something blue

richard

Richard is drunk. He is 38 and likes Level 42.

iar: chopsticks

The objective: eat with chopsticks for a week. This extended to chopsticks, a spoon, or hands. I went to choose my chopsticks in the Japan Centre and also got a spoony-ladle and a chopstick rest (an eminently useful discovery). These are my eating utensils for the week.

town gigolo

It didn't seem like that kind of town.

iar: love your junkmail

The objective: write a letter in response to each piece of junkmail you receive telling them what you like about it, such as the design, colour, wording. 

The rationale: it's a corporate piece of mail designed by committee (probably) to be sent out to lots of people. My letter is individual - my own personal response - and although I'm probably sending it back to a department, it will need to be read by an individual before a corporate response (probably) is churned out. But amongst the faceless corporateness there is a connection between two real people.

happy new year

Elvis is alive and well in my local chinese restaurant. He was amazing. He loves performing but didn't want photos - he doesn't need the publicity. He's happier doing the small venues and doesn't miss the huge stadiums at all.

japan centre

If only the world was so pretty.

 

happy valentine II

It was a wet Sunday afternoon but I found love on the rail replacement bus service.

soft fruits II

It was a wet Sunday afternoon but I found a touch of happiness on the rail replacement bus service.

feminine hygiene

even I wasn't sure why I had 17 different types of tampons and pads in my cupboard. And I'm sure if I'd searched bags and drawers and sofa cushions there would have been more...

happy valentine

how do you reflect me?

complete body veil

I saw a woman wearing a complete body veil. She was swathed in black. Her body, head and face completely covered - no eyes peeping through or obvious gaps. The cloth that covered her face was of a different fabric - securely and permanently fixed - a knitted rich glossy black synthetic. Like a formless fluid fencing mask. Through this she could see out, but the world couldn't see in. She was pushing a pram and the well-heeled women of the King's Road fussed around the baby. The veiled woman said nothing, vaguely hinting acquiescence. I wanted to take a photo of her but she floated away like a faceless sci-fi star.

soft fruits

This morning I bought a sheet of stickers and stuck them around London. Bringing a touch of happiness to lamposts, tubes, trains, chairs, tables and even a spider in the teleconference room :)

parfait

I've never been able to take a parfait seriously. I don't know what one is, but if I see it on the menu I'm not expecting to be satisfied.  Lots of dictionaries say a parfait is a layered ice-cream dessert... but if it has chicken livers in it I hope it's some sort of pate. (Or is that a rillette? :)

fun and adventure

fun and adventure in a world of trees

nature nurture II

I see a lot of birth certificates. I'm an administrator; the man. They’re mainly British or African or European. They ask for the occupation of the father and it’s interesting to see them: ‘lathe hand’, ‘farmer’, ‘chemical salesman’. Today I saw an American birth certificate from the ‘60’s – it asked for the ‘color or race’ of both parents. Both parents were white. The marriage certificate of the son and his wife asked for their occupation. They were both accountants.

nature nurture

The elephant and the peacock started off life together. They were grown from one seed and seemed the same. Then nurture kicked in. And no one was sure if they were the same or twins. They developed their own identities, their own personas, and had completely opposite outlooks on life. And when asked to explain they said "I just grew that way."

The peacock sometimes got peeved when he was mistaken for the elephant's tail. The elephant sometimes got irritated when the peacock's feathers tickled his ears. But they'd both gotten used to it over the years.

amazing increasee

"amazing increasee in girth and length of the male tool" said my favourite spam friend Felipe Belcher. Though I suspect he doesn't have my best interests at heart.