The Experience of the Surprise Polish

For the last few Monday nights, we've generally had a Polish takeaway from Kuchnia in Hull. Polish is ace because it tastes great and it's cheaper than some other takeaways, but we don't have a Polish menu which makes choosing meals tricky - my other half always has Devolay with extra garlic sauce and extra mash, but I like to try something different every time.  So this time, when my partner was ordering, and asked me what I wanted, I said "A surprise!  Something with meat in it."

I got this!

Wow.  It was amazing.  Meat wrapped in meat, with mash and tons of gravy.  And lots of tasty veg too.

Now, I have lots of guest posts of mine to talk about!

Firstly, I've got a post up at the great nobodysreadingme which I love very much (the blog, not my post - I'm not quite that egocentric... okay, well maybe I am) where I'm complaining about getting older.  My knee still aches from time to time after falling over a football about six years ago.  The chap who runs nobodysreadingme is a very good writer indeed and his blog is well worth checking out - he also writes at Ether Books and Wattpad (name of Duncan Swallow) and I'd encourage you to check those out.

And secondly, I'm very sorry not to have highlighted this when it went live (entirely my mistake) but I have a guest post up at A Daydreamer's Thoughts due to Faye there being lovely enough to let me talk about "The Man on Platform Five" by Robert Llewellyn.  A book review was a writing challenge that I hadn't attempted before and as it's my all time favourite book I had to do it!  Thanks to Faye for letting me have a go at reviewing, and if you'd like to see my review it's at http://daydreamersthoughts.co.uk/guest-review-the-man-on-platform-5-by-robert-llewellyn/.  I really enjoyed the opportunity to do a book review and I'm hoping to attempt another one in the not too distant future.

Oh - have you played http://winloseorbanana.com/ ?  Very bizarre.

Of course I'm not doing anything important

Today I'm extremely fortunate to feature a guest post by the one and only Duncan Swallow.  Duncan, amongst other things, runs an excellent blog, nobodysreadingme.  His blog is, unfortunately, significantly better than mine.  I'm actually delaying the publishing of this post because I've just realised that his latest one is up on his blog and I haven't read it yet.

(Minutes go by...)

That was really good.  I'd recommend after you've been here that you head over to his blog and read it.

Okay - Mr Swallow, you have the floor!

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Mike is doing a guest post over on my blog http://nobodysreadingme.wordpress.com/ and he kindly allowed me a guest post here. I’m going to take the opportunity to have a rant.

I spend a lot of time writing. I blog every day, apart from Sunday. I’ve got a lot of short stories published on EtherBooks. I’m working on two separate versions of my memoir. I’m in the thick of my second novel, having given up on having the first one published. So I have quite a lot on my plate, or page as you might say.

For reasons we needn’t go into I work a lot in my local library. And for some reason I attract the lunatic fringe who seem to think that if I’m pounding the keys what I’d prefer to do is be interrupted by something more important. And what could be more important than their misguided and unwanted ramblings?

There’s the rather plummy voiced eccentric man. Maybe you’ve met him, or his ilk. He’ll ask ‘What are you writing?’ then proceed not to listen as he bangs on for five or ten or fifteen minutes about how what I should  be writing is similar to his amateurish and singularly unfunny satirical magazine. This has a circulation of three, including him and his mum.

There’s the plummy voiced Baroness. Really, she is. She doesn’t know one end of a computer from another, so frequently enlists my help. I’m fine with this, until she goes all Lady of the Manor on me. ‘It worked yesterday,’ to which I have to reply, ‘Well, that may be true but it’s not working today.’ ‘You don’t have to do that!’ ‘Oh yes I do, I miskeyed a command so I need to retype it, as soon as I can get my hands back from round your throat.’ She thinks she’s speaking to the bootboy or something.

An acquaintance who will insist, while I’m typing, on regaling me yet again what a bitch and a cow, and a moneygrubber, his ex-wife is. You married her pal. I really don’t want to hear this again, for the nth time in a year. I’m not interested in the fact you missed your bus this morning either, now I come to mention it.

Then there’s the man who reads the Guardian every day. No problem with that at all. It’s a fine newspaper. Generally it attracts people who can think, so it’s a surprise that he not only has to move his lips as he reads, he has to read aloud! He also feels honour bound to issue a running commentary, and ask himself questions that he then answers. Himself.

But hey, it doesn’t matter. I’m not doing anything important. I’m just writing, that’s all.