So what were the “here now” and “coming soon” posts all about??  Let me tell you.  Now that I have finished Uni, I have to enter the ever so slightly scary world of working for money instead of a cup of peppermint tea in John’s office (John was my course leader).

Now, at Uni, many of you will know that I was classed as a “disabled student”, because I have a rather acute form of IBS (two out of the three forms in fact).  I suffer from spastic colon and mid-gut motility disorder, the side effects of which are as follows:

* intense abdominal pain
* bloating
* nausea
* spastic body movements
* shaking
* constipation
* anxiety
* fatigue
* spasms of the digestive system
* loss of concentration

What a pleasant combo!  And a real coversation starter.  Seriously you should try introducing yourself with that lot.  Naturally, I don’t do that too often.  Whilst the rest of the world (apart from those who share the experience) regard this as a ‘minor inconvenience’, it can actually be really disabling and a complete and utter confidence destroyer.

There are two ways to respond to such an illness.  Most people who meet you will tell you what you should do and wht you should try, or will try to delve into your past to dig up some emotional trauma that might be affecting you.  What few seem to acknowledge, is that it is a condition just like any other.  I hope no one would walk up to a person in a wheelchair and claim that they are there because they have done something bad, or because someone in their past had hurt them.  Whilst there might be ways to alleviate it, there is currently no cure, so the best response is to work out how to live with it.  Stress and diet are triggers, not causes, so management of these is a process of alleviation, not removal.

There are many things that I just cannot do.  I am all for equal opportunities, but I do not expect any design agency to employ me when I would have to be late to work often, I might have to run out of meetings, I might not cope with trips out, might have panic attacks etc.  This would mean that deadlines could be missed and that I would not be working like everyone else.  To me this is not equal opportunity at all. It might be great for me, but it is not ‘equal’ for them or anyone else working there.

So I could probably blag incapacity benefit, or I could work with it.  And the solution I have chosen is to work for myself.  I have got through my degree with a lot of help from the fantastic disabilities team at the University of Gloucestershire and now I am the owner of three businesses, which I intend to run in synchronicity with one another.

Here is a breakdown:

Elevation Multimedia: A web hosting provider and web development business.  This is more JT’s department but I manage the accounts.

Pink Sky: This is my design (and primary) business.  I do branding, packaging, editorial (book/magazine design), web, print, product (limited), interior (limited) and, well, whatever comes my way design!  I also intend to do some writing for design.

Jellify: This is a brand new business that I have set up with my good friend Mark.  We move into an office tomorrow!!  Jellify is “about your town” (strapline) and is a web site that tells you what is happening in your town.  We are starting with Cheltenham and expanding from there.  I am hugely excited about the office move tomorrow.  I cannot design from this office as there is already an agency next door.  Here are a couple of photos of the empty shell… Will post more when we are in!

The downstairs – Mark’s territory

Upstairs (up a spiral staircase!) – my office.

Running your own business with IBS is really good, because you can manage your own time and stress.  I know a lot of people with the same condition that do it actually, so that is ecouraging in some ways!  I will update you with more pics and info soon.

So London didn’t quite go as planned… I was meant to be exhibiting at D&AD at Olympia! I was exhibiting as it happened, only I wasn’t there in person! Ooops. A combination of 36 degrees of heat and London hustle and bustle was all a bit much for me and I couldn’t quite get on the train! So we went to Kew Gardens instead. A lovely day.

The pagoda

Pink flowers

Very Monet-esque!

A mallard

Through the rushes

Duck crossing the bridge

Massive glass house

Pink foxgloves

Facebook statuses really make me laugh.  Last night everyone was talking about the sudden death of Michael Jackson, but I am amused to note this morning that he has been hastily swept aside so that we can all comment upon the brief thunderstorm that the weather brought along this morning.

So what of Jacko?  I, personally was saddened at the news of his death.  People can be incredibly judgemental and condemning of people.  I heard something really good today that is being practiced at St Paul’s Church in Cheltenham.  “give grace always, challenge sometimes, judge never”.  Surely this is how Jesus teaches us to be.

It is certain, that Michael Jackson was a troubled man.  Anyone who is abused as much as he was, by their own father and forced to be a child prodigy is likely to end up thus.  Many allegations were made against Jacko pertaining to child abuse, but none were proven. Maybe he did it, maybe he didn’t.

Plastic surgery, then the vitiligo or skin bleach debate…  It would be easy for me to sit here and say that the whole business is obscene and an offence to his culture, but I do not know him personally.  I only know what is filtered through that curtain of destruction which is known as the media.  May God be the judge of us all.

There are a few things that are certain about MJ:

* The boy was talented – he could sing and dance

* He was an entertainer

* He had family

* He had friends

* He is now gone

Now that he is dead, what else is important? My heart goes out to his children and family and the music lives on.  He was part of my childhood. SHAMONE!!!

Tribute: I’ll be there – when Jacko was young. He had a beautiful voice.

Move in day = Weds – arrggghhhh!!!  Exciting + scary = very funny facial expression

Pantone pens – check.

Collection of awesome black pens – currently missing….. Hmmm….. Pen thiefs??  Come out wherever you are!

Very narrow decadent pencil – in handbag

We do get our results in the most peculiar fashion I have ever experienced.  They release the module results, from which you can calculate your classification.  They then release this:

Finally, I will get a transcript in the post by 6th July!  How bizarre.

I was both bewildered and amused to see this in the Co-op earlier….

I had the misfortune of having to speak to divvy council woman again today… Oh dear oh dear.  I asked her a simple question to which her response was: “I’ll ‘ave to paaaaaaaarse on that Oim ‘fraiiid” (Glarrrsetershirrre-tastic).  No.  I wasn’t asking you to dismiss me with a chavvy phrase, what do they employ you for??  To not know the answer to a single enquiry out of the five that I have made so far??  Why do people not bother to find out anything about the job they do nowadays??  I can imagine her telling people “I just have to answer the phone for my job” meaning literally answer it with the words “hello property” and “I’ll just put you through”.  Further than that she clearly can’t be arsed.