Mistico

So Mexico was a welcome respite - despite the fact that I was up at the crack of dawn each morning, get lagged to hell from the previous week and generally in need of sleep. The clients were lovely, the weather great, the sessions not bad at all and the Mexican wrestling all that you would imagine.

Yes they got us corporate tickets to tegh wrestling - where we saw kids ripping off their shirts to celebrate the victory of the good guys, a lot of grown men in masks and even the obligatory angry granny. But the highlight was Mistico. He's the #1 wrestler in Mexico, his white mask was by far the most common in the crowd and as the time for him to enter the ring neared he was the one that had the already over-wrought kids in tears with excitement.

We asked the guys in front of us what made Mistico so special. "oh" they said "he is the best. He can fly."

And he could, sort of. He was certainly limber enough - right up to the point where he got pinned by a bad guy and lost the fight. Shock from the kids, despair for the 100s of Mistico rip off merchandise sellers outside (paper belts with his crudely cut out head scotch taped my favorite) and for me in the crowd - cause I'd fallen for the myth of Mistico rather hard.

Still there's always next week... and the week after that.

Good to be home. Have topick up driver's license, test drive Mustang and do some work tomorrow.

Entendre

Giant Robot swag 2/2
Originally uploaded by massdistraction

So I'm in Mexico to talk about Nuts and Seeds. Oh dear. It's entendre central and the poor clients let it all float about around them. Today was pretty good actually talked with nutritionists, anthropolgists, psychologists, food journalists, flavor profile inventors, chefs, traditional store owners and had people come in with their shopping. All a good base to look at what we should be looking at next time we're here.

The hotel continues to attract indie movie starlets Chloe, Sienna... erm.. Paris and the chocolate lab that they have adds a homely touch to what could be something very impersonal.

Hard to believe that there's snow in Ann Arbor.

Feeling knacjered, in need of a break, bloated and generally like a businessman abroad - even the 4 handed massage seemed more likely to end in sleaze than relaxation (it ended in neither)

Anyway 11pm to bed with me and something more worthy of your time afer tomorrow's Mexican Wrestling (!!!)

fuckwittery

Condesa DF matches
Originally uploaded by jm3

so I'm closing out my contract with ?! by taking on a project in Mexico City. And of course this being ?! the travel was completely balls'd up from the off. Business flight on Delta is booked back to New York. Too late for a Detroit connection. So they book coach on air mexico,,, then an impossible connection in Atlanta and a switch to American, No blame is taken.

As I leave I'm handed a travel sheet that has the wrong flight details, the wrong hotel details, the wrong terminal information and the wrong time for the car service. And some chocolate - with a note that says "I hope that this make your journey sweeter"

A nice touch but what would really make my journey sweeter would be the knowledge that I could trust people on flights and a nice big seat on a 1st world airline that gets me home in time to have a weekend with my wife... rather than a 'get up at four to check in for shitbag air and worry about delays the whole way to Atlanta flight"

Proof, if proof were needed that amateurs, no matter how nice or talented really shouldn't be handling jobs better done by pros.

That said hotel booked by client for us is nice and the matchbooks are cool

Odd couple of days

Eating My L Plates (Day 64)
Originally uploaded by Darkle Dagbar

Well the flight back from London took forever. Mainly because it went via Chicago - a giant airport with nothing other than overpriced pizza in it. Maybe that explains Oprah's new "thyroid problem"

Anyway 22hrs and I was in - at 2am and in a car that erroneously told me that my tyres were about to explode everytime I hit the Cruise control - but in.

Sunday was a day of shopping for Cashmere sweaters at a posh mall and on Monday I took the dog to the groomers, had lunch with my lovely wife and headed for my driving lesson.

The guy showed up early - in a knackered old Honda so full of 2nd hand cigarette smoke I could feel the tumors growing. "Wanna just take the test?" he asked. Sure I said. And 24 miles, a few un-reversed over cones and a lot of mirror checking later I'd passed. Hurrah. But the office was closed for Veteran's day, Boo. And I had to leave at 5am this morning for New York (Boo-sucks) and now won't be able to pick up my license until next Monday (Yah-Boo-Sucks)

So Mexico tomorrow... home on Saturday and then on Monday.... shopping for a car

long trip home

all flights delayed
Originally uploaded by Kaká

Visa arrived this morning at 7.15am

That was 1 working day (the warned of 5)

Juggled some flights and am now scheduled to leave Redcar tomorrow morning at 8.30 - get into London at 12.15

Then across town to the Heathrow express

Into Heathrow at 1pm

Flight to Chicago at 3

3 hr wait

Flight to Detroit gets in at middnight (5am UK time)

And then drive home

before getting up and flying to New York for a day

and on to Mexico for a couple more

knackered

a day in redcar

redcar 020
Originally uploaded by stevenjude

so got up, no visa (it might be Weds of next week) - read a bit, went to the all new and improved Retail Park, went into town, froze, got a couple of decent pics before the sun went down and hurried home to light a fire and open some wine. Slow day but not a bad day at all.

Oh I did some work too

Long Day

Superkid
Originally uploaded by Richard Browning

So a long day today. Up early to get to the embassy... then hours of waiting for the visa interview - which lasted all of 2 mins and saw me being approved (yeah!)... passport will be couriered 'soon' - I'm hoping that 'soon' is this week rather than next week as I'm due in Mexico soon.

Took the train up to Redcar where the neice hid in horror from me and everyone else listened patiently for me to finish up interminable stories about seeing 5 police men wade in to take down one guy outside of the US Visa office (hint to brutal policemen - in future kick the back rather han front of his knees if you want him to fall)

Right now I have a couple of presentations to look at - one to write and no real access to documents. Nightmare.

