Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Lullaby

Sleep, Sleep Tonight
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So you see, when I can't sleep, I think things like this:
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'The alphabet - as places, with each letter/place combo also featuring the letter that is two ahead in the alphabet. Go!'
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Accrington (begins with A, also features C - which is two on from A)
Bedford (B and D)
Carlisle
D... Darfur
Easington
Fishguard
Grimsby
H... (In practice, my mind would wander here and I'd fall asleep whilst wondering if there might be a place called Hijack (there isn't)).
Ingleby Barwick
J... Jerusalem
Khartoum
London
Morocco (repels impulse to feel a bit sad)
Naples
O... No.
Peterborough
Queensland
Rotherham
Sunderland
Tel Aviv
Ullswater
Vauxhall... I think that's a place. I know it is. Perhaps the sort of place where people Operate Tridently (that's the nicest way that I can put it).
Wayne County
X... No.
Yokohama (begins with Y, and we're back to A)
Z... No.
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Then, the next day - for a fleeting moment, I'll wonder why I couldn't sleep. Whilst the problem begins to be processed, it's useful knowing that the short-term solution lies somewhere between Grimsby and Ingleby Barwick.
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Unrelated I: I'm reading What Was Lost, by Catherine O'Flynn. Though I'm only a quarter of the way in, there's already something compelling about the structure of the narrative. There's also something that feels horribly familiar about some of the less fortunate characters' lives (that's a work-related thing).
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Unrelated II: I'm watching the Patrice Chéreau film, Intimacy, in 10-minute chunks. So far, I'm 10 minutes in. I'm hoping that it's not going to leave me feeling hollow and with a dull ache in my gut... Sometimes... Actually, no.
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2 comments:

Meanwhile... said...

Bon voyage!

Pat said...

Now you're just being silly. You'll have to go home!