sitting in a dark back room, staring through one way glass with the strangely metallic taste of old M&Ms sticking to my teeth and my chest feeling more like breasts than pecs.
It's an odd feeling being here, made odder by the general sense of fatigue that the 8am flight (6.15am departure from home) seems to have engendered.
Reading Sharp Teeth at the moment, a lychonthropic pulp novel written in free verse by a guy that I work with and like a lot. It's great. The verse seems like a gimmick (this isn't poetry) at first, but then you realize just how spare the language is, how quickly the story moves and just how muscular everything seems.
Check it out - it's well worth an evening
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Monday, March 03, 2008
Atlanta
So tomorrow I'm off to atlanta. Home of Coca Cola, the Falcons, the Braves, the Hawks, the Thrashers and of course Atlanta Dream - the women's NBA team down there.
Previous trips have seen me hurtling through the airport in a bid to make a connection between flights from mexico city and detroit. I never missed one but I've never been in Atlanta and not been in a hurry. Whereas I've never met anyone in Atlanta who is in a hurry. It's not just the accents that are thick with molasses, it's every aspect of the place. Atlanta moves as though a thick fog of humidity has engulfed the population, draining them of energy and making them fit only for a fitful siesta. Or at least the airport does, but I suspect that the melancholy malaise is universal. We shall see
Previous trips have seen me hurtling through the airport in a bid to make a connection between flights from mexico city and detroit. I never missed one but I've never been in Atlanta and not been in a hurry. Whereas I've never met anyone in Atlanta who is in a hurry. It's not just the accents that are thick with molasses, it's every aspect of the place. Atlanta moves as though a thick fog of humidity has engulfed the population, draining them of energy and making them fit only for a fitful siesta. Or at least the airport does, but I suspect that the melancholy malaise is universal. We shall see
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Crazy busy
Both Judith and I were up at 7am this Sunday - awakened by the plaintive cries of the cats but kept awake by the sheer volume of stuff that we have to get through this week.
She's knee deep in data, graphs, charts, a swirl of numbers and hypotheses. I'm groin deep in discussion guides, research specs, product definitions and art directional techniques.
It's 8.53 here and we have three computers open; all manner of e-mails to answer and text messages popping by the dozen. In many ways it's hell - but then I look around at the apartment, the well groomed animals, the ease with which we write cheques, our travel plans and the fact that neither of us pauses before throwing another thing into the basket or filling the car with gas and I have to say that things aren't so bad.
I'm also going to try my hand at a bit of script writing today. I have this theory that somewhere between the mundane ordinary and the trying too hard extraordinary lies happiness. I've been playing with the concept of Unordinary for a while now - and whilst it's not immediately relevant for the stuff I should be doing today it's always worth writing these half thoughts up a little and seeing what they turn into.
The pic, btw, is from yesterday's Eastern Market trip
She's knee deep in data, graphs, charts, a swirl of numbers and hypotheses. I'm groin deep in discussion guides, research specs, product definitions and art directional techniques.
It's 8.53 here and we have three computers open; all manner of e-mails to answer and text messages popping by the dozen. In many ways it's hell - but then I look around at the apartment, the well groomed animals, the ease with which we write cheques, our travel plans and the fact that neither of us pauses before throwing another thing into the basket or filling the car with gas and I have to say that things aren't so bad.
I'm also going to try my hand at a bit of script writing today. I have this theory that somewhere between the mundane ordinary and the trying too hard extraordinary lies happiness. I've been playing with the concept of Unordinary for a while now - and whilst it's not immediately relevant for the stuff I should be doing today it's always worth writing these half thoughts up a little and seeing what they turn into.
The pic, btw, is from yesterday's Eastern Market trip
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Eastern market
So today we went to Detroit's eastern market.
As ever it was a long drive for a disappointing sandwich.
We keep forgetting that it's winter.
And that winter in Michigan means staying indoors.
So the stalls were missing.
The buzz was absent.
And the people looked 'nithered'
That said we had a good time, bought lots of stuff and now we're ready to cook.
which is what we're going to do now.
As ever it was a long drive for a disappointing sandwich.
We keep forgetting that it's winter.
