When The Sleeper Awakes

The only thing standing in the way of me and success is a lack of energy. And I’m exhausted. I went to a nice party last night at Bluu, hosted jointly by Dance4 and CCAN (Centre for Contemporary Arts in Nottingham). There were all sorts of people there including the ubiquitous Michael Pinchbeck, renaissance man, who only last week was himself a human art installation (he sat for two hours on a bench in the foyer of Broadway with a plaque saying “Come sit with me for a while, and remember” – something worthy of a Turner Prize I should say). However, last night the pain in my ribs was growing; made worse earlier in the day I suppose by hauling a heavy briefcase to Birmingham and back. The pain was making me feel uncomfortable so after a few drinks, I left the party. I decided to risk everything by taking some rather dangerous painkillers – despite imbibing of the aforesaid alcohol – and went to bed early.

I don’t think I’ve ever slept for so long in one stretch. And yet, far from feeling refreshed, I feel sluggish and drained this morning. I had difficulty waking up in the first place, and lifting my wretched body out of bed was like pulling a wooden spoon from a pan of solidified porridge. I’ve had to cancel a meeting I had this morning, and am now sitting here with barely enough energy to press the keys on my laptop. And I’m still in pain.

On the brighter side, I’ve been invited to write an article for an on-line magazine, so at least I have another opportunity to get my name out there into the big world of letters. Someone told me yesterday that my surname is “posh”. Pilgrim? Posh? I hardly think so – he who would valiant be and all that maybe, but not posh. I have a friend whose surname is Cremieu-Alcan and another called Urquhart – they are posh names indeed – but when my by-line appears above my article I doubt if people will assume that I’d been born with anything but a plastic spoon in my mouth. However, I like my name: Richard Charles Pilgrim – it tells you exactly who I am. A knob perhaps, but not a nob (and there is a difference).