Grand re-opening

Though the lock was rusty, the key still turned. Neil removed the padlock and pulled the door open. The light switch triggered a hum of electricity and a few flickerings from the bulb. Then it pinged on and remained. Dust was everywhere. Inevitable, really; Neil hadn’t set foot in the place for five months. He thought back to the last time. He’d been part way through a Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid retrospective: reviews of Paul Seydor’s book and the original cut of the Sam Peckinpah western. He’d meant to write about the 2005 special edition; about Brando’s ‘One Eyed Jacks’; about ‘The Left-Handed Gun’; about the ‘Young Guns’ movies.

Good intentions, Neil mused as he found a broom and started sweeping. There was a hell of a lot of tidying up to be done. Good intentions and the road to hell.

He’d never meant to leave. The blog was too enjoyable. What would the Christmas season be without a headlong dive into the filth and venality of the Winter of Discontent? Why else watch trashy exploitation movies other than to take the piss out of (uh, sorry, review) them?

But a project had come along. Something that turned out to be bigger and more time-consuming than he’d ever anticipated. Something that was still trundling towards fruition even as he opened the shutters and polished the windows and realised how much he’d missed writing for the blog. He wondered whether to lift the lid on said project in his first article for the relaunch of The Agitation of the Mind. But there was still work to be, still no confirmed release date.

Still, what’s a little secret between friends? Neil had been co-editing an anthology of new writing, a tribute volume to a favourite author. What had been perceived as a slim collection of poetry grew and redefined itself: poetry, short fiction, memoir, essays, travel writing. Photography. Artwork. Fifty contributors, from up-and-comers to bona fide ladies and gentlemen of letters. Full details to follow, Neil thought, crafting an introductory piece, a few words to preface the second coming of Agitation. All in good time. There’s plenty of movies to catch up with first.