good day/bad day...

yesterday was terrible.

firstly i didn't start with the monastic prayer thing that we've committed to in our little group. i'm not sure if the prayer invokes god's presence, or whether it's about inviting him/her in, or if it's a reminder to me to seek god out in stuff [like a setting of my focus for the day ahead] maybe it's all of those things. but when i don't open up the working day with that time of prayer things often don't sit right from there on...

it actually started ok - i heard a track from lawson's latest opus on his blog, and decided to buy the album on itunes. it's really great [but don't tell him i said that, obviously] - a collaboration with a guy called calamateur - with all the usual noodly space-bass noises plus added acousticy guitar and singing. it's a bit martin grech, a bit adem... 'how long' and 'endo' are standout tracks, and it's going to rival dakota suite as my late-nite listening from now on...

but then work dragged. and builder dan rang to say that he couldn't come today to work on the extension bathroom bit [he had a valid excuse - nursing his injured child]... which means yet more delays, when we'd hoped to have that little bit at least finished for the weekend...
then my work started to go even worse - and i started feeling a bit ill [eddie's got a cold and i think that i'm fighting it off]

and then, on top of all that, just as i was thinking about packing up for the day, i got an email at asking for some roughs which i'd not got ready yet. they were due yesterday - i'd just not read the brief properly, and not registered the correct deadline for the roughs. stupid stupid stupid.
so i ended up ringing big ed to bail out on my ticket for the [sold out] rosie taylor project/iliketrains gig at the very last minute and instead sat up 'till gone midnight drawing roughs. sometimes i really hate my job.

here's one of the roughs that kept me up into the small hours... i'm actually quite pleased with it...




still, today has been ok - got my DACS claim in and almost caught up with the ongoing job that dragged so badly yesterday.

other news - earlier in the week i did get out in the evening to a meeting about possibly networking with other christian artists and creative types up here in leeds. came away enthused and quite energised by the folks who showed up - some amazingly talented people there - but wondering about what direction the thing will take, and whether i'll fit the remit. lots of talk about 'the industry', meaning music/media/arts/fashion, but it dawned on me quite early on in the evening that if i'm a part of any industry, then it's probably publishing, which has a very different vibe... anyhow, i'm committed to going along next time the group meets, so i'll keep you posted...

...still gleaming

it's not the real jules rimet, of course.
but that orange ball there on the right?
that's the genuine article.


[photo courtesy of paul cookson!]

not-very-good catch-up post...

so it's been busy-ness as usual round here these past few weeks, but there's a relative lull in the offing, a return to normal work-hours, the chance of some time with the family, a rumour of rest and down-time. [oh yes!]

so - last friday i was invited to lancaster for a headteacher's conference which also saw the launch of the advent resource that i've been working on with lisa and craig and co at the blackburn diocese. [see previous posts] i had a great time - paul cookson [top poet] and roly baines [clergyman clown] were performing and talking there too, and several folk came up and said some nice stuff about '40' and how they'd used it in their schools...

then, after the conference, cookson dragged me off to the football museum in preston where he is poet in residence.
i've never been before, and it's a great place. paul was going there to have some publicity shots taken for an exhibition of poetry that he's curating there this month - and so we ended up with the ball from the '66 world cup final - the actual hurst hat-trick ball!

i wasn't allowed to touch it of course - white cotton gloves had to be worn by the museum staff transporting it to and from its display case. but i got close enough...
as an artefact it's actually almost disappointing - murky orange coloured, a little shrivelled and a bit shabby round the edges [insert your own david dickinson/judith chalmers joke here] - but it carries so much meaning, it's such a special thing... [and the only signature on it that hasn't faded away completely is uri geller's. what's that all about then?] it was a real privilege to be allowed so close to it.

a photo of me and said ball was snapped - i'll post it if i can get ahold of it - just to prove that i was there...

in the meantime, if you're interested in the advent resource, email me and i'll put you in touch with lisa, as copies of the dvd will be available for purchase, i think... [end of plug]

on the desk lately [artwork for simple animations for a phonics teaching programme...]

greenbelt pics...

...i'm not being narcissistic or owt, but if you go here there's a rather fetching shot of me and mr steve lawson frowning at one another by the tiny tea tent at greenbelt.

and here is a picture of me looking quite manly (no, really) carrying something large and impressive.

and here are steve collins' photos of one of the big map thingys that we did for the festival this year [see earlier posts]...

steve and toni...

my little brother got married last week!

petition

a petition well worth signing - http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Iraqi-Employees/

for more details, visit http://danhardie.wordpress.com/2007/07/22/we-cant-turn-them-away/