And that winter in Michigan means staying indoors.
So the stalls were missing.
The buzz was absent.
And the people looked 'nithered'
That said we had a good time, bought lots of stuff and now we're ready to cook.
which is what we're going to do now.
Eastern market
So today we went to Detroit's eastern market.
As ever it was a long drive for a disappointing sandwich.
We keep forgetting that it's winter.
And that winter in Michigan means staying indoors.
So the stalls were missing.
The buzz was absent.
And the people looked 'nithered'
That said we had a good time, bought lots of stuff and now we're ready to cook.
which is what we're going to do now.
As ever it was a long drive for a disappointing sandwich.
We keep forgetting that it's winter.
And that winter in Michigan means staying indoors.
So the stalls were missing.
The buzz was absent.
And the people looked 'nithered'
That said we had a good time, bought lots of stuff and now we're ready to cook.
which is what we're going to do now.
Friday, February 29, 2008
The I-94
I thought that I'd share what my commute looks like with the wider world.
This is the i-94.
The speed limit on the I-94 is 70mph (112km/h) which is pretty good for America. Certainly faster than most people from outside the country think that it will be.
At 1604 miles long it would take you 22 hrs 54mins and 51 seconds to drive from its western beginning to its eastern end (if you obeyed the speed limit and adopted an astronautical approach to the journey and didn't stop for food or bathroom breaks (or for fuel, which might be a problem)
Right now though my issue with the I-94 is that most mornings it looks like the picture above. What the picture misses however are the huge 4*4s who hurtle though at 70 in this weather, the deep central ditches into which they spin, the tailbacks that these spins cause and the amount of ice that forms on your windscreen as they kick up slush and spray you with the kind of salty detrious usually reserved for only the most disillusioned kind of 'actress'
Now people tell me that come the spring I'll forget all about the hell of winter. That a new hormone will surge through my body and fill me with a joy that erases mornings like this. I really do.
This is the i-94.
The speed limit on the I-94 is 70mph (112km/h) which is pretty good for America. Certainly faster than most people from outside the country think that it will be.
At 1604 miles long it would take you 22 hrs 54mins and 51 seconds to drive from its western beginning to its eastern end (if you obeyed the speed limit and adopted an astronautical approach to the journey and didn't stop for food or bathroom breaks (or for fuel, which might be a problem)
Right now though my issue with the I-94 is that most mornings it looks like the picture above. What the picture misses however are the huge 4*4s who hurtle though at 70 in this weather, the deep central ditches into which they spin, the tailbacks that these spins cause and the amount of ice that forms on your windscreen as they kick up slush and spray you with the kind of salty detrious usually reserved for only the most disillusioned kind of 'actress'
Now people tell me that come the spring I'll forget all about the hell of winter. That a new hormone will surge through my body and fill me with a joy that erases mornings like this. I really do.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Working harder than Peter North
which is why this is both late and boring.
Having fun today. Working out words for 'explosive' that don't bring to mind the idea of fireballs.
Harder than you'd think actually.
Though I found out today that in automotive speak any incident that involves flames is a "thermal incident" - hallelujah for corporate language.
Having fun today. Working out words for 'explosive' that don't bring to mind the idea of fireballs.
Harder than you'd think actually.
Though I found out today that in automotive speak any incident that involves flames is a "thermal incident" - hallelujah for corporate language.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
A cold day in hell
Yup, more snow, another -15c day and no relief on the grey horizon. The smoke is freezing as it leaves the chimneys that choke the air here. The roads are disintegrating. And the weight of relentless cold has yet to be lifted by the promise of the break of spring.
At work I'm busy administering nasty tasting medicine, throwing out band aids and making sure that my Kevlar vest doesn't slip and allow people sight of my spine for even one knife inviting second. It's good fun actually. And not nearly as dramatic as I make it sound. In truth we're working out how to take my unusually intellectual ideas and turn them into something a little more spleen rupturinging stomach punchy. Shouldn't be too hard.
The pic btw is taken pretty close to our house. I love the idea that a $7500 fine comes before 15 years in jail as a deterrent. And that diner workers are so in jeopardy that they need this sign. "How many waitresses must die before the Government takes action?"
