A week off – orbific weblog

I've spent the last week on leave from work. It's been a very busy week and I've not done half of the things I planned to do (while managing to do a few things I hadn't expected). A few exciting opportunities have also opened up, which I will be working on for a while.

Last Sunday I went back to Henfield, the village where I grew up. I visited Jake Spicer's art show as well as looking round the village, comparing it to the one I remembered. The roads all seemed far smaller than they were when I was young.
Monday I was in London for Ride the Word X, a collaboration between Spread the Word and Ride the Word. The reading seemed to go very well. It was lovely to see Alex and Elle from Penumbra, as well as meeting Vincent de Souza and Jay Merill, who read a fantastic story called Billericay.
Tuesday was Telling Lies. We had some amazing performances from Rosy, Chris Parkinson and Bill Jones, with fantastic musical interludes from Madame's Butterflies. The set was dressed by Jake and the pictures looked amazing. Thanks to everyone who came along and all the people who helped out.
Wednesday was my birthday, which was celebrated in Brighton and Derbyshire. Rosy, Kitty and I shot zombies on the pier and then went on the helter-skelter, which provided great views and friction burns. We had lunch at Terre-a-terre then I headed off to Melbourne to see my sister before she went to Chicago, and ate lots of Indian food.
Friday I visited my friend Sarah Harvey's sound installation, Chambers. This was based on some ECG recordings, which had then been transcribed to musical recordings and performed by voice, double bass, saxophone and piano. It sounded incredible – the urgency of the rhythm made me very aware of my own physicality, almost disorientatingly. It was well worth the detour to Wimbledon.

I'm now back in Brighton for a while. Tonight is the next Trailer Trash night, Tarantino, then things are going to be less hectic for a week or two. I'm looking forward to doing some writing.

Below are some of the photos I've taken in the last week.