Writing Rituals

Ever noticed how sometimes you have to have certain things in place before you can write? Sometimes I can write on the back of a till receipt with a lip-liner, sometimes... not.

These are today's Rituals for writing on a Sunday morning while suffering from a slight headache:-

Heated lavender wheat bag round my stiff neck - CHECK
Plate of malt bread - CHECK
Anadin Extra - CHECK
Coffee (decaf hazelnut) - CHECK
Timer (set to one hour initially) - CHECK
Sense that I'd rather be cleaning out the toilet with a brush held in my teeth - CHECK
Music (hang on, let me get iTunes started... no I would NOT like to download the latest version, this thing leeches my system bad enough as it is... yes I WOULD like you to start before lunchtime... thank you. I'll start with Sting's unplugged 'Mad About You', whose faintly Moroccan drums and strings invokes the start of Danglies for me - CHECK)
Word open to Danglies' latest version - CHECK
Vague feeling of suicidal risk, as if I'm about to drive down Hardknott Pass at night without brakes or lights (NB - I have done this. Second gear is your friend. My learning from this situation was to respond to suspected electrical faults promptly. Oddly, this incident appears on my Most Scary Things I've Done AND my Most Fun Things I've Done lists) - CHECK
Long list of other things I should be doing preying on my mind... taxes... finding the Hastings tickets... running round Latrigg... - CHECK
Faint sense of guilt over blogging first - CHECK
Severe, crippling sense of guilt and shame over people's expectations and how bloody long these revisions are taking - CHECK
Cat on the windowsill - Um.... Pippi? Minnie? Cleo? Chrissy? Where are you?!

- *cracks knuckles* I'm going in.