tuesday 31st december
text message: i may have to watch it at 5.30 just for old times' sake.
favourite line: 'you made a time machine? out of a delorean?!'
before that it's a day of yearly reviews and top however-manys on tv and 1985
after 1955 before 2003. i should
be building the robot i bought in september
but it's more than a little daunting, especially considering the instructions
are in japanese. so for the umpteenth time: tomorrow. instead i'm reminiscing
on some best bits.
monday 30th december
i've had this stomach bug for a week now and don't know whether to eat, not eat,
take medication or not take medication. i'm tired through lack of vitamins so
plan to sit in the lounge on my own for a day and become slightly more proficient
with the sky remote.
sunday 29th december
funky, tracey, and b-boy in the lounge on my newly bought inch-thick barefoot-friendly
rug, kindly carried by steve. with candles. small talk and films: birthday girl
(expecting more from ben chaplin and filmfour) and american beauty (faster moving
than i remember it being). daddy deluxe is on email. this is only the beginning.
be afraid:
saturday 28th december
happy anniversary funkstar deluxe as the two js have an upstairs party. steve
and i rib-tickled our way through comedy sequels goldmember and american pie 2.
trash hollywood built for the masses, oversaturated and obvious. we laughed as
much as i was ashamed that i enjoyed them.
friday 27th december
my sister and brother in law were the first proper guests but it seems only the
location changed. it was a night like any other and i still don't feel at home
here. it's all so new, so different, so quiet. it's too much to comprehend, really.
thursday 26th december
safe, mate.
dad's plasterboard cavity self-squishing screw things (which could easily body
double for on of q's gadgets) worked a treat on the bathroom ceiling. now all
you do is pull the cord with a 'plunk-pling!' and the light comes on, simultaneously
removing any worry of bathtime electrocution.
wednesday 25th december
'one of the basic preceps of film noir is to be non-sentimental is to be always
very dry and detached and objective...' john williams
mum said 'all i want for christmas is to see you happy and settled in your new
home. and besides, you got us a dvd player for our birthdays.' easy present for
them, then. all i had to do was get the video camera out and narrate a tour. i
flew up to mum and dad's for christmas dinner and stories, the whole impact of
moving house taking away any seasonal awareness. for the first time in my life
i didn't wake up at home-home a 31 year old certainty. my insurance hasn't come
through and i still feel quite ill (i'm putting it down to something i ate and
am suspicious over the condition of london tap water now that i am brita filterless.
mum says it's nerves) so after stories, presents, d.i.y implements and tips from
dad and the tour i returned on busier streets to watch minority report.
mum said 'i knew you had a lot to do but i didn't realise it was that much.' a
compliment and an expression of sympathy in one sentence.
'...subsequently there is a certain language that you have to follow through when
you make a film noir. a world of shadows, a world of darkness. very dramatic,
low camera angles or high angle cameras. things that are really extreme.' janusz
kaminski
tuesday 24th december
more boxes. and meeting holly and steve in town briefly. then i went home and
set my stereo up properly. with adjustments to speaker position, crossover frequencies
and many scart piggybacking adjustments i sat there for hours, concentrating with
my ears. there will be more to come, too; putting the shelves up will alter the
room's sonic characteristics so i'll have to readjust. i uncovered old cds when
i unpacked - always a forgotten treat when moving - and wondered how the two js
(my upstairs neighbours) would rate my taste judging on what they may have heard.
i tried to offset the pollution of d:ream and sisters of mercy with a remedy of
dj yoda, young mc's know how and a splattering of rae + christian. have you seen
me lately sounded too good to describe. texture indeed.
monday 23rd december
my conversation with steve as i lay on the sofa went something like:
s: '...rargh rargh rargh... know what i mean?'
'wow. good rant.'
'i stopped because i wasn't sure if you were still there.'
'i tell you what - vyvian from the young ones would be jealous of that one.'
'long, wasn't it?'
