Here’s the dilemma. Tonight, the Shore Poets have an excellent programme of readers – Richard Price, Angela MacSevany, and Simon Pomery. It starts at 7.45pm.
Tonight also is the final of Euro 2008 between Germany and Span, which starts at 7.45pm.
So what should I do?
It partly depends on getting a babysitter, but I might be able to do both if I record the match. That way, I can see the poets and then watch the game when I return, as if it were live.
The obvious problem with this solution is getting home without knowing who won. There will be many hurdles to overcome – Spaniards and Germans (there are many in the city at the moment) wandering around Edinburgh after the game, either singing at the top of their voices or looking utterly inconsolable – a dead giveaway. Conversations about the game on buses or on the streets, TVs replaying the vital goals in shop windows, flags raised from bars and restaurants. I’ve considered a taxi, but it’s odds-on that the driver will start talking about the game. Wearing ear muffs and a blindfold might draw me too much unwanted attention. It’s a tough one.
