sleepinginmyhead

reasons to be cheerful

So finally the sun has come out over London. During lunch today, a buddy and i were discussing how the sun is so rare in England that when it shines, it's like everyone has had a shot of anti-depressants. Town feels nice today, feels positive, my life seems good. It got me thinking why i had to wait for the sun, so for the record, here's 10 reasons why i should be cheerful.

1. I have a great girl, in looks, companionship and humour.
2. My family are all supercool and super supportive
3. I have a ton of friends, all over the world
4. My job is fun and people like to ask me about it.
5. I earn enough money to pay the bills and some spare.
6. I have travelled to some exotic places.
7. I have my health, on the whole.
8. I have lots of nice possessions, for what it's worth.
9. I have prospects.
10. The sun is shining.

There's no real point to this post, i'm just in a good mood.

fresh to death

In my work as a product designer, i should think a lot more about the full life cycle of a product than i do, but it's tough. It's too easy to view the products which i design as shiny and new, box fresh. The reality is that things age, they start being used differently, they get knackered. I saw a really sweet photoshoot recently (i think it was from ideo). They had designed a range of tools for use by mechanics, and needed to shoot the models. Instead of shooting the products in a normal environment with perfect lighting, they shot them in the mechanics tool boxes, covered in oil and tape. It was so so nice.

We should do more to think about how products are actually used and how they age. The full life cycle was brought into harsh reality for me recently. I'm currently renovating my flat, and during yesterday's painting i noticed what i was wearing. I had a Bape (foot soldier) tee, a pair of 501xx jeans and a pair of safari print dunks. All three items were at one time my favourites. I particularly remember getting my hands on the sneakers, but over time things get knackered, they fall out of favour, get stretched and scuffed. We change how we use them when this happens, but designers rarely think about this. Must try harder.

a real pea souper

Today's cold and clear in london. I love cold and clear days, until i get to work. I work on the 11th floor, which gives me great views, but also makes me realise the pollution in my city is trapped in by the temperature inversion, which makes me feel ill. I went to canada last year and the air seemed different, it didn't have a taste for one thing. Is my life being curtailed by living here? Kinda ruins a nice crispy day.

slebrity shopping

Here in the UK there's a new trend in christmas TV advertising. Celebrities advertising supermarkets. Let's go back a couple of years.... Delia Smith used to be the face of sainsburys way back, but that makes sense, she's a chef and sainsburys sell food, so that's all ok. Now they have Jamie Oliver, again a chef, so that makes sense. He's a bit annoying, but at least he's food related. This year, Tesco have gone all celebrity too recruiting the Spice Girls for their festive adverts. It's so cringeworthy to see them pretending to buy their christmas gifts for each other in a supermarket. If there's one place i assume Victoria Beckham hasn't been for a while, then it's Tesco's. Now Morrisons have raided the pages of OK and are using a heap of famous faces in theier christas adverts. One advert shows Lulu roaming the aisles bumping into Alan Hansen (Alan Hansen??!!), whilst Take That sing in the background. Asda are using Victoria Wood, Ian Wright and Julie Walters, and M&S have got Twiggy, Erin O'conner and ANTONIO BANDERAS!... What's going on? I know celebrity endorsments often work, but seriously, for potatoes and bread? Does anyone ever say, "no don't go to asda, we should shop where baby spice gets her jumpers"... I find it perverse, i really do.

my loyalty can be bought

I'm at the end of my mobile phone contract, so i thought i'd shop around. I phoned up orange (who i've been with for 6 years) and told them i wanted to leave, so i could get a good deal and a new phone with 02.

Two days later, whilst i was waiting for my PAC code, to switch over my phone number, a woman called cyndi called me from the 'client retention centre' at orange, and basically made me an offer i can't refuse. I guess their logic is that "some money is better than no money", but this is ridiculous. My package:

225 minutes of talktime per month (more than enough for me)
100 text messages per month (plenty)
all calls to my girlfriend for free (bonus)
a brand new, fairly nice phone

all of this, for £4.50 per month.... yep, £4.50.

That's ridiculous.

I went through it all with cyndi, and it's kosher. They 'value my loyalty and are giving me a gift to the value of £600'. I love how competitive the mobile phone market is, but i'm a little ashamed that i sold myself off so easily. But how could i refuse?