'hell yeah. and loud, too.
i found a receipt from 'allied trash' for £4,402. i don't have 't a clue
what it's for.probably something housey judging by the amount.
sunday 22nd december
the chumpy-cheeser and i returned to clean our old, empty flat; a dusty space
still alive and buzzing with the energy and atmosphere we'd breathed into it.
we had a great almost four years with all the highs and lows you'd expect over
such a length time. i've found a good friend and hope he's happy where he goes.
living on my own would be easier if it didn't mean having him
as a flatmate. our ghosts would giggle. here's hoping his section
keeps growing.
saturday 21st december
up early. pack bed into van. ropeless tow steve to harringay. unload. drive to
wapping. help steve pack and load. drive to brixton. pack chumpy. drive to tooting.
unpack chumpy. drive to harringay. set up hi fi. build bed. sleep. welcome to
my new home. sleep. moving over. settling in begins.
friday 20th december
bedroom radiators and skirting boards and the last night at 188 brixton road.
just like the first night there my mattress was on the floor, the frame's pieces
stacked next to me
thursday 19th december
couldn't resist it. walked in and sat down to the sound of 'oooh, yeah.' then
got up and painted my bedroom whilst listening to the smash hits channel like
a proper builder. white again. oh, and i used my washing line, too. i have a washing
line? utter nonsense.
wednesday 18th december
in daylight:
i spoke to holly, funky, deluxe and steve on the scenic route past st pauls as
i made my way north for the sofa. by the time lardass and shorty (real names,
apparently) arrived to deliver it through the window with stories and bad jokes
the radiator and skirting boards received their second coat. it's big. and comfy.
and hell'a-red. poetic justice or vicious irony that i spend weeks turning a red
room white then - the following day - plonk a red sofa across half of it? hmm?
eh?
in moonlight:
a brief visit to hol's new place revealed
she is currently where i was three weeks ago.
a cool memont when we left, too. hand signals and silent speak through glass windows
to holly, sitting in the back seat of her dad's car with her brother. like seeing
her twenty years ago setting off on holiday or family day out. trippy.
as i walked out of the esso station, stepping back in on myself to open the door
to a girl with purple streaks in her hair, no sooner had she chirped 'thanky-you'
than a black bloke with a red hat with white bobble chased her in. 'cheers, mate.'
''s all right, santa.' i replied as i walked away from the door. i turned
round, grinning widley. he was looking over his shoulder, right at me, doing the
same. shudderingly perfect timing.
tuesday 17th december
hey, hey-hey! the skirting boards are done and so are the radiators. almost.
monday 16th december
another third of the lounge painted. it wasn't much fun. it's getting done but
still isn't finished. just driving and painting and painting and moving the ladders
and painting and painting and moving ladders and driving. i should be calling
all my friends and replying to their messages. i feel bad, but tonight, again,
i'm too tired to talk.
sunday 15th december
packing, washing, cooking. after the amount of excercise and staying up late i've
done over the last month my arms feel heavy and my head just wants to stop planning.
saturday 14th december
it's pretty much a routine now. pick up steve, homebase, macdonalds, work on house,
drop steve off, come home. not the most exciting day we've had, probably due to
my hangover, but productive and very pleasant nonetheless. cheers, matey.
friday 13th december
it was one of those rare outings when everything went well and you just drifted
a bit, going with the flow. it turned out to be just what i needed. < bounce
>
my bedoroom shelf is now in a box. which means only one thing: the packing has
begun despite lounge rennovations being still underway. upheaval t-minus very
few days.
vice city when richy rich arrived before holly, i and the brxton massive did groove
armada, superstylin' it all the way. i think i've only had one afternoon nap before
today so i doubled it up by leaving the boys to their game of golf at six o'clock.
holly would be leaving work, i thought, and is bound to call me when she gets
home with the rendezvous, which means i'll get an hour or more. it went something
like that. i was congratulating myself as i strolled off down the road on what
turned out to be a cracking evening. when i got back rich, sleeping on 'officially
the world's most uncomfortable sofa', greeted me with a snuffle and a groan. he'd
clearly been asleep ages but 5am was no time to think of a practical joke.
breathe in. breathe out.
thursday 12th december
cos that's what it'll be.
yeah.
philip's back! i'm on 'holiday'!
wednesday 11th december
the hallway walls used to be red,
the floors dark grey with dust. my arms hurt. in true m.a. style, the rules i've
set myself to decorate my place are as follows:
1. keep as much floorspace available as possible.
