Strange things...

I remember thinking to myself as I sat in traffic and had to take off my sunglasses
How strange is this rain?
SO sudden.
Like a sunny day had just burst into tears.

And I know that line sounds corny, but my imagination is weird sometimes and I hadn't heard the news yet.

Keith was right when later he said it felt right that it had suddenly started raining.
Chantelle was a very strong person and very special to a lot of people. She will really be missed.

I think personally I will always remember your fire and you amazing energy as my most favourite things about you.
And girl... you could DANCE!

Obama has an art posse?

It started with Shepard Fairey’s limited run of that iconic red and blue stencil; Ron English, Alex Pardee, and Sam Flores soon followed.

right. say what you will. thats quite cool.

I love politics and art. :P
well mostly... yikes! at least these are more positive messages... can't spot any hate in these thank goodness!

Try not to let yourself become too caught up in any "coolness" in politics tho... remember popularity in school and how it's not aaaalways the good-guys who are more popular. Focus on who will do what positive things for your country and if it ends up being the popular guy, and he's a nice guy with funky art campaigns? um...well then bonus i guess.
And good luck!!

I'll be wearing my campaign badge in these last few days leading up to the election!

How many does it take to screw in a lightbulb

(via Narike)
Goodness it had me laughing! We had to add the graphic design one in tho... as per usual it seems they forgot we were part of the process...

• Q: How many sub-editors does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
• A: We can't tell whether you mean "insert a new lightbulb" or "have sexual relations inside a lightbulb". Can we reword it to remove ambiguity?


• Q: How many art directors does it take to change a lightbulb?
• A: Does it have to be a lightbulb?


• Q: How many proofreaders does it take to change a lightbulb?
• A: The last time this was asked it involved Art Directors. Is the difference intentional? It seems inconsistent.


• Q: How many writers does it take to change a lightbulb?
• A: Why do we have to change it?


• Q: How many editors does it take to change a lightbulb?
• A: It was supposed to be in place last week!


• Q: How many publishers does it take to change a lightbulb?
• A: Three. One to screw it in and two more to hold down the editor.


• Q: How many graphic designers does it take to change a lightbulb?
• There's not enough time to change it a 3rd time - we'll just have to make it look better'

• Q: How many marketing directors does it take to change a lightbulb?
• A: It isn't too late to make it neon, is it?


• Q: How many advertising directors does it take to change a lightbulb?
• A: We're not sure because the client might change it tomorrow. Cut some editorial anyway.


• Q: How many sales directors does it take to change a lightbulb?
• A: (pause) I get it! It's one of those lightbulb jokes, right?



Also i really should have read THIS!
How to be a graphic designer, without losing your soul by Adrian Shaughnessy

Lekota love...? a bit of a back and forth note

I was listening to 5fm this morning (Gareth always has something to say that i find interesting) and they were interviewing Lekota.

What a well-spoken, calm yet passionate, sincere-sounding, dedicated man.
He seems clear in his thoughts and pretty reasonable.

In response to a question regarding opinions that what he is doing is fighting for a job and his current lifestyle, he spoke of his fight for equality for all South Africans, all of our people, and how it ended up landing him in prison not once but twice...
Why then, he said, would he now be fighting for something of less importance like a job.
Hasn't he really proven twice that his passion and hunger lies in seeing South Africa reach the vision that he, and many people who died, believed in?
Wouldn't that be a betrayal of something they together swore their whole lives to?

I completely agree with what he said about that vacant clown Julius Malema as well. Man, that boy needed some kind of hiding when he was younger...*sigh* What an embarrassment.

Maybe I'm gullible. Maybe I'm being caught up in drama?
Maybe i just really love a good story and always hope for the happy ending.

Oh i don't know... politics are always messy and it's tough to find someone i completely agree with in day-to-day "real" life, let alone a whole party or a political leader.

Anyways. It's a good feeling to find more than one politician who inspires me even for a few minutes in my day... and in the last while I've found 3.

Perhaps this break-away party will be more of the same ol' "closed patronage party seeking the spoils of office". Perhaps Barack Obama will be a let down and topple off the pedestal that he's managed to climb so quickly onto in the eye's of millions across the world...

OR maybe not.