I'll head off and worry some

A change of heart

2-2008-ford-mustang-shelby-cobra-gt500kr.jpg
Originally uploaded by aparticularpath

Jude and I have been deliberating over the past few days. The thing is that I'm going to be commuting about 75 miles a day. Which means that we need a car.

The practical "we have a big dog and know people in their 60s" side of our brains was saying - let's get an Escape Hybrid. It's big. It does 40mpg (UK), turns out almost no emissions and has plenty of room for everyone. Issues with that are that it looks like a brick, it's expensive (around 15k GBP) and there's a waiting list for a hybrid that would make it a Valentine's Day rather than Xmas gift.

Then of course was the sensible, McScrooge Duck side of us that pointed out the all new Focus, its many cool toys, 40mpg on the highway and low, low cost of about GBP7,500. Problem with the Focus is that they've nixed both the hatch and the estate and that means that it's less practical for the dog and for carting things around. If we're going to be buying a sedan why would it be the base model?

At which point we ame to a heart over head decision. If practical is expensive and inexpensive offers no real upside let's say 'Screw it" and buy a Mustang.

The Mustang is the car that Steve McQueen drove in Bullit. It's lovely. And powerful. And muscular. The new GT Shelby version is 540bhp. Which is the equivalent of 12 of my first cars (a Fiat Panda). We're not going for the Shelby but we are going for a 4.0L, V6 that's very torquey (240lbs), rather well made and that still will clear 30mpg (UK) on my trip to work. Best thing about it is that this Pony car is cheap by UK standards. Even by American standards.

Yup, a brand new American muscle car, 4.0l engine, sun 7 second 0-60 time and all manner of mod cons comes in at GBP 9,100 (and that's before any discount I might get). To put that into context in the UK a Fiat Panda with 100BHP will cost you GBP 10,160.

Obscene isn't it?

Fort Lauderdale

Fort Lauderdale
Originally uploaded by Zach Klein

Well it seems that we were beaten by a storm named Noel. How shaming. Noel. So instead of being on a boat in the Bahamas we're looking forward to a night at a local cinema (here in A2) and perhaps a glass of wine or two.

We did make it down as far as Fort Lauderdale - but from there out the flights ran out, Noel hunkered down and we decided to head for home. Still we got a day in a decent hotel, the chance to dip our feet in the ocean and some points on North West Airlines.

So disappointing but we're making the most of it... and Alex and Xtiana are safe, sound and hunkered down

Maybe not

Tropical Storm Rita
Originally uploaded by alpoma

So last night we flew down to Fort Lauderdale and then on to an airport motel for the night. Up at 7am this morning and back to the airport to find that all flights to the Bahamas are cancelled due to a tropical storm and that the chances of our getting there at all are slim. Well there's a day of my life and a grand I won't be getting back.

Decided to wait it out a day and switched to a Hilton hotel that has a decent spa, a pool and a view of a very rough ocean. Tomorrow we'll make the decision as to whether we jump on a plane towards the islands or we jump on a plane home and rue our misfortune.

Hoping that we can make it - but fearing that we can't. Gotta dash now as the hotel charges for internet in prices that might neccessitate my selling an organ or having Judith 'harvested' for eggs

We're off

1985-026-03
Originally uploaded by August Rode

So after frantic unpacking... cat minder finding, dog sitter service vetting and a million and one other things we're off to Long Island Bahamas for a wedding. Should be lovely. And just what we need. Once we get past the flight time. And the inconvenience. And expense. Oh what the hell, it's warm, some of our favorite people in the world are there and if this wedding was in Milwaukee we'd be there, even if it meant walking.

Blog entries over the next 5 days may be few and far between

And granny makes Sith

IMG_4640
Originally uploaded by stevenjude

Took this as the Halloween Dog Parade... a whole family, including dog dressed in some kind of costume. Actually it was called Howl-o-ween which is of course pun tastic.

Today was spent unpacking boxes. The bedroom looks great now. The kitchen pretty good, The living room livable and upstairs as though Bobby and Whitney just made sweet lurve there - it's nasty.

Tomorrow I have a guy coming for the blinds, a guy coming to switch my cable box to one with HDMI connectors and I MUST, MUST, MUST fill in my visa form online and get it printed.

Then it's dog to the dog people, Jude to the paper store and us off to the airport for a bit of a trek, schlep and trudge down to the Bahamas.
Man I'm knackered.

Paving the way for a move

IMG_4616
Originally uploaded by stevenjude

So as Jude pulls all kind of flickr viewers with her new hair I started to prepare for the next couple of days and weeks with a spray on tan. Had to show a passport, get finger-printed and sign a waiver just to get permission to stand naked in front of what looked like a garden sprinkler. Then had to brave the overly well lit mirror as I wiped off the excess 'paint'.

What else did I do today? Took the cats to a place where they can stay while we're away - they have a room with a view of goats (who they stalked) and birds (who they ignored).

Also helped a guy remove the landlord's furniture... sitting in an empty room; on the floor with an exhausted dog as I write this.

FedEx brought me my appointment for the US embassy in London - will be there the nights of the 6th an 7th.

