Taking Stock of the Summer

Back home after a few days away. Glad to be home to do my own thing, and be in my study with my cat and do work that pleases me.

I've been taking stock of the summer and thinking about three months of being busy with all kinds of things. The events that were good and worthwhile were small, people-centred, community-based and the product of people who cared. The things I went to that were awful were big and corporate and featured show-offs trotting out some line about their own amazing success.

There were more of the former (the Huddersfield school reading, Levy Pride, teaching at Moniack, the Vworp convention, the Gay Men's Writing Group, the Jumble Trail, the children's part of the Edinburgh book festival) and mercifully fewer of the latter (Manchester Pride and the MMU contribution to the Libraries conference.)

I will endeavour to cut down on my visits to places where there are blowhards spouting jargon and bigging themselves up and I want to carry on being around people who are doing real stuff and making art and work that they care about.