Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008 -

Transcribed directly from a notebook I had with me over the course of my trip away to Manchester

11/9 @ 1600

Manchester is funny. I've (having only been here a few hours, for the first time in a decade) not made my mind up yet, but first impressions are that parts are very like Birmingham*, parts are like London, and other areas are harder to assess (* - like where I am sat at the moment, in an open square bit with a huge 'Manchester Wheel' and a big screen.. it could be shipped straight from Birmingham, especially 'cause there is a massive posh new Selfridges just behind me!)

The journey up was fine.. an hour and a bit, through green and industrial revolution scenery. The walk from the station was longer than I thought, but was also OK.

The hotel is shabby. But it's cheap and very convenient for the tram. And there is a pub along the street which is nice. Odd though that it's a Banks's pub, and I only live a hundred or so yards from the Banks's Brewery in Wolverhampton. Still, the barmaid was northern and friendly, as was an Indian lady in a shop which sold me a coronation chicken baguette for lunch. It's odd how easily cheered I was from my first impressions of the city as a bit messy [though there were a lot of attractive people about, which is kinda uplifting] and seeing the dump where I am staying, just by proper normal Northern accents and friendly sounding peeps. It's like my Northern roots are being stimulated - like I miss living there as I did twelve years ago.

The big screen I am sat by is showing some stuff about particle physics, Higgs bosom (sp?) and the Large Hadron Collider - qv the science site it advertised.

11/9 @ 1700

Addendum to the above, there are LOTS of VERY attractive ladies about :-) It's possibly the time of day, what with them coming out of work, and almost certainly 'cause I'm in the centre of town in an area with green areas and plenty of bars and cafes. Mmmm totty-watching!

I need to lose weight, however. I need to lose weight, move house, get laid and sort my life out.

Ooh - BAD BAD BAD BAD BAAD!! I have been smoking again. I'm rationalising it w.r.t. 1) Why I gave up in the first place was because my flat and clothes stank, which aint going to be a problem we me smoking outdoors in Manchester.. 2) I recall fags being a useful (maybe necessary) crutch when I went to Glasgow a few years back on my last similar city break [I am ignoring the inconvenient truth that you can't smoke in pubs any more, hence that sorta destroys most of my previous justification!].

Some free-running kids jumping between two walls (from an 8ft one to a 4ft one - about ten or twelve feet apart) this evening near me - rather impressive. I hope they got the photos they were looking for.

I'm still struggling with the tram tracks everywhere - most disturbing. All the locals seem oblivious to trams and tracks in the middle of the road and everywhere!

11/9 @ 1830

A pub was playing 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' as I walked past, so I had to let myself get dragged in for a pint or two, o'course! I'm getting very lost wandering around - I ended up WAY in the opposite direction to where I had expected. I'm sure by the time I've been here three days I will have sussed it :-)

I'm regretting not looking up if/where there are any rock pubs/clubs. Even if I do what I did 4yrs back in Glasgow and just sit and drink, it's a better musical accompaniment to sitting and stuff than the usual pub cack fayre!

It's 9/11. I had some jaffa cakes on the train this morning, not recalling the significance of the date. On the 9/11 it's self, I was round at my mad ex-girlfriends house drinking coffee and eating jaffa cakes when the planes hit.

Each time I go away I am aware that I'm 'normally' living life at about 60% capacity. I know that time and familiarity and money are all factors why you can't do 'holiday' mentality all the time, but surely I could do it more frequently? I have enough money to see friends, go to gigs, eat out, visit new places etc. more often, but generally I just vegetate at home.

I semi-resolved not to SMS the 19yr old lassie I've been textually abusing/having intercourse with recently, but two 'in' jokes occurring to me this evening within a short period of time meant that I decided to contact her.

11/9 @ 1930

I'm now at an 'all you can eat' Chinese buffet, and I keep thinking that I see people I know. In partic, a bloke I used to work with who was probably in the closet. I keep seeing confident looking gay guys who look like a 5 year older version of him.

If this webpage looked like the notebook page I am actually handwriting this on, it'd have plum sauce on it. Mmmm crispy duck pancakes!!

I had some squid too. Nice. Admittedly it just tasted of the spicy sauce it had been prepared in.

One of the 'sweet' options is coconut agar jelly. As a microbiologist, this is funny/curious/interesting.

11/9 @ 2030

Having consumed more chinese food than is advisable, I have adjourned to a 'Fab Cafe' - a TV/movie themed bar in a basement. It's cheap and cheerful, and a lot more interesting than the average pub (and cheaper and less pretentious than all the trendy bars!) plus the UV light makes it easy to see to write in my little book!

They've got a mirror ball! Whooo!!

This place actually reminds me of a place in Leeds I went to about fourteen years ago - one of my first clubbing experiences, when I went to stay with my big brother when he was at university. That place had a revolving dance floor, I got very pissed and tried to start a fight, and my brother's then girlfriend made a pass at me.

"Is it getting better, or do you feel the same? Does it make it easier on you now you've got someone to blame?"

Discuss :-)

I don't know. Some things are getting better, but really mostly these are just compared to a trough in the last two or three years. On the other hand I am very aware that some things are getting worse with age and it's too late to stem the tide (easily at least). I feel I should have done more when I was younger.

As for having someone to blame, I suppose it does make it a little easier. The things I blame on external influences outwith my responsibility (such as YL, EYL, mad ginger ex, schoolkids, my parents, AL) do help me to rationalise things that I can't fully understand. It's easier to say "I am like X, Y or Z because of A, B and C." than to question my own contribution to stuff. I realise I am VERY self-sabotaging.

The barmaid looks like my old mentor, which is odd. A kinda plain-ness which scrubs up surprisingly well.

LISTENING TO:- (fab!) Pulp "Bad Cover Version". I must copy it or get my Mum to.. actually I'd appreciate her copying all her Pulp CDs, not listened to them for ages..

As before, I'm shyly sat in a bar alone. Why?? I am quite popular with my friends, can meet new people in other situations, but bars.. I just seem to revert to my mentality from when I was seventeen. Either I am sober/tipsy and hence alone and maudlin, or I am bladdered and (overly) sociable.

11/9 @ 2230

The evening sorta petered out. I suddenly felt old and unable to continue texting my friend because I felt like a saddo or a paedo. Then I wanted a change of bar but needed a wee, so ended up in a huge pub with several small groups of drunk women, and I felt old and smelly as they danced to disco cheese. So I went back to the dingy hotel in the dingy suburbs and slept.