FACTS OF LIFE

STEEL SYMPHONY 2

2008-06-29T00:34:00.000+01:00

It is midnight.

There is the sound of a car in the distance.

There are many silences.

An engine starts up in the street below.

chapter zero

2007-09-12T23:35:00.000+01:00

It was Oscar Wilde who once said...

"I love

talking

about nothing.

It is the only thing

I know anything

about."

Chapter Ten

2007-09-08T21:30:00.000+01:00

excerpt from "The Doorman"

"Doors are often symbolically endowed with ritual purposes."

"Guarding it, receiving keys to it, or being granted access to a door can have special significance."

STEEL SYMPHONY 1

2007-09-07T21:41:00.000+01:00

I was in the D.I.Y. store,

I was purchasing a 250 ml mix of "Steel Symphony 1" in matt emulsion.

The shop assistant said to me ....

"There was another body found hanging in the cemetry. It was cordoned off this morning."

(The cemetery is located next to the D.I.Y. store.)

"Thats the third one this year." he continued

and then he added

"Probably a crack addict."

chapter eight

2007-09-06T20:40:00.000+01:00

The other day I was walking with a friend.

She was telling me about a friend of hers, whom she described as being...

"...another of [her] Lame Ducks."

She then listed, out loud, the others in her collection.

Personally, "Lame Duck" isn't a phrase I ever use.

But I assume I know precisely what she means.

I have a few in my life too.

And I couldn't help but secretly wonder,

as we continued walking,

does she have any idea that she counts as one of mine?

CHAPTER 7

2007-09-05T18:43:00.000+01:00

I dream about my childhood home.

Andy Warhol has redecorated it.

He has made the Hall, the Stairs and the Landing completely Yellow.

Flourescent Yellow.

It is beautiful.

"I am not a number - I am a free man."

2007-09-04T20:30:00.000+01:00

I am walking down the road.

I pass by a couple of men.

I hear one man say to the other,

".....oh i see. You were trying to have a number 2 when they walked in...."

I've never learnt the actual meaning of that antiseptic numeric code.

"Number 2."

It rhymes with "poo".

But is it referencing Shit or is it Piss? I really don't know.

In our house, when I was a kid, we referred to Shit as "Big Jobs".

CHAPTER five

2007-09-02T19:40:00.000+01:00

It's getting dark outside.

Children's voices can be heard in the distance.

There's a bad smell coming from the drain.

chapter 4

2007-08-29T14:06:00.001+01:00

diary extract from august 2003:

I noticed a man

in the street.

He stopped.

There was a plastic spoon lying on the pavement.

It was red and yellow.

He bent down and picked it up.

He took out his glasses case and put his glasses on.

He examined the spoon closely.

Then he dropped it into a bin

and carried on walking.

Chapter Three

2007-08-28T13:32:00.000+01:00

Above where I am sitting, there are 2 small metal staples in the ceiling.

They've been embedded in the ceiling, doing nothing much, for years.

Once upon a time I had a giant map of the world up there.

I've still got it.

Now it fills 2 walls in my bedroom.

It is made out of 6 large segments, arranged with the fingertips of America and Russia almost touching across the Bering Strait.

World maps persist with the printed illusion that Russia and America exist far away from each other, on opposing sides. But I prefer to be reminded that, all this time in reality, they are next door neighbours.

Also, I've hung the whole thing "upside down."

CHAPTER 2

2007-08-27T10:28:00.000+01:00

The sun's morning rays lie slumped across the floor.

I hear a cat lapping up water from a bowl beneath the desk.

Sirens skim across the ceaseless traffic stream.

There's a single human voice in the street below. Male.

I think I hear the words "Gotterdammerung" and "Ragnarok". It makes my stomach growl.

I stand up and look for food.

I am naked.

There are no birds singing today.

chapter one

2007-08-26T13:45:00.000+01:00

I pack a bag.....

A toothbrush

and a new brand of herbal toothpaste that I've never tried before.

Shampoo.

Moisturiser.

Vitamins.

3 pairs of socks. Since I stopped smoking I've noticed that my feet have a definite and distinct nasal presence.

3 pairs of nickers.

Contact lens case and fluid.

Passport. Needs renewing in 2008.

A book. "The Doorman". A story about a man who lives in a shop doorway. The cover says it won some literary prize a few years back.