An image for Freelance & Creatives Friday, repeating what's in the post

This Friday, we're running our lovely catchup for freelancers and creatived. It's free, casual and a chance to meet others in the same boat and share tips and advice. Starts at 1pm.

A good way to leave a conversation is to cast a spell with the blood of a virgin to summon the dark load of chaos to consume the person you are talking to. Works every time.

Desmond morris died today. Famed zoologist who wrote ‘The Naked Ape.’ Quite controversial when it came out as it suggested a lot of what we do isn’t different from animal behaviour.

He should have looked at a Britain First march. The evidence is all there.

I also realised I’m not as smart as i thought i was

*by no.1 child

this app needs an edit button to correct autocorrect

just watched the latest film busy no.1 child and realised I don’t have the same high level visual literacy as they have.

it’s great to be superseded.

this is not sarcasm or irony. proud dad.

i may get a cane. a good tapered one with a silver topped piece. not because i need one. just so i can prod things. the world needs a bit of prodding.

golf is a waste of good grass

to perform interest in a subject that was the focus of the previous governments policy, the introduction of ‘new paperwork that will make your job easier’ which it never does and is just so they can write an essay for a management MA they are doing.

by people who have learnt key phrases and see kids as just a career ladder to climb, the long hours and neglect of my own family, the mounds of paperwork and forms that just go in a cupboard just in case ofsted arrive, a culture of ‘can i have a quiet word,’ directionless meetings where people talk

i have met people who have found out i used to be a teacher and they usually ask: do you miss it?
and they always seem a little taken aback when i say: no.

i don’t miss the stomach problems over the course of the term, the mouth ulcers before returning after a school vacation, being micromanaged

masses amused. we move towards yet another now moment. you must watch this! it screams. don’t think. just be. here’s a sound bite. a gotcha. don’t think. everything is now performative. we are in the age of the extroverts. the screen grabbers. down with silent thought. contemplation.

where has the strive to inform and educate gone. the desire to better the all. to share new ideas and concepts not just repeat the concepts and interests of the tabloid newspapers. all seek the big now reveal. the 15 second grasp moment. no long form plots or explorations. just revelations to keep

i find myself watching tv less. if someone were to tell me that it was ai generated i wouldn’t be at all surprised. it has become celebrity banality. will this person known for being on that programme with the person from that other programme now survive a task a five year old could complete?

backs of chairs. but this room is in the light and where the words are. and the wine. there is quiet and the sound of me tapping on a keyboard at the witching hour summoning up the word witches. the twisted figures that reside at the back at the head through the day only to seep out at night.

and write as the helicopter sound fades to nothing. just me in the light of a side lamp. the light separates this room from the dining room. the dining room in shadow and this in light. i am in the light of writing. the other in the shadow of books, wrinkling braeburn apples in a bowl, coats on the

downtime is precious. i sit in a room with just the sound of a helicopter overhead and a glass of wine on the chocolate brown side table. the glass is bowl shaped and contains a pale yellow liquid. it is almost empty. but not quite. it is an inferior white wine but it will do. and i take a sip

image of a notice board with extracts from an unpublished novel on a street next to a wall covered in graffiti

this weekend i was part of of group that took story to the streets of London guerrilla style. spoken word around turnpike lane. poetry and prose. all part of the celebrations of the @allgoodbookshop.co.uk 6th birthday party.

search the streets. find words.

you miss that one small detail.

always expecting the worse to happen.

that it is destined.

that you deserve to be unhappy.

im just a bit tired of it.

stomach issues (that’s the polite phrasing).

mouth ulcers.

dependency on anything that will relax you.

you are constantly following routines in case of a disaster that will involve yourself or loved ones.

constantly double checking.

then checking again.

just in case.

so if anyone thinks anxiety is just ‘worries.’

no.

anxiety is a perpetual worry machine.

you are in a constant heightened state of stay or flight.

you are always on alert to possible danger.

it is exhausting.

it affects you physically.

inability to sleep.

around your neck. almost like fingers. the screen shines brightly. too bright. blinks off. darkness.

begins to flicker. flicker. then pop. off.
you are left in the room in darkness with just your mobile phone saying to yourself everything is just fine. just normal. you say everything is just fine and just normal despite the sensation of a cold chill moving up your spine and over your shoulders and

they crawl up the wall and creep across the ceiling filling the corners. the dark places.
and you continue to scroll on your screen. take a sip of drink. it is then you get that single movement in your corner of your eye. just a moment. was it? wasnt it? over there by the floor lamp whose bulb

you know its late.
and youre probably sat in your lounge at home with a glass of whiskey or wine nearby. idly scrolling the screen.
not paying attention but paying attention.
the images and words just going by as the shadows in the living room crawl up the wall.

*fast paced. damn big fingers.

no hugh is an issue. you need someone who can feed lines and bring structure.

youtube viewing was annoying due to so many ads.

yeh. i know you need to make money but so many ads is killing the flow of the show.

i will see what episode 2 does.

watched the 2026 episode 1 of mock the week. the bbc has its faults but knows how to edit to make a show face paced. some parts definitely went on too long. you can edit out gags for a special later. you dont have to show them all. the ask the audience bit was not needed and needs to be cut now.

damn auto correct

logic=ukgov