why pangolins dream of quiche

WHY PANGOLINS DREAM OF QUICHE

no, not "do androids dream of electric sheep" or "green ideas sleep furiously" - or even "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" - but a sentence that uses most of the letters needed for typeface identification. . .

(a typeface using Roman characters, obviously)

I love typeface

I find it fascinating

when I was paid to write and think (yeah, I know - gobsmacking, eh), one of my roles included responsibility for commissioning corporate design

once I had to commission new typefaces (but not a new "logo", thank goodness) (it was the same company that recently came up with the "logo" for promoting 2012, g*d help us) - a serif and a sans serif font for use (only according to the manual tho) by the very large and successful company which paid me to think and write

the designers weren't asked to come up with a totally new typeface, but to suggest which two fonts out of the myriads available, should be exclusively used (according to the manual) throughout the company. . .

the idea was that if everyone who was responsible for producing written communications used only either or both of the same two typefaces and no other (in accordance with the manual), the communications from the company would seem more "cohesive"

*raises eyebrows*
*gazes up to the ceiling*
*shrugs*, *hums*, *whistles*
and also
- all these years later -
* shirks all responsibilty for "The Manual"*

.
(anyone who ever had to produce or use a corporate identity manual will know exactly what I'm referring to)

this project involved many trips to the design company's offices, a short walk from the office where I worked

the best thing about a trip to the designers was the lunch in their canteen

and the second best thing was the door to one of the presentation rooms, which was hinged not at the edge but two thirds of the way across the span - the door was fashioned from a slice thru a wooden aeroplane wing and was the most beautiful oval shape and moved in a very sultry fashion (for a door)

anyhow, the inspiration for these thoughts and reminiscences (that noone is paying me for in £ or $ terms, but which earn me unmeasurable quantities of pleasure and joy by being able to share them with you) came from here

(via the V&A gift shop)

and this is what I have on the desk next to me. . .

out

of milk, of coffee, of fags

in these circumstances (no milk, no coffee, no fags) there is no option but to throw on a cardigan and go. . .

. . .out

I purchased a newspaper too, and am only sitting here doing this because I can't work out the sudoku right now

it's "hard", apparently - my brain is mush, it seems

the manager of the Italian deli asked me to critique his xmas display (nothing is selling and he can't figure out why)

I point out that whilst the packaging is wonderful on the outside, it does rather obscure the contents on the inside - and for the sums of money being asked, perhaps people would like to know what each item comprises. . .

I also point out that we're English. . .

and it's only the beginning of November. . .

we've only just done Fireworks Night and Halloween. . .

(and we only do that because of peer pressure
from our cousins across the pond). . .
(no offence mel, but it's true!)

. . .so WHY ON EARTH would we be thinking of xmas purchases already*. . .

. . .he listened to my views

(obviously I am the exception to *that rule, but - a boy-scout at heart - be prepared is my motto on occasion) (I purchased some gold foil covered chocolate dragees, since I didn't have enough cash for the coffee beans I wanted and had to bump up my spend to justify using a card)

.

POSTSCRIPT:
still haven't finished the blasted sudoku
*SIGH*

ooops

.
(today my xmas quest included
oversized gold-foiled chocolate coins
from the Italian deli opposite The Tower)

a river's tale

today it is one of wind and rain and storms
.

all coming from the north - wrapping themselves around the glass and the balcony of my eighth floor perch over the city

I've taken to smoking inside, just by one of the sliding doors (that was one of my favourite films ever! and I'd forgotten about it until now - thank you, river, for bringing it back to me)

this is NOT ALLOWED (the smoking inside) but I'm not telling, and I hope you don't squeal on me

now the heating is working, all I have to do is turn it up full blast and all the hot air it puffs just goes straight out of the balcony doors - along with my smoke - and altho I worry about my carbon footprint I have been doing this twice a day now for a couple of days (morning and evening, when I smoke my first and last cigarettes)

and I do worry about my carbon footprint - I know I ought to just put on a wind-cheater and go sit on the freezing balcony. . .

. . .but then I think that I kind of offset my footprint a little in my youth, when my parents could not afford to heat the house we lived in, and we did just put on extra jumpers in the winter. . .

. . .jumpers that my mother had knitted (more offsetting, especially since she bought English wool - no cheap or expensive fashion mass manufactured in foreign parts for me as a child/young teen) (she made most of my clothes, until I was old enough to buy my own with my babysitting money, too) (*shudders at the memory*)

my children, by comparison, don't know they've been born

if you see what I mean

I was brought up with tales of rationing during and after the war, few - if any - possessions: because my mother had had none and it didn't damage her (HA!) in anyway. . .

she was very frugal and thrifty: good qualities for me to draw on now in current conditions

no thing was wasted, no thing was taken for granted, every thing was treasured and cherished and valued, there was no excess and there was very very little waste

so why, if that was how I was brought up, and I suspect many people of my generation also, have so many people lost those qualities - and why have those qualities been derided over recent years

(that's not a question, so no need to answer)

all this is making me feel slightly guilty about my pre-xmas spending this week

is it alright to treat yourself, every now and again, I wonder

ho hum

someone asked me the other day what my vices were

I answered "smoking"

perhaps I ought to have added "xmas" to the list

ho hum

the wind continues blow from the north - I think I'll go and put (another) jumper on

the crack of dawn (that could be slightly rude if

said with the right innuendo. . .) (but since I do not do either in this medium, you'll know, dear reader, that it is the rising of the sun to which I refer)

I had to go up to town to see TGD (The Good Doctor! remember him?) very very very very early this morning

he really is an excellent chap - won't bore you with the details, but you'll be pleased to know I only needed three tissues during my half-hour consultation

result!

then, to make the most of having forked out my £2 for the bus up there, I decided to wage a one woman battle with the credit crunch, kick start the economy and do a early little xmas shopping; part of me thinks this is absolutely terrible - festive purchases before we have even had Halloween, let alone Bonfire Night - part of me couldn't resist the array of (not quite yet) seasonal decorations available to someone with a few coppers in her pocket (or a card that wasn't maxxed out anyhow)

.
temptation won*,
and we'll say no more
.

(*funny that, I'm usually so able
to ignore it
in favour of acting sensibly)
..
moving swiftly on. . .
..

. . .when I came to buy a coffee a little later (I have to confess - I really do need to confess this - that I did slightly over do it on the shopping front [oops] and needed to calm down a little) I actually didn't have enough coppers left. . .

. . .so had to ask the waitress to kindly put my coffee in a take-away cup for me, which I then duly took-away (saving myself 50p into the bargain) (well, not really saving, since I didn't actually have the extra 50p in the first place, but you probably know what I mean)

but that meant I managed to sit on a bench in the sun for a while (you'll recall, dear reader, how much I love sitting on benches, especially when the sun is shining) and watch some school children at play: a wonderful game - each child had a coloured handkerchief in his/her back pocket, the aim of the game seemed to be to run from one side of the green to the other without someone snatching the handkerchief out of your pocket (so simple, yet obviously so much fun!)

then I hopped on the bus home, and now I'm back - and rather wonderfully, the heating seems to have been fixed in my absence

could life get any better?