Warming Up

Sunday 8th June 2003

I had spent Saturday night seeing a friendÂ’s band in Brighton and with a mixture of foolishness and bravado (given that the book has to be finished today) I got totally hammered.
I woke up in the Grand Hotel on the sea front and wondered for a second if it had been bombed again and I was lying in the rubble like some kind of ashen-faced Norman Tebbitt figure. Then I realised it was just the hangover kicking in. Nice one. I had planned to stick to one kind of alcohol last night, but had somehow ended up having bitter, Guinness and vodka (though not all in the same glass thankfully).
Luckliy something in me had managed to steer me to bed by around about 1am, but even so I was tired and my throat and head hurt and I was dropping everything that I picked up.
The perfect conditions for finishing my work.
I was back home by around 2pm. When you absolutely have to work, even the worst hangover canÂ’t stop you and aside from nearly falling asleep at about 6, I managed to work though til 1am and short of an extra read-thru in the morning (and an addition of an acknowledgement page and a bibliography) I have finished it.
ItÂ’s horribly final. Normally when you write something you get a chance to rehearse it, or change it as you go, or at least edit it somehow to make it OK. With this, itÂ’s pretty much what IÂ’ve given them is what the bookÂ’s going to be. I hope itÂ’s all right. I think it is, but after so much time and so much effort it is hard to tell.
I am sure that you will all let me know what you think in October.