Christmas blues… Sort of..

Ok, first off, I’m really not depressed!

But this year I do not have even the tiniest sprinkling, minutiae of Christmas glitter about me. Not one ounce.

There are no Christmas trees in sight.
There are no flashing Christmas lights or decorations adorning my home.
There are no presents for myself OR anyone else for that matter about my person.

There is simply, nothing.
Just me and the cat.

The Christmas buzz and merriment has simply not reached me at all this year.
And I seem to have acquired a small hint of ‘Bar Humbug-ness’ about me.
But not the evil, mean kinda way – just the ‘I don’t really care about it’ way.

Do I feel mean spirited? Not at all.
But I just have not got that Christmas feeling this year.
I’ve avoided the shops like the plague. It’s just beyond unbearable. That’s not fun.
There is no desire to rush out and buy presents for people presents, because I’ll only end up pushing myself into further unnecessary debt.

And everything also seems to be so much more expensive than in the old days. Have you noticed the price of things lately? It’s shocking when you really stop and think about it.

It’s not all about money either; it’s simply there is no desire to celebrate this year.

And ultimately who are we really buying presents for?
Is it to make ourselves feel better?
Or is it to give presents that really means something to the recipient?
Or is it more about doing what we always do and that’s just follow the same old routine?
Trying to outshine other relatives and showboating… ‘hey, look how good my presents are… Look how much I’ve spent… aren’t I fabulous’.

Other than the prayer before we eat… do we even think about what it is exactly that we are celebrating?

Or is it simply a day to have off work and to give presents?

Ultimately, for me, it’s about spending time with the people that matter to me most and having a good time and reconnecting under one roof, for one day.
That to me is priceless and what it’s really about.
So that’s what I shall do this year.

Eat, be merry, share love and my time and keep it simple.

Free lunch - just be nice

There was a BIG fire the other day in London.

I was sat in the office and as I gazed in that 'day dreaming' sort of way over my right shoulder and out of the window... instead of my normal sight of the canary wharf tall skyline... I saw a strong, big, black cloud spiralling over the big tower.

My first thought was 'Oh Fuck'.

My second thought was 'Tell someone'.

So I ran to the studio next door, who has no windows facing the fire and grabbed Jacopo, the resident Italian photographer.

He came rushing to look and also said 'Oh fuck'.

He ran and got his camera.


He took some pictures, uploaded them, and guess what, 'Reuters', loved it so much they offered money there and then for the pictures.

This in a 1hr time frame.

So he's been promising me a drink for drawing his attention to it.

Then today - he calls me into the office and gives me a big hug and say's 'Guess what'.

'Reuters rang me up and booked me to take pictures at a reuters conference'.

It was a big job, which he done yesterday and was showing me his amazing conference pictures today on his computer.

Isn't it funny how 1 small thing leads on to other bigger things?

Anyway - he's so delighted he's buying me lunch.
Good shit.