Subject to Change – 21st May 2021

Every time I found my place
I decided it was time to leave
Comfort never seemed to interest me
I needed something new to believe

But I always remember my friends
And the happiness they bought
I left to spread it further
And find new ideas to report

Shared with Reena’s Xploration Challenge #317


Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful for the little mouse in our living room last night. It was small and cute and impossible to catch. Cap was only vaguely interested in it and scared when it ran at him. Amy brought Kim in from outside and she caught it immediately. She was very happy. I felt a little sorry for the mouse but I know it happens every day outside our living room.


I overheated yesterday, testing myself to see how long I could bear it. I was reading, and it was uncomfortable, but I was trying not to fidget or complain – ultimately, I had to get to some aircon. I was dressed in pants and a long-sleeved shirt, too – all tucked in. A dumb attempt at temperature assimilation!

Amy complains about the heat all the time – well, everyone does – it’s very uncomfortable at the moment. No wonder people go mad in temperatures like this!

Anyway, the result of this was falling asleep deeply in our living room aircon at about 5 pm. Amy woke me up at 7.45 pm to watch some TV, but then I retired to the bedroom to read a little before more sleep.

Whilst reading, Amy rushed in shouting, ‘There’s a rat in the living room!’ I got up quickly to a wild-eyed Amy and a bemused Cappuccino. She said it was behind the TV cabinet but I couldn’t see it. Eventually, she pointed it out, and it was a cute little tiny field mouse, balanced on the black cables from the back of the TV. No wonder I couldn’t see it. Some rat!

We tried to nudge it out so that Cap could have the honour to catch it and save his family from certain death, but he was scared of it and kept running away whenever it came near him. What a cat! Amy ran outside and called Kim Chi whilst I failed in grabbing the little cutie by the tail over and over again.

Cap had given up at this point, and I was chasing this thing whilst laughing my head off. Kim Chi appeared from next doo,r and Amy brought her in and instantly caught the mouse in her mouth. Then I picked her up to take her outside, and in doing this, Kim dropped the mouse and off it ran again.

At one point, the mouse was in the corner right by Kim’s tail, but she was looking the other way, totally unaware. I cracked up. After a couple more minutes, Kim eventually caught it again, and we managed to get outside. I made a feeble attempt to loosen Kim’s jaws to give the mouse a chance but gave up, and she walked off to play with it some more.

I resumed my reading back in the bedroom, wondering if I would be able to sleep after all this excitement. Fortunately, I was able and sleeping so deeply I didn’t even hear the storm in the night, which thankfully lowered the temperature somewhat by the morning.

As I’m writing this, not even 9 am, I can already feel the heat fusing my shirt to my skin with sweat. It’s going to be a long day, but thankfully, the weekend is coming.

*The Week That Was – 24th December 1984

Record of the week: Manitou (live)

24th December 1984
Met Bernice and Steph. Wandered around Wimborne and got cold. Came back. Not feeling too well. Felt like dying. Jim, Jez, Roo have betrayed me and themselves.

25th December 1984
DAMIAN DIED TODAY – R.I.P.
Went to Murray’s. His dad has borrowed a business computer – decent.

26th December 1984
Found out the bastards put my name in the paper.

27th December 1984
Pissed around at work. Everyone from Gaunts is being a cunt. Especially Murray.

28th December 1984
Played cards at work. Got letter for payments through.

29th December 1984
Got copying done. Went up to gig. Gave out leaflets. All groups were good, especially Manitou. Went back to Fog’s. Got back at 2.15. Went to sleep at 3.

30th December 1984
Got up at 12. Tried to start bonfire but it wouldn’t go. Will Damian never rest? Read a bit more of book. Went to sleep.

