Wednesday, August 15, 2007

***

A little bit of luck has swung my way, cash-wise. That interview in Barbican was for some well-paying, short-term office gruntery. This works well to help keep my head above water while I wait to hear back from the copywriters (I was literally the first interview and so I've been told not to expect results for about two weeks, leaving a little over a week and a half to go) and continue to apply elsewhere.

But this dramatically clamped down on my free-time, of course, so I decided to use it to head down to Kings Cross and hit the British Library as I'd meant to last weekend. I'm on the cusp of completing the first draft of the minimalist, post-apocalyptic short and I'm getting further ahead on First World Problems. I'd like to make the leap to two updates a week soon, if I can.

Wish I'd brought my camera with me as during a fifteen minute walk around Kings Cross, to take a little break, I stumbled across two beautiful parks where the first had the largest and strangest looking tree while the second seemed to be an outdoors mausoleum. There were at least two dozen gravesites/monuments and though a few had wrought iron fences protecting them, most were left to the public's tender mercies. They must be well maintained as I saw no graffiti or garbage but it was something else to look across and see a couple of guys sitting on the tomb of some 15th century fella while slurping back tall cans of Kronenburg. It didn't feel disrespectful so much as "just the way of things" or "part of the circle of life"(?).

I will be sure to bring my camera with me to use on my lunch hour tomorrow as Barbican has some great buildings to see. It's also noteworthy as one of the few parts of London that lay outside of The City Of London with several skyscrapers. Walking out of the interview I honestly felt like I was back in North America for a moment, seeing apartment buildings taller than five stories.

I kind of wish I'd headed down to the eco-village protest on the edge of Heathrow. At first I felt a little guilty since I was putting my own career interests ahead of helping to spread the good word (plus I'm sure it would have given some of the protesters a little boost to have someone taking an interest in them). But thinking that way will drive you crazy in the end. Plus, it's not really the same thing as choosing not to recycle bec
ause the depot is three feet further than I can be arsed to walk or leaving the fridge door open while I cook a meal because "it's easier".

I suppose if I didn't feel any other great passions than it would be a simple matter for me to throw my all into the cause, but I do and so it comes down to finding a balance, I guess.

Meanwhile, the CIA has been dicking around with Wikipedia entries. That they've been caught fiddling with the entry for the President of Iran only serves to make this old Penny Arcade comic juicier still. I'm just sayin', maybe it isn't a source you want to be citing in professional papers!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

If "Waaaaaaaaaah!" is the best the CIA can do for propaganda on Wiki, they have really, really gone soft without the KGB. I'm a little disappointed by the Democrats, not that they were accurate about Rush, but rather that they got caught. Guile, people, use guile!

And speaking of the KGB, have you seen the pictures of Putin's fishing trip? He has pretty scary arm muscles for an old guy.

Shawn M. said...

Someone at FOX News (via IP confirmation) was caught editing several entries on Wikipedia as well.

Pretty sad.

Oliver Brackenbury said...

Putin is a man of action, it seems! Black belt in Judo even...

And yeah, the whole thing is pretty sad as it continues to give an unreliable source more authenticity. I really wish Wikipedia came with a disclaimer on the front page or something.