Brick by brick

Some of the admin women in the work have just discovered my website and are now offering their services as life models. This was before they knew that life models get a pretty decent wage - or at least so I was led to believe back in Art school. Not that I was ever offered the chance of baring my body for the easels I might add. The admin women were also offering themselves up as photographic models after the arrival of my new camera yesterday.
My brand new DSLR camera arrived at the office yesterday and I have been toying with it ever since. The operator's manual has the dimensions of a reasonably sized paperback and being the slight perfectionist that I am I have decided to read at least a good quarter of it before I have any reasonable attempts at photography even though I know I'd probably work it all out easily enough. I've never really understood why people charge into the building and working of things without even glancing at the instructions. Men, for some reason, have a bit of a reputation for doing this. As a man I don't really see anything incredibly unmannly about reading some instructions myself. Our living room came together enjoyably quickly because of the instruction manuals (thank you Ikea!). When our living room furnishings arrived four and a half years ago from the giant furniture store I swept Ka to the side with a - "Don't worry my dear, I'll deal with this!". Ka was happy to continue cleaning as I pulled the various instruction manuals from each of the boxes and knuckled down to some hard labour. If I had not used the instruction manuals you can be assured that I'd have finished building it all with at least one table leg and twenty screws leftover and wondering why the hell Ikea would supply me with so many spare parts. As I put my tea down I'd frown confusedly as the table tipped over and collapsed into pieces behind me. The Ikea instructions are especially easy to follow not unlike the instruction books you used to get with your Lego buildings and pirate ships as a kid. Both companies are Scandanavian, of course, and both now multi million pound companies and it's all probably down to their instruction books. An Ikea pirate ship? Go even further - an Ikea Space shuttle?! Imagine the possibilities! Apparently that third bloke from Top Gear, James May (the one that is not Clarkson or Hammond), was making a house out of Lego for a series he is working on at the moment. He intends to live in it for a short time once it's finished. The Lego house would probably be far stronger than any piece of housing Ikea could come up with. I wonder if he's using an instruction book? I'd say it's a safe bet that he is, considering he hopes to have a flushing lavatory in it along with other various lego built applianes.
Talking of property, Heather from Your Move was round yesterday looking over the flat making sure it was marketable. She left leaving me optimistic for a quick sale when the time comes. Ka and myself have plans of upgrading in the property market. I wonder how much James May is selling that Lego house for? That's a model I'd like to take a picture of and, I dare say, a property that would be great in for Ka and myself to build our lives together.

I've been called a lot of things, but never funny

Ignored the miserable weather today and headed into Glasgow for a wee walk around and a few odd jobs. The picking up of a Wedding ring, the buying of a birthday present and a quick look in the camera shops. Jessops is apparently closing down, so I ventured up Sauchiehall street to see if I could grab a bargain. Jessops being Jessops, of course, I could not. Large posters advertising some kind of Spring clearance sale inside adorned the windows. On venturing inside I discovered one basket at the till filled with dusty, old discounted camera bags. That was it. The Spring Clearance Sale apparently only applying to dusty old camera bags I gave up and wandered back down to the chaotic Buchanan Galleries to meet up with Ka. After some shopping, (I say some but I mean, as little as possible), we decided to go for a bite. We opted for some cheap and cheerful pub grub.
Why is it some folk find it so difficult washing their hands after using the toilet. Especially blokes. After eating some fairly nice pub grub in The Maltman on Renfield Street I visited the loo and as I stood drying my hands at a particularly powerful drying machine after washing I could not help notice some bloke leave the wall urinal and head straight out through the door. I'd just like to make it clear I was not, in any way, watching the guy do the toilet but was merely aware of the dismal fact that he left without so much as a spray of cold water from the taps. Why is this? Do blokes find it unmanly to wash their hands after freeing themselves from a full bladder? Surely washing after pi**ing should be mandatory for blokes?! Are they in that much of a hurry to get back to their beloved pints? Is the conversation with their mates THAT good that they have to go back to a busy bar with their hands reeking? Maybe it was the chef rushing back to his kitchen? No, I don't want to even go there. The thought, not the kitchen. I'm sure the kitchen is very hygienic...
After our meal we seen the excellent Gran Torino. Fantastic. Clint Eastwood is just a genius. A true Hollywood great. He seems to be just getting better with age (he must be ancient now?!). He not only starred in Gran Torino, but directed, produced and contributed to the music. Just as the excellent Changeling before it. Eastwood basically plays a miserable old, Korean war veteran with a grudge against his life and himself who slowly, and inadvertantly, turns himself into a neighbourhood hero. Brilliant.

Going digital

Working late again. No rest for the wicked. Awaiting the wonderful pages of the Hamilton Advertiser coming through from the subs as the printer next door rumbles the floor of the office under my feet surrounded by my pentax camera equipment which I was showing Craig earlier on. Craig is the very informative scanning bloke in the office who spends most of his time solving our crosswords. He was showing off his Pentax K100D as I was mulling over the prospect of purchasing a more advanced digital camera in an effort to kick my photography hobbies back into gear. Ideally I was looking for a digital that would work with the lens I already own for my old Pentax ME Super and it seems the K100 fits the bill as do a few others including the K10 and 200D. I suspect more shopping around is required. Getting back into the photography would be great but still I'm painting and that takes up a bit of time as well as being stuck in this office till gawd knows when!?
Kelly-Ann's making dinner for me coming in though so I've got spaghetti to look forward to!-)