'just as some people work because they are bored, I sometimes write because I have nothing to say...' - fernando pessoa, the book of disquiet, entry dated and made 10th march 1931.
it is the first day of fahey week but horsemouth is postponing his celebrations to give the details of his journey out of the wen.
he woke up at about sevenish. (early to bed early to rise). that it was a bin day helped. hail the binmen.
he went for the coffee. he published a blog he had written earlier (you may have read it).
his plan was to get out of the door before nine and up to clapton railway station towing his wheelie-bin and carrying a guitar (the laramie - in its case) and his small north face backpack. he succeeded in this. thence to liverpool street (on the newly named weaver line) and thence to paddington (on the celebrated lizard line).
he arrived with about a half an hour to spare before the train departed which he spent in the space between the lizard line station and the station proper. he'd brought a snack - rice, red kidney beans, chopped tomatoes, onions and some humous to finish off his cooking before he left (so much for breakfast).
soon enough he was making his escape through ladbroke grove, the suburbs and later the british countryside. for once the train actually stopped at didcot parkway. there was a brief and efficient transfer in newport.
his brother picked him up from abergavenny (thanks dave) and soon enough they were home. his bother got straight back to work while horsemouth unpacked and installed the box of books he had brought (various balzac's in various editions, a collection of flaubert's letters, and a trio of stendhal's - fiction and non-fiction). it goes well with the zola box horsemouth had brought on a previous visit.
it turns out he owns balzac's colonel chabert in a french edition also le colonel chabert (in a 1972 harrap hardback edition together with gobseck and an introduction (in english) by a.g.lehmann).
he now has three of his pictures with him in the wilds - a black and white kate bush dancing (in the style of muybridge), malian dudes and speaker set-up (afel boucom promo poster for alkibar originally), and the colour of pomegranates (woman with chicken on her arm).
he also has the hohner guitar with him in the wilds, together with the laramie, the banjolele and a melodica. getting any of the keyboards back presents a greater challenge. the other guitars he will bring back as an when. (of course what he really should do is hire a van).
while he was away the robert lawson and friends CD arrived (together with a fetching compliments slip and letter from rob). horsemouth will give it a listen in a little while. he's particularly enjoying the drumming on the first track citidel at the minute.
he thinks he has enough new books to read to hold him for a while (balzac's chabert, PKD's ubik, john stewart collis's the worm forgives the plough, pessoa's the book of disquiet let itself be found while he was at home). at that point maybe he will develop an interest in the books that he has here already (many as yet unread) or perhaps he will have to get on the bus and go to hereford or abergavenny in search of further books.
horsemouth is sorry he won't be around peoples (there was stuff going on) but he will think of you.
saturday is due to be sunny. horsemouth will wander over to the village to pick up a newspaper with a tv guide in it. tomorrow more rain. of the next two weeks it is better not to ask.
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