I had a brilliant time at the Britney concert. I know she’ll always get bad press, and there’s no musician alive who is to every single person’s tastes, but for what she does, she’s ideal and doesn’t disappoint. Me and Lisa got there around six-thirty and took our seats (high up on the right hand side – I couldn’t take any decent pictures because if I try to zoom in with my digital camera, it reports a ‘lens error’ and shuts itself off), observing as the LG Arena slowly but surely filled up. Some people were dressed in Britney costumes, others in tour shirts – it was pretty cool. The venue’s huge, so there was an insane amount of people there! The first support act were a bit cheesy, but Joe Jonas was surprisingly good. I’d actually consider listening to his record, he did a good job. Britney looked a bit uncomfortable at first but once she started smiling and talking to the crowd, she relaxed and the show got going. Immaculate stage show, by the way. The budget must have been astronomical! Moving parts, trap doors, aerial acrobatics, fireworks, platforms descending from the sky, a car rolling across stage (during How I Roll, naturally), angel wings…it was the perfect pop show. I’m glad I didn’t myself with taking photos; I just wanted to drink in every bit of it. Visually, very impressive. I’ve found a quick video clip (there are quite a few others on Youtube) and photos from others that were there, so I’m going to share those instead. Full credit to whoever uploaded these!

The only way the night could’ve been better would be if she’d sang Stronger. Or Break The Ice. Still, we had so much fun!

I’m back at work now, today was my third shift. It feels like I never really left, just spent along weekend in a tent. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Who knows. Either way, I’m earning money for Christmas presents and surrounded by people I like, so it can’t be a bad thing. I’m knackered, but that’s nothing unusual. I’m still trying to sort my sleeping pattern out. Consuming copious levels of caffeine won’t help me with this, but tough – the Starbucks Christmas menu is back, and I plan to drink my weight in toffee nut lattes before the year is through…

Naomi bought me this mug as a housewarming gift. I can’t think of anything else that more accurately sums me up as a person, except maybe this. Yes, that is a leaning tower of Stephen King books. As the move continues, I find myself +literature, -shelving. Oh dear.

The fortnight’s gone well since my return. I’ve eaten two jacket potatoes, caught up with all of the news, got my 2011 reading challenge back on track, applied for several jobs and got the vast majority of my things in order. I’ve sorted out home insurance, the taxman, made a dentist’s appointment and sent off forms in case I want to do the mad holiday courier thing again, next year. We shall see. It’s an option, at least. I’ve also asked Wolverhampton council for information on local writing groups; I’d like to find one I could fit into, if such a thing exists. I want to start French classes as well, or find a lonely French person to speak to. Self-improvement is non-negotiable.

More fun should be had, as well. Stop denying yourself things you enjoy. If I want to scoff cake and biscuits, I damn well will. That’s precisely what Naomi and I did last night.

Isn’t it fantastic how you can shove all of these messy, ‘orrible things in a bowl, stir it up a bit, whack it in the oven and produce a lovely, glorious banana loaf?

Lisa and Luke came over just in time, as the cake was cooling. We watched Megamind, ate, drank tea and squash, talked a load of rubbish. Good times. I think Naomi’s going to come to Wolves on Saturday to check out the vegan festival that’s being held at the Civic Hall…that should be a nutritious and environmentally friendly good day.

My brother, mother and I went to see Funeral For a Friend’s gig at the Wulfrun Hall on Sunday night. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a live band. The support acts were decent and FFAF were, of course, terrific – they played Your Revolution Is A Joke, which was beautiful. Matt still seems to be madly in love with his music, it was great to watch. The show was a nice, irrelevant warm-up for the legendary Miss Britney Spears, who me and Lisa will be watching this Sunday. I actually can’t wait. I’ve only ever been to one pop concert before, BSB in 2008, but I can’t imagine that can compare to the kind of budget and showmanship Britney commands. Mind you, she could turn up on stage in her pyjamas, off her face and not even bothering to lip sync and I’d be quite happy. So maybe I’m not a fair judge.

