We are just preparing for another one of those boredom threshold tests, otherwise referred to as intercontinental jet aeroplane travel. There is (there must) be a reason we are putting ourselves through twenty-one hours of wishing we’d bought that other book in the airport and trying to find something to watch on the in-flight ‘entertainment’ – We’re going back to Australia for my little sister’s wedding in Hall’s Gap on April 29th.
But before then is the nightmare of sorting ourselves out to get on the plane. Making sure we know where the passports are at all times. Selecting (and ironing) the clothes that you think you’ll wear when you’ve arrived. Figuring out how to get to the airport if the M6 is hit by lightning, the A6015 is hit by an earthquake and the car decides to break down. I know that if you arrived at the airport with nothing but your passport, ticket and wallet/purse you’d be OK, but while there’s still time to worry, why not?
A time of rebirth and renewal. Or, as it seems to be in Manchester, still getting rained on most mornings but with one less layer of clothes.
I have seen my first lambs, a week or so ago, down in the fields near our house. Little black ones they were, with ears cantilevered from the head. Daffodils are also making their way up; we’ve got a few in the garden, but a lot more weeds paying no mind to our ‘weed resistant’ matting we put down under the gravel.
And with the longer days comes more opportunity to work without eyestrain. I present some new work: the website of Cj O’Neill, maker of really lovely bowls and lights. I used Lightbox and a few other javascript tricks – I should probably figure out how to use them properly – I don’t like not being able to fiddle around with things before I change them back to the way they were when they came out the box. Is it just me, or did the first time you saw a lightbox-enabled page, you thought ‘that’s how we should have been doing pop-ups for the last five years’?
Then there’s new music – You Am I are back with their first record for, ooh, since I lived in London. Head over to their official site and turn your speakers up…
So where have you been? Had to change web hosts. And have had a lot of work on.
What have you been doing while you’ve been away? Seen the Mighty Boosh. They were very good indeed. Borrowed a lot of books from the library, including Sex and Typography, the book about Robert Brownjohn, which I can highly recommend, if you’re a member of the ‘idea first’ school of graphic design. Not launched any websites, but there are lots in the pipeline. Booked hotels, flights, etc for a trip to Australia in April, yay. Sister’s getting married (oh yes, there is a website for that).
How many entries will you do before you mysteriously disappear again? None. Reverse Psychology, you see. That way I’ll do thousands.