sub fusc

The spirits are revived after a short camping holiday in Oxfordshire, the main objective to attend a friend's wedding party. Putting a little distance between me and the PC is always appreciated. We couldn't resist a Park 'n' Ride trip to Oxford for me to revisit old haunts. I lived there in the late 1970s and again in 1984/5, each time trying to hold down really boring jobs. The first time, I was a college hanger-on. Managing to ignore the ever-growing social problems in the city, I went to balls, film festivals and tea parties, and spent lots of money at the wine merchant. But could the job have been duller? I don't think so - writing abstracts of articles on forestry, day in, day out. So walking through the University Parks on Saturday, I averted my gaze from the Forestry Institute. The second time, I worked in marketing for a small software company. Well, I say "marketing" because that was in my job title, but I soon found out that in this company marketing=jollies and was off-limits to a scrag-end like me. Instead, I did customer support (ye gods). The whole situation was made even more ghastly by horizontal goings-on between the managing director and another member of staff, and also by the fact I was living in a small commercial hotel close to the station. I lasted three months and then ran off to Brighton.

blur and oasis

The rest of May slipped by, in shudders of anxiety about one job, and uncertainty about another. The latter has been resolved, but the former still hangs over me, so I haven't been feeling very ticketyboo for a while and lying low at home. A couple of weeks' break from the art course also didn't help, as I felt somewhat lacking in the motivation to do anything without being prodded. Still, I have been busy: weeding, mainly. And some nice social, although at one do, I was declared "gobby" by a rather unpleasant woman. Perhaps she didn't think I would know what it meant? Anyway, I shall abandon all thoughts of social chitchat and mingling if I get that sort of thing thrown at me. Still, at the same do, Richard and I were declared to be "groovy", which is a lot lot nicer.

Richard took the old girl out on Saturday: we went for one of our occasional long walks in London, this time along the Thames Path, over Tower Bridge and then down to the Brick Lane area to catch up on some student art summer shows. Saw some fantastic design pieces and chatted away merrily to some of the students. The whole day was a great tonic, but sadly not good light conditions for photographs. Thank goodness for Photoshop.