Right, back to the day I must go. Yet more stuff was retrieved from storage this morning, so I should go home and tidy, then do a bit more work on Doors. I’m formatting the manuscript at the moment, and once that’s done, I’m going to give it another read through, double-triple-quadruple check everything, then get a couple of copies printed to hand out. It’s good to be at this stage of things. I like that I’m proud of it. I love that already I’m having serious ideas about the next installment. Did I mention that it might take me three books to tell the entire story?

It’s so good to have my boys back.

Today Rafael Nadal won his seventh consecutive Monte-Carlo Master’s title, defeating the lovely David Ferrer 6-4 7-5. He didn’t play anywhere near his best, but that’s okay – it’s the first claycourt event of the year and he’s got time to warm up properly before Roland Garros rolls around. The best part about being a Nadal fan (so many long amazing years of slaying your fave, bb) is knowing he’s still only 24. Many records still to be made and broken before he’s done.

I love tennis. I also love watching Arsene Wenger’s face collapse in on itself when Liverpool are given a penalty in the 100th minute which is subsequently scored. Classic.

This weekend I’ve been enjoying a mixture of recreation and work. I went to see Norwegian Wood with Nat which I was excited about, but it turned out to be a bit of a snooze. It was beautifully shot and the acting wasn’t bad, but maaaannnnn was it bleak. As a result it felt torturously long. We’re talking Return-of-the-King-get-up-out-of-your-seat-and-get-the-blood-pumping-again long, even though in reality it just scratched the 2hr mark. What’s that all about?

Anyway…as well as the ongoing typing up of various things, I’ve also been pulling together some semblance a plan for publishing Revolve and the necessary little bits of promotion. I’ve also decided to expand online in general so that Fight the Sky and any future publications don’t go forgotten. I signed up for an author’s account on GoodReads (which is fast becoming a favourite website of mine – check the new widget I’ve got in the right-hand sidebar!) and have been busy building a profile on there:

I’ve signed up to a couple of other websites as well, but haven’t got around to sorting them out yet. I’ve also made a few adjustments and additions to Fight the Sky’s promotional webpage – you’ll notice the Paypal button in case you want to buy the book direct from yours truly, and a link to a new eBook version available via GoodReads. I haven’t finished Revolve’s page just yet (although you wouldn’t have to be a genius to track it down). I’ll get it linked up when the book is released.

Tomorrow I’m going to work on the Kindle edition of Revolve; the plan is to publish all versions simultaneously, save me worrying about it at a later date. Afterwards I’m going to stuff my face at Chiquito and die a happy lady. If I can squeeze in one of these as well then even better…

Just so I get it out of my system: Gaga’s new album cover is a travesty/lesson in why one should never abuse the lens flare function. I honestly thought she was trolling her own fans when she posted the picture on Facebook. Is it supposed to be ironic? I don’t get it. It looks shite. The only good to come of it is the influx of amazing internet macros (here’s another. And another. Whoever made these is my hero, I swear the internet is man’s crowning achievement). Her song Judas is also a flaming pile of wank. Why isn’t she fun anymore? Why all the pretentious lyrics about religion? Why can’t she just get drunk and have fun partying like she did in 2008? I understand artists wanting to progress but there comes a point when you just end up boring the fuck out of everybody. Classic example of fame going straight to somebody’s head. I miss Fame!Gaga. At least Britney’s still fun even when she’s dead inside.

The bunnies have moved inside for the winter. I stepped outside this morning, took one look at the dusting of snow, and thought….oh fuck. Last winter was abysmal. If you’re one of these sappy White Christmas unrealistic idealists then you can fuck off away from my website right now. Just call me Scrooge. Snow has a novelty value lasting all of five seconds, because during the sixth second one realises just how goddamn cold it is, and the seventh second is spent sizing up your suddenly treacherous commute. All buses and trains flail and fail at the first sign of snow. I hate it. No more, please, God.

This has been a bad week. I couldn’t pin it down to specifics, so don’t ask me to, and no I don’t want to talk about it. Just leave me alone, and if you can’t manage that (because though I won’t risk a full blown rant, isn’t it just that some people are unable to leave you alone sometimes? Even though every last iota of your being is inwardly begging them to?) and talk about irrelevant bullshit, instead. That’s how we cope.

