Although driving up from Hertfordshire (and back - a 450 mile round trip) on Saturdays and Tuesdays to watch the mighty Seasiders play was a feature of life while I was working (though admittedly we occasionally stayed over in a hotel or B&B on Saturday nights), when I took early retirement and a redundancy package at the start of 2013 it opened up the possibility of a more flexible and leisurely lifestyle.
Acquiring a base in the jewel of the north turned into my first retirement project (and why I didn't write about this in last week's blog about retirement, I don't know!), so I started looking at properties in South Shore, if not on Bloomfield Road itself then nearby, on match days prior to kick-off.
I saw a few horrors before happening upon the house I live in now. I liked its general appearance, its orientation (east-west) and the ambience of the neighbourhood. It is just off Bloomfield Road, is within easy walking distance of both the football ground and the promenade and was within budget, so as spring rolled into summer in 2013 I put in an offer that was accepted.
You may be wondering what all of this has to do with tension and the answer is not what you may think. The house purchase proved uncomplicated, proceeded remarkably smoothly; and I'm going to side-step the issues in my personal life at that time which meant I ended up living here alone, separated and then divorced (though Rosie the cat didn't pee on my ex-wife's shoes for nor reason).
The house needed quite a bit doing to it, not just cosmetic changes, and over the years I've ripped out fitted wardrobes (don't like them) from the master bedroom, removed the carpets (don't like them) from every room, sanded down floorboards or replaced rotten floors with new wooden ones, and banished curtains (don't like them) in favour of blinds. Three bedrooms, two living rooms, a kitchen and a conservatory have been thus overhauled, repapered, painted, generally decked out to my satisfaction. I've done all the works myself except for replacing the wooden floors in the downstairs rooms.
The only part of the house on the strand that is still as I first saw it in April 2013 is the hallway (upper and lower levels and the stairwell). Its turn has finally come, but here's the issue: I like the wallpaper in the hall. It's an embossed abstract design (roses) and I would rather repaint it than replace it - especially with twenty foot drops to hang. However there are a few places where it's perished due to underlying (and since remedied) damp issues. I need a replacement roll to make good before I repaint but the pattern is no longer sold. In the year or so before lockdown I looked everywhere - in wallpaper shops, online stores, in those warehouses that specialise in end-of-line remainders - nothing, and so the hall has stayed as it is for longer than I intended.
Then last month I had a brainwave. The wallpaper used in the hall is the same as that used by the previous owners to cover the ceiling in the second bedroom! I've never recycled wallpaper before but that's what I'm planning to do, to lift the paper carefully from the bedroom ceiling and redeploy it to make good areas of the hall that need repapering (and then I can put something different entirely on the bedroom ceiling). It's my spring 2021 project. It looks like the easy option. What can possibly go wrong?
And so this where tension comes in, finally. It takes two forms. The first is the mental one, the sense of anticipation or expectation involved in the planning; the nagging thought that it might all go horribly awry leaving me with a whole hall to repaper and a bedroom ceiling to boot... but I'm up for the challenge. The second is to do with the physical process itself. It could have all the drama of a hospital soap: the preparation of the donor ceiling and recipient walls, the act of getting just the right tension on the wallpaper I'm removing (note, not stripping but peeling), to ensure that it comes away cleanly, evenly, untorn and in reusable strips; the rush to transfer it to its new site; the surgical precision required to apply it seamlessly to repair and replace those damaged sections of hallway. Are you getting the feel of the operation? I could almost sell tickets.
I'll let you know how it goes. There may be an issue with fitting exact matches of pattern to the recipient patches, but for once I shan't be worried if it's not a perfect alignment. It's only the hall and stairwell after all, and who sits on the stairs long enough to study the decor in detail? Except at parties. Ah yes. Remember them?
This latest poem from the imaginarium has nothing to do with Blackpool or houses or decorating projects but a little bit to do with parties and everything to do with political tensions in slightly obtuse form. Consequently, I've gone for what I intended to be a suitably gnomic mode of expression. Again I'm not sure if this is the final version...
Zen Underground
Red polls herald the revolution of another spring,
proclaim better days. Trees blossom white tinged
with hints of blood shed in the name of freedom.
In its fragile infancy a troubled people's triumph
might prove illusory, covert undermining tactics
underway to steal the ballot box from democracy.
With bribery, fear, ratting, its dirty tools of choice,
manoeuvring in excremental ways to derail hopes
for a fairer world, this counter-revolution, hinged
on the tendency of all decent citizens to disbelieve
its leaders might betray them, readies its fatal play.
Be wary, history teaches ruthless men win the day.