At work I'm busy administering nasty tasting medicine, throwing out band aids and making sure that my Kevlar vest doesn't slip and allow people sight of my spine for even one knife inviting second. It's good fun actually. And not nearly as dramatic as I make it sound. In truth we're working out how to take my unusually intellectual ideas and turn them into something a little more spleen rupturinging stomach punchy. Shouldn't be too hard.
The pic btw is taken pretty close to our house. I love the idea that a $7500 fine comes before 15 years in jail as a deterrent. And that diner workers are so in jeopardy that they need this sign. "How many waitresses must die before the Government takes action?"
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Out of place
I feel strangely out of place today. It might be the umpteenth snow storm of the winter. Or the big meeting this afternoon. Or the series of little meetings that always preceed a big meeting.
It might be that my pants are so tight I have no circulation below the waist (sadly this is true of all of my pants)
It might be the heady whiff of magic markers (I know, I'm allergic but they just work so well when you use massive pieces of paper)
It might be middle age or the tightness of this hat.
I'm not sure what it is - but it feels mightily odd.
It might be that my pants are so tight I have no circulation below the waist (sadly this is true of all of my pants)
It might be the heady whiff of magic markers (I know, I'm allergic but they just work so well when you use massive pieces of paper)
It might be middle age or the tightness of this hat.
I'm not sure what it is - but it feels mightily odd.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Fabulously Fat
Yup it's finally dawned on me. Months of never venturing outside. Of driving everywhere. Of comfort food. Of wine, chips, dips and promises that you'll hit the gym when the negative temperatures hit single digits have finally caught up with me. And no amount of camera angles, sweaters, belt buckles and snazzy shoes can hide it.
I've gained 9lbs (4kg) since I arrived in Ann Arbor and I can feel the result chafing against the band of my pants even as I type. So it's time for Operation Fabulously Thin. Wanna lose 10 lbs in the next 4 weeks.
I have the before shots.... I'll post them only when the after shots look great - or if I fail to lose weight in any given week.
Here's to dieting.
I've gained 9lbs (4kg) since I arrived in Ann Arbor and I can feel the result chafing against the band of my pants even as I type. So it's time for Operation Fabulously Thin. Wanna lose 10 lbs in the next 4 weeks.
I have the before shots.... I'll post them only when the after shots look great - or if I fail to lose weight in any given week.
Here's to dieting.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
A second day of brilliant sunshine
So Ann Arbor delivers unto us a second day of brilliant sunshine. No matter that it's still -11c outside there's something about feeling the heat of the sun as it streams in and warms your back that's as uplifting as an under-wired gospel song.
What makes things better is that I know that somewhere in town is a freezing James Blunt - he played the Michigan Theatre last night and will still be somewhere close, I'm sure, Blunty doesn't like to get up too early - that's why he lives in Ibiza.
Our weekend plans were somewhat scuppered by the arrival of a small Pug who we're looking after for the weekend. It runs all over the place like some snot powered missile, grunting and choking and generally being unpleasant as it goes. Jude thinks that it's cute, I think that it needs one of Mommy's Ambien in its water bowl.
Talking of Ambien it came up in our 'Perfect Murder' slot at work. There's a woman there who is diabetic, no she's Diabetic - yet she can't resist a Krispy Kreme donut. Which accounts for the times that people have found her slumped over her desk and worried that she was dead. Anyway as one of the side effects of ambien is 'sleep eating' we figured that the perfect murder would be to slip it into her donuts and then force feed her more sugary confection as she slept. Coroner would think she sleep ate her way to a sugary grave, Ambien would have another scandal and be one step closer to a ban and we'd live free of fear of death whenever we saw the KK man. Brilliant.
What makes things better is that I know that somewhere in town is a freezing James Blunt - he played the Michigan Theatre last night and will still be somewhere close, I'm sure, Blunty doesn't like to get up too early - that's why he lives in Ibiza.
Our weekend plans were somewhat scuppered by the arrival of a small Pug who we're looking after for the weekend. It runs all over the place like some snot powered missile, grunting and choking and generally being unpleasant as it goes. Jude thinks that it's cute, I think that it needs one of Mommy's Ambien in its water bowl.
