About
As hard as it may be to believe, there are actually people out there who don't know who I am. I am only half-joking about that being hard to believe, as well. It's been said of me several times over by many people that I seem to be one of those people who manages to have friends in all kinds of social circles — a finger in every social pie, if you like, and who doesn't like pie?
I'm sorry I don't have any pie to offer you. It's kind of a gloomy day, and I could go for some hot pie just about now, but it's a filthy habit to eat at your computer. Not that that ever stops me, mind you. Does it say a lot about me that I frequently take meals at my laptop?
Anyway. Where was I? Oh yes, talking all about meeeee. It may surprise some of you that I don't always find this an easy thing to do, but I do, so there. So here's a list of things that I like, that I may eventually write about in greater detail, or then again, I might not:
Photography. Taking lots of them, often, the best of which will shortly find a home right here on this site, because I've been intending to get a proper online portfolio together for ages, but in the meantime, there's always Flickr. Also, looking at other peoples' photos, for inspiration and entertainment. I expect this is a subject I will come back to quite a lot.
London. Living in it, learning about it, teaching other people about it. I am the person many of my friends come to if they want to know about a good pub, or which bus route they should get, or where to get breakfast on a Saturday. People think I know an awful lot about London, but actually I don't know nearly as much as several of my friends. Which is sort of scary, if you stop to think about it.
Comics. I don't read anything like as many as I did, say, five or six years ago, but I still read quite a lot. I used to review them pretty regularly, so maybe that's something I'll come back to.
Lettering. I am fascinated by all sorts of lettering, whether it is old hand-cut typefaces, hand-painted signs or computer-designed fonts. I really appreciate arrangements and juxtapositions of colours and shapes, not just within lettering, but good or interesting lettering design is always a joy to behold. I might write some more about this subject at some point, but in the meantime, you can look at my photoset on Flickr, the shapes of words.
1960s girl groups. Harmonies, hairstyles, teen angst and sweeping violins. Sometimes it's scratchy garage rock, but the other elements are the same, and they're utterly infectious. Of course I like other genres of music, too, lots of other genres of music, even the ones that other people sneer at sometimes, like proper Wicker Man style folk, or Afro-beat. I might upload some mp3s from time to time, I think. Whether anyone else shares my tastes just remains to be seen.
Making CD compilations. This is more of an addendum to the last point. I like to make compilations and I like to swap them, so if you're interested in a swap, drop me a line.
Pulp books. There's so much I can say about this subject that I'll save it for some future posts, but if you want to have a look at some fantastically lurid book covers, then I suggest you take a peek at the Pulp Fiction group on Flickr that I started a couple of years ago.
Independent cafes and pubs. Lots more to be said about these as well, as most of them merit a post to themselves, so watch this space for those.
Cocktails and real ale. Not in the same glass, obviously. That's just nasty.
Talking. More specifically, intense, mentally stimulating conversations with intellectually bright people who can teach me things. I get such a kick out of those.
What else about me? I travel by bus more often than tube, not just because it's cheaper, but because I like to watch how the world changes on a daily basis in tiny increments, and you can miss a lot of that when you're underground. I am older than I look, which always surprises people. I don't read newspapers or own a television. I watch television series when they're on DVD, usually months if not years after they're released, so I am always behind in some aspects of culture, but this does not mean I am stupid. I do not work for any company which involves any form of new media Web 2.0 technical computer stuff, but I know a lot of people who do, and can frequently be found in their company. I don't actually know the first thing about coding or how to take a computer apart, but sometimes I can fake the language because of spending so much time with people who do. I like bright colours but wear a lot of black, and shopping for shoes or bras is guaranteed to put me into a spitting rage of fury in a very short space of time.
And I am not to be confused with Mondo A-Go-Go the band (although they sound fun), and nor am I actually "a German filly", as reported on Racing and Sports in 2005, though you may find that I can be "a reasonable proposition" as long as you don't take anything for granted.
And I like pie. Did I mention the pie? Pie is good.
