1. busy busy busy making business cards for our sound designer. i'm basing the imagery on the waveforms of his first and second names. so far looking like:



2. got a set of keys cut that work (after losing mine in barcelona).
3. saw the poster i designed return from japan. here it is, graffiti and all, modeled by anna and shane, inspected by steve:

today my mind kept returning to what i remember about strolling down the beach in barcelona. ocasional couples hugged whilst sitting on each others' lap, stealing precious quiet times together, loving each other, staring out to sea, watching the sun set as the air turned colder. locals walked home along the sea front, familiar with all that was different to me. we walked and i got to know ted better, hearing his plans for the future, where he should live and speculations over his future with becky. i remember feeling calm, unsure of what's next, but somehow reassured my future was going to be okay, perhaps even pretty good. maybe it was the company, the atmosphere, the realisation that i was learning about people from my own country whilst being thousands of miles from it, i don't know. today the memory of that walk was more meaningful than the experience of it two days ago.

"i'll meet you half way."
"oh... go on, then."

she was short, with a dark brown bobbed haircut, clear latin features, wearing a beige pinafore dress and brown leather work shoes. he was less smart; a black t-shirt with some plastic band logo uglifying the front. they danced together all night on the same spot, facing each other, communicating through body language. they didn't say a word to each other as they danced in small, controlled moves, instinctively knowing what the other would do, putting more effort in at the songs they liked, almost coming to a standstill at those they didn't. i watched them and wondered. from the jacket slung over her arm she had come from work or didn't trust the cloakroom's safety. he hated ricky martin and as soon as it came on she looked up at him, apologetically. she liked it but knew he didn't and he stayed with her. this was their routine, what they did every friday night, i thought, thinking how great it must be to be in such an obviously good relationship. they left a while after that, walking out of the door hand in hand, silently. a couple of hours later, in a different club, i saw them again, dancing to the same songs exactly the same way.

a coffee cup full of lager at 11am in victoria station. then impatience to go snowboarding.

i'm wondering what the perfect balance is between relaxing, general living and work to have a life close to perfect.

today was a memorable day (not meteorological) with funky which saw us on a road trip to our snowboarding 'mecca', albeit tamworth. the hallowed white ground had the consistency of flour, slowing us as we attempted spins, sharper carving and 'denied!' 180s. i never remember how much i need to go until i decompress in the airlock and get to the top of the escalator. after i stamp my feet into place and click the bindings back until they pull i stand up, look out and get nervous. what if i've forgotten how to steer, which part (of which foot) do i lean on again? this kind of weirdness usually goes on in my head as i hop left and right, getting used to the board all the time trying to persuade myself that falling isn't that painful. didn't need asking twice today. after the clicks a cursory glance at funkstar and i hopped and twisted, trusting instinct, on my way. that seemed to set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. i watched funky slide next to me, learners edge themselves slowly down making scraping noises before clunking to the floor; just me, completing circuits up and down, up and down, following my feet, spending two hours waiting, playing, waiting. the last couple of weeks, with all their stresses and sleep deprivation, ebbed away as my mind finally cleared whilst not thinking about anythingin particular.

signs to london decreasing slowly from 110 miles until we stole an indiscreet glance at the pileup that could only have happened minutes earlier. our chatting and singing quietened as all three emergency services went about their business: holding passenger heads straight, cutting doors off, that kind of thing, amid flashing blue, red and white lights.

the queues gave way for a while leaving the car draped in darkness. distant windows lit with sodium glows sheared past each other, describing three dimensions far away. trees shot past, erasing them for tiny moments. reef turned to portishead as the afternoon's adrenaline liquefied into friendly stillness.

bad day at work. is it all right if i don't talk about it? it's just that-

more of the same, i'm afraid. i worked until about 2.30am which wasn't as bad as it sounds. i had help from mutley, the anthill mob and chugaboom. dick dastardly had a massive table tennis bat whacked on the front of his purple plane, swatting his allies in the most imaginative accidents they could think of before the best bit. he went up in the lift, and asked

'which floor are we on?'
'the twenty-fifth floor, sir'
'but... we haven't got a twenty-fifth floor'
ping! the doors open, then this:



then 'mutleyyy! dooo something!' then to bed.

you see - a wish on a dish or a coin on a plate is no ticket to heaven or any such state. today the sky has gone all weird again. today the clouds had a beginning, a middle and an end. today the clouds barely moved. the nostalgic smell of freshly laundered clothes.

something about me?

most of the people who know me will agree that i'm a fanatical tidier. i have to put things away neat and clean so i know where they are for next time when i'm in a rush, which is often. 'clean? blimey - you wouldn't know two blokes lived here...' i remember tracey deluxe exclaiming as she walked into our kitchen last time. most nights i can't relax until everything is in it's allocated spot so i have lots of boxes, all happily storing sleepy residents, willing to have cds or clothes or paper hastily chucked into them. you just 'clump!' the lids down and it's done. easy. about a year ago whilst out shopping for housey stuff - paint, dryers or woks or something - i came across what is now my favourite box; big, strong, with a hinged lid, rounded corners - it even has carrying handles. this is my day-to-day box, the one i'm in and out of most frequently. it eats my keys, phone, car head unit, notepad and favourite 'm.a.' pencil (which has now reached almost religiousstatus), laptop mouse, digital camera, various batteries, rechargers, adapters but most importantly minidisks with ease. it gets untidy at breathtaking speed, it's bimonthly tidy takes about an hour, but it's a rewarding routine. it's a tiny signifier of my life, too. when the box is clean, i'm organised, on top of things, relaxed. when it's in disarray you can bet i am, too. today it looks like this inside:

stu and lou's very healthy baby, the previously mentioned invasion and how al taught me basic circle geometry. oh, and shane being interviewed.

recently nothing but work although today nothing but home. monday comes too quickly and two days isn't enough. food, drink, the fire, games, magazines, dvds, and finally, relaxing. until two doors down decided to deafen us slowly and infrequently for two hours with their unbelievably annoyingly loud fireworks display:

saturday 3rd november
tag-team friends at the snow show with funky and peejay, which can only be likened to a huge shop with indoor stunts. woody was there, jenny jones and some twat off the radio who insisted on using phrases like 'big air' and 'radical' commentated. very badly. it will soon be time to try out some kickers, and i found how to design my own board. this, and those on the x-trail stand, were the highlights of the day, apart from woody's hat. radical indeed. it even stayed on when he was upside down.

friday 2nd november
according to me, whoever organises meetings for late friday afternoons needs a damn good slap. three and a half hours of needless dilemmas and circling the block just to confirm the destination was the beginning is nothing short of an energy shredder. i'm too tired to even relax tonight. the bastards. and yes, helen, it was like having a tooth pulled. from your brain.

thursday 1st november
last night everything was green and in between doing other things today, like designing phone icons, boxes, fonts, logos, desktop patterns and more icons, i threw together this:



and i think i'm unconfident using colour. well oh, am i? at work? yes. hello? is there anybody out there? cooee?


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