Underestimate the corrupting power of power and
all that has been gained above ground shrivels up
to might-have-been dreams. Be alert to the danger,
be ready to resist the rise of so egregious a faction.
Hope doesn't come from words so much as action.
Step up and signal this message swiftly down line.
Thanks for reading, S ;-)
43 comments:
Well, best of luck with the wallpaper project, never heard of that being done before. I love the poem, some great lines "like manoeuvring in excremental ways to derail hopes". 👏
Your poem reads like an elegy to every popular uprising that has been sold short. ❤️
Your poem reads as a warning to those who live in our time.
Is it really 8 years? How time accelerates away. Mind you, it feels as though Norwich City have been promoted and relegated at least half a dozen times in the last decade. Your wallpaper project sounds crazy but I loved the extended hospital drama metaphor and I hope the operation goes well. 😃 Zen Underground (great title) is an interesting poem and I can see why you have gone for a series of koan-like verses. I can see it is trying to nail the paradoxical nature of power to liberate but also enslave, to purify but also to corrupt. Some will say that's the nature of things and that perpetual revolution would be too tiring. Food for thought though, and the message to engage is the salient one.
Ha ha Steve. I didn't see that one coming - a blog called Tensions being about recycling wallpaper (LOL). I, too, love the medical metaphor and I hope you succeed. It's a beautiful but unnerving poem.
Zen Underground: what to say? 'Red polls herald the revolution of another spring' is an arresting opening line, beautiful in its ambiguity; and there are others e.g. 'to steal the ballot box from democracy', 'manoeuvring in excremental ways to derail hopes'. I wasn't completely convinced by the central idea but maybe the failing is in me. Anyway, an interesting and thought-provoking piece. Good luck with the wallpaper project.
I loved this Steve. Best of luck with the wallpaper transplant! Great poem again. Elections are fast approaching.
It sounds idyllic Steve - house and location. Everything wonderful apart from the football! Madame Tussaud's, The Big Dipper and Dirty Blondes; what's not to like? I am a big Blackpool fan but I didn't know they played football. The ceiling wallpaper sounds horrendous. Hot yoga was all the rage a few years ago. Apparently you fill the room with steam to relax your muscles and then do the yoga. This may be of benefit during your intended operation to relieve your tension and the wallpaper. Lying in the cobra position, you will then not mind being covered in abstract rose wallpaper! If you have photographic equipment to hand, a photo would be appreciated! A great poem. Deep truths.
Happy anniversary. I love that you call it the jewel of the north. Shine on.
Is wallpaper a very British thing? I don't know anyone who has it in their house or apartment here. We paint, we panel, we tile. But good luck with your recycling scheme, hope it works for you. I enjoyed your cautionary poem. What were you thinking? Belarus, Hong Kong, Myanmar? Stay safe.
I've never heard of recycling wallpaper before. Doesn't it all have a backing layer and a surface layer? I know when I've stripped paper before sometimes patterned layer comes off leaving the backing on the wall. You might (to follow your medical metaphor) have to get into grafting! Anyway, good luck with that. Your latest poem reads well to me.
That's an interesting poem. It made me think first about countries on our doorstep like Chile, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela where covert US operations have sought to bring down 'socialist' governments in the interests of American commercial and foreign policy. Then because of the photograph and the trainline imagery it reminded me of the 'underground railroad' network that helped slaves flee to freedom. It certainly resonates on several levels.
Congrats pal. I remember you and (Ann?) talking about in the Premier League season. Never thought then you'd actually do it though. UTMP!
London's loss is Lancashire's gain, and Blackpool's in particular, if I may be so bold. I know I don't comment every week on the Dead Good blogs but I read them all and all credit to you for the quality and regularity of your posts in particular. This latest is no exception. Well done and thank you.
Great blog, and how brave you are to even contemplate such a procedure. I hope it goes according to plan, and safely. I've got the 'Casualty' theme tune in my head. Eek! 😃
IIRC you've blogged about wallpaper before and were instrumental in persuading me to check out Charlotte Perkins Gilman's gothic Yellow Wallpaper novel (excellent recommendation BTW). I must confess to never having hung a strip in my life, but you obviously enjoy it so good luck with the project. I enjoyed the latest poem. 👍
Good luck with the surgical wallpaper redeployment :)
I thought your latest poem was excellent, don't see what you might need to change. To me, you've achieved the effect you were going for. Each verse reads like something straight out of the Commentary on the Book of Changes; the fact you've written it in tercets and there are six verses all supports the hexagram/ I Ching construct... and of course the task of interpreting the ambiguity rests with the reader. Very well done, I say.
Thumbs up for the decorating project and the poetry. Hope the former turns out to be as good as the latter, which I loved. ❤️
Mr R you are just too smart!
