I just wonder what Marvin's up to.

Grand scheme of things…

It has been a while since my last post and a lot as happened! Hopefully it’ll all fit into my brain blender so I can serve my adoring followers a wonderful glass of life smoothie. Beware, it’s a big cup.

Ackhemhemhem - (that’s sound of me clearing my throat).

So I almost lost my job - well, kind of. Before the New Year, Final Fantasy’s prelude would wake me up about 6am and I’d struggle to will myself out of bed. After 13 and a half hours of red eyed tea highs, I’d be driving back to my house at Luton, ready for bed the minute I get through the door. Fast forward to the 4th of Jan, to a staff meeting - a short one, as far as staff meetings go, in which everyone would lose their job due to a some outstanding payments not going through and a lawsuit that says we’ll not get them. Our company goes into liquidation, my job with it.

Or at least that was how it seemed till my boss offered me a new job in a new company, based in Italy. Give it a month for them to sort out alternative offices and stuff. So I wait til a week ago, my phone rings to let me know the offer is still there, and, for some reason I decline.

I don’t know why, it’s not like I hated the job, but it felt right at the time. So they email me offering new terms which I decline again, and they call me asking me to reconsider. Finally they say I can work from home for 2 months, and well, to be honest, that’s not so bad and I agree.

Here I am, sat tapping away my life. Again a Creative Illustrator. As round-about as it seems, I think the whole thing has forced me into a position where I have to consider what I want, or expect to be in the future.

And after some thought, I still haven’t a clue.

I’ll work it out eventually :).

The view at Francy’s

Yesterday I was lucky enough to spend the day with my wonderful Italian friend and her lovely (and stereotypically) Italian parents. They gave me lots of foods, laughs, trash TV and more hospitality than I could eat, but best of all they (well, half) gave me Francy, whom, though inedible, is still truly amazing!

On the way home I was waiting at London St. Pancras for my brother, I somehow ended up outside the International Arrivals as the last train from Paris rolled in. I decided (since I had nothing else to do) to pretend I was at the closing scene for Love Actually. I stood, among the business people holding named placards, between couples and old friends hugging, thinking about how sweet that moment was, quietly narrating an internal monologue in Hugh Grant’s voice, announcing that ‘Love, actually is all around’.

As people came and left I, whilst still thoroughly entertained, began to realise that people have noticed that I have been standing here for a while and are therefore assuming that I was waiting for someone. This was made worse by the fact that I had bought a spare hot drink (FOR MY BROTHER) and was holding it as if I were expecting a loved one to emerge from the walkway. Since I didn’t have a hand free to pretend to receive a phone call, I simply panicked, ran away and hid.

I hope they didn’t think I were some strange forever alone guy T_T.

Since the car is currently being serviced, I have to walk to the train station tomorrow. Which means a super early bedtime for me! Goodnight my patrons of friendship, you beautiful, beautiful people!

The view I had for breakfast.

I have finished my probation period at work now, it seems that the fact I’m not living under a bridge like some weird Chinese troll is a good sign. Time ticks by and I struggle to keep up - I remember Christmas dinner with my workmates, many exciting meetings, ramblings and projections for next year. There are a lot of wonderful things to come. Just remember, ‘tomorrow’ is an insane cat that comes, uninvited, every morning with something random shoved in its mouth. Sometimes it is a dead mouse, othertimes it’s a picture of Ash and Misty holding hands!

The view I paid £1,000 for.

Last Friday (21st December, I wrote this) I bought an overpriced laptop. My friends will tut me into oblivion but the truth is - they are actually really good for doing what I do. I just want to draw prettier pictures of beautiful peoples. So there you go; my confession. Ahhhh, It feels good to have that off my shoulders.

The view in December (that I remembered about in January).

Around this time last year I had just eaten Christmas dinner with my favourite people in the world. Home Alone was on TV but no one was watching. The sky fell to pieces and covered everything in an impossibly white, knee thick blanket. We were red-faced, heavy breathing fools; snow-caked and lost in winter.

Yesterday it snowed.

I think snow will forever remind me of that night, after all, it was, without a doubt, one of the best nights of my life. I hope they are all, wherever they might be, smiling, laughing and having a lovely Christmas.

The view I got for free.

It’s Thursday. Outside Canary Wharf I could see, as clear as my own breath, the several boxes of Innocent apple juice being given away. I swoop, I seize, I leave. Three swift series of movements, confirming that the secret to (myself) being a morning person is the incentive of free stuff.

Thrilling is the moment you can’t find any of your own socks, so you search the airing cupboard to find a secret build-up of them. It’d be a waste not to lay on my bed in a bath of my own footwear, throwing them onto myself like a shower of fabric.

- The most exciting thing to happen to me this week.

The view at Coventry.

Today is my Grandma’s birthday, so me and my sister fastened our seatbelts and journeyed on over to Coventry for food, family and food. I love my little cousins. Nothing melts life’s harshness into a pool of vivacious ganache as much as the unconditional love of a screaming toddler. ‘Tis true.

The view that tastes like chicken.

So today is the end of an era. I’ve never too been fond of politicians, but our whimsically-named chickens have always been kind to us. Today Clegg joined Milliband and Cameron in little-avian-heaven also known as my tummy. I can’t help but feel a little sad - partly due to loss and partly because I never did thank them in Chickenese.

As my Mother would remind me, this is just how the world rolls and hey, at least they weren’t cooped up in a cage all their lives. I guess my only consolation is the slightly disturbing concept that now we have become one entity - that if I were a superhero, they would give me the protein necessary for punching crime in the face.

Sadly I’m not a superhero, neither does crime have a face. At least not yet.

(I need to find an appropriate picture for this post >:|)

The view that is the best view ever to be viewed.

Happy Pokéshipping day everybody. It’s like they say - if you don’t have a dream, how can you have a dream come true?

The view that I could eat.

Under the churning raised trail tracks at South Quay station, me and me and my workmate Laura went to our usual place for lunch. Amongst the empty wine bottles and plastic bags that frequented the bank was an abandoned box, just sitting there with its lonely, personified eyes that only I could see. I went to check it out. You should have seen my face.

We did try, we waited a little bit for someone to come pick it up. We did try, we called up the patisserie to track down the owner, but they keep no records of the people they make cakes for. We did try, we did. Surely the original owner wouldn’t want such a masterpiece to be wasted? Right?

Back at the office we popped on the kettle.

If I could taste guilt, it was far outweighed by the beautifully soft, marshmallow-like texture of the sponge. If I felt bad, it was way overshadowed by the fresh fruit under folds of rich cream. If there was a hint of remorse, I would imagine it covered with that melt-in-your-mouth chocolate.

Seriously though, we did try, really.