56: End of Term

I can tell the summer holidays are around the corner. This time of year feels like a fold in a page. Everything I'm doing feels like it can either be sacked off and carried over, or must be done immediately before I lose the thread entirely. There's a natural break in the direction of my life at the moment and it's eerily matching up with the end of term. I'm lethargic and I want to be anywhere but my desk. I am close to having a temper tantrum. I literally got up and had a nap in the middle of this sentence. We're supposed to be easing back into some assemblance of normality but fundamental things have changed. The world continues to be a dangerous, unpredictable place. When my mum used to say "what is normal?" in a spooky voice I used to think it was cringey and annoying, but now that's my constant state of being. There's no normality and there's nothing I can do about it. And I can look on the bright side too; I've managed to get a lot of other things done recently. But none of it is my actual job and as the weeks tick on and the days at the beginning of lockdown seem further away and more imaginary, I'm left wondering if I'll ever have a normal week again. A normal sleeping pattern again. A steady income again.Who knows? Sometimes all you can do to feel like you have a grasp on the situation is whinge about it. Thanks for letting me whinge at you. Now on to the good stuff:Other Stuff

• Feeling all of the above? Try watching videos of massive forges and hydraulic presses. Makes me feel better anyway.

• This video on women smoking in cinema is really interesting and delves into the engineering of consent and the use of women's liberation as a marketing campaign, the effects of which are still benefitting tobacco companies today.

• A conversation between a writer and a billionaire Wall Street guy. The bleakest thing I've read in ages, and I read a lot of bleak shit. There were a lot of comments under this online saying how pointless and awful it was for Max Abelson to be so passive, or even to have given this anonymous richo a platform in the first place. I think I was grateful to hear from a totally alien perspective, to read for myself how out of touch, ignorant and callous money can make a person. (Or were they always that way? Fascinating.)

• Shelter has been fighting for "No DSS" rental bans to be outlawed for years, and this week a judge ruled them against equality laws. Shelter genuinely do amazing work supporting people facing homelessness, fighting against corruption in housing and filing suits against disreputable landlords. If you are looking for a charity to support this month, I ask you to check them out.

• The magical story of a 4thC CE golden ring engraved with the Pagan goddess Venus found in a field in 1785.

• In the Guardian Life & Style section there is a Tree Of The Week column. I am very into this. And I particularly like this Welsh yew.

• Short story "Rule One" by Simon Stephenson read by Cel Spellman in aid of UNICEF.

• "An ode to Peckham on a Sunday evening when everyone has gone to Burgess Park"

• Is everything cake? By now, yes. I loved this investigation into the viral video of not-cakes that were actually cakes featuring writer and cordon bleu cook Olivia Potts.

• Support your local museum -- buy a mask from their gift shop. And then for the love of god wear it. (There're a lot of great links to online art exhibitions in this piece too, FYI)

• A beautiful piece on the self-made myth of Sun Ra, blackness and a search for identity by Namwali Serpell. "He’s the boy who cried wolf, he’s the wolf itself, he’s the shimmering go-between."

• Culinary Backstreets is one of my favourite food sites on the internet, and its coverage of how cities are coming back from lockdown are really interesting and, even though I found them hard to read to start with, are actually quite uplifting. Here's a great piece on how people are adapting Catalan culinary traditions in Barcelona rather than losing them altogether.

• Black Lives Matter is not over. Don't let it fade. Here's a list of petitions to sign.

• Mammoth Cave, the longest cave in the world, was first mapped by Stephen Bishop, one of the cave's first tour guides and a slave. In 1972, computer programmer Patricia Crowther was the first person to cross the boundary between Flint Ridge and Mammorth Cave, proving its connection -- something cavers had been trying to do for more than a century. It's a fascinating read and then you also learn that her maps were coded into one of the first ever video games by her ex-husband. Oooh I LOVE reading about caving and this is a great story.

My Stuff

• I completed the first draft of my novel on Sunday. I think I've claimed this in error before -- since then I added 25,000 words. I'm on with the first round of edits now. Only 159 A4 pages to go.

• Pre-order a copy of August's edition of Counterpoint magazine and you'll find me in there, writing a story about tarot cards.

• If you feel like buying me a pint, I always gratefully accept ko-fi tips. Especially since the pub is actually open now!

Stonehenge with the comet Neowise by Matthew Browne