windfarm

There's a proposal to build a 350-turbine windfarm about 15 miles off Devon which could power 53% of the southwest's homes and offset 2.3 million tonnes of C02 emissions. New planning policies, previous successes and the developer's inclusion of plenty of environmental research (RSPB and Friends of the Earth are happy) makes it sound damn good to me. Am writing a news piece for CARVE on it.

It seems so win-win, and avoids so much of the Wave Hub type 'loss of swell' fuss.

william gibson

Severe excitement! One of my favourite authors, featured heavily in the dissertation for my MA (much disliked by my tutors). Still wish I'd not lost Pattern Recognition on the Tube.

Oh oh and Bruce Sterling!

Plus this

chick lit

Sushi For Beginnners, Marian Keyes
Yes, it's chick lit, but it's the kind of chick lit that I love to read when stuck in bed. Well written, realistic, you can't guess the ending from the back blurb (or indeed until 3/4 way through when she starts to resolve things), not everything ends up peachy and the characters aren't stereotypes, they're both bad and good. This one deals with lots inc. depression, cheating rats, workplace politics and of course lurve. It was great easy reading it was free with Company. Can't ask for more! 7/10

fabric love

Found in charity shop. There's some nice offcuts in Oxfam too but I'm not paying their prices!!

Another round of antibiotics. There's some surf on the south coast but I won't be getting in it. I just hope I can make it home this weekend what with the chest and the floods!

While out of the water I'm reading loads and crafting. Pics of my newest creations to bore you soon. Seeing as i'm not surfing this blog will have to reflect the other stuff I do…Just finished Gidget which was, well, strange. Didn't like it that much as I just didn't identify with the heroine - i hear enough boys boys boys from my mates, thanks.

book review - history of love

The History of Love, Nicole Krauss
Stayed in my TBR pile for faaar too long. This is a really lovely story of youth, age, love and human fallibility. So well observed and so well written you are never jarred out of the story. 9/10

beer

Six warm beers, one pot of cold water and ice, 2 cups of salt = cold beers in 3 minutes. So why doesn't sea water chill beers in 2 minutes? Well, I'll try it out anyway.

Can you tell I'm missing beer and seawater? Bacteria:

painwaves

more bloody amoxycillin
stick another pill in

petri dish lungs
filled with rust and old medicines

scratch me and i bleed green
joyous bacteria wriggle unseen

time of year…
tut, the weather…!

going surfing?
no, I can't fucking breathe, can I.

[not so sure this is finished, but it's heartfelt!]

someone

…want to remind me why the fuck I came back from Oz? (This is Luke Nero, best mate's bloke, at Dee Why.)

buan

friday surf

Laura didn't evenn go surf in the end…i paddled fromthe harbour to GW and no sign! ah well i din't mind it was 2ft+ and pretty clean too, got a few good ones and felt stronger and better. The sun even came out. I'm still thinking I need to replace my board, but it's just not an option at the moment…I had one nice right one of the bigger ones some guys hooted it (the wave I think not me) it was a great wave but I was a bit off balance. A couple of waves I didn't have that bloody back foot in the right place but somehow felt like I had time on my waves, and moved it back and it makes such a difference when it's on the pad. So that's to be worked on…it's been surfable since but really rubbish…and I think I'm getting ill again?! No way!!

first wave

The first decent wave since I did my neck in then broke my nose was surfed last night at Towan, hereafter to be known as 'human soup right'. Hurrah.

Was so so tired after deadline hell, but it was clean and 3ftish. By the time I got in it was 2ft if that and after-work full, including several people I've never seen in my life surfing very aggressively (don't punt your board at the local groms, blondey) and two girls. Only two! One is probably pro but I'm not sure who she is and I only saw her get one wave, and the other had the attitude but a full-on poo stance - shame.

Anyway I caught my three and left it at that. I can protect my nose from my own board, but not that of kooks and people who don't give a shit. First one was the best, long right where I went top to bottom a couple times and cutback once. Someone was hooting but prob not at me…haha. Nice to be in the water but the town, the crowds…I want to go searching. And time to get some coaching (and bloody hell do some training).

Hope for more tonight.

raging

There are people who are raging in their seats every day because they want another way, but don't know how.'

I'm lucky i've got a pretty creative job, and I think I do 'know how', but still the urge to 'run across the office tables, singing no no you won't have me' is there. After the last horrible month or so (except Glasto was amazing) I can finally get back in the sea and I feel I can write again, and it's like a dam building up behind me!

'Having a day job doesn't make any of us less of an artist than anyone who is doing it full-time. Making art, makes us artists. What can you do consciously TODAY, where you sit, staring at this screen, that says THIS IS TRULY ME? Wake UP and begin where you are.'

I could quote the whole thing but…today I have half-written two articles and Belen is calling me from a Bica wave. So I'm getting there. (But I'm still not working/writing on a sailboat in the Mentwais with a solar laptop charger and MacBook ;-)

Just read The Book and damn, the mag looks good. Caught a couple of howlers

Oh and I love Raurri Joseph (more).