Although I am in danger of being overwhelmed by all I have to get done I was glad that I took it relatively easy for the early part of the day (tidying up the house a bit as we're having a few people around at the weekend). I had agreed to be interviewed on Rufus Hound's Radio 4 Extra show "What's So Funny?" and being a bit burdened with work thought I might not be in the best of moods. But it was actually a good idea to get out of the house and Rufus and his cohorts were bubbly and entertaining. The interview reminded me how fortunate I am, even if at this exact moment I am cursing my inability to say the word "No" or get on with work before the last possible second. Rufus is a genuinely nice man and extremely funny to boot and it's not surprising that he gets so many jobs (even in the podcast me was bemoaning his success a few weeks ago). He is a bundle of positivity and fun, but works hard to get things right and if the TV and radio work ever dried up he could rent himself as a magic talisman, like a sort of elf or something, where if you rub his belly his joy will be transferred to you. Once when I did Argumental he was tired and a bit grumpy and it was an odd thing to witness because he has always been so exuberant on other occasions. It's good to know that this magic bewhiskered piskie can have his down days, but also a relief that they are so rare as to be noteworthy and even a little troublesome.
Anyway when I am blue the comedy Gods often send me a little comedy angel to keep me on the path of working myself into an early grave - They sent me
Billy Connolly when I was despondent in Montreal and then
Daniel Kitson to stop me thowing myself off a bridge in Edinburgh and it felt like Rufus today was another little nudge from the Heavens to keep me hurtling towards whatever awful fate is awaiting me in the future. The message was don't give up yet Rich, because we have a far worse humiliation to come. I guess the interview will be on on Friday at 10
but info on iPlayer and podcasts can be found here.
And as if to push me onwards further as I left the studio to make my way to a cafe to have a think about the Edinburgh preview I was doing that night I received an email from the British Library which said,
"The British Library would like to archive the following website:
http://www.richardherring.com/
Dear Sir/Madam
The British Library would like to invite you to participate in our web archiving programme. We select and archive sites to represent aspects of UK documentary heritage and as a result, they will remain available to researchers in the future. The British Library works closely with leading UK institutions to collect and permanently preserve the UK web, and our archive can be seen at
http://www.webarchive.org.uk/.
There are benefits to you as a website owner in having your publication archived by the British Library such as having a historical record of your website. We aim to develop preservation mechanisms to keep your publication permanently accessible as hardware and software change over time."
So that perked me up a bit. Someone had decided that my website was somehow representative of UK heritage (even if it was an example of the shit parts of it) and my blog would be preserved for future historians to read and learn from. Maybe there is someone in a silver jump suit in the year 2525 reading these very words or just noting down my story of the piss on the floor. If so, hello, how are things in the future? Can you send me a message back to let me know what awful fate the comedy Gods are keeping me alive for? And if it's really horrible could you also send some kind of cyborg to protect me and stop it happening? Do you have any new flavours of ice cream? Sorry about global warming. I feel sorry for whoever ended up having to wade through all my rubbish in the name of research, but hopefully someone out there will see this. My voice will live on into the future. Even if it's a small and plaintive voice that is ignored and unnoted.
.
I thought I would have to assassinate a member of the Royal family to get in the history books, but now I am potentially up there with Samuel Pepys as a documentarian of our times. I wish I had read the paper more thoroughly now. I am weighed down by the responsibility.
I suspect the email from the British Library is some kind of con and am waiting for the follow up that tells me I have to send them a returnable deposit of £5000 to guarantee my inclusion.
@LewisMartins on Twitter then told me that he had been studying me in history today and for a second I wondered if I was dead already and in the future and had actually managed to kill Prince Edward. I assumed it was a joke but he insisted that it had been part of a debate about the Decline of Faith in post war Britain: Anne Widdecombe Vs Richard Herring. Which is a boxing match I'd love to see. There's nothing that makes you feel old like turning up as part of history. I assume this isn't part of the curriculum but merely the effort of one teacher who has seen Christ on a Bike - but it's still rather flattering.
And in spite of tiredness and no time to do any work on the few bits of stuff I've got, the mini preview went very well tonight and the idea of a show about love has a lot of potential. I got a little buzz of excitement about it and am looking forward to getting embroiled in it fully. But first I must get on with my comedy drama. Talking of which......
