Category Archives: Uncategorized

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Good news if you hate this blog

This project is now edging towards the six month mark and in that time I have learned a few lessons (one day I might collate this wisdom in a pamphlet called Impulsive Idiocy for Beginners, but that’s another story). You may be aware that the purpose of the blog was to experiment with various different ideas in order to work out what things I’m good at, what I enjoy doing most and whether by any small chance these elements could combine. At the time, a year seemed like a reasonable period in which to do this, but now it’s clear that I didn’t need that long. I think that I’ve already tried most of the things that are possible within the rather limited realm of quick-fire posting and now I’m just repeating myself. Making more cartoons, spoof letters or abstract illustrations isn’t going to tell me anything new; once you’ve done these things a few times they cease being a challenge and instead become part of a quota. That’s essentially all I’m doing now – variations on a theme to honour the commitment I made. It is still, I hope, mildly entertaining but the point of the blog has been lost. Am I any nearer to deciding which creative outlet I should concentrate my efforts on? Not really, no. Six more months of half-arsed effort isn’t likely to yield the answer either.

The upshot of this is that I have decided to call a halt to Creative Year at the half way stage – i.e. the end of this month. I realise I already have something of a reputation as a quitter in the eyes of some, but there would be no reward for carrying on. No one’s going to hang a medal round my neck or affectionately ruffle my hair. Without wishing to sound dramatic, it’s been quite a drain to maintain this blog and on several occasions I’ve been working until 3.00am to complete a post for the following day, feeling like crap in the morning and then worrying all over again a few hours later because I’m out of ideas for the next one. There’s a fine line between keeping your brain busy and dragging out material from its withered, restless remains. I could keep doing it until the end of September but I can’t see any point. My lack of enthusiasm would be obvious, the posts would be increasingly uninspired and only a handful of loyal readers would remain. It’s a shame, yes, but if you give it a few seconds you’ll get over it.

I will continue to blog in the traditional manner, perhaps after a short break and probably in a different place. Further details to follow. In the meantime, thank you very much for supporting Creative (Half) Year and try to enjoy/forgive the remaining posts.

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165

pennywise
Okay, to make up for the Dulwich Pennywise Club’s miserly contribution I’m offering you a deal: I solemnly promise to donate £1 to Comic Relief for every person who leaves a comment on this post before the end of the day. To clarify, that’s £1 per individual rather than £1 per comment (this is to safeguard myself against bankruptcy at the hands of barriejohn). Don’t think of it as shameless comment seeking on my part, think of it as doing the right thing. I know there are plenty of people reading this who have never commented before so why not say hello and make a difference while you’re at it. The comment doesn’t have to be funny or long – in fact, simply saying ‘hi’ would be perfectly sufficient.

Okay, that’s all. I won’t badger you like this again, I promise.

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150

claims-direct
On an unrelated matter*, does anyone know anything about consumer law? I have a problem regarding a TV I purchased in the sales just after Christmas. At the end of January it developed a fault, so I took it back to Currys who said that they couldn’t replace it because it was just outside their 28 day guarantee. Instead they would arrange for an engineer to come and fix it at my home. Fair enough, I thought. Anyway, three weeks later I got a call to say that they were having problems getting the spare parts for it (even though it’s a brand new model) so were willing to collect the TV and offer me a credit note to return to Currys and get a replacement. Again, fair enough on the face of it but the problem is that they are only willing to credit me the amount I paid for the TV (£550) which was a limited time special offer. The same TV has now gone back up to £995 so if I wanted a straight replacement I would have to fork out the difference. That just seems wrong to me. I haven’t yet negotiated with them but it would be nice to know where I stand legally before I do. Surely I’m entitled to a new TV at no extra cost?

*Well it could be related if it costs me an arm and a leg.

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A rare but largely uninteresting bonus post

In case you didn’t notice, I have now completed the index which should make it easier to find old posts. I’m not assuming that anyone will want to, but I was planning to do it at some point anyway for my own amusement. The only trouble is that with all those thumbnails it takes a while to load – a problem that will only get worse as the months wear on. Sorry about that.

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145

jesus-saves
I’ve been aware for some time that finding old Creative Year posts – should you wish to look one up for some reason – is a bit of a nightmare. The subject cropped up again in a recent comment so I thought I’d be a helpful chap and make a proper index. It was a real pain in the arse to create  – 144 individual links to copy and paste, then a brief description of each post. When the tedious task was finished I wrote a quick introduction to the new page and prepared to publish it. As I did so, I accidentally navigated away from the page I was working on and when I hit the ‘back’ button everything I’d done was missing. WordPress saves a draft copy of what you’re doing every minute or so but as I was staring in horror at the blank page before me, it automatically saved again – overwriting the old one and leaving it irretrievable. The air in my flat is still tinged with blue. So, although it wasn’t really my fault, please learn from my pain and save often.

Anyway, when I can bring myself to do it again you will have a proper index. And you’d better bloody appreciate it too.