And I walked the dog. A lot. She's so happy here. Running in the park, sniffing at the leaves and being away from the BQE traffic. Best thing about the move so far - just how happy Velcro seems to be

Have movers bringing our stuff tomorrow, then flight out Wednesday, back Monday, fly to UK Tuesday for Wednesday meeting. Busy, busy

A L-O-N-G weekend

IMG_4619
Originally uploaded by stevenjude

After a couple of days of packing (see Jude somewhere either left or right swarfed by boxes) and too much running up and down the 63 stairs that served to lead to our apartment (good protection from fat Jehovahs however) we finally managed to see everything on a truck and ourselves heading to what might well be the smallest hotel room in the history of New York hotel rooms. Okay the name 'Petit Double" should have given it away but at $309 a night (the cheapest room in town on the weekend of the NYC marathon) I'd thought that it would at least have room to swing a cat flea. Not so. Ne'er mind though. We had dinner at a vegetarian Korean place with Mike, bough pjamas and slept okay.

Woke up to monsoon style rains, flood warnings, near gales and a general air of 'stay inside'... which we ignored as we loaded up the black Ford Escape with the various bits and pieces required by a long journey with several animals and set off into the deluge.

13 hours, one burger king fish sandwich, too many Starbucks, a scary tuna melt in a scarier Ohio diner (Jude thought that it was a halloween costume party, I insist that it's just Ohio clientel), 250bn gallons of water, four dog stops, too much 80s and 90s music, an average of 23mpg (that's 28mpg to the UK gallon) and one wrong turn later (the wrong turn being the last one - thank heavens for Sophie our trusty GPS) we arrived.

Today the sun is shining, the dogs are out in the park and dressed in halloween costumes and Jude is putting together a bathroom cabinet even as I type (I'll help when it comes time to hang the doors - especially as I do soappreciate the fact that like good freshmen doors should be well hung and accurately mounted)

We're here.

Long Drive

Detroit Rock City
Originally uploaded by anemergencystop

So with the house packed and the guys on their way to take all of our stuff down to Michigan we're girding our loins for the long drive down ourselves. Saturday is predicted to be full of thunderstorms and rain and general nastiness and of course we have over 600 minles to drive - most of it on the same piece of freeway. We've rented a car (you rent cars in America and hire people), we've trimmed the amount that we're carrying and we're ready to rock. Here's hoping it all is as smooth as a Vegas stripper's what-not

Big day today

what do you mean by "moving"?
Originally uploaded by peggy.

The people are here to pack the house. I quit my job. I'm waiting on a courier to bring me some plane tickets and legal documents and Jude had her hair colored and straightened. Surrounded by a million and one people here so this is gonna be short. More when we have Internet connection again

Bloated

battleground
Originally uploaded by qthrul

So flew down and pretty much ate my way through the day. Stuck in a hotel that was with in walking distance only of two chains. The first did huge Burrittos the second did huge Asian-ish food which it served under pictures of Asian-esque food described in Asian-like fonts.

Have a 4.10am wake up call booked for the morning so it's probably a good time to turn off Dancing With The Stars (post Marie Osmond faint) and try to catch up on some sleep.

Maybe pack my bag first though

Dull couple of days I know - but with a move coming up on Thursday it's probably a good idea to chill a little in Nowheresville, Arkansas

Where on earth?

Today I had to get up at 4.30am to catch a 6.30am flight to the middle of nowhere.
That flight gets me in for my meeting at 10.30am.
The meeting starts at 4.30pm.
So I'm stuck in a Best Western hotel miles from anywhere.
And of course the first flight home is at 6.30am tomorrow
So a 5am start

Lovely

Quite a night

So after a lovely dinner at my friend kajsa's house we decided to head down to The Slipper Room and Burlesque. At first all was as Burlesque so often is - tape over the nipples in the shape of swastikas, drinking the blood of Jewish babies, a great flashdance routine, an exterimator routine that ended with cockroach nipple tassles and so on.

And then came Rabbi Rose Wood. Dressed as a Rabbi 'Rose' almost immediately removed the lower half of her clothing revealing, well her 'thorn' - (s)he then proceeded to dance a merry gig - stopping only to shove a wine bottle up her ass and continue dancing with it dangling what I imagined was precariously. Of course the rest of the clothes come off to reveal a large (but fake?) chest which seemed inconguous with the Haseed beard she was sporting. Most odd. The crowd of course lapped it up but I couldn't help but wonder when the arrests would start.

Guilliani - a man who claims a lot of credit as America's mayor rose a dip in crime to pass through a lot of regulations that all but closed down New York Nightlife. The club scene never recovered - but now it seems that performance art is fighting back. Sure you can't show a nipple anymore - unless it's fake, so here's to blasphemy, political incorrectness, huge fake boobs and a bottle trick that I'm sure I won't be seeing in Michigan.

As that hideous old trout always says "Only in New York"

I saw this and thought of you

It was described thus(ly)

The Cone may appear to be just a stylish sculpture on your nightstand, but press the light-up buttons at its base and this unique vibe will knock your sheets off. The adjustable speeds range from a gentle purr to a rumbling roar through any of The Cone's sixteen vibration patterns (including an "orgasm button" that skips automatically to the highest intensity vibration). Sit astride it in the lotus position while reading or watching your favorite erotica, or lay over it during partner sex. And the shape isn't just about style—its tapered proportions are easy and fun to use by all genders and people with varied mobility.

Size: 7-1/2" diameter, 4-1/2" high
Material: Silicone
Volume: ****
Intensity: *****
Batteries: Three C batteries

It's like a poor man's sybian machine.... who's up ifirst

Traffic

How fast you want to go?
Originally uploaded by Edge of Space

Today it seems I have more traffic than the B5023 Wirksworth Road through the town of Idridgehay - the residents of which are forever banging on about people speeding and bemoaning the day that the government saw fit to allow motorized horses loose without a preceding man with yellow flag.

