and tonight, horsemouth helliwell... this was your life! (incidents of mirror travel in the olympic park)

proposal for a biography

horsemouth (former beachside donkey rides operative) AHEM years old. retired (or at least living out of his redundancy cheque and a small works pension taken early). 

worked for 25 years in further and higher education as a support worker to deaf and disabled students (usually referred to as beachside donkey rides - now it can all be told). involved in the communal endeavour for the best part of 24 years off and on, on the management committee, development committee, finance committee and too many bloody committees. volunteered his labour as part of the two refurb projects carried out by the endeavour to bring disused housing back into use. 

interested in homelessness, poverty, social justice, net zero, sustainability and democracy. (but mostly making music, reading, walking, drinking, writing, farting about on the internet). 

before that researcher for an anti-nuclear group, some volunteering at a well known green multinational. some work for an internet start-up. some work as a musician. some work as a roadie. 

currently an amateur musician (musicians of bremen). sometime actor. sometime blogger. published author. and all-around dole bludger. 

a level 1 BSL qualification from hackney college and various work-related qualifications. 

born in the midlands. brought up in south wales. has lived in london for the best part of 40 years (aka. the seaside towns) so (as he often jokes) he must like it. 

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incidents of mirror travel in the olympic park

‘in the side of a heap of crushed limestone the twelve mirrors were cantilevered in the midst of large clusters of butterflies that had landed on the limestone. for brief moments flying butterflies were reflected; they seemed to fly through a sky of gravel.’

- robert smithson, incidents of mirror travel in the yucatan 

here horsemouth twitches back the curtain so you can see the process of light fictionalisation  he applies to his existence (but there is some material base honestly). 

last night a meeting of the communal endeavour over the old zoom. tomorrow an outbreak of face-to-face meeting (with a zoom adjunct) - this will, of course, be a disaster - people are trying to be in two places at once, conveniently at home and in the agora taking part in politics and the affairs of the city.  curiously enough the meeting needs 13 people to be present to be quorate (same as a sabbat  apparently - or at least according to the devil rides out). 

little that horsemouth has done has been a great success. mostly he seems to have been engaged in uphill rock-rolling (he is not temperamentally suited to communal endeavours and yet he must needs struggle with them to see the things done that he wants to get done). 

sighs. groans. a little light kvetching.

last night horsemouth watched laurel canyon. the punk scene in hackney back in the day was not laurel canyon (people were just not that talented - but it did rock, to an extent).  later the dudes off the estates made jungle (that was genius). nowadays, looking back, he is often assailed by guilt and remorse and a sense of futility. he is trying to live a better life (one where he does less harm at least). 

as someone notes (alice cooper?) every best band in the city had moved to LA to make it - the competition was fierce. 

beautiful day out. today a walk. tomorrow a covid test (before the face-to-face endeavour).