It's cold with the window open

Bank Holidays suck ass. Maybe if you work in a regular job they're nice and fun and woo fucking hoo extra day off. I don't, though. Day in and day out, I do the same stuff. Bank Holidays just mean I don't get mail, stores close early, cab companies charge fare and a half, and more people are out to annoy me. Television schedules are also usually fucked with.

The only thing that was getting me through this one was that it was supposed to rain. Thunderstorms, even. Still nothing. Just a wind that freezes my arm with every gust.

I feel like doing something creative, but don't know what to do. Anything I do isn't good enough, at least by my standards. The only thing I do well is write, but there's so much potential failure to get past. I can't write doodles, I can't write snapshots. If I'm going to write, it's going to be proper writing and it's going to be some of the best strung together words you've ever read. If, that is, I ever actually fucking write them.

Offline

Going offline for the day, possibly the weekend. It's for the best.

Calendar

Saturday 23 May - Bristol - Calm Air All Ice @ Room 212 (closing party) then drinks
Monday 25 May - Bristol - Drinks and fun with Americans and a few Brits
Wednesday 27 May - Arts Festival promotion meeting
Friday 29 May - Deadline for Royal Academy decisions
Tuesday 2 June - End of Weapon of Choice group show
Saturday 6 June - Bristol - Upfest
Sunday 7 June - Bristol - Upfest
Monday 8 June - Arts Festival meeting
Tuesday 9 June - Bristol - Weapon of Choice @ Mr Wolfs
Wednesday 10 June - London - Roehampton Postgraduate Conference

So... Not sure how many of the above I'll be doing, especially the week after Upfest (other than the conference).

I also have a few deadlines in the next few weeks: writing, brochure design, and getting the presentation ready for the conference.

Going to be fun, though.

No comment

Taken today at the University of Bristol library, 2nd floor women's toilet.

Let's have another cup of coffee...

Just read this LAT article about yet another scientific study. Gotta love the way there's always research about seemingly random shit that will conflict other research.

But this one I like. Basically, coffee's good for you. Nice news, especially since I drink so much, and have no intention of stopping.

Here's the kicker on this study, though. Seems that coffee might actually help protect your liver against cirrhosis. So it balances out all the booze damage.

This is very good, as I pretty much just drink coffee and booze. (I do sneak in some juice and water, but really they're only about 10% of my daily fluid intake.)

Shitty morning

After 4 hours of sleep (just about the span of Tramadol's effectiveness), I woke up in horrible pain. Laid in bed trying to get back to sleep, but it wasn't happening. Didn't help matters that I was very thirsty and really had to pee. (Side note: That really bothers me. Why the fuck can't my body just figure out where the liquid needs to go and sort itself out? Why make me get up to pee and get something to drink? Sheesh...)

Came downstairs, took more painkillers, and attempted to sleep on the couch. Dozed in and out between cat nuzzling, dog cuddling, and shooting pains in various bits and pieces.

Now I can barely keep my eyes open, but can't get to sleep. Sipping my first coffee now, but know it's going to be a rough day. Pouring rain, tired, and I need to go out to run errands and have an informal meeting.

And, on top of all that, it seems that to buy the toner cartridges for the printer, I'm going to be putting out more money than if I just bought the printer all over again. Cunts.

Helping the arts

Have spent the last few hours rolling around on the floor taking photos for the Mclevey Upfest piece.

A few hundred shots later, we have a winner. Also, lots of creepy as fuck shots for fun, and a few weird joke ones. Since it's all hush hush until June 6, though, we're only releasing this teaser image for now...

Back again

I was about to start writing a Facebook note and then thought 'Fuck it, I'll write on that blog thing I've ignored for months.' So here goes...

I want to write, but can't get my brain in order enough to do actual work (whether thesis chapters or grant applications). I think I'm just going to throw down a bunch of random shit that needs to be recorded before the memories get squashed by future alcohol consumption.

Friday. London.

• Scene 6 porn revelations.
• Creeped out by staring fish.
• Asshole at LGC who kept yoinking the Montana Gold colour rings when I was still figuring out which numbers we needed, then asking for 'a dark grey'.

