Friday

To make a donation to the major charities see the Apple site which has a useful list. There's no point sending clothes or stuff like that, so the best thing to do is to give money to these organizations that know how to handle it. And besides, there's no chance of you getting ripped off by some jerk on the street claiming to be collecting for some relief fund...

Thursday

Being of Sri Lankan origin does mean something to me and these past few days have been so surreal, I was going to write something. I wasn't really sure what to say though, I mean what can you say? It's so heart wrenching. On Xmas day news came through that some cousins of mine from Canada were there on vacation with their kids. I'm not sure exactly where they were but it was one of the places on the east coast that got totally destroyed. I heard that they ran for their lives but made by the grace of god. My sister in Toronto spoke with them yesterday after they returned so I'm just going to quote her e-mail which says it all:

'Hi Michael, just spoke to Revathy and told her you had been worried and inquired about them. She says it is a miracle all 13 of them are alive and is traumatized by the whole ordeal. They had to run for their lives. She did not get wet but John who followed was waist high in water and his slippers were pulled from under his feet. Tino gave him Arina (daughter) to carry and he had her over his head. There were dead bodies 15 feet from them and were being brought into the army camp they stayed in. At one point Revathy was alone with the 3 kids not knowing where the rest of the family was and if they were dead or alive. Their driver clung on to a tree and was slapped by dead bodies and then landed in a hotel room and managed to get on a mattress which had another dead tourist on it. The driver managed to escape thankfully. Aidan (Ravathy's son) was trapped in the van with water getting into it and thank God John saw him and ran from the otherside and got him out. Revathy is exhausted. She says they feel bad to be back when there is so much help needed there.'
Wait it's 23.59pm... (*seconds pass on), nice;

happy birfday to me
happy birfday to me
happy birfday dear margieeeeee

happy birfday to me.

I'm still aaaliiiiiiive, wah wah wah wahhhhhhhh.

Sunday

Once I'd done my first week at work it started to dawn on me today that I can once again become a consumer. Oh such joy, I've already planned how and what to spend my first paycheck on. Astonishingly none of it involves porn; I think I've become a slightly mature adult. Ah well, there's always impulse buying.

I think one thing I'm gonna do is to move apartments. The place I have now is fine and I like living with my friend Jim and his girlfriend, Canadian Kandi. But I just want to do better than live in Stoke Newington. It's not on the Tube so I have to rely on the trains which really fuck me off, they're about as reliable as Silver. The bus service is good but takes forever to get anywhere. I mean, I live here, but I don't do anything here really. I have some friends further down the road and all but when I go out it's into the Central London usually and to get back here late at night is really a pain in the arse. I feel like I'm commuting from Forest Hills on the G-train everyday. It's not the area you picture in you mind when you think of London. And I think now that I've got my career going again I would like things more on my own terms you know?

Anyway, something I really need to do is to buy new clothes and some furniture. Don't forget when I left NY all my worldly possessions consisted of a guitar and two suitcases of clothes and assorted items. But I'm glad that I'm in the position to be able to think about starting over materially. First on the list is some nice bed linen, no more sleeping in newspaper for this boy, hooray!

Tuesday

This job was advertised in 'Design Week' which is one of the most read trade journals in the UK and Europe. Yet they actively wanted me to fill the post..? I know I have a bit of a confidence problem, I am a good designer, but I lack self belief sometimes (and with good cause judging by the past four years). But I'm taking it in my stride and not jumping around covered in Jello shouting 'yippee' just yet. I'm being cautious I guess.

My confidence is gradually coming back and all those design instincts are as strong as ever. I think it's partly down to the fact that not a foreigner here, I don't need a visa. It's not a dead weight around my neck that a company can blackmail me with like my last one in NY who screwed me over. Since I've moved back to London I've become to feel more like myself; a better self. I was explaining this to Joel when he and Julie were in town. I felt that I'd gotten to know them more in those few days in London than the entire time I was in the States because the context and environment was different.

But the worst that can happen career-wise has already happened. Losing my job meant losing a life I worked hard to build, it also left me humiliated by my loss of pride. But most painfully of all was that I lost my friends, who were the main reason why I stuck it out until all hope was lost. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm moving on now; the biggest chapter in my life so far has finally come to an end.

Friday

I've been waiting a long time to write this in my blog. I marge; the margeist marge of them all, has just got a NEW JOB. I am a Graphic Designer once more and that's official. I start work on Monday with an agency called KBW. Or KBDubya as I like to call them, that's right; I'm pro Dubya now.

It's a good agency about 12/14 people in size. The website (and work on it) is old but they do a lot of nice work. It was formed in 1995 by a couple of ex-Saatchi Creative Directors. And the financial + benefits package is pretty good too, so now I can afford to eat, woohoo food! It's based in a really nice quiet street off 'Regent Street' right in the heart of Central London, somehow I feel that I'll be spending a lot of time in the pub that's on the corner.

I had a second interview with them this morning and everything was a done deal by the time I left. I felt kind of strange on the way home, I've been struggling for so long it hasn't sunk in yet. It's going to be tough next week as there's going to be a huge workload, but that's the way when you start a new job. So I've to chill over the weekend and get my design head together.

Phew, now I've got 3-1 odds on me being fired by Christmas, any takers?