I could do the normal British thing which is to apologise profusely but at the same time give off a passive aggressive undertone that makes you want to say, ‘sorry’ every time I punctuate the apology with a puncture. As in, ‘I am so sorry that I have not been blogging. I have been busy with my writing and my doctorate‘. There you go, a writing lesson in undertones, the undertone here is that I am doing more than you. There is that passive aggression. That is how people read it even when it isn’t intended. I am not intending to point out that I have been gibbering in the corner coming to terms with teaching online, being taught online, submitting work online for criticism and falling into an abusive relationship with Zoom. Sometimes the time lag on these face to face, screen to screen meetings feels like I am handing out the awards from Belgrade for the Eurovision Song Contest as I glitch and hear first only sound and then silent movie images. That’s not a good feeling when you are doing a viva for your doctorate, at one point I wondered about hanging off my bookcases like Harold Lloyd. One of my favourite silent film stars who was disabled, not many people know that.
Therefore, I have been silent but not silenced. In these strange days I have been busy with supporting people through the work I do here, which is completely different from the sarcasm that pervades these pages. So, thanks for all the emails, no I am not dead as one person asked, yes I am self isolating due to underlying health conditions and yes, I am bloody well enjoying having the time to write without the sound of cars rumbling down the road. Embrace the strange, keep writing.
Andrew Oldham's Boneyard 