Punks in Paris

We girls are off to Paree again soon. Here we are in my contribution to Julia Scheele's forthcoming Anthology of all things Punk and female! It's called Double Dare Ya and you can still contribute to the project if ya like. And it's not too late to vote for ChiChiRaRa as best shop in East Dulwich either. I thank you.

Badass puss and poodle wuss

Took in Gustave Doré at the Musee d'Orsay last week – still has to be the coolest, baddest Puss in Boots ever!

Going through photos at Hugo's, a faded print with an oddly prohibition-era gangster vibe. Waiting for the bus to Montelimar with Zola - 1974.

Tomorrow

Yay

Midget vs midget

Sketching it as it comes out

How the croissant crumbles

This gorgeous weather is making sitting in semi darkness trying to conjure up long forgotten images even harder.

The past is another country, sometimes hard to relocate.

Emotional rescue

This year has indeed been extraordinary. As a key player in my life left the building, another I thought lost forever reappeared. My trip to Paris turned into a different kind of journey as ancient wounds were reopened and examined and long buried feelings reawakened.

Once more into the breach

Hello my brethren! I'm back on top of things as I'm busy beavering away on my entry for this year's Observer competition. It's a good feeling after a summer of being blocked. Admittedly there were extenuating circumstances but I always feel that bit more alive when I'm creating something new. It may be shit but it's MY shit. And here's a sneak preview.

There has been some pretty disturbing stirring up of ancient history of late which has been occupying a lot of space in my little brain, hence the creative block, but I seem to have got to a place where I can compartmentalise.
I'm back off to Paris for ongoing family business and catching up with some more of my past.

A quick word to express how much I enjoyed The Dan Lester Mysteries "Marked for Death". That man can certainly tell a tale, and if even half of it is true I will keep my kids well away from him, after all he is sleazy Dan Lester and has been known to bandy words like balls about. The cover is gorgeous and the lovely Oliver has done a stirling job of the artwork.

From Gay Paree to A&E by way of Bristol

Returned from Paris on Thursday night after a couple of days visiting the folks. A spot of stapling on Friday night after work and I was set for my first ever Bristol Expo.



My day trip turned out just fine. The company was fab and I made the right call for once and dressed appropriately as it was somewhat oven-like in the convention hall.

Digging the nerdfest... Above: David and Jake; below: Oli, Sean, David and Oliver



Managed not to miss my train and got there in time to meet up with the LUC gang and their hangovers for kick-off. There was a massive queue waiting to get in even before it opened with a large sprinkling of daft buggers in superhero garb – those stormtroopers and Darth Vaders must have been cooking inside their costumes. Or maybe it was some kind of sponsored slimathon...
The stall was heavily manned with seven or eight of us sharing the two chairs in rotation. Did a fair bit of circulating around the hall and bumped in to a few familiar faces. And I dared Sean to steal an apple at the Ramada. We're so rock'n'roll.
By the end of the day my feet were killing me and Richy and I managed to lose Jake on our quest for food with the help of Sean's crap excuse for a map.
It all turned out OK. We eventually stumbled upon the Weatherspoon by accident and everyone gradually drifted there including, finally, Jake who was most pleased to have found not only a branch of Subway in his wanderings, but also the car he had lost earlier that morning.
Had to leave before the Eagle Awards to get my train back to town.
I arrived home at midnight just in time for a whole other drama to unfold.
Suffice to say that not a lot of sleep was had as I fielded calls from Nick from the hospital until he got home at 6am. I brought Lucy home on Sunday afternoon, thankfully with no lasting damage, but we were all pretty shaken by the incident.
And so relieved that I had decided to only go for the day.
Everything happens for a reason.

There's the rub

Krissie and I went to the British Museum again for another bout of statue rubbing and hey presto she got a job a couple of days later so don't tell me they're not magic...
Thursday checked out some comedy at the Masons Arms, Friday back at the Inn on the Green for a few drinks and Carbon Silicon (Mick Jones and Tony James) night. Gary Crowley DJing and Nick on the receiving end of much love (and quite a few drinks) from some excellent chaps who happened to be Members fans.
Then it was off to Paris Saturday to fulfill my filial duty and catch up with family and old chums, back crack of dawn Tuesday and straight in to work.
Phew. Now hoping for a few clear days to get some drawing done.