SL Day 24 and 25

Yesterday was a bit of a trudge, not settling to write, but today, despite an expotition to Paddock Wood and the other Tunbridge Wells, has been more productive of reading. Tomorrow I shall tackle Shikasta.

I awoke this morning to birdsong and a crunching noise; the crunching outlasted the birdsong briefly. A sparrow sang as it went, leg by leg. The trip to Paddock Wood was to see a crucifixion exhibition, the centrepiece of what was designs by Marc Chagall for stained glass windows in Tudeley church. There was another Chagall, a recent discovery, a Gilbert Spencer, a Graham Sutherland or two, a Lee Miller, comic books. Interesting. Then I walked back towards the station and caught a bus to Tunbridge Wells where I was made angry by being diddled out of change and had a sneaky pint of Harvey's Sussex Best. I'd not done this end of Tunbridge Wells before - oddly at the Pantiles, I'd had the sense I was missing something, in fact I thought finding the Pantiles was the rest of Tunbridge Wells, but I hadn't gone uphill from the station before. Despite the coffee shops, I think I prefer my TW. But I found a Julian Graves and bought dried fruit and a Rooks and bought some pork, which even now is slow roasting and smells delicious.


( LXXIV: William S. Burroughs, Port of Saints (1973) )

( LXXV: Doris Lessing, Briefing for a Descent into Hell (1971) )

( LXXVI: Barry Malzberg, The Destruction of the Temple (1973) )

SL Day 26

A day off, although I did have a couple of hours reading Shikasta. Odd, and a little round the houses. I wonder who coined "space fiction" and when. Shall look up. The post brought Aurora: Beyond Equality, and Star-Anchored, Star-Angered arrived on Tuesday. US and Canadian posting is slow, although Aurora was last thing ordered.

I nearly talked myself out of going to see Kick-Ass; good job I didn't, too, as whatever you think about Jonathan Ross (and I think a move out of the mainstream would be to the good), his missus is a sharp talent. I am wearing a broad grin, and caught the bus with a couple of mins to spare, after a long wait to get up there.

Meanwhile, I spoke three little words to someone, and ( got the response: )

More to come.

And thus home, and the realisation that I can't go to Chichester for a day because I'm seeing a stand up Saturday night. Will have to think about staying over night (and thus it doesn't have to be a Saturday). Shall discuss this with Tilda.