*The Week That Was – 12th March 1984

Record of the week: Confessions Of Sin – Richochet or Roundabout (?) (live), Anti-Sect – In Darkness There Is No Choice, Sex Gang Children – Mauritia Mayer, Abyss, Deuche

12th March 1984
Rupert might go tonight. Physics – started new group, Pregnant Combine Harvesters. Maths – shit. Social Studies – had a laugh. H.E. – piss funny. Walked down to Wimborne. Collected moped. Found out I’m still not legal. Rode back. Rupert’s mum took us to Wimborne – got bus for Bournemouth. Went to gig – looking forward. Disgusting Pukey Scarves – not too bad. Someone (?) – good. Josh and John – fucking ace (bit like SPK). The Thing – just like Hawkwind – fucking good. Confessions Of Sin – bloody fucking amazing. Ended with Loose (again), bassist chucked his guitar about. Saw Neville there. Came back 10.45, got home 11.40 and here I am now.

13th March 1984
Going to look for new moped tomorrow. R.E. – ok. P.S.C.E. – wrote a song about Newtown (?). Maths – shit. Biz – crap. English – good. P.E. – played a serious game of basketball. Come home. Rang Simon, said practice was on. He rang back 10 minutes later – said it wasn’t. Went on moped to collect records off old Ratty. Was in pub. Had a coke – no d ‘n’ d. Went up to Simon’s – who wasn’t there. Came back. Ran out of petrol near Murray’s so left moped there. Pick it up tomorrow. Came back with Mum. Played records. Lost track of time doing art. 12.15 Mum told me to turn records down. I thought it was 11.15.

14th March 1984
Thinking of getting a DT50 depending how much. H.E. – time plan exam – piss boring – fucked it up. Lunchtime – went down to practice football – had a laugh. R.E. – ok. English – reading some ace poems. Biz – ok, electric typewriter. Maths – shit. Mum picked me up. Went to 3 Legged Cross and decided to get Kawasaki AE50 – looks good. Collect on Sunday (?) £625 (?) – on the road. Go get moped in a mo’. Went down – had a laugh. We got Burt’s trousers down for a laugh – he wasn’t too pleased. Went for a drive about on moped. Went to Horton and back. Watched football Derby 0-1 Plymouth.

15th March 1984
Looking forward to Sunday. Julie’s acting like she doesn’t want to go on Saturday. Maybe I don’t want her to now. Art – ok. P.E. – talking to Daisy in weight training room. Lunch – not a lot happened. Social – not too bad. Biz – ok, getting used to electric now. English – ok. Cleaned out Damien – fucking bit me again. The cat had a sniff at him too. Went to Gaunts. People in school – knocked on windows. We nicked Martin’s trousers – he started crying and went to tell his mum. Came back with a stick. He started smashing Jasper’s lights so Jasp hit him. Mark came back with a stick. They made up in the end. Saw cops on way home.

16th March 1984
English – pretty boring. H.E. – very boring. Maths – don’t remember. Lunch – must have been boring cos I don’t remember anything. Art – ok. Biz – ok. Physics – had a laugh. Writing more PCH. Went to Muz’s and chippy. Got bored so went to Houldey’s. Watched football. Southampton beat Liverpool 2-0. Got bored. Went back to Muz’s – nicked on of his mum’s fags – then she gave me one. Came back. Watching film ‘Tower of Evil’ while finishing Bloodstains cassette cover. Went to sleep

17th March 1984
Get up. Caught bus. Saw Gilby (?). Saw Jasper in Poole so went around with him – he was looking for Muz etc. Found them. Went back to Arndale. Met Lisa. Had a chat. Saw Justin. Not doing an awful lot. Met mother at 3.15. Went to Huxhams, Parkstone – got a bike jacket and reflector. Came back to Wimborne – found out we lost football 5-1. Jim got an own goal. Came back. Still looking forward to tomorrow. Went to Muz’s had a laugh in Gaunts knocking down hedges. Could have gone to Muz’s sister’s party. Started at 10 ended at 4. We didn’t have any way of getting back. Muz was a bit pissed off. Came home. Watched Joan Rivers and Comic Strip. Went to sleep.

18th March 1984
Got up 10. Had a fag. Put on Anti-Sect. Went to collect moped. Had a practice around the estate in 3X. Came back. Had dinner. Took dog. Went out again. Saw Chris. Went down to Witchampton. Saw Pru (?) and Carly. Went to Muz’s – he wasn’t in. Came back. Went out again. Went to Roo’s. He wasn’t in. Waited but left. Went to Muz’s – he wasn’t in. Went to Simon’s – he wasn’t in. So I went to Jim’s – he was in. Stayed there. Wrote a song. Had a couple of fags. Came back. Clocked up 43 miles. Watched Spitting Image. Had some semolina. Watched a film. Long weekend. It’s good. Went to sleep.