Talking of Ambien it came up in our 'Perfect Murder' slot at work. There's a woman there who is diabetic, no she's Diabetic - yet she can't resist a Krispy Kreme donut. Which accounts for the times that people have found her slumped over her desk and worried that she was dead. Anyway as one of the side effects of ambien is 'sleep eating' we figured that the perfect murder would be to slip it into her donuts and then force feed her more sugary confection as she slept. Coroner would think she sleep ate her way to a sugary grave, Ambien would have another scandal and be one step closer to a ban and we'd live free of fear of death whenever we saw the KK man. Brilliant.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Holiday
So Jude and I just spent a painful hour deciding when and where to go in Vegas before deciding on direct flights, five star hotels. front row tickets to shows and private helicopter tours, boat rides and guided walks through the Grand Canyon. Throw in a couple of pneumatic lap dances and we're looking a weekend that will cost $100 an hour.
Still the way that I look at it is that it's cheaper than a divorce lawyer, affords you more opportunity for photos and it's a great chance to watch middle America grazing at the trough of over indulgence. Happy Happy. Fun Fun.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Musing
It's very weird to have the pressure off a little today. Oh there's lots to do and there's very little time to do it but the pressure of uncertainty has been lifted. I have a couple of ideas that I love on the project that I'm doing, a few graphic treatments that are just sensational and I'm getting ready for research. It's all rather lovely.
Why the car above? Well all of this free time has me thinking about a road trip. I've wanted to jam a couple of friends into one of those station wagons that you used to see on National Lampoon's Vacation movies for the longest time. Just to plug in the i-pod, crank up the volume and take off coast to coast before the cost of gas ($3.19 this morning) becomes prohibitive and America turns into the UK, blasting anyone who drives, flies or farts as an environmental terrorist with the moral standing of Idi Amin.
I quite fancy a photographic tour. Load up the friends, the cameras and as many batteries as possible and just take off, looking for the road less driven, the big vegetable signs most often spotted and people with faces beaten by the sun and hopes crushed by the falling price of corn.
So if you're up for it (wrote he spitting coffee down his cream pants) drop me a line. The car's gorgeous, it has a fridge, a DVD player, reclining leather seats in the back and seats for four more. Anyone?
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Ah the good old days
Yesterday felt like a proper advertising day. We got three ideas in late, cranked them through the studio even later - viewing them through a haze of Chinese takeaway fumes and weary cynicism. We watched the lunar eclipse. We watched midnight slip by. We ate more. We gained weight (5lbs!) and we jammed our way towards something that we loved.
Home at 1am. In bed by 1.15. And up at 5am - ready for the drive in and for our 7am meeting. Which went well, despite being hampered by the thickness of our fatigue.
I love this business
Home at 1am. In bed by 1.15. And up at 5am - ready for the drive in and for our 7am meeting. Which went well, despite being hampered by the thickness of our fatigue.
I love this business
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
I hate waiting
and today is a waiting game.
I've briefed the teams.
I've talked with the client
I've had side conversations.
I've encouraged.
I've cajoled.
I've pretty much done all that I can to send things down the path that we think is signposted 'right and interesting' but now all that I can do is wait. Everyone needs time to work and I have to be prepared to blend into the background while they do that. I'm bad at this bit of the job. I want to be down having ideas, helping people out, sharpening the pencils, taking an eraser to missed steps. But of course you can't. Ideas need time and space as much as they need energy and sharing. And we're at that stage today.
So I'll sit on my hands and wait. And hope. And look forward to the moment that I get to see things. It'll be a LONG day.
I've briefed the teams.
I've talked with the client
I've had side conversations.
I've encouraged.
I've cajoled.
I've pretty much done all that I can to send things down the path that we think is signposted 'right and interesting' but now all that I can do is wait. Everyone needs time to work and I have to be prepared to blend into the background while they do that. I'm bad at this bit of the job. I want to be down having ideas, helping people out, sharpening the pencils, taking an eraser to missed steps. But of course you can't. Ideas need time and space as much as they need energy and sharing. And we're at that stage today.
