, Food, Drink, and Bevvy, Freelance, Poetry, Publishing and Marketing, Reading, Sport, Writing, Writing Process | Comments (1)

Image: thescruffydogreview.com

I missed Groundhog Day on Tuesday. I only know about it because of the Bill Murray film of the same title. I love that film—think I’ll have to get a copy and watch it soon. As it turns out in real life, Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter. I could have seen [...]

February 4th, 2010 | Tags: article, chapbook, Day Job, e-zine, Freelance, Groundhog Day, I.T., lit-zine, Luke Wright, Poetry, Publishing and Marketing, re-writes, Reading, Scruffy Dog Review | Category: Books, Day Job, Freelance, I.T., Poetry, Publishing and Marketing, Reading, Writing, Writing Process | Comments (1)

Image: Brandi Sims

The further I got into yesterday the worse my headache got. The obvious reason would be sudden decompression from the stress of the week prior, which is fair enough but it hampered me in getting to do the things I wanted.
There’s not much really to talk about today. I did more reading than [...]

January 24th, 2010 | Tags: Books, Headache, Kenneth Williams, Luke Wright, Reading, Stephen King, water, Writing | Category: Books, Fiction, Food, Drink, and Bevvy, Poetry, Reading, Writing | Leave a comment

Image: MIT

I noticed out of my office window yesterday that I’d still to pick up the bird table that got blown over on Friday night. It’s still to attract the attention of any little feathered friends, so I repositioned it nearer the garage where I can see it and restocked it with seed and bread. [...]

January 18th, 2010 | Tags: Amsterdam, bird table, birds, Bluegate Poets, chapbooks, creative energy, Day Job, European tour, Facebook, Fiction, Fringe Fantastic, live gigs, Madness, Music, nature, novella, paranormal, Paris, Poetry, Poolside Poetry, Stella, Writing | Category: Animals, Books, Day Job, Edinburgh: the City & the Festivals, Fiction, I.T., Music, Poetry, Reading, Writing, Writing Process | Comments (1)

Image: Dennis Wong

Yesterday was the kind of Saturday I’ve needed for quite some time. If I could have wished for a better feeling come the twilight of the afternoon, then I got what I desired. It was a nice day but not all that exciting. It was low level boring stuff to most, but for [...]

January 17th, 2010 | Tags: alarms, Arab Strap, Boots, chapbook, Coffee, computers, DVD, Edinburgh: the City & the Festivals, Editing, External Hard Drive, Freelance, iPod, Me Time, moleskin notepad, movie, PC World, pizza, poems, Poetry, Publishing and Marketing, Samuel L Jackson, Saturday, Scotland's Treasure, scrabble, security, Starbucks, Ten Years of Tears, Tesco, The Cleaner, writers, Writing | Category: Edinburgh: the City & the Festivals, Family, Film & TV, Food, Drink, and Bevvy, I.T., Music, Poetry, Publishing and Marketing, Reading, Travel, Writing, Writing Process | Comments (2)

Image: CS

Delighted! I am utterly delighted that Rage Against The Machine beat X-Factor winner Joe McElderry to the Christmas No.1 spot in the charts. It’s a strong two fingers in the faces of Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh, who between them have turned the UK music industry into a joke, the only real winners from [...]

December 21st, 2009 | Category: Animals, Edinburgh: the City & the Festivals, Family, Music, Poetry, Reading, Writing, Writing Process | Comments (3)

Image: Life of Red

I could make a promise that I intend to start blogging daily again, but that would be not so much a lie as rather a promise I would be unable to keep. Such are the way of things at the moment I am simply unable to commit time to writing a blog [...]

December 9th, 2009 | Tags: gigs, Glasgow, life, live music, Madness, O2 Academy, Reading, Shed Seven, Writing | Category: Editorial Comment, Music, Reading, Writing | Comments (4)

Image: Heavenawaits

Busy; that about sums it up. Work, work, work but it’s been at a good pace this week so I’ve not been burning myself out as I have felt I have been doing recently. And I’m lapping up literature, which can’t be bad either.
I’ve not been sleeping too great this week. I’ve found myself [...]

November 27th, 2009 | Tags: articles, Day Job, insomnia, Reviews, royalties, Scruffy Dog Review, Sleep, Stella, Thanksgiving, Writing | Category: Books, Day Job, Fiction, Publishing and Marketing, Reading, Writing | Comments (2)

Image: Jessica Melling

Saturday’s Beaujolais Breakfast raised £2,633 for Marie Curie Cancer Care, a result double any previous year and proof that it is possible to have a fabulous time while doing good things for others.
The day was a scream from start to finish. I have only made to writing about it in my blog today, [...]

November 25th, 2009 | Tags: auction, Beaujolais Breakfast, beer, Books, charity, FC Ukelele, Marie Curie, Musselborough, Stagg's Pub, whisky, wine | Category: Food, Drink, and Bevvy, Music, Reading, Writing | Leave a comment