Work Is a Seven Letter Walk...

Dear Juliet

I'm back on the job today, and that involves walking the length and breadth of Shifnal all eventide.

I could take the car, but I still think hauling a ton of metal around five hundred yards at a time doesn't make much sense. And I need to keep my legs working if I'm to climb the Wrekin, see Middle-earth and commune with Tolkien's hobbits...

So I'll be doing my best to help Shifnal's frail and elderly once again, and I think I've got about enough left in me to make it to the end of 2028. Pension's in 2031 (I'm actually getting a small NHS pension now, which makes me [as I put it] a demi-pensioner) and I'm not sure whether or not I'll make another move or what my final fate will be. I do not miss the Scottish winters. Avalon would be nice but it's way beyond my budget, the U.S. immigration system is broken and while there's also Ryde on the Isle of Wight, there's always the danger of "rock fever." Being stuck on some small spot in the ocean, well away from where it's all happening and with no way to get back...

But I think I did my bit during the pandemic, I've been amazingly lucky and although I'm carrying a few scars from a lifetime of work, on the whole I've got no regrets.

And I certainly don't regret knowing you. I wasn't surprised yesterday that I was right back in the habit of looking for things you might be interested in, but it felt like part of my soul had been restored and I was really chuffed about that.

I did always tell people that, that you'd made me happy. And now I'm happy again. I'm also motivated to climb the Wrekin and I'll probably be in London next month for another Society of Authors (SoA) get-together plus the usual trip down Charing Cross Road and Memory Lane.

Love,

James

P.S. Booked the SoA (stock shot below). I'm changing my broadband supplier about 5th May so I might be out of contact for a couple of days, which concerns me. I can find a way round it if necessary but I'll notify you nearer the time.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Back to the Yellow Brick Road?

Image
Two recent occurrences reminded me of time's ripple effect ( in which one tiny alteration to the past can drastically change the future ) and the tantalising possibility of a resurrected  Buffy the Vampire Slayer making an end run around the ripple by following a metaphorical Yellow Brick Road to a glorious and surprising finale.. First, that glorious drunkard, The Critical Drinker, explained how 2025 was turning out to be the year that broke Hollywood . According to The Hollywood Reporter, box office revenues for this October were  the lowest in twenty-seven years . Then  Dave Cullen dissed the return of nostalgia reboots . Old shows who had their day long ago being brought back in a desperate and probably doomed attempt to draw in the madding crowds. Shows like Malcolm in the Middle , Scrubs ... And Buffy . Normally, I'd agree with Dave, revel in the Drinker's sarcastic commentary about the latest disaster caused by Hollywood's current catastrophic cycle of creative ...
Read more

Buffy the Infantry Officer...

Image
Buffy the Vampire Slayer : New Sunnydale 's pilot  has been filmed, Sarah Michelle Gellar is working with a crack team to continue ( not reboot) the Buffy saga and Ryan Keira Armstrong is an extremely talented young actress. So what could possibly go wrong? Just about everything, probably. And before anyone else does, I will admit my own bias. Yes, I think they should all do it my way but that's not going to happen. There are about three main reasons which, from my skewed perspective, mean that Buffy II is most likely buggered. The first one's a doozy! As previously explained, an extraordinary and seemingly inexplicable series of events threw myself, Dru and Juliet together, sent me halfway across the world to a mythic meeting on Sunset Boulevard and (it seems) presented me with the lost story arc . The way to continue Buffy , develop many of the existing characters' story arcs in completely unexpected ways and turn the Slayerverse upside down. The odds against all t...
Read more

Of All the Gin Joints in All the Towns in All the World... (part one)

Image
I've talked a lot about all those strange coincidences which came together for me as easily as pie and all the disasters which befell Buffy because they didn't do it my way, so it wouldn't surprise me if most of you think I'm full of shit. That no one could be that lucky. That it was all coincidence. That, like Psycho-Pirate in the original Crisis on Infinite Earths (1986), I'm locked up in Arkham Asylum, gibbering about multiple universes ... Or like Buffy herself, in the episode Normal Again ... So for argument's sake I'll tell you another story, never before written down, about one of the greatest Buffy -related coincidences I ever experienced. Post-pandemic, I started travelling abroad again. In this case to Seattle (a destination neither Buffy nor Landau-related) in September 2022. One fine day, I took the ferry across to Bainbridge Island, found the famed Madison Diner and enjoyed a fantastic burger. That was all. I booked another trip to Seattle i...
Read more