Absolutely Nothing At All:

That's a line from one of my friend's band songs from about 1986. It has no bearing to anything other than it makes me happy to think of them. They were good, but they were from Coventry so they kept pulling the rug out from under their own feet; that and the singer, who copied Bowie shamelessly but made it a taboo subject to mention, went a bit barmy, which is a shame. There but for the grace of God... I saw some friends from the UK last weekend at gig. What a difference an hour or so of belly-laughing with your mates makes to your week.

I've been at home. There is so little to blog about when I'm at home it's pitiful. The things I like to do at home (don't get ahead of yourselves here...) aren't so interesting for me to write about, never mind for anyone else to read about. But I have this blog and it keeps pouting at me from the internets while I'm surfing travel websites.

I did read this interesting article on the disappearance of comedy from the modern novel. Flawed but interesting, if you like reading about novels.

I also saw an inspiring interview with Geoffry Canada, whom I think is one of the most important and inspiring New Yorkers I've ever encountered. He runs an organization called Harlem Children's Zone, which is an initiative to develop educational opportunituies in Harlem; addressing the families and the children's needs from an early age to give them an alternative to the less aspirational routes that the kids would be exposed to in Harlem. They do amazing work and it's a relief to hear a positive black voice that isn't running some tired faux-gansta' bullshit or working a solely political agenda (Which I'm always sceptical of, whether from a white, black or 'other' standpoint). There's not a lot of airtime given to straight-edged, pragmatic, hard-working black leaders in the media talking about strengthening their communities one child at a time - I guess it's not such a compelling subject (as far as I can see; I'll admit, it's not something I'm policing closely, I'd be hapy to be wrong) - and I imagine the squeaky wheels get all the oil, right? But it's inspiring to know that while there are duplicitous bastards like Reverend Ike syphoning cash out of the community and Snoops pontificating on misogyny in every media outlet after the Imus incident while making as much money as they can from pimping the people they claim to represent; there are also people doing the right thing, quietly, without fanfare, and trying to have a positive effect on the next generation, and one that isn't based on getting their disposable income from them at some indeterminate point. Check out the Harlem Children's Zone and give them some tax-deductible money if you're so inclined.

Aside from this, I've been writing non-stop (but not on the blog). I'm on page 295 out of 353 of a rewrite today. Got a deadline to meet before I go away but I'm not kidding myself. I'm taking an old laptop to Asia (one I don't care if I lose) so that I can work out there too. Like I can't write for three weeks; who am I kidding?

Recommended Reads:
We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lional Shriver. Astute, affecting and horribly timely.
The Heart of the Matter - Graham Greene - Simply a master writer.