Look at all these people coming in to the building, all dreadfully important, I’m sure the nation would cease to function if they hadn’t dragged their bodies through miles of underground piping to get here. how would anyone know about Tony Blair learning to use a piece of technology that a 5 year old wouldn’t have a problem with? I can’t believe we let this guy be in charge for so long.

Seriously, I’m not even sure I can pretend to work today. I can’t get into character. Plus I’ve been taken off fun project A to work on thankless grind B, if I do too good a job I’ll be stuck with it for ever (not the correct attitude I understand, and if i’m honest not the one I generally hold; “if a jobs worth doing…” but what if it’s not worth doing? What do I do then? The dictionary of platitudes is, as far as I can tell, silent on that matter). I also blame Steven Johnson’s book Emergence which I read on the tube (bike broke after one run, should be fixed by an idiot with a pink mohawk by lunchtime today, I don’t trust him one bit though, they always set the seat too high (why do they even need to change the seat height in the first place?) even though they’re shorter than me, it’s like some kind of competition “oh you only have the seat that high? well we’re pro’s, never need to touch the ground with our feet (running traffic lights wearing ipods etc.) we have the saddle two fucking meters in the air”) anyway where was I? Oh yeah Emergence, it makes me want to argue with people, pop-sci writers can be really smug when rehashing and mis-representing other people’s ideas, seriously just stop throwing the word logic around so casually. Fucking Malcom Gladwell and the Freakonomics guys better watch out too. If I ever catch up with them why I’ll… Well I’ll probably glower at them a bit and pointedly ignore them, it’s the British way with celebrities, none of this un-dignified camera phone stuff for me, gurning and sending the picture off to Heat magazine for inclusion on the correspondence page next to pleas for specific topless men to appear in the next issue. Anyway, all these recent science best sellers, they’re only one step away from self help books… “this book will help you to understand modern life and all its confusing scariness”. I’m really looking forward to the new John Gray book, sure he’s a bit of a crazy and he changes his mind all the time (who am I to talk?) but he’s satisfyingly bleak and he’s not going to pretend that he’s got any answers.

Great cover. Violent black and red “You’re all insects, and not in a good all-working-together-to-build-something-better kind of way just in a mindless drone and then you die kind of way”.

“Life is unfair, kill yourself or get over it”, now that’s the British way.

Maybe if I think about the country side I’ll clam down a bit. Other people will be coming in soon so it’ll be time for the ritual drinking of coffee and I think the caffine may send me over the edge. Maybe I’ll opt for tea instead.