Saturday. Bristol.

• Kids asking for cans, one picking up a crushed cap.
• Kneepads, coveralls, wet floor signs.
• Contortions to fight the power of the wind.
• Cunt of a cabbie.
• Sitting at The Bell, Adam with one sock off, realising maybe people were out back.
• Peanut wars, and Cheba chewing his pint.
• Finding out that Cheba can eat a Snickers in two bites.
• Damn good cashews.
• Two San Miguels, two ciders, and a Gold.
• Downing Rory's wine in one after he seemed to disappear.
• Finding it difficult to pee when all you can hear is Jer's voice.
• Sock on a heater.
• 'Jer just bought me a drink. It would be rude to leave now.'
• 'He kept the Rolex. Ok, fine. I was the one who had the affair, but still...'
• The reason why I'm the only one allowed to have a pen.
• Or cans of paint...
• Cider! the canvas! and the Mclevey purple elephant looking thing.
• Finding out Jer's full legal name, and then forgetting part of it.
• Adam's hand retaining the pint glass grip after Jer had removed the pint glass.

Sunday. Bristol. Weston.

• A shopping cart full of booze, pizza, and a chicken.
• Shuffling everything upstairs and spraying Febreze to get rid of the smoke smell we brought with us.
• Staying drunk rather than getting drunk again.

So there we go. A mind dump for all to enjoy.

Another hiatus, hopefully coming to an end

Sometimes writing a blog is akin to being a network programmer. Start something, figure it's not the right time for it, have something better to put on, and the first thing gets put aside for a bit.

In this case, it's been the following:

• Research Degree Board Form, Part 2
  
• DeQuervain's tendinitis
  
• The Night of the Gun
  
• The need for a livably clean house
  
• Small furry animals that like to nuzzle and cuddle now that it's getting cold out
  
• Lots of travel, but going nowhere
  
• Money
  
• Web design work
  
• Weston Arts Festival
  
• Laverne & Shirley's representation of post-War migration
  

Hopefully I'll have a bit of time this week and next, and can write about topics like Breaking Bad and albacore tuna.

I almost did a coffee spit take

Just came across this image in an item on Gawker and almost lost a swig of Ethiopian Sidamo on my HP.

This has to be an editorial joke. Having worked in the biz, as it were, you just don't let this kind of thing through without some intention. I was always checking proximities and potential views of things. (This isn't to say that a few amusing things got by; more that I meant them as a joke that maybe only I found funny.)

Oddly detached

For some reason, I've been feeling very detached from the world lately. I read the news, I listen to the radio, I watch TV (oh, do I watch TV), but there's something that just isn't clicking.

I want to be in a tizzy about Palin, but can't get past the 'meh. Not like I was going to vote for McCain, anyway' stage. I don't care that her teenage daughter is knocked up, or that her email got hacked, or that she's becoming some minor fashion icon.

And I'm worried about the worldwide financial implosion. But I just don't have it in me to sift through everything and figure it all out, or even laugh at all the Stern grads I went to school with.

I'm even getting detached from friends and acquaintances. I just don't feel like engaging in anything right now. If I do go out, I just want to sit back and be the quiet observer, soaking it all up, taking it all in, seeing the details that others hope to hide.

Maybe it's the weather. It's clear and sunny, but cold enough to have the heat on in the morning. Today I could smell that somebody had a fire going. It feels like a Southern California Thanksgiving.

It might also be the chronic pain thing. I'm almost out of my painkillers, so everything is a struggle. I'm still waiting on all the referral appointments, where there might actually be a chance of them figuring out what the hell is actually wrong with me.

Ugh. I can't even be bothered to finish writing what I was going to write. (For this, I blame the same damn dog that got out at 7 am yesterday and the neighbour who is yelling about something seemingly unrelated.)

Absence

I haven't been blogging lately, and I'm not quite sure why. Lots of things have attracted my attention. There have been plenty of shlocky television shows that need some mild internet 'props' (as the kids say).

Maybe it's the de Quervain's tendinitis. Or maybe it's the never-ending issue of money. Or maybe it's that any time I sit down to write something, Shamu jumps on my lap, the phone rings, I remember something else that needs to be urgently completed, or I have to take the bus into town for something.