What this means I'm not sure. It's been a while since I tried the old trick of dropping blogsearch friendly terms and phrases like "Koreans eat Ellen's dog" or "Lindsay Lohan Sex Tape" into a paragraph to lure the perverted and unsuspecting (most of whom seemed to come from Saudi Arabia I have to say) so I'm thinking that this sudden surge must be something else.

I refuse to believe that people are visiting to hear my veilled hints at possible changes afoot or that they're here to hear me complain about having to call the movers. And much as I'd like to believe it I doubt that people are here for the gags - like the eyes of two Cyclops in a long distance relationship they are few and far apart (cylopses? cyclopsi?)

Maybe it's the spectre of death. The promise that something mentioned in passing is actually a malignancy that's killing me as I type. But then the spectre of death has hung over these pages in the past and the only extra people who visited were those who thought that a funeral may have good sandwiches and perhaps a decent song or two (no Angels for this guy)

Then what? What would drive me to a site is the pressure cooker recently described. Am I about to be minted a diamond or instead squished down to primordial sludge and used to manouvre a Buick around 4 and a half inches? There's certainly interest in there. The potential for total meltdown is high and the consequences potentially hilarious - if Britney could make the front pages with 5 blows of an umbrella then what celebrity could I muster from a street tantrum?

A therapist would say that it might be an indicator that people genuinely cared and were interested in me and my wellbeing. But then if I had so many caring people around yme, miss therapist, why am I paying for someone to talk to?

So instead I'm going to plump for an entirely different theory. There's been a groundswell, an upturn, a deluge of interest in the idea of Dakota Fanning playing me in a movie and people want to be able to say - oh well of course, I read the blog years ago.

Okay 8pm - Quorn time.

A quickie

IMG_4522.JPG
Originally uploaded by stevenjude

Quite stupidly busy at the moment - even without MRI scans, moving people, posts of unwanted stuff on Craigslist and all the other thigs that come with shipping a house, working a project, updating your health status and generally being under the gun.

Still I'm coping. I'm losing weight. And I've yet to attempt murder - so I'm either more repressed than anyone thought or I'm coping.

More when I have some time - which of course will be anytime. Let's face it if I drop a ball people barely hear the thud - if some people drop the ball their patient's veins explode. I have a story about that - of which more later.

One last thing. A psychic (don't ask) told me that I wake up every night screaming in agony but don't remember because someone that Judith dated in the past was a wizard who has cast black magic upon us. A mere $200 would pay for research into who this person is - and another $800 could help break the spell. Sounds like a bargain. You know it wasn't until I mocked the idea in writing that I started to wonder about the likelihood of her being 100% genuine and 100% right. That's how they do it.

Exposed

Bullfighter 2
Originally uploaded by miscellaniaphile

Well today went about as well as could be expected. The movers made grumbling progress towards a signed contract, I managed to find cover for LA, the client promised to sign, the MRI people are scanning diaries, the life changing decision thing moved forward a step and I played rather a nice bingo on an internet scrabble site.

Of course nothing is tied down but I feel as though I'm starting to crawl out from under the weight of organization that I've been under for the last 18 months or so. It's going to be so nice not to get up with a list of people to chase that day.

coming up - a trip to the bahamas for a wedding - with stops in Florida both ways. A trip to Vegas - and a Xmas being quiet in Michigan as Jude tries to get a million and one papers out.

Nae bad - all this and Barking Bard Billy Bragg on Saturday

The most stressful day of all time...

>waiting on movers, a recruiter, a client signature, a big decision which could change everything and over which I have no control and a time and date for my MRI. It's a sit and wait game and so I'm sitting and waiting. And of course once this stuff is out of the way I have to deal not only with cleaning the shit from the fan but from all the walls that it hit while the fan was spinning.

A low key weekend

IMG_4545.JPG
Originally uploaded by stevenjude

It's been a low key weekend - which is what I needed after a high drama week. It's been good just to run up the cell phone bill with Jude, play a little internet scrabble, catch up on the old TV and do a little bit of writing for myself. I did pop down to Sketchy's which seemed to have found a bit of form actually - with a 'beauty tames the beast' theme that had great monsters and a 'beauty' all too ready to tame him.

Today has consisted of a long walk with the dog in brilliant sunshine but cooler temps (16c); a half hour harboring the neighbors and their baby as the removal guys in their apartment took out the final pieces and I'm about to go and meet Will to talk about his cartoon series.

This afternoon? Kaiser and her new hair, maybe a movie (it's been ages since I went to the cinema) and then an evening spent writing up some of the work notes that I made this morning.

As I said pretty much exactly what I needed.

It's been an odd week - but it's been a good week. Here's hoping that Monday brings good news on something that I've been waiting to hear on forever and a date on the MRI that will look at the 'rupture' in my neck

Continuing on the emotional path

...and the Devil makes good use of these hands of mine....
Originally uploaded by cymagen

it's amazing what happens when you allow yourself to lose the stiff upper lip. I've spent the day terrorizing other people with tales of my mood and of how I feel about almost everything. It's a wonder friends aren't running for the bunker.

Conversations ran for hours rather than minutes. I held eye contact. I freaked people out. And a weird thing happened. I started to notice things. The rats in the park with McDonald's wrappers in their mouths. The tiny spider caught in the glass of one of our pictures at home (Jude tells me it's been there forever). People on the train.

I feel alive and raw and vulnerable and strangely manic. I feel alert and full not just of noble intentions but a real sense of urgency - a real need to get things done. It's as though a heavy gauze has been lifted and I'm shocked by just how alive and vibrant the world is. I wish I could say that this was due to medication (legal or otherwise) but it's not. It's just about opening up and learning to be more open.

