To paraphrase Blaise Pascal, I have made this hiatus longer because I have not had the time to make it shorter. While working on my PhD, teaching in the first year, and working on the Dungeness project, I found time to go to Amanda’s “dress to get laid” party in London on the 7th of November. Nigel and I were supposed to be using our iPods to play music at the party, but the vinyl DJs who played before us were doing a fine job, and our music was slightly inappropriate for the occasion.

While on the subject of iPods, apparently everyone is getting an iPod for Christmas. There is already a secret society of iPod users, exchanging subtle nods on the train upon recognition of their insignia, the white earphones. Their interaction has recently become more involved. The sudden increase in number of ipodders after this holiday season is likely to bring about world peace. Or the segregation of iPod users into clans. Of course, once the iPod becomes de rigeur in the Japanese schoolgirl market, Hello Kitty and Afro Ken customisations will help differentiate the clans, as well as the intra-clan hierarchy.

But I digress. On the 17th of November, the first year students presented their first design project. They were designing small, independent dwellings, on nondescript, blank sites arranged in streets. The resultant suburb would not be the most desirable place to live, but it’s okay. They have six and a half more years of study before they are allowed out into the unsuspecting world.

After the 17th I took a few days off first year and the Dungeness project in order to put my PhD out of its misery. I completed it just in time before the beginning of studio for the sixth year (id est the second year of the MArch). It is very enjoyable so far. To start with, Andy, my studio partner, and I are doing a study of the restaurant type. Apart from offering opportunities for some amazing meals, this project is providing insights on the influence of branding on the design of commercial spaces. For a little light reading, check out an excerpt on the history of branding from Douglas Rushkoff’s excellent book Coercion.

So, suddenly, it’s Christmas. The fairy lights are up in our flat, there is a stall selling some amazing goulash at the Bath Christmas market, and I am getting ill. There is some more glutonous indulgence research on restaurants to be done in the coming week, before I head off back home to Athens on the 15th of December.

I have been doing too much multitasking recently. For relaxation I enjoy just being immersed in the simple pleasure of being a passive recipient, watching movies or reading Quicksilver. While thinking about the multitude of threads that keep me occupied and spread me thin (making me mix my analogies), I am reminded of Curly’s finger from City Slickers. This movie has nothing much to recommend it apart from this scene:

Curly: Do you know what the secret to life is?
Mitch: No, what?
Curly: This (holds up one finger).
Mitch: Your finger?
Curly: One thing, just one thing. You stick to that and everything else don’t mean noth’n’.
Mitch: That’s great, but what’s the one thing?
Curly: That’s what you got to figure out.

Curly’s finger has had some influence on me. Thinking about a future path that could accommodate all my creativity-related interests, I “went meta” and briefly considered how I would design my life. The principle of sophisticated simplicity that often guides me when coming up with a concept would have made me an expert on “one thing” (the design of logotypes, perhaps?), with a similarly streamlined lifestyle designed around this. There are merits in limiting one’s scope in this way, but would it be oppressive in the long run? Most likely. Is there an happy medium? We’ll see.

And now, for my next trick, I will stop writing this entry and see if I can come up with a redesign for fufurasu.org and shaolin76.com for the new year.