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I had absolutely nothing to blog about yesterday so I didn’t bother. Had I written anything you would only have discovered I had to switch into full-time daddy mode and had not the time to pick up a book never mind write some prose. That’s the way it goes sometimes.
The Sharjah International Book Fair kicked off a couple of days ago and I’m following the events closely through Lisa Dempster’s blog and @ShjIntlBookFair. Why am I doing this? Because I was invited to attend but regretfully couldn’t manage. As things have transpired on a personal level, I may have had to cancel anyway, but it’s still a drag to be reading about what I would have been involved with and am now missing out on.
As I sit here in Scotland watching everything that is happening over in Sharjah (near Dubai), I’m insanely jealous when I think I could have been there partaking in discussions, workshops and talking about writing—all expenses paid! Maybe next year, but the fact I was invited at all is testament to the power of Twitter and to online networking.
WhenI got home from work last night I had an extra special surprise waiting for me. @StevieWardDrive had sent me a strange parcel, which when I opened, was delighted to discover it to be a slice of the Clootie Dumpling he had made the day earlier and been boasting about on Twitter. He’d only posted it to me all he way from Greenock, and it arrived in perfect condition in tinfoil and jiffy bag.
I enjoyed it most graciously with a cup of tea after my dinner. Cheers Stevie!
I’ve got a brand new special offer on the go for the HALLOWEEN WEEKEND. Get 20% off ALL my poetry chapbooks when purchased throughwww.colingalbraith.co.uk. This means you can buy FRINGE FANTASTIC, POOLSIDE POETRY and SILLY POEMS FOR WEE PEOPLE VOL.2for only £19.18, a saving of £4.79!
Make sure you use code GHOST305 when checking out. Offer vanishes on 1st November.
When I bought tickets to see UB40 at the Usher Hall next week, their ticketing system was so crap I fell into the trap of submitting my payment request twice because the first attempt returned an error. It turned out that the first attempt had gone through so I ended up with two extra tickets. I put them up for sale on eBay on Tuesday evening at around 9pm and by 10:10pm they’d sold. Result! I get my money back and a couple of UB40 fans who missed out will get to see the band’s final gig.
It got me to thinking. Years ago I used to purchase a lot of items through eBay as my passion for Madness moved me to start collecting a lot of their original vinyl record, promos and other memorabilia. I ended up with all kinds of rarities like one of the 500 original 12” pressings of Don’t Quote Me On That, a 7” copy of Uncle Sam wrapped up in an American Flag, to an all-one- paper suit (as in jacket, trousers and hat) used in the making of one of the videos (I forget which one).
So now I’m thinking, I have a load of other stuff in my attic that may just raise a few extra bob and also be a good way of clearing out said attic, which slowly over the past five years has collected all kinds of things in its belly. I won’t be selling any Madness stuff, or indeed any vinyl in case any fans are reading this, but it’ll likely be music duplicates, movies and other such items. It’ll be a kind of online car boot sale. And, of course, it may also be a venue I never even considered for selling my books.
Later peeps.
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