Nigel 
August 15th,2009 
In a recent interview Stephen Fry was asked if he was having a good or bad day today. He laughed and shrugged his shoulders. “I guess it must be a good day. I’m here aren’t I? Now tomorrow,who knows.”
Layer one
Today I feel like a rag that used to be a brick wall and can’t remember how.
For some time I’ve been feeling incredibly lethargic. We put the antidepressant back up a couple of months ago and that has helped that side of things,but I’m still weak. I go for a walk and if I walk too fast it knocks me out for hours. There are all sorts of jobs around the house and garden I want to do (and Jenny wants me to do) but just the thought of them makes me feel tired. We found a while back that I’m slightly anaemic. Iron tablets made a significant difference,but then the consultant asked me to stop the tablets for two months so they could check if the anaemie continued,and I felt worse again. As AB says,“You’re always ill Nige.”
Of course it could all just be in my mind.
Layer two
I’ve been working on several writing projects,and I thought I’d make significant progress over the summer with fewer distractions.
This blog is going okay. I’m not getting much feedback yet,so I don’t know what people think are the best and worst bits,but it’s helping me develop my writing and research skills. It’s fun. It’s also tiring.
The sequel to my book ‘Subversive Ramblings 1- I never thought I’d hear myself say this but I’ve started looking forward to Maths’is a third written,including a factually accurate but tongue in cheek appendix entitled ‘Build your own atomic bomb’. The sequel is of course ‘Subversive Ramblings 2′. Trouble is the first book has been rejected by ten publishers,and it looks like all submissions will be rejected for now. Is this because of the recession,or did we pick fifteen publishers who happen not to like it,or is it unpublishable?
I’m writing a book about disability which will mainly be a biography of Adam Warner. He’s only 25,but cerebral palsy has caused him to have experiences worth reading about. Interviews are going well,the material is great. It’ll be a powerful book. I wish I had the energy to write it faster.
I’ve put various incomplete novels on one side because I came up with what felt like a great idea. I’ve only written about 5,000 words of it,and I’m writing much slower than ‘normal’. Somehow the book doesn’t grab me any more. Maybe I should go back to an earlier one,probably ‘Jim’(working title,probably to be called ‘The Colours of Bruising’).
Layer three
The sun is shining through my study window 
Forecast suggests rain may not reach Leeds till this evening.
We’re having friends from Ghana round after lunch. We’ll probably all go to Roundhay Park in the afternoon,and I’m cooking for this evening. Chicken curry. My recipe. Robert is studying traffic management at Leeds University. It’s a year since he saw his family,which must have been really tough. They came over a fortnight ago. The children are 4 and 6,which is just a bit older than our grandchildren who are 1 and 4. We’re going down to London next week to see our own kids and their families
Icing?
So is the glass half empty or half full?
Both.
And I can always half refill the glass when it’s empty.
Cartoon by Miriam Slechta,taken from Subversive Ramblings 1,based on an idea by one of my past students who liked doodling in lessons.
