Wildewire

To call my friend Garry "charismatic" would be a monumental understatement. I met him through the friend from school with whom I stayed when I first came to Newcastle. He is one of those people who seems to be at ease talking with anyone, regardless of their background or... anything. He has always been an ace ducker'n'diver, wheeler-dealer-type who put more energy into being 'off grid' and under the radar that he could have run a multi-national corporation.  He lodged with me for a couple of years and shared some great ideas about businesses based on recycling and living better on the planet. As airy-fairy as that might sound, I can assure you that the simple commercial principles on which his ideas are founded are superbly logical and have every reason to be achieved- if sufficient capital can be found. He has control of a large brick-built building whose history includes a train repair shop and a low-rent car mechanic's yard. It includes a one b

I am grateful to friend who organises theatre trips for a gaggle of gay men- despite the world of hassle that almost always accompanies these acts. They tend to be musicals, which are not my thing but he invited me to join them to see Jesus Christ Superstar and, as I used to love the film and the recording I had, I said yes. Later I found it clashed with a class I was supposed to be teaching, but that got cancelled at the last minute so off I went. The show was NEARLY there!  It was very rushed at the beginning- songs melding into each other in a seeming effort to get through them rather than to actually tell the story, very little scene-setting. Before I went in I said that for me, the show hinged on Judas and Caiphas in terms of the quality of the voices. The actor playing Judas was overpowered by the part, the "Superstar" number was quite painful! Caiphas was played by a black actor Cavan Cornwall whose Basso Profundo voice was like being bathed in melting maximum

It's hard dealing with the lack of communication let alone discussion of my Godson's immediate future. Its hard not to view my part in his recent past as a failure. The point is that it is over and I need to move on whilst there is still some relationship left between us. I'm getting quite 'Zen' in covering my frustrations with calm.  My Godson has always been unwaveringly CERTAIN of any decision concerning his learning that was opposed to mine. He was SURE that the scant attention he gave to his studies would at least yield passes. He dismissed my protestations that higher grades offered greater prospects as irrelevant. In exasperation I finally  reminded him and his father that he was here to go to school and that when that ended he would leave my home. His school career recently ended when he did not secure the grades to enrol into the final year.  My Godson is and always has been capable of cruising through a standard UK education, but it wasn't impo

I always start with such good intentions but more often than not, I end up doing very little on Saturdays and Sundays. I start looking for my merit badge after cleaning the house! It doesn't help when week ends start like yesterday: it was like Moordor here until about 3pm when there was a moment of sunshine. Last week end I was laid low by gout, it took a whole week to be able to walk without wincing in terrible pain. My godson will be moving out soon and I need to remind my lodger of his responsibilities to maintaining this place- I know for a fact he has never cleaned the bathroom let alone the toilet since he has lived here. Before I went on holiday, I cleaned everything when I returned, the toilet had very obviously not been touched despite him living here alone for that time. Getting back into blogging is part of freeing the intellectual log jam in my mind of things I want to write about. I haven't completed a play in twenty years! All of my creativity goes into pla

I just stopped blogging! For a year!! It seems to happen when I get busy, which is silly because that's when things are most interesting. Anyway: BIG CHANGES this year include getting a job I really enjoy and the approaching end of my responsibilities to my Godson. In March I got a job working for an organisation that serves adults with learning disabilities: Daybreak Centres Ltd . They've taken over a community centre from Newcastle Council on what was once notoriously Newcastle's "worst" estate. Daybreak use the building Monday - Friday until 3.30pm and at other times its up to me to organise and programme activities to entice the estate's residents back into the building. It is a great, people-centred organisation and I like my boss. What's even better is the fact that my first job was in a community centre and though that was a long time ago and in a different city, it was not like starting a new job but like dusting off some primary skills. I