The "Directions Hearing" was held on 11 September, 2009. This was a meeting in a "chamber" of the High Court where representatives from both sides meet with a judge and hash out the timeline and type of trial.  Standen's hired gun Catriona Smith showed up in her uptight lawyer garb. Brisk and with a professional cheeriness, she seemed confident she could easily wipe the floor against a punk rock chick who at that point was acting alone without a lawyer as a "Litigant in Person". 

My mother became hospitalized in February 2009.  I contacted Standen's side proposing that we settle.

I would've been willing to take almost anything at that point. But Standen refused.

Standen's refusal to make a quick settlement meant I could not leave town until I made a special emergency appointment with the judge in order to ask Standen to pause the trial so I could be with my dying Mother. 

Mediation took place in mid-October 2008. I received help through a charity called Law Works who put me in touch with a voluntary lawyer to enter mediation with me. Conor Dufficy was a trainee barrister and the kind of a breath of fresh air who enters your life occasionally and restores your faith in humanity. An even-tempered man with a lilting Irish accent, Conor was sharp, ethical, clever, and could see right through Standen.

Time passed with many weeks of excruciating anxiety in my gut as I  scavenged and hunted desperately to find some legal help. 

Night panics became a regular occurrence. 

Recently I was alerted to a thread on a forum at Muffwiggler.com. Some had questioned my Gearslutz co-ownership due to their ina

"I'm depressed because everyone's leaving my favorite forum. The owner started charging money to use the site..."

My good mate Jules was on the phone from London.  A generous Pigface fan loaned me his apartment in Hollywood, California, and I was between tours. Things had reached an impasse with Invisible Records, the indie label to which I was signed. So I had time on my hands.  I told my friend;

"I can create a forum."

Seriously? You can do that? How much would it cost?"