I took out a lease today on a small central flat in Leamington � one block away from M&S. I was scheduled to look at four flats � but I liked the first that I saw and so I was able to progress the letting on that single trip. So there�s a good chance I will be able to drive to my new job next Monday from my new flat rather than from a hotel. The letting agent�s office is on my drive to work which is another plus point. The initial lease period is six months and the flat is about two hours drive from the family house in Guildford.

That took up the morning and I spent a couple of hours looking round the town eg the Pump Room which includes a small gallery (within easy walking distance of my flat. The current exhibition is BritArt pieces to do with health including a major Damien Hirst piece linking food and pharamaceuticals � plus quite a creepy craft piece about bulimia centred on implements for the bulimic to put down her throat � beautifully designed and rendered.

Leamington was originally centred on the south bank of the river but the discovery of more saline springs turned it into a boom town in the first 40 years of the 19th century. My flat is in the grid of streets put up in that boom.

I celebrated by buying a CD of 12 minute orchestral piece of the local British Experimentalist Composer, Howard Skempton. I learned from the slieve notes that he has been quite influenced by Lamonte Young which strengthened the idea that I might see whether he could take me on as a student.

I also bought a very reasonably priced set by Luigi Nono of works from the 60s and the early 70s. One of these is explained as transitional towards the string quartet and violin duo which I was listening to on holiday. The pieces on this CD include tape tracks and �found� material as well as using serial techniques. I am hoping this expands my understanding of the path of European music in the wake of Cage�s impact on Stockhausen in the late 1950s.

Following Mark�s reference to BBC500 today I mailed him about how I hope to be doing more on/with the piece in the next week or so.

Gilbert mailed about the parallel between a sketch which I sent him as an mp3 and a duo CD he has in the pipeline involving Joe Fonda.