and why am I so idle?

I know. Blah – sorry about not posting. I AM alive! AND kicking! Doing another of these mad cycles next year – 400km across Cuba this time. Uff.

Life is chaotic – I'm sure you all have the same problem. Going to do this, going to do that – in a minute; after I do THIS [which is urgent] and after that. Everything is URGENT – particularly in the world of print/publishing. People seem to think that they can give you a [publisher / word / Coleslaw = CorelDraw] file one day, and that, as a graphic designer you will magic it to be 500 printed fliers within two days…well. Never gonna happen. But what DOES happen is the graphic designer gets totally stressed and calls about 90 printers, the printers go bonkers and send demented quotes and the client – well, they go out for lunch and enjoy a nice glass of Chablis and a salmon fishcake…

Which is precisely what I did today! I am usually a non-luncher – which is to say I normally eat something over the keyboard and quickly at that. Today however, I went straight from a client meeting at 9.00 to an exhibition [such as it was] at 11.00 – in between I did an 'urgent' car sales advert, found my cats and applied some makeup. Ugh. Frenzy for a person with the residuals of chemo brain.

Then, after the 'exhibition', a friend of mine, whom I went to said exhibition with, said we should go to lunch. I nearly said no, but then had a wild moment and said yes. I am so glad I did – what a delightful change! We sat in the window of the hotel, had a drink apiece and a light lunch. Met the friends charming son, and planned his future :) It really made a nice day.

Thanks Shaun for that – some little things can make your whole week different. And another absolutely fabulous thing – one of my clients MIGHT sponsor my event t-shirts! Getting on that tomorrow, but seems he might pay for production if his logo is all over the back – bring it on! Logos of whoever – who cares? ..if they generate funds? bring 'em on!!

October

"Look at this shit" – and I quote from here because I totally love this post.

October is breast cancer awareness month. PLEASE try to avoid the 'pink' crap, and instead promote actual/real awareness by telling your friends how to check their breasts [men as well] and how to give practical support to women & men who have / had breast cancer.

Researching this is easy. Get your ass on Google – first lesson: do NOT tell cancer patients to 'be positive' – just a warning, so you don't end up with a hot waffle iron to the face ;)  They WILL be positive…in their own time. But it takes time. And it isn't helped by [well-meaning] people TELLING them they SHOULD be positive. Quite often, you just can't. Losing your hair, going through painful treatment,  gaining weight through steroid treatment and knowing you may die are quite off putting when it comes to the 'being positive' stuff.

Breast cancer is NOT about 'pink' trowels. It's not about pink shirts/shoes/hats/dollies/M&M's or Kentucky Fried Chicken!

It's about pain, loss and devastation [none of which are particularly pink!]

DO help by being proactive and spreading a sensible message. A colour or an obscure Facebook message about where you keep your bloody handbag / hat / heart / whatever the fuck, does NOT define, explain or help people to be aware of the symptoms of this disease. And the saddest thing is that even by being aware, it doesn't help – breast cancer can strike even the healthiest people – it just does. Sort of like any cancer really. BUT by checking, you may be diagnosed early, which can help your survival rate enormously.

Please promote awareness of the symptoms of breast cancer by telling women and men HOW to check for it. Simple yes? You'd think so. There is an awareness pack here. It has a lot of 'pink' stuff all over it – ignore that nonsense and READ the information.

There is an excellent blog post here, all about why 'pink' is so totally ridiculous [do read it – very interesting] I particularly liked the bit where he says:

Being aware of the hazards of shoving a spindle up your ass and lighting your clothes on fire while smacking people in the face with a hot waffle iron and singing “Kumbaya” in a falsetto voice… well, you get the idea. Prevention is the key reason for awareness.

Oh, and if you read the post AND the comments; it's apparent that 'pink' is totally sickening to the majority. Pink? No. Remove it from my sight please. Information? Yes – bring it on…

I am very afraid of breast cancer. It is closely linked to ovarian. Happily, I had a physical check up recently and I am fine. Just waiting for the scan results now…waiting. It's really not good for the 'positivity' factor. So; no-one best be telling me to be positive – 'ware that waffle iron!