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Seeing out the entire day in the flat just wasn’t realistic, not in my present mood. I feel better for coming to the back-up café this mid-afternoon and had a reasonably productive writing session considering it’s been a struggle for a while. With everything going on, my uncle’s terminal illness, my living situation, the national cream crackers shortage, and so on, I’m really toiling at the moment.
It was another poor night’s sleep after what had been a relaxing evening listening to something like six hours of radio. I’ve been turning my phone off for three or four hour stretches at the weekends to help me switch off. Ever since my iPod Classic died four or five years ago, for the first time in 18 years of listening to podcasts, I’ve been streaming shows on the phone meaning my phone use has reached levels I’d never come close to before. Thankfully it’s not a case of me being on my phone for the sake of being on it, but regardless, it definitely played a part in my eyes deteriorating the way they have. That and having to install various apps when I was doing loads of freelance audio editing work.
Though I have a carefully curated list of indie podcasts I listen to, I still find it incredibly difficult to choose what to listen to, and that’s where the endless scrolling sometimes kicks in, not to mention flicking through all the ads which I refuse to listen to, so last night I just decided that while I waited for my favourite radio show (The Unexplained) to start at 10pm (sadly it’s also back on the TV even though it’s just ill-suited for it), I thought I’d listen to the three-hour sports show leading into it on my DAB radio.
With the phone off, it freed me up to finally finish Clare Carson’s ‘The Canary Keeper’, another of the library books I’ve had out for ages before finally getting around to reading it. I enjoyed it, though I wouldn’t say it quite fulfilled its early promise, but anything mid-to-late 19th century and I’m all over it. I love reading about a time when I couldn’t have survived more than a day, what with all my obsessive hygiene box-ticking. In fact, I probably couldn’t have lived before the advent of indoor-toilets. I’m a man born at the right time.
Still on the books, tonight, after renewing it 14 times from one of my libraries, I’m finally getting around to reading Claire Evans’ ‘The Fourteenth Letter’.
I’ve almost finished the final moves of the Star Wars spring transfer window. So much thought goes into these moves. I don’t like unbalanced sides and often when out running, if not rehearsing in my head for that night’s gig, I’m going over in my mind who could fit into which of the 12 top-flight clubs.
Gigging has meant Silver Age Season 8 is well behind and the new season has had too many gaps but is now picking up some momentum. Last night, Alderran went through the motions in the first leg of their League Cup tie at Division Two side Nat Huth, goals from Leia and Greedo giving them a comfortable two-goal win. I had hoped to squeeze in a second League Cup game last night, but settled for reading owing to the knee continuing to give me problems.
I picked up another Kent gig for the first weekend in April. I’ve now got back-to-back shows in Faversham and Orpington that week, the latter a 20 minute spot that I’m really looking forward to.
This morning, after going through some of the stuff on my to-do-list, I set about rehearsing for tomorrow’s 5 min spot in Kings Cross. I am scaling back these short spots as I no longer need to do them and they just don’t allow a set to breathe, but this is a competition and I thought it worth doing even though I never come anywhere near winning these things. Also, having made the final last time out, this was the run up to last Christmas, I had to leave the gig that night after realising I was again being targeted by the scammers that had attempted to defraud me online by buying a £900 laptop in my name. So this is partly me making it right to the promoter after leaving during the interval that night after an unsatisfying 50-minute call to my bank that evening, who were pretty ****ing useless.
This morning, I took my new set, which currently has both a 7 and 10-minute version and I had to edit it into 5 mins. It wasn’t that easy but I’ve done it, run through some light, slightly erratic rehearsals, which I’ll revisit tomorrow in order to nail it all down. There is a knack to it and it is becoming easier. I just want to make sure that the stand-up doesn’t overwhelm everything else I want to do. I don’t consider it my normal writing and I am concerned that right now, my prose and screenwriting is struggling. The idea behind keeping this substack, apart from being a replacement for the not-missed-at-all podcast, is to get me back into the habit of writing daily and hoping that can get me back into good habits.
Despite feeling listless and tired, I got out for a 10k run at lunchtime. I did some knee-strengthening exercises beforehand. The knee continues to throb at night, about the only throbbing going on in the flat these days, but I’m hoping that stepping up these exercises helps. I don’t want to be having to take more painkillers for the knee or the back as I’ve had to the last few days.
Annoyingly, like the Premier League not recognising any pre-1992 achievements, Strava doesn’t acknowledge the half-marathon distances I was running in my first spell with them, and more consistently, during my two years with the temperamental RunKeeper app.
Foolishly, and this just comes down to a lack of common sense, I incorporated 11 new climbs into today’s run. Well new to this year, but not new to 2020-21 when running-wise, I was flying. I thought I could be on for a 12k today and timewise, that’s what I should’ve done, but the climbs, all done in the first 20-25 minutes of the run, took a lot out of my legs and by the 7k mark, the legs were feeling unusually hollow.
I ended up registering a 10k that was something like 9 minutes slower than my usual 10ks. Next time, I’ll halve those climbs and the 10k should be back down to my usual time. Anything involving numbers always causes me problems.
I also left a massive muddy footprint just inside the front door of the communal hallway. Normally when the park is that muddy, I’m removing my running shoes at the front door and walking up in my socks, before removing the socks before stepping into the flat (for the record, my bare feet are placed ONLY in my own hallway/antechamber). Are you still with me?
I’d taken too many layers on the run. Almost immediately I’d removed the hat, the gloves and the buffer and was having to run with the gloves tucked into my shorts and the hat in my hand. It was really the first time in months where it felt like I should’ve been running in shorts. Running in leggings, especially when the ground is so muddy, just seems to add to the toil, and I am looking forward to the better weather. Right now, spring seems to be banging at the door, ever louder, but just not quite coming through and from 6 to 10k, I was running into one of them strong breezes I can struggle with and much of the park was ridiculously boggy again.
The shame of it is, and this is the story of most London parks these days as the councils chase money, is that as soon as that better weather arrives, the park, which is a public space, starts staging all manner of nonsense concerts that sees much of the park fenced off, and without fail, trashed.
In terms of layers, I’ve still Long-Johnning it, but in terms of tops, I’m now down to three and the winter coat. It’s that time of year where you’re never quite sure what to wear. It’s not quite time for the spring jacket, but the weather’s so changeable, you can leave the house in a winter coat and by the time you return, you’re sweating and berating yourself for taking the coat with you.
I will need to invest in a spring jacket in the next few weeks. It’s not an area I’ve fared too well in, historically, so it won’t be an easy purchase.
The waitress with the magnificent centaur-like posture spots my empty glass and asks if I want another latte? Why can’t the service always be that good?
All in all, it’s been a decent Monday.
I hope yours has been good too.
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