Sky in progress.
Touching base at the Ford Factory where we be painting a mural. The sun is unforgiving but snacks will get us through..
PHOTOSHOP SAYS NOOO
one. extremely distraught is an understatement.
two. i have been reduced to an incredulous, gapin’, lost wreck before of the computer screen.
three. the only time this can and will happen is right before a deadline. SOB
ALL I WANNA DO
with any luck at all, i might be able to start on these in a week. huzzah!
SPACED OUT
where has all the time gone? march has silently ushered me into my fourth month of gainful employ without consent nor awareness. time’s inexorable momentum feels almost like a physical force when life marches rhythmically to deadlines and schedules. it is most alarming and so i insist the dramatic ebb of personal time when one moves from a buoyant, almost reckless culture to the mandated rigours of worklife must be cushioned by some sort of detached mindlessness. as i tread the same landscapes repeatedly and as sleep and journeys overlap at the end of days my mind is at large, my heart is not here. wrapping hypothetical pockets of space tightly around myself in defense, i am ridiculously separated from reality.
i want to do EVERYTHING.
JUST ANOTHER DAY AT WORK
shopping for brains. ; )
CITYLIGHT DINER
september was nomadic, a now-memory of transitory faces and places where i should but did not rest. workerly resolution notwithstanding, i landed myself first in a horrifying quasi-dictatorship world of office cubicles and canteens, left in four days for the infinitely more comforting ghetto that is twigmedia, which i left again after a fortnight for the f1 grand prix in the wonderful, exhilarating city.
the latter concluded together with the month at a quiet house party for six, where H and i coaxed our minds into delirious whirlwinds over champagne and f-language. in the balcony above the singapore river i dropped all bohemian pretense and decide that this is where i want to be, where i need to work towards. overlooking tiny lives and amidst monolithic skyscrapers, feeling the pulse of a million glittering lights.
TWO SPACES
the twigmedia office is quite the lumber room. giant red lanterns hang off the ceiling, ornamental spears and swords taller than myself rest in hidden corners and two talkative parakeets parley actively, particularly during lunchtime, in the workshop downstairs. all art studios should be like this, haunted by grime and lost treasures – careless wonder is a such lovely state for a meandering mind to be in.
as with all things sinful – i shouldn’t be, shouldn’t be, shouldn’t be back behind the bar – bartending in the mclaren-mercedes suite was huge fun. working again with ashley was delightful, especially after she persuaded the kitchen into bartering sushi for cocktails. the free flow was wicked, as was the beautiful crowd. yes lewis hamilton was around, close enough for me to see he’s got perfect skin but too well guarded for actual contact.
MEMORANDUM
everybody IS dispensable so never let an affected attitude get the best of you.
the opportunity to learn loads can compensate for a small paycheck.
trite, but it will always be in your favour to take things positively. learn enjoy, love, to thrive on the things you must come to expect – rushing deadlines, rejected ideas, mornings, people and rules – taking them in your stride like a habit will give your productivity a wonderful momentum.
the interview is the best time to suss a company out before any formal commitments are made – think of it as a demilitarised zone slightly skewed in the employer’s favour. making an amicable impression should not take precedence over exercising good judgement. is the workplace bursting with creative energy? can you hang out with the crowd? is your potential boss rude and stupid and old and SMELLY?? does he, horrors, BORE you? turn tail politely but immediately!
it is essential to assimilate (yes, conform. never expect to mould a workplace to your whims.) well into the office, but do not allow anything or anyone to make you feel uncomfortable in a personal way. if your superior being needlessly condescending and impolite gits at yer, leave. uncomfortable with an employer keeping cctv tabs on you from his pervert private room? leave. the last resort is the only resort. your work and psyche will be affected if you are constantly surly and petulant.
be receptive to new ideas, suggestions and advice, even the seemingly dubious. never take criticism personally. be mindlessly experimental but after that, discerning enough to separate the wheat from the chaff. try strange things, so that you may always be in wonder. beware merely hoarding through. inspiration is only precious when passed through the filters of your processes and thoughts, and crystallised into something original.
be a visionary. creative groundwork can be foolish and fearless but it should birth a vision, grounded in a flawless concept (am i waxing too abstract?) plan the skeleton of your execution meticulously, but keep its tendrils fluid because you will have to improvise to changing contexts.
WORK. YOUR. ASS. OFF. and some more. working smart does not mean working less, just means you milk each second you have for what it’s worth.. cutting corners is silly as is spending hours on preliminary sketching.
allow for the fact that however eager-to-please and tolerant you may be, there exist labyrinths of stupidity too dense to penetrate, too complex to navigate. owners of these intellectual cesswells will give you much shit and frustration, so scaper stat or forever hold your peace.
love your job and colleagues.