That isn’t what this post is about. This post is about Marley and the project he’s just linked me to on Facebook:

1. Rusty Laughs But He’s Not Laughing [03.28]
2. Painting Lies [03.50]
3. The Police Would Do Nothing [01.39]
4. Four Eyes Wonder [03.27]
5. That Doesn’t Mean You Have to Like the Man [02.18]
6. You Wouldn’t Last a Day in Wolverhampton [00.43]
7. (Bonus) The Chemical Tides [10.15]

DOWNLOAD THE ALBUM NOW!

When I went to Marley’s house earlier in the year to record the voiceover for my book’s promotional video, we also recorded a few extracts from my current project, Doors. Download the album to hear these previews from the story’s first draft, set to some of Mr Butler’s fantastic music. He really is a genius. As a bonus you also get a recording of The Chemical Tides, mixed in with another poem of mine, Bloodsport, which Marley and I performed live a few years back. Good times. Poetry is the ultimate insight into my head. It’s like taking me hostage and making me spill all of the beans whilst simultaneously dragging the cat out of the bag. I cringe thinking about people reading it, or in this case hearing it…so if you want something highly personal and predictably pretentious, check out that last track.

…Apparently Dimitar “Couldn’t score in a brothel” Berbatov scored five goals today. So that’s it, then. The world is officially ending.

S’been a good ride.

The song is called Left Behind, and he says it’s nothing more than some dabbling, but I thought it was definitely good enough to share. He wrote it after reading Iron Gate, which is the first part of Three Places (a story from Fight the Sky – did I tell you I wrote a book? I didn’t? WELL, I DID!)

Christian Jimenez – Left Behind

…hopefully that link works. Let me know if it doesn’t!

THANK YOU Christian. I think it’s fantastic. I feel really grateful that something creative could come to another person, as a result of something I slaved over. Now I guess we have the song, and the trailer…all we need is some special effects and a couple of hot babes, and we’ve got ourselves a movie! AM I RIGHT?!

The record’s out right now (#4 in iTunes! Wow!) and is out in the USA tomorrow…
I’m listening to it right now. <3 Love.

I’m annoyed that David “Our Dave” Cameron is Prime Minister. I understand the first past the post system and all that, but look at it this way: 64% of the population did NOT vote for that spoiled twit. And still we’re stuck with him? I imagine most of the Lib Dem supporters must be gutted. Who’d have thought that a vote for Nick “Glory of our nation, let’s turn the election campaign into X-Factor vs. Rage 2.0, oh shit now he’s sleeping with the DEVIL?” Cleggers would turn out to be a vote for the Conservative Party? Oh dear! Think twice before you vote based on one decent debate performance, next time. And I don’t aim that comment at ALL Lib Dem voters, just at the ones who, like many on my Facebook friends list (I’ve since deleted my profile, by the way), thought it was some kind of Britain’s Got Talent audition and put no thought into their decision whatsoever.

To be fair to Our Dave (which I generally won’t be, as I have a feeling he won’t be all that fair to me and my ilk in the months to come), whoever got into office this time was mortally fucked, what with the debt mountains and crumbling economical issues. If he turns around and surprises us all by not cutting off the working class and watching as we drown in the Channel, then I’ll give him a chance. Honestly, though, I’m not holding out much hope.

This week I’ve got two book orders to process…one for Gardners (which is the “test run” order I placed at work – look like it’s going to be easy enough to get it stocked regularly) and the other with Bertram’s. I’ll sort that this weekend. I got the photographs back from Nicky (NKM Photography) so I can now pull together a press release of some kind, and send a story off to the Express & Star, the Chronicle, etc. I’m also going to send a little something off to Pool Hayes, suggesting they maybe buy a copy for their library…that would be pretty awesome.

On the university front…I’ve dragged together a personal statement of some kind for the Warwick application, and I’ve also put together a 10 page portfolio. I got back one of the academic references (in an unmarked, sealed, sinister envelope that I am dying to open) and am now just waiting on the second so that I can send it off. I’ll probably have to hang around until the 20th (THE HOLY BLESSED DAY KNOWN AS PAYDAY I SAY LORD THANK YA!)  so I have the spare cash to submit it…£30 just to apply, daaaamn.