A wallpaper transplant! That's very enterprising of you Steve and I wish you joy of it. Your project proposal entertained. I too (having read earlier comments) think the poem is fine as it is. I just wish I had seen as much in it as other readers/commentators have done 😂
Zen Underground 👏 Is exactly as it happen for Belarus Steve and Ukraine before and Chechnya before. I remember also Arab Spring the same thing. Too many bad tribes and gangs in politics. Too much of corruption. Power of the people is like white blossoms tinged with blood like you say, fragile before the winds.
Good luck with the wallpaper "transplanting" - you're braver than me! Have a lovely Saturday, Steve.
Best of luck with the wallpaper project. Your Zen Underground poem is great.
An enterprising idea and enterprising interpretation of the theme. I wish you success. I like the poem as is. Well said.
I've never hung wallpaper let alone tried to transplant it! Good luck. I enjoyed your Zen Underground poem, some great imagery and a thought-provoking piece. It is hard to stop ruthless men and egregious factions. It requires a collective selflessness and tireless diligence that is in short supply.
Brave of you Steve. I hope the re-papering works. I thought the poem was great and wouldn't change a thing - loved the underground photo too. All good. 👍
Tell us more about Rosie the Cat - she sounds like a good judge of character! Best of luck with operation wallpaper transplant. Of course I don't know what specifically prompted your poem (the rigged Belarus election? the military repression in Myanmar?) but it stands as a timeless warning to all peoples fighting to overthrow tyranny as well as being beautifully written.
A fascinating account of your revonations. Good luck with the wallpaper peeling and reapplying. I hope it's strong enough to survive the surgery. I loved the poem and think it may have many applications.
Did you have a presentiment of this Tory sleaze scandal when you wrote "with bribery, fear, ratting, its dirty tools of choice"? It does sound remarkably apt, as does "manoeuvring in excremental ways"! And I suspected Patel must have something on Johnson for him not to have sacked her as Home Secretary after she was found guilty of bullying.
Good thinking outside the box with the wallpaper conundrum. You deserve to pull it off (LOL). That's another excellent poem, to these ears, clever and truthful. Well done Steve.
A poem of resistance for our times.
I felt this poem was to subtle for the subject matter- but maybe that is its charm. A greater awareness of the same old story. A refreshing lack of optimism.
I've never heard of wallpaper transplants before. That's an intriguing solution. As for the latest poem, there's so much going in in there. Some great lines for sure but it left me feeling a little confused.
Thanks to everyone for the comments left regarding this one. I said I wasn't sure about the poem when I posted it and have since shared it with my local Stanza group. Everyone's interpretation is valid, naturally, but I was a little surprised that several took this to be a 'call to arms' for violent revolution... so maybe it was "too subtle"? Yes it's about the importance of taking a stand against corruption and exploitation, about the danger of every collective and democratic step by 'the people' towards a fairer society being undermined/overthrown but the intent was to flag up this constant danger and to encourage everyone to act peaceably in protection of basic rights. It's an advocation of moral power (rather than physical battle) and the need to spread this message like a resistance movement (hence Zen Underground), almost like a campaign of covert education in the face of other more blatant propaganda and twisting by right-wing media.
I love the poem. (Your explanation in comment helped!) 🌿
I like your poem and I read your long commentary above, but I wonder if non-violent revolution is ever possible? And if it is, could it be a cultural thing? i.e. more likely to succeed in the East (e.g. Gandhi) than in the West?
Just read this while enjoying breakfast coffee and toast and how appropriate, given that it's polling day. What will shape the popular vote? Thoughts of Tory sleaze? ("manoeuvring in excremental ways" is a brilliant phrase). A wish to break up the union? (in Scotland and Wales if not in N. Ireland). Curbing the tendency of power to corrupt seems the age-old concern (from Greek tragedy onwards). Good blog Steve and best of luck with the madcap wallpapering plan.
I love your poem. ❤️
Until enough people shrug off their apathy the sleazy chancers will always take advantage - but I guess that is one of your poem's eternal truths.
Your poem resonates with the awful situation in Myanmar right now.
It's not going so well for the poor Palestinians at the moment either.
I love the use of language in your Zen Underground poem, so many great phrases. My favourite has to be "manoeuvring in excremental ways" as opposed to "incremental" - very clever as it works on several levels. 👍
Afghanistan, Belarus, Hong Kong, Myanmar, Palestine, Yemen etc. etc. - expectations of liberty and tolerance withering in the streets ("might-have-been dreams") with flagrant state papering-over-the-cracks. How does the rest of the world counter such "excremental" ways?
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