*The Week That Was – 5th March 1984

Record of the week: Confessions of Sin – Loose (live)

5th March 1984
Physics – ok. Maths – shit. Social Studies – ok. Someone put my bag in a bin so I left it there. H.E. – ok. Got letter from Black Flag’s drummer Bill Stevenson. They’ve got a new LP – My War, released March 1st so should be here soon. They’re coming over early June – right when my fucking exams are. Fuckin’ typical. Practised at Simon’s – fuckin’ ace laugh. Especially Balderson’s Boots. Hill Street Blues – fucking funny.

6th March 1984
Found my bag. R.E. – ok. P.S.C.E. – shit. Maths – shit. Wellman wanted to see me – Mrs Bell said ‘well done’ – fuckin’ bitch. English – good. P.E. – had a fuckin’ laugh pissing around in basketball. Getting good friends with Julie again. Maybe taking her to Brownsea on Saturday before gig. (?) not open yet. Went to Muz’s – making fireworks with Jasp. Had a laugh with some on wall (?)

7th March 1984
H.E. – did fuck all. Got hamster cage for Damien – he ate 7 other mice on Monday. Should get him tomorrow. Physics – ok. Didn’t do a lot at lunchtime. R.E. – has film on addiction. English – ok. B.Studies – shit. Maths – fuckin’ shit, got more revision books today. Went to Muz’s, Burt came round. We went up to the common. Blew some aerosols up. Burt shit himself. Went back to Shirl’s who gave us some (?) and a burger. Went to Muz’s, played a bit on his computer. Came back.

8th March 1984
Met Damien. Art – bit of a laugh. P.E. – badminton, fuckin’ knackered. Pissed off for some reason. Talked to Julie. Social Studies – not too bad. Went for a fag with Mandy. Business Studies – won part of a lottery to use an electric typewriter. English – reading. Took Damien home on bus. Chris gave me a lift from bus. Put Damien in cage. He’s not very sociable. When I picked him up he pissed all over me. Not a lot happening tonight. Doing some art and even revision. Rang Paul and Andy who seem to hate each other now.

9th March 1984
Julie isn’t coming tomorrow – but next Saturday. Bit pissed off. English – ok. Got Aischrolateria tape. People liked it. H.E. – boring. Maths – shit. Art – Mini brought in his moped to draw. Business Studies – pissed around on electric typewriter. Physics – ok. Saw some Saw some common (?) punk on the tube. Went to Muz’s. Chris came down. Me, Muz and Burt went up to Houldey’s and had a crack-up. Listening to Aischrolateria now – for a laugh.

10th March 1984
Played football against Bournemouth who were acting like a bunch of pricks – we still lost 5-3. Met Simon in Wimborne. Went to Ratty’s. Went to Poole. Watched Simon have his hair cut. Went to Record Fair. Bought Skids/SGC/Fall singles. Ratty took them back for me. Got bus to Bournemouth. Went up to gig. Had a chat with everyone. COS weren’t playing which pissed me off a bit. Atrox played instead. Then Breakout. Then COS turned up too – we had a fuckin’ great time. Loose for 10 minutes – ace. Idiom Tribe went on – real heroes. Aheads went on to catch everyone. I went back then so missed Self Abuse. I should see them on Monday though.

11th March 1984
Finally stirred at 10.40. Feeling a bit pissed off but looking forward to tomorrow. Went to Muz’s, saw Conway on the way. Muz wasn’t in so went to the BMX track in the woods. Started hailing it so went to Shirl’s – who wasn’t in. Left some tapes for him to tape. Went home. Remembered I had to collect bag from Houldey’s so did so. Saw Dandy – lovely. Came back. Watched It’ll Be Alright On The Night. Had a bath. Had a chat with Mother. The fuckin’ money situation is in a terrible state. Damien bit me today.