So if any of you call or see me over the next few days don't be surprised if I laugh louder, ask you about a mole that you've had for years or if I ask you very personal questions whilst staring at you with real intent. I'm not having a breakdown. I'm not high. Or drunk. Or possessed. I'm just feeling very alive. And that (despite appearances) is a godo thing.

72 Baps Connie

Baps!
Originally uploaded by moonnio

There's an old Victoria Wood sketch that shows just how emotionally distant the British are as a race. Two women talking and it becomes apparent that one has just (and only just) had her husband die

"What are you going to do?" asks the friend

"72 Baps Connie, I'll slice you butter" says the recently widowed one.

It's a better sketch than that - but not a truer one. As a race the British tend to true to solve a related problem rather than deal with the emotion of the issue at hand. It's about control of course. I think. So maybe not 'of course'

It's this emotional distance that gives us the famed "stiff upper lip" and it's why the world was stunned when Diana's death was greeted with an outpouring of emotion and a bashing for the one person (the Queen) who behaved like a Brit through it all. It's why the world wasn't stunned when 9/11 sent America into therapy but the British bombings sent Londoners determinedly to subway stops accross the capital complaining only about the delays.

Why am I wittering on about this. Because being British is fine until disaster after disaster heaps upon you - then reserve and resolve become quiet desperation and emptiness and you end up in the potting shed with your wicker work and a bottle of Barbiturates.

So I've decide to take Ikea's advice to "Stop being so British" and instead to be a little more in touch, if no more touchy feely. So watch out all you may find me strangely connected to the world.

careful out there

Amigurumi Headhunter Doll
Originally uploaded by sHELL's pix

Lunch and dinner with (different) headhunters today - and another called yesterday morning. My brain (for the picking) seems to be in much demand. Hopefully this time they'll make enough in placements to pay me a decent commission. Enough to pay the moving costs anyway - went with middle estimate of $5124

Have a feeling I'm gonna get hosed later - but for now I'm happy with that one.

Well lunch waits for no man - and have two things to write between overpriced meals so I'll dash for the door, take the stairs rather than the elevator and finish this later

a real williamsburg night

Liz Estrada
Originally uploaded by Raphie Frank

it's 1am and I'm just in.

My friend mike and I went out and ended up at a bar with an Opera diva bar tender, a "turning 50 at midnight" old queen with a penchant for conspiracy, a Farsi beauty with startling insight - and a huge number of people from Cleveland.

We talksed about Devo, Bowie as an alien soul, living in the outer suburbs of Sydney, emotional honesty, giving a gorilla hand relief and sexual attraction as an energy level.

And it was fun. I left the bar with a website www.absolute0.com, two numbers (farsi woman and her friend) memories of dancing to Peggy Lee and a reminder that I am still actually a modicum of fun (I thought that I was funny and charming and relaxed and carefree tonight; that might be me through beer goggles however)

All in all a very good vening. Now for 5 hrs sleep and an early conference call

Big wedding anniversary

A snapshot of Susan's life.jpg
Originally uploaded by Susan & her 5d

We have a wedding anniversary coming up. It's ten years since we got married and 15 since we 'got together'. 10 years in ye olden times was your tin anniversary. It says a lot that the modern gift is something made of diamond. Too much actually. Maybe I can buy Jude a drill bit - something practical and diamondy.

The truth is it's an anniversary that we're avoiding. Everyone wants to know what we're doing and how we're celebrating and the truth is that we're doing very little, both at work a couple of hundred miles away from each other and both determined that 10 years doesn't become a noose - the marriage equivalent of a 30th birthday.

It's been really tough not having Jude around the last couple of weeks - perhaps accounting for the brevity and general lack of enthusiasm in my posts. We've been apart before of course, lots of times but this time she's so close and I'm so near to being able to join her that it actually hurts. I'd have loved to have been there for more than just visits and to have had ten years mark the beginning of something. A new apartment, a new job, something new that we were embarking on together.

I'd also have loved to have woken up this morning 15lbs lighter, with better defined abs, American white teeth, hair and the ability to speak Dutch (I'm using Rosetta Stone to get me toward the last one)

But it's not to be just yet and so we soldier on and I try to think of a gift that's both swooningly romantic and non-fattening. I was thinking Vegas baby

all a bit cold and empty really

chairs
Originally uploaded by mahr

so back in New York and busy as all hell at work. The sun is shining. There are a million and one packing things to be done and yet I still feel in limbo. This weekend showed just how quickly Jude can build a new life. New people, new challenges, new stuff all over the place and here I am feeling trapped in the same old, same old. Time for me to get off my ass and do some things. Where I do them is what's open for question. But it has to start somewhere and it will start today, in New York where I'm actually having a script meeting on a possible kids TV show. Cool

a strange kind of doom

swinging heaven
Originally uploaded by amywcook

it's october. in michigan. we've been told to wrap up warm. last night at a party on guest brought hot chocolate. over on campus there was an "80s Sweater and Hot Cider" night going on. It's supposed to be cold. But it's not. Today it's 33c and the sunshine is spectacular. Yesterday was similar. This, of course, is not a good thing in terms of environment. But it's warm and people like warm. So we're wishing away impending doom and floating on the scented breeze of impending disaster. Global Cooling methinks would have more of a groundswell of public opinion behind it. Just an early morning thought is all.

A somewhat different weekend

A very special gift...
Originally uploaded by Corydora

Yup after last weekend's nipple tassle extravaganza this week is DIY stores, Jam tasting and a fascinating slide show at the house of someone Jude knows. Oh and there's a 55mile bike ride to a cider mill too. This may take some getting used to

sucker

Oh, what nearly 4 years will get you.
Originally uploaded by DerkT

okay I know. I'm a sukcer. A real sucker. But I just love sexy electronics. And so with th expenses mounting - $4k to move house, $3k for blinds, $14k for a new car, weekly $250 flights and the like I somehow managed to find my way into an Apple store today looing at the new i-touch.

