Okay, well I have made a beautiful new website, populated it with many wonderful things, and begun to sort out some mysterious problem with the page links. But the database is going weird, refusing permissions etc, something about .htaccess, and I don’t understand all that. According to the two young computer whizzes who are doing the techie end (one of whom is my own progeny and not as techie as he looks, being more front-end development), it is “strange.”
So where I expected to be writing today to say Don’t come here! Go there! I am now writing to say Stay! At least till we get it sorted out! It’s been a week or two of frustration and now this is doing my head in. Frankly.
I had thought in my initial planning daydreaming stage that I might take this three-week hiatus from life and write a quick little book, or anyway a book proposal, as well as knocking together my couple of websites, doing some freelance work, sorting out the aged aunt, doing all my mountainous ruinous scary paperwork, not minding everyone being away, and basically being productive and perfect and needing nothing and nobody. Instead, what do I find! Alas. Quel drag. Merely human. Living on peanut butter, blueberries and a few crispbreads, playing Radio 3 all night for company, life frustrating and inconclusive, people elusive and the outside world like treacle, and not achieving very much from the list at all.
But I was really pleased to have at least done my websites…!
The riots didn’t help at all, but the recuperation has been greatly assisted by the remix videos of David Starkey rapping on Newsnight… Check it out, blud, innit. I am not an archetypal successful black man.
Also, today, this by Mark Steel:
The riots were caused, apparently, by black culture, and we can get round the fact some rioters were white by saying they’d turned black, and get round the fact most black people don’t riot by saying they’ve turned white. You could use that logic to prove that being Welsh causes boats to capsize, or that everything alive is a penguin.
So I have emailed my young men, who may or may not be up yet, being penguins. I’m going to try and do some work, and get a haircut, and give Mlle B some money for her trip to Berlin, and do more work, and go meet a friend in Shoreditch, for I have got bare cheap tickets to see Much Ado About Nothing, bruv. (I’m sure that Shakespeare was secretly black. Ahead of his time.)
I will let you know as soon as my web situation is resolved.
Mr Steel may mock, but he has given us a clear presentation of Baroness Susan Greenfield’s modus argumenti. As for Starkers, the celebrity historian hath a book to sell, and a pension pot to top up.
Regarding your website, to which one do you refer, and can you be a little more specific than “going weird”? As you know, my website is also based on WordPress, and self-hosted. Configuring .htaccess can be tricky, but errors are generally easy to rectify, as long as they are not due to a Database or PhP service issue under the control of your webhosting company.
Francis, that’s funny. I too have a book to sell and a pens – oh, wait. Scrap that last.
Well, anyway, where were we.
I’m just on my way out – I fear your “as long as” may be the scenario – let me catch up with you later once I know more about what’s (not) happening. Aggravation. And ta. 🙂
At first watch I thought the Starkey thing was a spoof (he’s so League of Gentlemen anyway). Sadly not. It’s real. Ugh.
“The Devil: You’re a very bad man.
Bobby Gould: Nothing’s black and white.
The Devil: Nothing’s black and white, nothing’s black and white – what about a panda? What about a panda, you dumb fuck! What about a fucking panda!”
-Bobby Gould in Hell, David Mamet
And here I was, ready for the sailing ship…but all in good time. xxoo
Okay, the problem is sorted. Francis, many thanks! Phil, use that, it’s good.