Dead blog

Just thought i should point out that this blog is over, finished and dead but that i am leaving it here for archival reasons. What archival reasons? Well, they're not clear in my mind just yet but y'know, so people can look at it after. Something like that.

Noodles

... that's what I had for dinner. During dinner I bored my gf Jane with my various worries about the festival. What if there aren't enough signs, banners and posters for instance? What if people just walk round in circles cos they don't know what floor they're on? I mean, last year, there were women who never went upstairs at the club night because they didn't know there was an upstairs.

Got home to a phonecall from Friend Hiraani, the acting chair of YLAF and one of four members of MUFF, the Ministry for Unbridled Fun & Frivolity - charged with bringing a little levity to this year's proceedings. She didn't sound very levitous. She, her gf Sarah P and our pal Robyn had set up a signs factory in the living room, making banners, A3 posters and jolly signs with some old sheets, a dot matrix printer and a set of poster paints. A week to go, 'thousands' of signs to make, 10 o'clock at night... IT'S GOING TO BE ALL RIGHT.

There is much to be cheerful about. Authors emailing me from the States saying how excited they are to be coming to York next week. The fact that I have actually completed half of the schedule for the sound & lighting guys... not all of it, but half is good, right? Oh, and the fact that I took out festival insurance today.

It would be nice to think there was plenty of time left but there isn't. So it's time to stop worrying and get in the party mood. Which is why I'm sat in front of the telly watching Death of a President - a pseudo documentary in which President Bush gets shot dead. A strange form of entertainment. After the ads, we were warned that there would be flashing lights in the next part, but not that it is PRETEND. People up and down the land probably think the president has been assassinated. No comment.

Oh, yeah, forgot, the concert has sold out. If you're coming to other stuff, why not book in advance? It's easy and it will make you feel good. Start by visiting the YLAF website at www.ylaf.org.uk

BLOG OF THE WEEK = Jackie Kay (who's coming to YLAF next week by the way in case you didn't know): www.poetrysociety.org.uk/npd/blog06.php

See you next week!
Helen

12 days to go

Woooo-hoooo 12 days to go till YLAF 06. So what distressing and irrelevant news about my personal life can I tell you before I shamelessly plug the fest? Well, about a week ago I got my hair cut. I meant to blog about it then but I got distracted. Here is a photo. See what happened?

My barber ran the cut-throat razor swiftly over my neck about 5 times. During those two seconds I was thinking, Wow that really hurts, gosh. Then I got home and there was the lovely VG Lee waiting on my doorstep in the rain uncomplaining as ever (just wait till her next novel when she will satirise my selfishness and how I would rather go to the barber than be home when my friends come round etc) and she saw the back of my neck and her eyes went wide in horror. So I thought I'd share it with the group. Cos people like horror, don't they?

On the bright side, the programme is out for YLAF. It's inside the latest issue of Dykelife and the best bits are posted on our website at www.ylaf.org.uk as PDFs about the book festival or just plain useful text about the cabaret.

I've just been chatting with Salena 'Saliva' Godden about her act at the cabaret. She's going to do her funny poems about wee-holes and the like. I've seen her doing that stuff at the SpitLit fest and it's fab. She's fab. As are all the acts on that night in fact.

So I hope you will be joining us!
H x