Tricky

Flash the flesh

One of the big things I've been doing lately is reliving a dream of my youth, namely to work in magazines. As anyone who had worked in the luxury sector for any length of time will tell you, there's nothing less luxury than a luxury brand. Same is true of magazines. It may be all about the sparkle, it may even sparkle itself, but the reality is pretty mundane. Still, the two men's lifestyle titles I am working on, one in English, one in French, are a perfect way to get the best of both worlds. This way I get to keep my independence and do a bit of glamourpuss luxe design and everyone's a winner. What I hadn't bargained for was the pictures I'd be sent. The fashion spreads for the current issues are nothing short of incendiary. I have to maintain my calm and remind office mates I'm not actually working on porn. One particular shot is actually a little near the knuckle. The publisher explained this beautiful, well-endowed model had already had a little of his bulge reduced. Did I think it needed more modesty?

No.

(pic: Bolton Gardens)

... this was a trial iPhone post - mhm - not loving that picture size.

Where've you been, bitch?

Oh jeez, sorry about that.

I mean... six months of nada with no explanation? It's either unimpressive or just slightly rude.

So what happened? Well, I had been feeling overwhelmed by work. I don't know if I mentioned, but I run a small graphic design business and I seemed to spend every last scintilla of effort into making that happen in crappy old 2009 so that by the time I was finished 2009 wouldn't actually be crappy any more. And -blow me down- I have been quite successful. I guess when I put my mind to something, results ensue.

Plus there is more. Despite it being dormant since Christmas, this blog has been good to me. People found me, wrote to me and despite the web having a reputation for being a place where loonies hang out, I've made one or two friends here. With this in mind I began to feel rather guilty at deserting it. After all, it's a sort of scrapbook in time. I guess there are loads of dead YouTube links here, but forgive me that and perhaps there is a way forward.

When I began the blog, the theme of that summer was that I needed to find a flatmate. So the fact that rather unexpectedly I need to do that all over again amused me and that, a rather lovely email I got last night from South Africa and the fact that I started writing here almost exactly three years ago have prompted me to begin again.