I had another varied week. On Friday, I opened the Manchester Independent Book Market, in St Ann's Square. I say opened it, I just happened to be the first act on, but opened it sounds a whole lot better. It's always interesting doing outdoor readings, mainly because the passers by have a certain level of interest before moving on. I think people see a man with a microphone in a city centre and think it might be a religious zealot, only to be disappointed to find out it's poetry.
On Saturday, I reviewed the papers on the radio show and then straight after headed to London to meet up with a couple of my uni friends, Amanda and Yin (previously Mandy and Jackie). I was literally in London for 24 hrs. It wasn't as exciting as a Jack Bauer 24 hr period but we did fit in a fair bit of drinking. You know it's going to be messy when you have tequila before you go out and then decide to have more tequila when you get back and in between that, you have a cocktail with an egg in it plus some beers. We also went to a private members bar, Shoreditch House, which has a swimming pool in it. How London i to is that??? I can't imagine the pubs I go to in Manchester deciding to install a swimming pool.
Now onto to Sunday and cut to me feeling rough on the train back to Manchester but in time for the England/Germany match. The England performance and the result did nothing to aid my recovery. The only positive I can think of about England going out, is that any women who had stupidly booked their wedding day on a day that clashed with the World Cup Semi-Final or Final can now rest easy. Guests are going to have to come up with another excuse to get out of your big day. Feel free to let us know if your wedding day clashed with a big football match.
Talking of such matters, a few weeks ago I mentioned I was working on a new project with the co-author of How to Dump your Boyfriend, Kym Cooper, looking at (funny) relationship stories. With Kym being younger than me and more knowledgable on such matters she has set up a Facebook page, at this stage we are just looking for people to join the group. So if you are on Facebook, feel free to get on board.
And Finally... Something weird seems to be happening to me in recent times when travelling on a train. The last few trains I've got I've booked the tickets online and when I come to find my seat it's always been a priority seat. I don't know if there is a rumour in the train industry that I'm a man in need of assistance. If Richard Branson or anyone else who works for a train company is reading this, I just want to say, I might be getting on a bit but I'm still ok in the normal seats. Cheers
Til next week, stay safe!