Tales From The Crypt - Saturday 7th August 2021

'I've been up all night with a kind of light burning in my brain

The flame is cold...freezing, but it takes away my pain'

As I mulled over my plan for today, it occurred to me that this has not been the most restful annual leave, nor has it exactly been centred on me doing anything that really interests me. No trips out this week (unless you count the tip) and not much else either, though I guess the end result of the work son #2 and I have been doing will help make both our lives a bit easier, though much more is still to be done.

I've done all the usual things and spent most of the rest of the day sorting through stuff.  The things you keep, or rather, in this instance the things my wife has kept, especially from the birth of our sons, but also the papers and stuff which is just rubbish. Sorting things results in one of the following choices: into a storage box (indoors or in the garage); into the shredding bag; into the bin; and, finally, things that make you stop in your tracks.

Eventually son #2 joined me in the process of reorganisation and a couple of hours later we'd cleared and sorted everything, ready for him to assemble his desk in his office.  We have a box of books to take to the charity shop (tip of the iceberg), a partially filled shredding bag and a bunch of memories to cherish.  Amongst all the things uncovered there have been a few items which are going to waste and so I'll offer them to the carers, in the first instance.  I'm also wondering whether now is the time do something about my wife's clothes.  I don't think any miracle is going to occur that means she'll ever wear them again and there are so many silk blouses/tops (whatever the correct term is), skirts and dresses that are just decaying through lack of use. The only question is, would someone else want to have them? Too much to think about - lets put that aside for another day.

Managed to steal a little time to listen to music after opening a rather fruity bottle of red wine (South African Rustenberg Stellenbosch 2019), whilst I was listening, son #2 started making dinner and informing me he was going out with friends.

We ate dinner together before son #1 and I chose a film to watch whilst Son #2 was out.  It was a toss-up between 'Westworld' (which I'm not a huge fan of, though I will have to watch it again at some point soon, I suspect) and 'Days Of The Bagnold Summer', which I'd much rather watch and so we did.

I enjoyed 'Days Of The Bagnold Summer', which is a quiet film exploring a teenage boy's unexpected summer holiday spent with his mother and the gradual development of their relationship. Earl Cave (Nick Cave's son) plays the son, Daniel, Monica Dolan plays his mother, and there are roles for Rob Brydon as a rather slippery lothario, and Tamsin Greig as the new age/hippy mother of Daniel's best friend Ky. The film was directed by Simon Bird of 'Inbetweeners' fame and is a gem of British cinema. (N.B. The use of the word quiet does not wholly apply to the soundtrack which switches between metal/death metal (the son is a fan of Metallica) and the gentler sounds of Belle & Sebastian)

All these lifting and carrying of heavy boxes every day for the last five days has taken a toll and I ache all over as if I've been in a kicking contest with a donkey, and lost. Sleep will hopefully help.

Inspiral Carpets (feat. Mark E. Smith) / 'I Want You' / 'I Want You' (Single)

[[One of the things that emerged from the week's disruption was my CD single collection, which naturally I had to delve into. Some of the bands are too obscure for YouTube (Pimlico anyone?) so I chose this which I've not heard in years. Still sounds good to me! In the meantime I'd like to track down the Pimlico EP on YouTube as 'Play For Today' is a damn fine track, and Spotify has both their EPs]]

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