Category: Other

After starting and stopping for the last month I am finally back to work on my MacBook Pro. I won’t go into all the hassle it has been but everything seems to be working again and I’m steaming ahead with my creative genius.

As it turns out I have lost pretty much everything I have done in the last two years but that won’t stop me. I’ve got it all in my head. I spend 90% of my time thinking about these projects, there are entire scenes played out in my head as I get the train or take walks across London in the freezing cold. The important thing is my finished work is safe. My two novels are safe. Anything else can be rewritten and will be rewritten and I’ll make it better than ever. The versions in my head always excel the first draft anyway so I’m moving up and moving on. Today I’m writing up the screenplay of a short story I lost last week. It’s hopefully going to be made into a short film. That’s the kind of thing I hold onto. 

If Facebook is anything to go by a lot of people are not happy about the current weather situation. What a terribly British thing to be concerned with, especially when it’s -18 in Moscow, just for the sake of comparison.
I like it though. I like it being cold. It’s refreshing. It stops groups of scabby teenagers off the streets, it makes rushing home that little bit more worthwhile.
I guess I can say that safe in the knowledge it hasn’t really impacted me. My life is still very much on time (even if this train was four minutes late). I can see why it could get annoying if you are scraping your car each morning or stuck in traffic but you’ll moan just as much when it is warm.

Last night I was lucky enough to be invited to the launch night of the release of V/H/S, a bold new horror film. The film was well promoted and night was hosted in a basement in Shoreditch as a mock up of an 80s/90s video rental store. It was like fresh nostalgia. My friend Sam, who is the editor of Screen Geek, the site I’ve been doing some freelance work for, said it seemed especially poignant giving yesterday’s bad time news about HMV and Blockbuster.

The reason I have tagged this as an Enjoy my life post is it made me realise how truly lucky I am to be under Sam’s wing and brought along to these events. There was a free bar, I got to chat to guys who write for Radio Times and Radio 5, and everyone was full of the joy of films.
I’ve previously accused critics of being too critical but last night was an absolute joy to be a part of. I’m very lucky.

I woke up at five this morning to find I was having a nosebleed. I’ve suffered from nosebleeds since I was very young. I always worry that the blood will never stop. Once, when I was about three I woke up to find I had experienced a nosebleed in my sleep. There were spots of blood on my pillow and the bed sheet. When my parents asked me what happened I said “the crocodile came out of the sunshine”. That surreal witticism has never left me and it was my first thought this morning as I groped my way to the bathroom in the darkness with my other hand pinching the bridge.

I think it was zero degrees when I left the house for the first time this morning. That’s not even an exaggeration. I checked a thermometer and everything. Puddles were frozen over. It was very meekly snowing.
I still ran three miles.

As I’ve said before I’m a sucker for routine and whether that sounds good or bad I’m stuck with it. It means even when I can’t really settle into sleep and keep having creepy vivid dreams of drained swimming pools I know I’m just counting down the minutes until I have to get up.
I woke up at half two this morning feeling rested. It was still dark out but it’s still dark out when I leave the house so that was no big deal. The scary thing was I felt rested and prepared to get up and go off and do things. That’s a scary state of being for someone who spent his teens and early twenties not going to bed until that time.
I’m a creature of habit and I’m early to bed and early to rise.

Yesterday was much needed. 
It was the first day this year I’ve just been able to sit and write, uninterrupted. It’s the best way to do it. I can’t concentrate if I know at some point I have to get up and go off to do something else, I need to be able to set my own guidelines. 
It’s like working a late shift. You spend all day just waiting for the time when you have to get ready for work. It doesn’t feel like there is a point in getting involved in anything else because you know it is limited. 

Yesterday was brilliant though. I’ve got to keep a lid on what I am up to at the moment because I really don’t want to jinx it but it’s all very exciting. I just have to keep the resolutions in mind, it keeps me on track, keeps me focused. I have an awful lot of work to do and a lot of time before I get there but it will be wholly worth it. 

I’m sat in my car. It’s amazing how nice it can be sometimes to just drive off and sit in your car. People assume you are just waiting for someone and don’t bother you. I’m not waiting for anyone although I do have an appointment.
The reason I’m here is I thought I had time to go and pick up my Mac before my appointment but woke up late. I rushed out the house, started driving and then realised I wouldn’t be able to get my Mac and be back for my appointment so I am just sat in a car park waiting for my appointment time. I wish I had brought Ham On Rye with me now. I’m very close to the end of it.

The reason I felt it was rush worthy to bound out the house this morning is I have an awful lot of work to do. There are two articles I’m working on, plus my new novel, a screenplay and I need to review my previous novel and short stories before sending them off.
It’s nice though. I like having too much to do. It’s a darn sight better than having absolutely nothing to do. I’ve sort of been on a personal hiatus as I waited for my Mac to be fixed and the day is finally here. I reiterate the lessons here.
With my Mac back in possession though I can get on with all of this work I need to do to pull me out of my nine to five funk. Please let me eventually break out. I’m not meant for this.

It sounds like an awful 80’s coming of age film but its just how my morning has been.

This morning my Dad has a training course in Blackfriars so joined me on my daily commute to Liverpool. It’s odd to see someone who doesn’t travel to London every day try to deal with the morning commute. It’s all so alien to them. My Dad said he doesn’t know how anyone could do it every day.

The fact is I would miss my time commuting if I ever worked more locally. I embrace my time on the train. It’s odd to me to think of not doing it just as it is weird for him to imagine anyone doing it regularly.

I left him at the corner and hope he’s alright. It’s terrifying to think where he could have got to.

Don’t try to emulate some kind of MTV Cribs-like lifestyle by taking your thousand pound laptop into the bathroom with you.

My expectation had been to watch the latest episode of Elementary on my laptop while I was in the bath.
My reality is I haven’t had a laptop in three weeks and have to pay well over the odds to get it fixed.

The good news is there is no permanent damage. This brings me to Lesson #2 – Back up your shit.
I don’t think I’ve ever backed up this laptop. I’ve written two complete novels on it, all my music is on there; both the music I’ve made and music I listen to, my pictures, videos. I can’t really think about what I would have done if it had all gone.
I also never deleted the Internet History so I’m sure they all had a good laugh over my appreciation of the female form.

When the genius/tech from Apple called me yesterday he asked if anything had been spilled upon the laptop because what he was seeing was reminiscent of water damage. I held back from screaming “I DIDN’T TAKE IT IN THE TUB” and just played ignorant. That’s always key.

That concludes today’s lesson.
Go back it up now.