ernest dowson is poor, drinking way more than is good for him and not eating correctly - but at least he's in paris (and hanging out with paul verlaine (who is frankly even more fucked up than he is)). he is there with the abstemious o'riordan. he has finished translating balzac's the girl with the golden eyes (horsemouth should check his copy when he is back to see if this is the translation he owns).
now the genius of balzac's short novel lies in the opening chapters eulogising the hard-working, multi-tasking we would now say, citizens of paris. veritable universal men capable of doing every task and trade. living negations of the division of labour.
horsemouth plans to travel back to the city today. there has been a train strike (hell there have been two train strikes by different unions - friday and saturday), there seems little point in being out the door too early, best to let normal commercial operation re-assert itself (financial tragedy that it is). the unions are correct - the railways are not unprofitable to the private companies running them (but they should be), these companies are simply farming the subsidies. the structures of the industry a labyrinth designed to obfuscate this.
once back in the city horsemouth will be available for meetings and such like.
currently we are in the RAAC crisis - it has been known for years that rapid autoclave aerated concrete can become unsafe over time and that many schools, hospitals and public buildings were built using it. as the government moves towards the exit door (and not during the 13 years of its rule) it has decided that it is a major issue that must be dealt with now (ten seconds before the schools re-open).
everything seems permanently on the point of falling apart (or to have fallen apart already and we are into the 'pretend it hasn't happened' phase.
yesterday a bottle of beer with his brother before dinner. (in a bit probably breakfast).
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