Give up.

At 17.24p.m I now realise that my story is still not finished and still not good enough. It is with self loathing that I announce to me that this year I will not be entering the Asham Award. Sigh. I am rubbish. (And even whilst I am writing this in the back of my mind a wee voice continues to think that perhaps if we write more now and then go to the Post Office and ask about guaranteed next day delivery...)

Grrr argh

So I have been writing a story as my entry to the Asham award. If I want to submit it I'll have to post it tomorrow. Only it's not finished. I think it could be really good, with a lot more work. However, it is perfect for the Asham (I think). So, do I hold on to it and rewrite and keep it for some other thing, or do I stay up all night and finish and send?
Bearing in mind that it costs £10 to enter I'm thinking that a piece I'm not delighted with is like pissing cash away. It needs to be strong. Sigh.
And now the boys have broken up for Summer hols there will be precious little writing time until September. The one niggle that I have about not sending it is that I have almost (coincidentally) written it just for the Asham. I'm not sure where else it would fit. Certainly nowhere so prestigious. But, hey, shit's shit , and if it's shit...

Mike Patton ~ Peeping Tom

Ooh, the new album is so gooood!


http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000F3TBIO/026-5127016-1012442?v=glance&n=229816

He is on record as saying that this is his pop album. Hmmm, it's not quite pop, but is certainly his most accessible record since his FNM days. The album feels very familiar, even though I have only played it a few times. I think that's possibly because vocally it's very Faith No More era Patton, and that was my soundtrack for , ooh, years. Speaking as someone who adores his eclectic musicianship it is also something of a relief to not have to listen to grunting burp sounds (yup, I was one of those people who actually bought "Adult themes for voice", the sound of a guy in a hotel room farting out noises.)
I like Tomahawk, I like Mr Bungle, I love FNM, unsure about Fantomas despite Dave Lombardo drummy god!, and I love this...it's boppy, funky, groovy. He apparently collaborated with all these people without meeting them which is odd, but you really couldn't tell. Smooth. Hurrah!

Oh, and lyrics such as these:

"And I know that assholes grow on trees
But I'm here to trim the leaves
And I'm afraid
That you're still my friend
You're just a piece of shit
I can overlook it today
Coz you're still my friend

(So don't even trip)
Drop that gun you ain't my fucking hero
You think it's cool to be a fucking zero "

Are so much fun to sing along with in a jaunty summery way after dropping the boys off at school and fake smiling at the horrid playround mums.

Rejection, dejection and stupid submissions.

I received a rejection letter from The British Council. It's odd but I am used to submitting online and then hearing via email if I have been successful or not. I have so far been fortunate enough to have a fairly good success to submission ratio. To get a letter saying no was quite a downer.

Now I have submitted a story to QWF and once again I seem to find the rules of submitting beyond me. I am self taught on my PC, and I muddle along rather than have any natural understanding. The rules of entry were strict and stated that all pages must carry the title of the story, but not the author name. I dutifully inserted a header on each page. It had to be double space, of course, and a certain length, yup, and failure to comply will result in disqualification. Oh. It had to be emailed, so I emailed from word. Then I checked Outlook Express just to see that it had gone. Sure had. With the headers removed and sent as an attachment. Fuck! That's when I recalled that I should cut and paste to Outlook Express, not mail from word.
Oh well. Too late now.

I am also working on a story for the "Asham award". By working on I mean that I have a vague notion and have written a paragraph preferring instead to munch on mini poppadoms and surf around various trashy forums proclaiming my feelings on this years big Brother.

Douglas Coupland "J-Pod"

Hmmm. Well I was thrilled to purchase the limited edition hardback complete with stuck on "Doug" squiggle and J-Pod figure. I adored the typography as I flicked through. I anticipated reading it much as one does a particulaly delicious treat. Once I began, however, I kept putting it down and not bothering to pick it up again for a few days. I loved "Hey nostradamus!" so very much, it explored god and God and nature and life and death and love in such a subtle and light way. I felt it was incredibly profound and J-Pod would therefore be its polar opposite; ultra light and all about the gags. The story romps along with characters who never become more than their sketchy (lazy?) profiles and who could care about them or their adventure?
I am used to his work veering from great to just alright, but I am disappointed. It won't put me off buying his next novel though, I will always make time for his writing which at its best is gorgeous.