Okay so it's 8 gig vs the 160 gig of a standard video i-pod. And the price will come down soon.

But it's touch screen.
And it knows which way up it is.
And it has wi-fi that's free in Starbucks.
And it plays movies beautifully.
And it's really thin.

It uses fonts fantastically.
And it really is as sexy as hell.

And besides I've spent more tha $300 on a good dinner.
And we're kinda well off on paper (we just lack the requisite kind of paper to prove it)

And I was celebrating not having cancer.
A "have the paper to prove it" kind of not having cancer

And I did give extra blood today in an act of altruism.
Plus it was my birthday recently
And it's my anniversary soon.

And did I mention that I'd been a good boy?

Okay - I'm a sucker.
But a happy sucker.

BTW - Anyone want a previous generation Video i-pod in Black?
It was a gift and I'd rather someone took it than it went into a drawer.

Scans clear... now for the MRI

the neck thing. ouch. no really...ouch!
Originally uploaded by zabethanne

So scans were good this morning - except for what they think might be a heriation of a disk in my neck. Have an MRI scheduled just in case. Meanwhile it's all good. Hurrah. Another crap post I know. Monster busy here. (what?)

so- thai-ard

sleepy raver
Originally uploaded by lomokev

as they used to say in Singapore. I'm totally knackered. The head is aching. And I need to be in tip top form for the doctor tomorrow. Well actually I don't as the tests were done weeks ago and it's just a results day. But I still wanna look well. Weird huh? Anyway a real post first thing tomorrow.

Lemonade

Lemon
Originally uploaded by ian_zone

well after yesterday's disappointments I've decided to suck it up, make lemonade and concentrate on what's actually important. Doctor on Thursday. New client the week after. Time to throw myself into fitness, health and work. Erm, that's it. It's late. The glass of wine was a little too full. More tomorrow.

Life on hold

While on Hold... (#2 of 5) Linksys Story
Originally uploaded by cobalt123

was promised an answer today on one of those big life shaping things. Actually I was promised an affirmative answer.

Instead I got a 2 week delay.
And a side order of uncertainty.

Powerless to change the outcome I'm moping instead.
Can't remember ever having been this down.

Facing the prospect of being homeless (lease runs out in 3 weeks), penniless (the move costs a fortune), wifeless (she's in Ann Arbor my options around getting there are diminishing daily) and animal-less (they will move end of month) and all I can do is cross my fingers.

Worse is that a 'yes' would have carried me towards something that I really want to do - rather than away from something that I don't. A very good step.

Sometimes I can see how having a belief in something other than the ability of organizations to bugger things up could be a comfort.

Still 2 weeks to certainty. And knowing is all. That gives me the ability to plan. And planning is what I do best.

Okay - back to work.

a waiting game

IMG_4373.JPG
Originally uploaded by stevenjude

I'm really bad at waiting. Really bad. It's the lack of control that I hate. Other people setting the pace, the deadlines, the pace of your life. It's why I'm not a bus person - being able to see those gaps that "you could drive a bus through" whilst simultaneously not moving drives me bonkers. Gimme the subway anyday. With no front window to peer through and only blackness all around there's no way of viewing the cause of frustration.

So this week is a bad one. I'm waiting on movers. On doctor's results. On window treatment guys. And on a host of equally important - life in our hands - decisions from other people. And it's already driving me insane. By Friday I'll be a basket case. By next week worse.

I gues sit could be worse. I could be being hounded - a la Britney. Am I alone in finding Britney losing her kids a sad thing? It feels as though this has been the script that the press have been looking for all along. They've been pushing the Britney is a bad mom angle for so long (with the "Somebody help us" headlines plastered over pics of her kids) that the court decision today seemed inevitable. Sure she's hardly mom of the year but then she has staff to look after the kids - they're looked after by pros. And a lot of the toddler angst you see is caused by the media scrum around Brit and the kids whenever she leaves the house.

What I really object to though is one of the reasons most often cited as being a sign of Brit's depravity is that she's often naked around her kids. At this point I have to say - so what? They're 3 and 1. I'm not sure they'd notice naked and even if they did I'm sure that's not unhealthy. Okay the drugs might be an issue, that I can see - thoughnobody ever tried to drag Bobbi Houston off to a home for children of drugged up nutter parents, did they?

Enough of a rant "LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE" etc.

Oh this waiting

Steve

One of those weekends

IMG_4272.JPG
Originally uploaded by stevenjude

A good weekende then. Sketchy's was a little low energgy, with lots of the jokes falling a bit flat - but then we were the stone cold sober table.
Still Jude did well at left handed drawing and I managed a couple of good pics.

Margaret Cho was funny during the stand-up and daring during the burlesque but I found myself admiring rather than enjoying the show... although her crotch in face rubbing, moustachio'd, permed, Cher lithe, gymnast flexible support was good value for money.

Kaiser and Nick's party was fun. Too many nibbles, too many drinks, enough interesting people and we stayed too late - just about perfect then.

Mythic Creatures at the museum not really worth the money... but you live and learn and it's always nice to see Mike.

Jude leaves tomorrow morning (on a 6am flight, ouch) and I head out there next weekend. Meanwhile I'm in limbo - waiting on news in almost every area of my life from health, to work. It'll be an interesting week.

