a few reasons i is quite happy today

lovely perfect surf
sunshiiiiiine
fun last weekend down south
more to come this weekend, north and south
been paid
am the Country Life centrefold (not seen it, sure it's hilarious)
being left to work in peace
scored tons of freelancing work
going to a birthday party tonight with my girls
goin' dancin' tomorrow night (and maybe sign painting?)
think have scored a new 5/4/3

Divers in a RIB.

Pednvounder, mind the nudies

Nine Maidens in a Row

Just wrote an article about another little foray into the myths and legends of Cornwall…it's on the Matador travel site.

Best thing to do when the surf's not great!

tidy, boi

I have been told I have been writing 'gobbledegook' (cheek!), so you just get a nice picture today.

These two intertwined trees right at the top of the woods are to become the centre of Tŷ Twt, my writing cabin.

targets

belen

Nice little surf at Fistral, but wish had gone in this morning when it was 3ft. Need proper waves, and lots of them, if am to be ready to surf reef. Still happy as in my 3/2 and loving the quad.

Am doing NaNoWriMo again, so probably won't be posting a lot. If I am, I'm procrastinating. The book is about surfing - surprise!

famous anyway

Well, I haven't wanted to update for a couple of days because I wanted to leave the post that Drift mag linked to on top ;-). It seems my little brother is not the sole reader of my ramblings! (Aside: how I would love to write for Drift.)

Small clean surfing lunchtimes all week, lovely. Had a nice session at Whoopsadasies (no, not its real name) and one yesterday at Fistral which was rather frustrating. But the water's still warm and God, how I love autumn.

Saved a hedgehog from certain squashing as well, so I think my karma bank is looking good. It needs to, everything else is a bit shabbby…(violins).

corgi

Stephen King has a Corgi called Frodo. I am in good writerly company:

'You have to have a place, but it can be anywhere, really. You have to have some time, but it can be anytime. Early this summer, while my wife and son were doing a joint reading at the public library in Portland, Maine, I got stuck with dog-duty. Our dog is Frodo, a plump and cheerful Welsh Corgi. He makes no trouble. I took him to Deering Oaks Park, found a bench in the shade and wrote four good pages on my new novel in the notebook I carry around. Frodo kept an eye on the ducks. Those four pages weren't perfect -- far from it -- but they were words on paper, and they marched.

People walked past, and no one gasped, "Oh, look! That man is caught in the cosmic godhead fire of the writing life!"'

more

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!]

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).

new phrase

If it swells, ride it - seen on a car sticker by Laurz. Love it.

Not much to ride today but going for a Fistral paddle anyway in a bit.

Have decided to have cheerleader theme for birthday - never seen it in Newks, allows short skirts, glitter and legwarmers and general silliness. People who don't want to act like a child can just wear a skirt and tshirt, so everyone should be happy.

poetry

Terry Eagleton for The Times:

“Whereas civilised types stare through the window of language to the world beyond, poets are fascinated by the pattern of dents and scratches on the windowpane, and by the cool feel of the glass on the fingerpads.”

writing progress

And there's still surf today. Deadline? Whatever.