This might give you an idea of what is currently in the book. These are stories I have published on my blog. They are random. In no apparent order. Presently they are in the order they came to me.
These have all appeared on my blog. You may be familiar with them. There is a range of style, content and subject.
There are two schools of thought.
a. Leave them as they came into my head
b. Impose an order (Chronological, ramblings, topic, or ?)
I am currently leaning towards a. for a few reasons. Firstly it would be easier. Secondly I do not know if there is anything to gain from grouping them. Thirdly there might be a subliminal grouping anyway.
What do you think?
Contents
Introduction
Ghost story
The cat and the motor-biker
Joey my crow
Slith my boa constrictor
Bede and the Party
Hat and the E-Type Jag
Poetry – Allen Ginsberg and seeing the light
The spider
Beat poetry and Beatniks
Lipher my pet rat
My days of writing
The Colonel and the National Front
Ten of my best hates
These are ten things I love
Listening to my old Grandma
The story of life
Evolution and Natural Selection
Evolution through Natural Selection
The Creation of life
The evolution of Humans
Evolution within Humans
Humans and why we’re not evolving
Human evolution and skin colour
Human evolution – It was the cows wot done it!
Dark Matter becomes weirder than Sci-fi
Writing How and When
Writing – How I started writing and my first project ‘Reality Dreams’
Writing – how my writing continued
Writing – The early days – writing through the seventies
Writing – The big breakthrough
Writing – The Roy Harper Biography
Writing – writing in the 90s and into the 00s
Writing now – writing into the future as the horse slowly walks off round the bend into the sunset
Native American Indians – A story of genocide and betrayal
Long hair and the sixties
A Native American Indian girl on a Greyhound bus across the States
Creation
The day of endless sky
Close to death – the motorbike and luck
The Queen Mother and I
My digs in Ilford
My girlfriend rolling up hill
Two lesbians, a baby and our breakfast
Our three weddings
Wedding number one
Wedding number two
Wedding number three – the pagan maypole fiasco
A Bedford van around Europe
A murderer in the Deli
Another murderer in the same Deli
Disabilities
My minivan, no brakes and a diving copper outside Parliament
My minivan outside the Corn Exchange in the City of London
The offer of infinity
Vinyl albums – Works of Art
The Animal House and rabbits
Frogs, snakes and the Deep Freeze
Naming the guinea pigs
Vivisection of cats
Farewell to my research
Roy Harper and the burning car
Hijabs, burqas, religion, misogyny and modesty
Reaching the sky
They make ‘em tough in Hull
Kids and red powder paint
A favourite teacher
Another favourite teacher
Blowing the school off the map
Education – a tale of parents and me
My Grandfather a Psychic Medium
Memories of my Grandfather – a Spiritualist Healer
The colorful life of my Nanny
Fourteen and hitching around France with Foss – the planning and execution
Hitch-hiking the reality of France
Hitch-hiking in France without the Hitch-hiking.
My first Rock Gig – The British Birds with Ron Wood at the Walton Hop
Being oneself – who are we?
Learning to drive in a brightly colored Ford popular
My second gig – Them with Van Morrison
A teacher exchange to Los Angeles
Having a gun pulled on you in a classroom
Gangs in a classroom
American generosity
Mr Rose and the Psychedelic Garden
Stoned and out
Round St Helens as it exploded in a Cessna
A Headteacher and Cannabis
New York in 1971 at the end of the Hippie dream
On the Street in Sixties Boston
Life on a Greyhound to San Francisco
My first Roy Harper gig
Big Sur, Henry Miller, Mountain lions and a bust on the beach
On the Greyhound back through Mexico, and Texas to New York
John, books and dope.
As you think yourself, a. Can’t wait to read “Lipher”/ “Slith”/digs in Ilford and the Native Americans now that and their treatment has always annoyed me. In fact the whole lot I am looking forward to.
I think you’ve read them all. I’m just tidying them up.
I’m still thinking about that tree bark. So beautiful. I love trees.
Looks like a. then – unless I have a change of heart while editing.
Took four writes of this – my internet is awful!
I will enjoy reading them all over again, you will as you say just tidy them up but it will be all the new words you use that is was is exciting. So pleased you liked the book, the minute I saw it on the internet I just had to have it, drove David mad about it but I had never seen anything like it and like you I just love trees all trees, this is so special. I will not be passing this on to a University over there.
I’m glad to hear you will not be passing it along. Something like that should be a family heirloom.
I cannot part with that Opher, it is so very unusual remarkable actually – the Chest Jonathan wants, not sure if the boys will want the paintings or silver boxes (when the latter arrives).
I’d pass them all down to the boys. They have such sentimental value. They were things you treasured.
Absolutely.
You’re being succinct again. Have you had enough coffee?
Just two small cups.
You obviously need more!
Jonathan has just made me a tea and he brought me an almond croissant from marks.
You are spoilt. I’m going to have to make my own and there won’t be any almond croissant.
I would have shared mine with you. Yes I am spoilt by the Boys, I sometimes feel they are trying to make up for all the bad times the three of us went through. We have been talking about San Francisco they seem ok about it.
I’m sure they are. They’ll want you to enjoy yourself.
Yes I think you are right. I love the picture at the top.
That will be the cover for Anecdotes. I’ve edited seventy pages. Another hundred and fifteen to go.
Two things, firstly it looks great that drawing and secondly you will soon get there.
I can hear those lorries again!
Well there you are, I knew you would.
I can’t believe how right you were!
Reblogged this on Opher's World and commented:
I had fun putting this book together.