Borders Administration and the end of an era

I stopped by at the Staples Corner Borders the other day, they were having a big old closing down sale. I dimly remember hearing that they were going into administration, but not so big a news story as to be believed.

I was almost in tears pottering about the aisles, trying to find the last ...For Dummies books I need for my collection, phrase books for next weekend's jaunt to Malaga, and Christmas presents.

I couldn't bring myself to go for a coffee, a final cappucino, in memory of the long long months of my unemployment, spending mornings supping and reading newspapers, taking advantage of the free parking. For about ten months I went there every week day, sometimes meeting Aref Adib, always getting the paper half read, before my hot chocolate or cappucino ran out.

God knows how long it'll last before they close for a final time.

Even years ago, 2000, 2001, the Shag Times era in Glasgow, Borders meant a lot to me. On Thursday nights the Bobby Wishart Trio would play jazz in the cafe in the Buchanan Street branch, me and Milo would head along in our Jazz clothes, partake in a bottle of wine whilst browsing through a selection of pretentious books and being lewd towards the other patrons. It was an entertain prelude to heading to the Union and the barmaids of The Priory for more drinking and lewdness.

But all these things will become relics of the past, as Borders joins the ranks of Woolworths, Prestos, Tandy and Rumbelows, shops and institutions that will mean nothing to the kids of tomorrow. My three year-old niece knows nothings of these things, she never will, and for that I'm sad, cos they were great, I know, cos I was there.

It was a neater place to just hang out and browse than Waterstones, and the fact it was open late was a life-saver in Glasgow for my bored student days.

Will anything new fill its place, its role?

Amazon doesn't have cute Polish girls serving coffee or free parking.

Reading Shag Times

Here's a wee ten minute video of me reading the first few pages of my novel, Shag Times.


Me Reading Shag Times Part 1 - The most popular videos are a click away

The book's available from here, £8 for the paperback version or £40 for the sper deluxe hardback version, aye.

My fourth book

My fourth book
Originally uploaded by manc_ill_kid

My copy arrived this morning.

All shiney and new


Available for only £5 from here

TheESSEX

Where is Wickford?
Where is Shenfield?

What do these places mean? What should they mean to me?

There's engineering work on the trainlines so I have to get a replacement bus on my way east to visit the niece, my brother and sister-in-law. Its a warm day, you are my indian summer, maybe the last of the year, the citizens of Wickford and Shenfield are out with their friend nd loved ones, drinking and holding. I am on buses and trains on my own, scribbling.

It didn't have to be this way.

Months ago I bought a new mobile phone, a Sony Ericsson K800i, with the intention of being able to send emails and update my various blogs whilst out and about

Those bastards at CarPhone Warehouse sold me a pudding. Battery life is down to 8 hours now, thats with using it for one phone call and two text messages a week, the memory is too small to surf the web and email is impossible to set up. The wee cover of the camera is badly designed, it keeps sliding open in my pocket and taking photies of my shrapnel. How can something be designed and sold so bad?

Those bastards.

Also my own fault for not taking it back to the shop.

CarPhone Warehouse = bunch of cunts

Sony Ericsson K800i = shittest phone ever

...

A girl sits next to me on the bus, lack of empty seats. She's tall, in her early 20s, blonde hair and kind of stocky. I think I'm in love with her.

Pale skin, small delicate hands, she keeps adjusting her top so it covers the way her tummy bulges over the sides of her jeans.

My mind keeps drifting to wrapping my arms round her, her body soft under my fingers, kissing her neck.

I wonder what she smells like.

Crikey I need a girlfriend.

...

Back to reading this book, The17. Bill, the narrator, has just moved to east London in it.

At exactly the same I was driving to south London from Glasgow.

What went wrong?

Back to work ii

Have taken to soothing my singularity by prodding people at work with a stick, need to get out and go to lots of gigs and maybe have a small drink.

Things kind of falling apart, just like they used too, maybe more ill theatre drawings are needed.

Having bad bad thoughts about the Bill Drummond The17 book signing/talk/reading thing, should I invite along the girl I should have invited back in '95? Its crazy, but thats the way I roll.

If ever there's a time to get delerious and replay darks time in my head, its now. Will have to dig out the old books and diaries.

Speaking of which, in response to hearing that the notorious Bowlie spider-diagram doing the rounds is incorrect, ill-informed and not up to date, I sketched out on to the best of my knowledge.

And after slinging it online for a few hours, the little voice inside my head reminded me it was a bad idea. And whilst that voice is the voice of insanity that regularly costs me dear, it has made me the man I am today. Angry, frustrated and bitter.

Cheers for that.

Also diagrams didn't quite get the thousands of pageviews I was hoping for, barely broke double figures. You gotta ask yersel, "Is it worth it?"

This evening, do I just go straight to the gig that's probly sold out or do I try to run 10K again and get the old endorphins flowing?

The Deathly Hallows

Frere gave me a few books, the Genesis of Shanara and the final Harry Potter book. I'd just started reading Kafka's The Trial, but I think I'll skip it and plough through Potter. Admittedly I've skipped a few books in the series, but after seeing the last film with Glasgow, I think I'll have to finish what I've started.



On the internet front, one of those website picked up mine so I've been getting thousands of hits gain, I've got to keep creating content and not drop the ball like I did last time. Should get picked up by another in a day or so, and so it rolls on, I think the threshold for word of mouth to kick in is around 20,000 hits.

Hibbett and Pete Green gigs this week, I'm trying to take Fiona and Dom along to expand their indie horizons. Trying to figure when I can next venture to Glasgow, was hoping to get there to see Astrid, but looks like I'll miss that. ooh, still haven't found out if I get September bank holidayness.

And elsewhere, I have been invoked, it'll be interesting to see what the weather's like.

And whilst you're here, here's that video of the Deep Fried Wolfknuckles covering 100,000 Fireflies by the Magnetic Fields that you missed