2. loads of white walls. (just like college exhibitions.)
3. wooden floors.
4. colour comes from furnishings.
5. no rounded edges on furniture, fixtures or fittings, apart from in the bathroom.
7. shelves must be flush, not inset.
8. thick curtains, hanging sheer. no folds.
9. don't mix wood types.
tuesday 10th december
painting begins so strike off an old, baggy top and a pair of trousers.
monday 9th december
if i followed him, i wondered, would he eventually
deliver to wile e coyote? a cradle could part of an another hilariously elaborate
- yet ill-conceived - booby trap. that would backfire.
sunday 8th december
awake at ten, lie-in 'till twelve then 3-1 spurs / albion, freezing, with the
henckens and a brother for the first time. it was so cold people were buying scarves
and putting them on more quickly than they could take the price tag off.
when i got home kate called to talk secret christmas presents and enquired as
to which way i went home. the floorboard varnishing way, i said, to 'good work!
i was knackered after that!' my sis: married but still cool. fortunatley we were
the yids.
saturday 7th december
varnish day already.
as steve and i motored around south and north london, lbc providing pearl jam,
the charlatans, mark b and blade, the counting crows, the chili peppers and ricky
gervais, we wondered how many shops with 'fish and chips' in their title actually
sold what they said. we worked out that one place did everything apart from chinese.
misrepresented fast food? ooh, nasty.
it had naturally evolved into a road trip (unfortunately not a gandalfian
one) so we carried on to the cinema for nandos and 007 which was, unsurprisingly,
as easy to watch as it was to forget.
friday 6th december
uploading onedotzero then masks on and steve, supermanning the industrial sander
across the hallway. dust, vibration and a whole lot of exercise. the signs of
mental and physical exhaustion have arrived, manifesting themselves as a stiff
right cheek, but i'd be even more stressed if i didn't have christmas in my newly
decorated new home to look forward to. two more weeks. the list is huge.
thursday 5th december
...you have to just be flexible and do it.
dropped lbc off for m.o.t. tube to work. finished off work for luke. emailed it.
spoke to the americans. went to new home. paid builders. signed for delivery of
sanders. banged nails in. spoke to luke. did more work. emailed it. banged nails
in. sanded lounge and corridor with industrial sander. received call from onedotzero.
rushed back to work. downloaded website. went home. worked on onedotzero website.
ate dinner. worked on onedotzero website. went to bed. when you're this busy on
days that loop you don't have a choice...
wednesday 4th december
a late night. at the pavement.
tuesday 3rd december
monday 2nd december
it's like working in sainsburys. this morning went fine - the builders will remove
my last door and even repair the gashes b-boy and i left - but this afternoon
was horrific. even fed ex brought my parcel back an hour after i thought this
project was finally done. i'm going to fucking kill someone soon and i have a
damn good idea who. watch your step, pal.
sunday 1st december
sofa shopping down the tottenham court road with my minidisc player. i had to
book gap testers and avoided the usual 14 month wait. did you know you can get
your london sash window removed for a bargainous £29?
it's not that i never thought my sofa would be red. until today i had no preconceived
idea of the tone of the room (apart from my speakers, arguably the most important
piece of furniture). i guessed it would be blue, like everything here with chumpy.
the lounge forecast is for maple blinds, red curtains and a cream rug. i can't
decide but i must. my curtains have to be ordered before wednesday to be ready
for christmas.and tomorrow the builders arrive before i have to master five adverts.
it's getting complicated, but it is also getting done.
in the last month i've bought a flat, given a talk in bristol, seen my grandparents,
been snowboarding in the alps, seen jesus jones with al, celebrated the sonleys'
birthdays and designed a multinational tv advert. not bad.
quiz time. guess which one is my dad:
sunday 1st december
a saturday. saturday routine.
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