Saturday

I woke up this morning with both dogs in be with me - I don't know how they managed that, they are starting to get very.. ambitious, I think they are planning to oust me from the house.

I also woke up thinking there was something I'd forgotten to do - or that had happened and had slipped my mind - they I realised I'd spent half of yesterday at the cinema and already forgotten about it. That kind of tells you what sort of film it was, Wallpaper. Totally unchallenging. I forgot to mention that there was also a lot of crying. everybody cries, a lot.

Last night I had a phone call on the land line at about 8pm, I never pick up at home - but as it was late, and it could have been a family member - I picked up.

"Hello, Richard - this is Joan from next door (she's about 80) - I want you to come round and look at my damp patch"

About 3 years ago I went round there because she had a bit of damp at the back of her house, almost certainly caused by a cracked drain - it has started to effect me a bit, but nothing major - however, she wouldn't deal with it because it might 'make a mess'. Now she was proudly showing me her damp patch, small, barely noticeable, and almost certainly a tiny patch of historic rising damp - basically just a bit of perished plasterwork and some un-glued wallpaper. The house is 140 years old, that room hasn't been decorated in at least 50, and she's in a panic.

The brown envelope yesterday was from the inland revenue - I can't face that at the moment.

I have to work today - producing something really complex and difficult with cartoon characters, you wouldn't believe how hard it is - and as it includes sentimental and Christmas elements, it's basically my idea of professional hell - but I need the money - and they are a good client, and I have a philosophy that tells me everything, and I mean EVERYTHING can be done well, if not better. So I'll persevere.

I'm supposed to go to a 30th birthday party tonight, can't face all those young people.