Money is an issue in general, really, though isn’t it always? My mum wants to borrow £350 so she can get the car fixed and it’s just…urgh. I’ll do it because if the car works, I can theoretically use it to speed along my driving progress (I’m avoiding booking a lesson this week, and shall lie to instructor saying I was ‘busy’ despite the fact I have no tangible life, because I hate driving), thus increasing the chances of me escaping the country at short notice, should the day ever come when I am able. I tweeted this little statistic, but here it is again for those of you who don’t follow my Twitter: my student debt is an impressively depressing £22,075.81. Looks like I’m trapped in England for the duration, then.

I’m enjoying Adam Lambert’s album at the moment, because it’s dramatic, soaked in glitter and fun to sing along to:

Oh, and before I go…this website is a year old this month. Time flies!

“Sorrow, sank deep inside my blood,
all the ones around me
I cared for, and most of all I loved,
but I can’t see myself that way.
Please don’t forget me, or cry while I’m away.”

10th February 1981 – 28th December 2009

“It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we tell you of the passing today of Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan. Jimmy was not only one of the world’s best drummers, but more importantly he was our best friend and brother. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jimmy’s family and we hope that you will respect their privacy during this difficult time.

Jimmy you are forever in our hearts.
We love you.

M Shadows, Synyster Gates, Zacky Vengeance and Johnny Christ.”

The frost pains me, but it sure is pretty in the mornings.

I hope you’ve all had a pleasant few days; I’ve enjoyed my Christmas. This year there has been no drama, no arguments, just carefully choreographed visits from the brothers (both have moved out now, which is pleasant) and lots of fun with the rabbits as they wrestle with the low-hanging branches of the Christmas tree. I’ve been reading this helpful website recently, and I think I’m gonna have a good go at bonding the two of them, when the New Year comes around.

Speaking of New Year, I should really start thinking of a costume for Lisa’s party. Every year we have some sort of get together, and this year fancy dress is on the menu. I fear Hallowe’en exhausted me creatively…whatever I make will surely pale in comparison. Maybe I’ll go down the Addams Family route and dress as a homicidal maniac: “they look just like everybody else”.

I’m excited for the New Year…there will be just the one resolution, this time around. I’ll save that for the day itself, I think.

I downloaded the six new tracks Taylor Swift put on the re-release of her Fearless album, yesterday. I don’t know why so many artists are doing that lately…just putting out the same record, with a few new tracks tacked on the end. Thank God for iTunes, and being able to just buy the songs seperately. Anyway, they’re really pretty songs. I especially like Untouchable at the moment, so yeah, check it out if you want something unashamedly girly to listen to. Jay (from work) also gave me Lady Gaga’s new songs, that appear on The Fame Monster (re-release of The Fame). Not gonna lie…a few of them are really, really good pop songs. Just a shame she’s such a flamboyant raging ego machine.

There was bound to be a deeper intended purpose for this blog, but I don’t remember what it was, so let’s just allow it to reach a natural end. The little rabbit is unsupervised in the living room at the moment, which doesn’t bode well, and I also need a shower before I go to bed tonight.

A belated Christmas greeting to you all, then.

Marley’s sent me a track he wants me to do some vocal work for, but before I can do that, I need some writing to accompany it. As usual, his track is excellent; I need to do it justice. The first four minutes are of a really sweet, gentle melody, so naturally, I want to put some pretty fucked up lyrics over the top. I wonder if that would be okay?

I feel inspired. I’ve been getting to grips with some of Charles Bukowski’s poetry this week, after picking up one of his anthology’s at work. I’ve also been revisiting Anno’s work, reminiding myself why I do what I do, and why I’m determined to achieve. I think, right now, I’m going to work on a chapter of Nom. And then, once I’ve eaten my tea, I’m going to listen to Marley’s track, and get in the zone.

I crave creativity. It can be done. It will be done.