CATARACTS AND SHOES

Cataract removal no.2 over and done with this morning. Am typing this with one hand while the other hand holds a magnifying glass over the keyboard. Plastic shield over operated eye plus post-op whatever prevents vision so I can't tell as yet what the result is but the consultant, my NHS surgeon, said it went very well. He also said I was very calm whereas most people are not calm during this operation. He also said he liked my shoes, which was very nice. I wore my lucky comfortable flat golden shoes. It has taken me almost an hour to type this.

LITERATURE, YOU KNOW

Is this a new lockdown-inspired industry? For the past couple of months I've been getting a steady stream of emails in my junk folder from ladies with constantly changing names, some exotic, some Anglo-Saxon, inviting me for sex. From references to my hardness and other virile qualities, they evidently assume that I am male. All give links to photographs and phone numbers (needless to say, I never click on anything). At first all the emails said, with variations, that she had "seen me walking around her apartment, I am amazing, exactly her type, I can come and spend the night with her and stay for breakfast." Then the style changed and invitations were from "young, inexperienced college girl yearning for a mature man to show her all that he can do to her." Later the messages took on more outright porno details of what was on offer. Then, since those desperate entreaties weren't getting any response, a cooler approach was tried: she is now a bored married woman longing for a mystery lover but we must be discreet because "you know, husband". The latest one is from "a tall blonde girl" longing for...etc. What I'm wondering is this:

Is everybody getting these emails? Have a bunch of female (and/or male) entrepreneurs seen a business opportunity provided by Covid19, with marketing aimed at guys fed up with lockdown, horny enough to risk accepting one or more "in the flesh" encounters? Or is this scam orchestrated by some international crime gang with even darker intentions? Whatever it is, I deleted the emails immediately but kind of wish I'd kept them, imagining that somewhere in a dingy room a group of people are at this very moment sitting at their laptops or iPhones trying to think of more effective phrases to convey their intentions. Literature, you know.

NOT A VALENTINE

Today is Valentine day? So? Valentine schmalentine. Hearts are meant to beat in regular rhythm, flowers are meant to be left in peace to grow and look beautiful before dying, chocolate is meant to be eaten or drunk whenever or IF ever you choose to do so. Valentine schmalentine doubled!

HAIR TODAY

The occasional random hacking at my own sparse locks gives me an unwanted Boris style but at least I can produce a facial expression which I don't think Mr.Johnson is capable of. True or false?

My second cataract op (right eye this time) is scheduled for the 22nd of February. I hope this one is more impressive than the previous one. Will report in due course.

REBELLIOUS SNOWFLAKES

Have been working on a new portrait and other things and occasionally glancing out the window at the dance of minuscule snowflakes not interested in regimentation, each doing their own thing. Lovely maverick snowflakes.

INSPIRED AND INSPIRING

I read this poem on the Facebook page of my friend (yet to meet in real life) Isabel Pires and it resonated so deeply that I had to correct the awful translation provided by Google's obedient but inadequate language robots. No doubt there are better translations than mine but at least you'll get the gist. I hadn't heard of Portuguese poet and journalist Manuel Antonio Pina but Isabel's page is a discovery and treasure chest of Portuguese (including some of her own) and other poetry selected by her and accompanied by art works she locates on the web to partner each poem. I'm constantly amazed by Isabel's inspired and inspiring choices.

MY LIFE UNFOLDS featured in PAINTEDSPOKEN

Richard Price, Head of Contemporary British Collections at the British Library, is also a poet, recording artist at Mirabeau hydrohotel and publisher of the online and print magazine paintedspoken. Recently he invited me to include a work of mine in the latest issue of the magazine.

I'm honoured and thrilled to see the paperback edition</a> of My Life Unfolds so beautifully and extensively presented. Make sure you explore all of the excellent paintedspoken website.

If you want to order a copy of the paperback book (£22+postage) please email me:

endapressATblueyonderDOTcoDOTuk

MIND THAT GAP!

Does anyone actually know what they're doing concerning anti-Covid vaccination? My un-official opinion is no, they don't. I had my first shot of the Pfizer on New Year's eve and was given 20th January as the date for the second jab, a gap of three weeks as officially required. A few days ago I got a text message from my local NHS practice that this appointment is cancelled and that I will be notified when a date for my second Pfizer shot will be arranged. According to the government or somebody the previously officially decided 3-week gap is now no longer essential and the gap can be pretty much any length you like as long as it's official. But according to other news I've just read, that's wrong.

The problem is that the available information, whether medical or governmental, is not only inconsistent but in dispute among themselves. Some scientific experts in the UK say it's no problem to extend the gap between shots whereas some EU experts say it's definitely a problem, potentially a serious problem. If you read the whole of the above BBC article you'll see. Whose expertise does one trust? There are also commercial factors involved about the availability and distribution of the Pfizer and the Astra Zeneca vaccines and that's one more reason to wonder what the actual facts are, medical and otherwise. Is the time lapse between first and second jabs of either vaccine truly significant in giving you immunity and/or preventing others from being infected by you? There are controversial opinions about this among the Experts. So, what does being "well informed" mean?

AMERICA INAUGURATES NEW ERA

Apart from gaga's giant red lampshade skirt and not historical but hysterical rendering of the song about the flag still being there I was very moved by this inauguration and all the hopeful messages conveyed. I watched the whole thing on my telly and snapped some photos as it was happening. Goodbye Donald, please take up knitting or some other useful activity which might calm your rage.

RESHINKING

I'm thinking about thinking. Have you noticed how much repetition goes on in your brain? I have and it really annoys me. The thing I call reshinking when you're rehashing things you've already said or written or read, repeating them to yourself like a parrot or a broken record stuck in one groove. What's the point of it? I'm going to stop it. All that nice empty space waiting for new thoughts and you're filling it up with used up reshunk stuff. I mean me, not you. You don't do reshinking,do you?