Hey, there may yet be more Mandela's... maybe we're becoming depressed and disillusioned and not looking hard enough to give some people credit they deserve.
All we can really do is give honest thought to our votes and watch the direction we're lead towards by our instincts and from observing the chess-moves happening all around us.
Try to at least be excited by these interesting times!

on the note of stories:
(via swiss miss)
You might not be a supporter of Obama, but you might appreciate a typographic waterfall by Jonathan Hoefler.

That was close...*shudder*

Maybe I'm truly boring. Or maybe I'm just not adventurous when it comes to colour?

I have no idea what happened this morning!
After 2 years of working here and being promised "this year we're renovating" for both of those, we became very excited when some men-folk were spotted walking around carrying ladders and the like. Turns out we're still not really renovating in the "fix-it-up" sense of the word but we ARE going to be painting on a nice coat of new paint to make us all feel better apparently.

Let the madness ensue.
First we weren't given a real choice - we were just told that we were having our walls painted boring white and we could choose 1 feature wall to go a different colour.
Then after stomping our feet a little we were told we didn't have to go white we could keep our current neutral light taupe colour and choose a nice accent colour for it to go on one wall.

THIS i was actually very happy with.
*sigh*

But then someone made the "mistake" of mentioning, "No, you can choose any main colour and then one highlight shade..."
Have you ever been stuck in a room with 4 other graphic designers who then have to choose 2 colours out of about 30?
Note: Should you ever find yourself in that unlucky position. Just excuse yourself and don't come back. It's not as fun as people think.

The chances of everyone agreeing in the first 20min on one colour is very slim indeed.
There was even a horrifying moment where it looked like they wanted to paint the room lime-green and red? I think if that had passed through i would have had to resign myself to a daily migraine, or just plain resign.
*shudder*
Other options mentioned were:
• blue walls with a red feature wall (anchors away! eek!)
• green walls with a blue feature wall (bad aquarium decor...)
• green walls with a white feature wall

the last option being my desperate attempt at keeping some kind of light and fresh feeling in my head... i dunno...
I think you have to understand the rest of what is going to be in the space to feel me here...
They are already putting in scary grey office carpets (the ones that come in "tiles" and get plonked down), we have blue wheely chairs, your typical light wood desks and then our windows roof and shutters are all going to be white.

This is turning into a rather long post. About colour and paint.
yes. boring to everyone else. ok. :)

End result:
• blue chairs
• grey carpets
• light wood desks
• lime green walls
• white window frames, skirting and shutters
• black feature wall

wish me luck.
bleh. at least it's not red and green! *pheeew*

Holy Hat... my first tag?

Right. so. how do i do this again?

you know I've seen a few of these happening around on other people's blogs but till now had scraped by without having to puzzle one out! heehee

Okay so first things first? Link to your tagger and list the rules right?
love Maegan
check!
List 7 random facts about yourself
check!

hmmm now following it's not as easy... boo

1. I still have dreams of taking up tap dancing and discovering it as my true hidden talent... aaah day-dreams. love them

2. I'm a chronic day-dreamer. They're vivid and unstoppable and have happened for as long as i can remember

3. I really do love learning about my family tree! It's not just something i say to scare away boys or embarrass myself believe it or not

4. My family will always come first in my life. But it's pretty much expanding with time. Friends become like family. There's always space for new members and you know who you guys are *hug*

5. I have to chemically straighten and use a hair iron for my hair to resemble that of a normal person. ok... maybe i could live without the hair iron... but trust me the other is a MUST!

6. I think i will always miss Lindsay. She's still my conscience about a lot of things in my life

7. I'm leaving all my journals to Katherine. :) it's a whole lotta nonsense but who knows...

ok! maybe it wasn't toooo tough!

I'm going to post this in the meantime i think as the next bit is to tag 7 other people...and ahem...
not sure i have 7 other blogger-pals! *blush*
As soon as it's up 'n goin tho! prepare yourselves... a tag awaits.
(mwahahahahah)

hope that doesn't scare ya'all away *grin*

and how do you like that??

Looksee looksee!
Our mayor won international recognition? what did yours do this week huh?

"14 October 2008: Helen Zille, Executive Mayor of Cape Town and leader of South Africa’s opposition Democratic Alliance, has been awarded the 2008 World Mayor Prize. Commentators supporting her nomination said that in a country devoid of present-day role models, this amazing lady was making a difference and giving people there hope: 'Her only equals are Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela in Southern Africa.'"

If you'd like to read a bit more on our super-hero, head on down-town to this here link