A Sketchy weekend

June 2007 Dr. Sketchy's poster
Originally uploaded by Olive Talique

Jude's home this weekend and I've packed the program.

We have gym sessions, followed by a trip to the museum of natural history to see the Mythical Creatures thing, then from 3-6 it's a live drawing class (with booze) over at Dr. Sketchy's. We leave that bevvy of beauties and head across town to Margaret Cho's Sensual Woman show - which has strippers, mimes, tranny comics and of course Korea's finest ex-sitcom 'star' doing stand-up. From there it's on to Kaiser and Nick for their 'It's a Threesome' party before staggering home, drunkenly taking the dog out and falling into bed.

Sunday will be gentler, but no less busy. We'll let you know how it goes.

balanced

balanced nude
Originally uploaded by Jerrie

no time for a post today... which breaks my rule about living a more balanced life and taking time out for me, but hey when they pay you the medium bucks!

too much stuff?

Oz
Originally uploaded by lane collins

just had the first of the movers in to estimate a price on getting stuff from New York to Michigan and they came in at $4200. Which is more than it cost us to move from Australia to the US but roughly what I was expecting. Time to breathe long, deep and repetitively, suck it up, swallow hard and do whatever else it is that people are supposed to do in these situations. Another quote due this afternoon, we'll see.

At least Velcro liked both guys - last time she really barked at a guy who subsequently (maybe consequently) tried to rip us off with a quote more inflated than his gut.

Did I mention that while at the airport last week I was suddenly distracted by a dwarf in colored leggings, a women with an enormous ass in a bold print dress and a bunch of queens so mincing they'd have been bitch slapped by The Scissor Sisters. Turns out that they're with Margaret Cho - I have tickets for her this weekend. Looks like being a good show... I love a bit of sauce (said he coming over all Barbara Windsor)

Anyway with the clouds coming in, the storm gathering and me running behind on two final projects I guess it's time to take the dog down, run back up and get back to the grind on this one.

Take care all

Wish I'd been there...

Dont Panic!
Originally uploaded by Slackwise

It seems that while I was away the office was gripped by mad panic.

Actually a couple of people were seized by panic and the rest of the office merely shrugged as they were called in for panicked pep talks and a round of 'go us' cheering.

This is the downside of working for a cult. I've done it before and what's most interesting about these places is that they really give evidence of just how fragile absolute conviction can be.

Both of the cults that I've worked for have operated under the belief that they're the ultimate place for people in their industry to work. The people under the roof are the chosen ones, saved from a world outside that's less competent, less creative, less respected and (in one case) less nice.

They don't ever consider the fact that people may leave of their own volition (why would they - there's nowhere better?) and this blinds them to a few facts about the workplace. Sure they draw great people, but they then let that talent pool get stagnant. If nobody is leaving there's no room to move up - and career paths are more important to some people than money; especially at a certain level.

They also become quite insular. They start to systemize, to try to protect the systems or the culture. They start writing things on walls. Then etching them on walls. They start to get stuck in a time - while new rivals are still at the bendy boned 'go ahead and drop me' baby stage these great companies, these cults are so caught up in being right that they stop being interesting.

And then people start to leave.

Beliefs are shaken to the core.

People are gathered into rooms.

Navels are inspected.

And sometimes, just sometimes, the cult leader sets out in a new direction.

More often however new people are brought in, indoctrinated, strip mined and allowed to flow out of the other side - better for the experience but keen on having a job that demands less commitment to the cause and more to the clients.

If I had a company (and I will) it would have no culture. Shallow. How's that for a name? Shallow. I like. Anyone wanna join me?

Long time no post

Moon Over Marriott
Originally uploaded by ironpath27

It's been a couple of dayts since I've last posted - which will no doubt reek havoc with my traffic (which has been building for a while)

The reason for the delay was a trip to Chicago to do some customer interviews and a blackberry that is resolutely crap. Anyway the hotel was brown and expensive - the conference room an absolute bloody rip off and the entertainment limited to the view through the near opaque net curtains of the serial masturbators on the ground floor.

A delay on the way back meant that I couldn't pick up my scan results and now have to wait for Oct 4th for a follow up. Not overtly worried (with oncology I've learned the phone not ringing is a very good thing indeed)

Anyway I'm finally back and about to throw myself into two final presentations that I really want to be proud of. Not much time for either but I think that they could actually cement the ideas that we had within their respective organizations - and I want the people responsible for these ideas to wear them like lead shoes (or something that was a terrible metaphor)

Anyway onwards, upwards and towards the TiVo

Proper stuff later in the day

nothing but blue skies

man sunbathing in the park, with makeshift speedos and a cross country ski pole
Originally uploaded by revertebrate

So here we are at the end of September and as I look out of my window all I see are blue skies. The weather reprters are running out of ways to play off of the 'smiley sun in a pair of shades' graphic and in the parks the tanning has taken on a much less determind attitude - people being happy to lounge in the sun, assured that it's going to last rather than baking in the heat, glistening with quick tan products as they try to catch the last rays.

We'd have loved to have bought an apartment on the park - but it wasn't to be. Cancer makes a mockery of mortgage applications. Builders work slowly and New York seems to be unable to finish a building at any point (or start one in the case of the world trade center site)

Mind if we had bought in the park I'd probably have been arrested. The combination of people making micro-fashion fauz pas beneath my window and a really good zoom on my camera could well have turned me from casual observer of 'she went out in that?' to documenter of 'floozy-wear' in weeks. And without express permission that might be dangerous.

On that note I shall head back to bed (the cats got me up stupidly early this morning - do they not understand the needs of a man who was drinking Shiso Mojitos the night before?

Miserable?