So I'll sit on my hands and wait. And hope. And look forward to the moment that I get to see things. It'll be a LONG day.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Itchy Feet
It's been a couple of days since I last wrote anything here. I blame The Spice Girls (we saw them in a BIG old Detroit venue), a trip to New York to see family and catch up on blood work and a case of 'do or die' at work.
Maybe 'die' isn't such a bad option. It seems that everyone I know is blowing it all up and doing something more interesting instead. Maybe it's winter. Maybe it's a quarter life crisis thing but it seems that everyone I know is packing in their jobs and heading off for Asia or Africa or South America. Three this weekend.
And it's giving me a severe case of itchy feet. Sure I love this job (for now, work is a love - hate - love - quit cycle that lasts about 4 years usually) but it's -15c outside and my idea of adventure is going out in socks that aren't thermal. Time for a change? Well no, not yet. Time for the idea of change at some point in the near future? Absolutely.
Maybe 'die' isn't such a bad option. It seems that everyone I know is blowing it all up and doing something more interesting instead. Maybe it's winter. Maybe it's a quarter life crisis thing but it seems that everyone I know is packing in their jobs and heading off for Asia or Africa or South America. Three this weekend.
And it's giving me a severe case of itchy feet. Sure I love this job (for now, work is a love - hate - love - quit cycle that lasts about 4 years usually) but it's -15c outside and my idea of adventure is going out in socks that aren't thermal. Time for a change? Well no, not yet. Time for the idea of change at some point in the near future? Absolutely.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Saturday night in Edinburgh
Yup the girl above was out in barely nothing in Edinburgh, in January.
The women here are wrapped in fur and seal and blubber and whatever else it takes to keep the cold out. They may get laid less often but when the do they can, at least, feel their extremities.
Drove a pre-production car today (can't say which as I'll be lynched) and had much fun taking it and the 6 people in it towards banked curves at very high speed. I then saw a couple of good ideas on how to launch the vehicle. Marvelous.
New York coming up - but before that, the Dirty Show in Detroit - provided Jude's dinner thing finishes early enough
The women here are wrapped in fur and seal and blubber and whatever else it takes to keep the cold out. They may get laid less often but when the do they can, at least, feel their extremities.
Drove a pre-production car today (can't say which as I'll be lynched) and had much fun taking it and the 6 people in it towards banked curves at very high speed. I then saw a couple of good ideas on how to launch the vehicle. Marvelous.
New York coming up - but before that, the Dirty Show in Detroit - provided Jude's dinner thing finishes early enough
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Boing!
So the weather has been filthy. Snow has been heaped upon ice has been heaped upon snow. The gritters have been out and the whole state is saltier than a peanut eating seadog.
Which means that the roads beneath the salty slurry are being eaten. And crumbling. Into small pieces which are then thrown up into the air by large trucks and hurtled with alarming velocity toward you as you drive.
So far I've had a small chunk taken out of the windshield and a deep chunk taken out of the paintwork on the 'hood'. Luckily the windshield managed to hold up and the dealer came through with a small pot of touch up paint that I'm hoping will help fill the small, white crater on my otherwise pristine car.
Anthony (a guy at work) tells me that he's had 5 windscreens in 4 years - all broken on the same stretch of road.
Oh for the spring.
Which means that the roads beneath the salty slurry are being eaten. And crumbling. Into small pieces which are then thrown up into the air by large trucks and hurtled with alarming velocity toward you as you drive.
So far I've had a small chunk taken out of the windshield and a deep chunk taken out of the paintwork on the 'hood'. Luckily the windshield managed to hold up and the dealer came through with a small pot of touch up paint that I'm hoping will help fill the small, white crater on my otherwise pristine car.
Anthony (a guy at work) tells me that he's had 5 windscreens in 4 years - all broken on the same stretch of road.
Oh for the spring.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Brrrrr (Still)
So this morning I set off in the -20c conditions towards work - wondering just why it was that people lived here. And then I realized "I live here". And wondered what other reasons people have for being here.
