10/02/22 18:35

I was wanting to write last week but simply didn’t have time.  It’s no big issue.  It just means that I get to use another new fountain pen.  It’s a glossy deep red extra-fine nibbed, Jin Hao 606 with gold adornments and a hidden nib.  It’s an amazingly smooth write but the posted lid seems a little wonky whilst I write.  It could be the angle of my hand.  It’s really no biggie.  Especially as I’m sat in the Wetherspoons, leaning on my Daler-Rowney artist’s easel from Aldi.  It’s like the writing block I was after but cheaper.  With lower quality wood.  And not made especially for me.

Okay, so work has been hard and I’ve needed this break for a while.  Which is why I’m here now, just waiting for dinner; Mangalorean roasted cauliflower and spinach curry. I’m doing my best to alter my eating habits to enable better results and a smaller reading on the weighing scales.  This Paris marathon will be my last marathon.  I know it’s only my second, but it’s all I need to do.  Proving to myself the first wasn’t a fluke and also looking for more inspiration for the book.  Which I honestly need to start concentrating on more.

I knew it wasn’t going to be easy when I set myself the task.  I also knew it wouldn’t be a quick thing.  Not like these entries.  I love doing these.  I want to do them more often, but they need to have memories behind them.  I need to be able to go over them, highlight the idea that I wanted to draw upon, research them more and then finally, once I’ve got it all in a position to put it on paper, just go for it.  I need to find a pattern, to get into a routine, but not make it a habit.  I feel most creative when I’m relaxed but find it easier to write when my mind is crowded.  It gets me more focused on knowing I need to calm my thoughts and writing is a great way for me to do that.  Finding middle ground hasn’t been easy since finishing the Master’s.  Real life is a bummer at times.  Time is the finite commodity that can never be refunded.

Totally irrelevant to everything, I’ve just seen Stacey and Janine, both on Eastenders.  It’s like the last six years have just flown by – I’m sure neither were in the programme the last time I watched it.  Is that Brian Conley?  I thought he was still doing stage work.  He’s looking a little like Dr Kildare.

Okay, I need to settle my thoughts, settle on a plan for the book and settle down to write it.  I have written 750 words directly onto a Word document.  That felt nice but hard work.  I think I need to go old skool and simply use pen and paper.  An A4 pad and probably a 4-colour BIC.  I can make notes, see what I’m writing, spiral off for research and edit as I type it up.  It’s still the whole getting started part that’s the problem.  I don’t need one true sentence.  I only ned one good line.

And a business card for when people ask me if I’m writing a book.  Dan, this is for you!

Dan asked me if I was writing a book.  He suggested maybe going on YouTube.  His fascination is with historical photography and the story surrounding it.  Who the people are, how the buildings were made, the style of the photograph, the clothing of the people, what was the purpose of the photo, how did machinery and technology play their part in the lives of the people that built the buildings, how did they manage such feats of engineering with things like the London Underground tunnels?  His wife was merely interested in leaving so she could go home and have a bath.

Not only do I need to get the blog up to date, but I still need to keep Instagram updated.  My next post for the blog will be Just Like That, June 3^rd, 2021.  Eight more entries after that and I’m only up to August 29^th.  This is the third entry this year.  Plenty of time in fairness.  Except I still want to advance my French language skills, still need to train for the Paris marathon in April and I continually face real-life issues on a day-to-day basis.  This is why the book is on my 25-year plan.  Especially with business cards now requiring my attention.  Whilst I like my branding of the rue de Londres road sign, it doesn’t give any clue as to what I am doing or even who I am.  I have a few .pngs for An Englishman in Paris, aeip.blog so I’ll probably attempt to use those.  I have a Linktree address which I could pop on to solve any issues of which information to give.  I guess I’ll spend the next week or two at work trying to figure when to get them made, how many to order, if I can afford to order them and then spend the next three or four years trying to give them out.  No phone number will be included.  Probably just the blog, Instagram and Spotify playlists.  Yeah, sounds like a plan.