Roscoe the Pug With Ice Bag On His Head- Miserable in the Seattle Heat
Originally uploaded by zoomar

This weekend ought to be miserable.

Jude is in Ann Arbor.

I'm flying to chicago on Sunday - where I'll spend two days in an airport hotel talking to people who really don't want to be there about something that they know almost nothing about.

And payday is a week away.

Yup - this weekend should suck harder than a crack whore with rent due (to paraphrase myself)

Instead I shall impose myself on friends. eat, drink and take up some of the many marvels that the city has to offer.

I'll go and pick up my free tickets to Words and Music over at BAM (think the kind of theatre / cinema where earnest older ladies with short hair scoff brownies and at the Bush administration)

Then I'm gonna go and check out the new sandwich place down in what used to be the heavily hispanic Southside of Williamsburg. This one is called Papa Lima Sandwich and is actually modeled on Zingerman's (the owner studied at UM and is a cue card man on Saturday night live as well as a sports bar owner!)

From there it's me - the dog - the park - the greenmarket and a bit of a run before hitting Pilates for the first time in a week (that's gonna hurt)

After that it's the guilty pleasure of a movie alone (I'm thinking The Brave One in which Jodie Foster gets all Charles Bronson on our asses) before heading off for drinks with Jono at Sweet Ups (described by Time Out NY as making you feel "as though you've walked into a detective novel") and dinner at Fanny (I know)

Finish it off with wild salsa a Bembe - a hot, sticky, rum fuelled latin dance spot and I've managed to fill Saturday and have a recipe for a Sunday lie in.

Miserable not. There are advantages to the city - especially in September weather of brilliant sunshine and 29c.

Your Room Awaits

Your Room
Originally uploaded by stevenjude

A few things that you should know about Ann Arbor before you come and visit....

Ann Arbor ain't that big - there are about 115,000 people; a populatin that falls to 78,000 when the students go home.

It's one of the few left wing bastions in Michigan - famous as the place thta Kennedy announced The Peace Corps, Johnson asked or a 'great society' and anti-Vietnam demonstrations first blew up.

It's not always cold - though around 130 days a year sees tempertaures below freezing

It's home to Zingermann's - a rather good deli that feels more Californian than anything.

It's twinned with Tubingen, Belize City, Hikone, Peterborough (Canada), Juigalpa, Dakar and Remedios

The words "Go Blues" go a long, long way

Locals call it The People's Republic of Ann Arbor or 25 square miles surrounded by reality

We have space for you. You'll get a bedroom, a rooftop terrace, a skylight and a train that comes through twice a night making more noise than you thought legal or even possible

See you there

Waiting

wideawake
Originally uploaded by stevenjude

It's 7pm on Monday and I'm in an office sparsely populated. Third eye blind are playing on the company i-pod. A co-worker is typing with more speed and precision than me (no swearing, no tongue poking out, no pecking at the keyboard) and there's a guy pacing and talking on a landline in a closed room that's not as soundproofed as I think he believes it to be.

I've just eaten the most awful veggie burger and am now trying to slosh it down with the remnants of a filthy Albanian white - the kind of wine that hopes a vaguely risque name might erase the bitterness and bite below its screw top. Not that I'm a screw top snob. Some of my best friends have screw tops.

Oh and if you're reading this, you're on facebook and you haven't added me shame on you. I need to get through three figures on friends and you could be the person that tips the balance.

Similarily if you're from Farnborough (or surrounds) and you've been reading this please let me know who you are... I lived there as a kid and the name on my sitemeter thing is arousing my inner cat killer.

Again a post about nothing. Had to postpone scan results as it clashed with me being in Chicago.... but no news is generally good news

Been quiet recently

IMG_4133.JPG
Originally uploaded by stevenjude

Sorry that the blog has been duller than an airline steak knife of late. Just that I'm drowning in a sea of stress created by other people solely it seems to see whether I can survive a cortisol tsunami.

There's work with its immovable deadlines and multi headed opinion beasts. It's like trying to tame Medusa's mane at times. Then there's Jude's move and wee things going wrong there from time to time (no sound on the cable box - so no TV... not a major issue but a niggle and an example)

There's me trying to stay social and not become a (slightly) thinner Aretha - tied to the house by some strange force over which I've no control.

There are minor house screw ups in London. Insurances, gardens, painting to be done... all of that stuff. All hard from a distance.

There's a credit card that cancels itself upon use and allows you access to re-activate only via a UK freefone number that doesn't work outside of the US.

And then there's being alone. Missing your wife. Wanting a new life. And generally feeling sorrier for yourself than you should.

None of which excuse the inactivity - all of which contribute to it.

Jude has an apartment

So Jude signed on the apartment today, moved in her stuff and is currently in glorious repose on a blow up mattress.

20ft windows, no blinds and top floor make this a risky pose... but she's all guts and glam.

Move went well - the power is on, the place is clean, the furniture is in place and to date a dodgy plug (in the bathroom sink), a row of dead sockets (there will be an on switch somewhere) and a fire that will smoke the place out the first time that it's allowed to burn are the only things that we've founf wrong.

Every car in the car park is German (Audi, BMW, BMW, Porsche, Audi, Mercedes) in a state where the vast majority of cars seem to be Fords with the phrase "I work at Ford. I drive a Ford." placed on the license plate.

Anyway enough third party information. More soon. Sorry for the quick entry... having all kinds of connection issues here

If I was Bart Simpson

IMG_4117.JPG
Originally uploaded by stevenjude

Then I'd probably look like this.

As would most ad planner.

Which is kinda scary.

When you think about it.

Which I do.

Which is also scary.

Man I need to be busier.