Whatever the reason, I've been pretty crap at this blogging thing. I'll try to do better this week. Really.

Wrongest picture ever

So much is wrong with this photo, which Adam just pointed me to. (He was searching for bathing suit photos, and birthday suit came up, apparently.)

First... why the suits? Why pose in the suits?

But most importantly, why is the little girl fondling her father's fake cock? And why is everyone so happy about it?

Biden? Really?

First off, I love Barack Obama. I want him to be my President. I think he's the first presidential candidate since I've been alive that I can honestly be completely happy voting for. I've voted for Dems since I was 18, and worked on a few campaigns in my day, but Obama is the first who I seriously like, regardless of party affiliation.

That said... Biden? Really? Don't get me wrong, Joe Biden has had his moments. But considering the huge possibilities that were out there, where Obama could have ended up with an incredibly powerful ticket, it just seems a bit silly to have Biden. The wonks among us will point out that Biden does balance some of Obama's percieved weaknesses -- little foreign policy experience, not being an old white guy from the Northeast, etc. They're right, but they give too much creedence to those 'weaknesses'.

Biden is good about once every three years, and usually when he's in an attack mode. When the Bush administration did something really fucked up (I know... which days didn't they?!?!), Biden could march his way onto one of the many networks, blast them from the comfort of his office, and be a decent voice for the center-left.

But he's just not a proactive candidate, which is probably why his own presidential aspirations were dashed so quickly. He's the guy you want to give the rebuttal after a Republican State of the Union, not the guy you want as second in command.

I'm still voting for Obama-Biden in a few months, but now I'm just a bit disappointed.

Oh... one other thing. Who was the marketing genius who decided to call the customised Barack Obama page you can log into 'MyBO'?? And how did it get through without everyone giggling about BO?

My day out

Highlights:

1. Staples employee who didn't know brown from yellow.
2. Man at pub: 'Do you think I can get in on a pensioner's ticket? I'll wear a flat cap and make myself smell of wee.'
3. KFC is a gross disappointment when you haven't had it in 8 years.
4. Atmosphere's new album is quality. Very different, but very good.
5. Rock Gardens has the same Elvis statue thing that the Market House used to have. It was confirmed, however, that it is not the same statue, just a matching one.
6. Wasps are bastards.
7. Everyone in graphic design likes swirlies.
8. That van did have its back door open, and it was unnecessary.
9. Lots of birds on the football field. Looked like the remnants of a ticker-tape parade, only made out of seagulls and crows.
10. Somebody at the corner of Bideford and Worle High Street has stolen a Stella umbrella. It looks ridiculous.

Update: The G's are here! The G's are here!

I tried to find a suitable photo or video to describe last night's episode, but they don't seem to exist.

It was AWESOME!

The character who made it awesome, a dude calling himself 'Pretty Ricky', seems to have been carefully edited out of all promotional stuff for the show. He flashes on screen in the trailer when all the guys are standing together, but they leave out the best bits.

The Gs were let into the mansion, where they zeroed in on a bar. Pretty Ricky got absolutely shitfaced, then had to go in for an interview. Only, they'd given him more booze by then. He commented on a woman's tits when he was given his blazer. He pissed on a wall. He generally made a giant ass of himself and it was brilliant.

Of course, he was the first to be eliminated. Luckily, a cocksucker calling himself 'The Truth' was also booted.

Looks like it will be a good series, and very funny. You gotta love MTV's ridiculous strain of reality television.

Poster time!

Seriously. If you're in the area, you should come.

He totally stole the idea from Pink Floyd...

Giant dog turd wreaks havoc at Swiss museum

I want this book

Why do I want it? A few reasons.

1. The hype is immense, and I'm a sucker for that shit.
2. I've always liked the idea of journalists investigating themselves.
3. I love over-the-top stories of drugs and general fuck-up-ery.
4. I haven't read a non-TV book in close to a year.

To the point

Through much of my adult life, I've held this song as a brief statement of my goals.

It still applies.

Anyone want to hire me?