Of course I'm told that winter in Michigan is a little like giving birth - in that it's painful enough for your mind to wipe out the memory of the agony (this time at the first hint of warmth) in a bid to have you endure another.
Or maybe not.
Anyway Jude got back from Belgium today and headed almost directly to bed,,, passing go only for beer and veggie chips. I'm at a bit of a loss but just blew $500.13 on a ticket to NYC to see a family member (and check in at the hospital)... wasteful but what the hell?
Okay - typing making too much noise and have sleepy headed wife to think about. More tomorrow.
Of course I'm told that winter in Michigan is a little like giving birth - in that it's painful enough for your mind to wipe out the memory of the agony (this time at the first hint of warmth) in a bid to have you endure another.
Or maybe not.
Anyway Jude got back from Belgium today and headed almost directly to bed,,, passing go only for beer and veggie chips. I'm at a bit of a loss but just blew $500.13 on a ticket to NYC to see a family member (and check in at the hospital)... wasteful but what the hell?
Okay - typing making too much noise and have sleepy headed wife to think about. More tomorrow.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
A smile on my face
So as Ann Arbor slowly morphs into a grayer and more desolate version of hell, with the winds howling like injured wolves thrown fresh meat and the roads covered in swirls of ever moving snow, moving in slow motion patterns of spellbinding beauty I decide to venture outside. You see I have given in. I am going to Target.
There is a reason for this surrender. The pale Californian who seems immune to our impatience (our photography teacher) has asked that next week we all bring in two 8*10 pics for a critique class. I've looked through my Flickr pics and despaired that it's been months since I took a good pic. Then that it's been months since I've dared take a camera outside for fear of it shattering like fruit in liquid nitrogen.
But I've found some pics. 14 of them that I liked. That seemed to follow some of his rules of composition and exposure and that aren't 'pornographic or Gory'.
* When I told Judith these rules she suggested that I take a photoshopped image of an Al Gore look-a-like balls deep in a mountain gorilla... pornographic and Gore-y.*
So I looked at my printing options and the best one seemed to be to buy online and pic up the next day at Target. Hence the trip.
So after a journey during which my traction control displays lit up like Vanessa Feltz's brain in a cupcake store I made it to target only to be faced by a stern looking woman.
"Are these internet pics?" she asked
"Well they're my pics, they just happen to be stored online"
"You took these pics?"
"Yup"
"You're sure?"
"Unless I've been in an ambien induced coma and dreamed I took them, yes"
"Because they're very good pics"
"Well thank you"
"And if you didn't take them we can't give them to you, you're infringing copyright"
"No they are mine."
"Then you're very good at taking pictures" she said and handed them over.
There was even a sticker that said. "Possible professional pics. Question customer and explain the law"
I can't remember the last time I was as happy.
They look great too....
There is a reason for this surrender. The pale Californian who seems immune to our impatience (our photography teacher) has asked that next week we all bring in two 8*10 pics for a critique class. I've looked through my Flickr pics and despaired that it's been months since I took a good pic. Then that it's been months since I've dared take a camera outside for fear of it shattering like fruit in liquid nitrogen.
But I've found some pics. 14 of them that I liked. That seemed to follow some of his rules of composition and exposure and that aren't 'pornographic or Gory'.
* When I told Judith these rules she suggested that I take a photoshopped image of an Al Gore look-a-like balls deep in a mountain gorilla... pornographic and Gore-y.*
So I looked at my printing options and the best one seemed to be to buy online and pic up the next day at Target. Hence the trip.
So after a journey during which my traction control displays lit up like Vanessa Feltz's brain in a cupcake store I made it to target only to be faced by a stern looking woman.
"Are these internet pics?" she asked
"Well they're my pics, they just happen to be stored online"
"You took these pics?"
"Yup"
"You're sure?"
"Unless I've been in an ambien induced coma and dreamed I took them, yes"
"Because they're very good pics"
"Well thank you"
"And if you didn't take them we can't give them to you, you're infringing copyright"
"No they are mine."
"Then you're very good at taking pictures" she said and handed them over.
There was even a sticker that said. "Possible professional pics. Question customer and explain the law"
I can't remember the last time I was as happy.
They look great too....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)