I’m a bit miffed; I keep using this Moleskine for work. We’re not far from the end of this first book now and well, soon it will be time to buy another one… or two. I’m thinking maybe one for work purposes and another for personal, i.e.: sketches, notes, journal entries etc.
Admittedly, this in itself opens me up to a whole new world of potential pitfalls. It will not take long to tire of carrying two book instead of one, and I can imagine quite clearly just about to present somewhere and finding that I have the wrong notebook with me. The more I think about it however, the more I realise that this is really the only true path forward.
Hellboy 2 flashes before my eyes. I don’t know why.
Two Moleskines it is then, for 2010. Let’s see how we get on with that one then, this time next year…
What day is it today? 15th? I think so. That’s right, ten days ’til Christmas, I remember.
It’s been a fair while since I emptied my thoughts into this moleskine of mine, but excuses I have none. Instead I have nearly three months of hard work to look back on. 1000heads is treating me well, very well.
It’s hard work, challenging even, but in the best of ways.
I can’t talk about any of of the stuff I’ve working on, obviously. However, let’s just say I am in exactly the right place at the exactly the right time; I’ve seen the future, and it’s very bright indeed.
It strikes me that it might be some months until this entry makes it out onto my blog. So apologies in advance if this seems out of time at all.
I wonder if, in time, I will be able to talk about what I’ve actually worked on, i.e.: projects of the past. I’m finally getting to grips with how fast this place moves; last Wednesday I helped out with creating an invitation for the Ovi Daily App Awards. Between us we nailed the copy, design, look and feel and just for good measure, a comedy QR code to boot.
They were signed off, printed and sent out within 24hrs and, by Friday, blog posts were alreadyspringingup. Amazing.
I understand that this might just be par for the course for some of you but, coming from a veritable behemoth of an organisation, this is not how it’s done ‘client side’.
I’m yawning as I write, I must be boring myself.
Writing from a plane (again), we’re headed for Helsinki. There’s a man two seats away who spoke at OpenLabs. Remember that?
Three weeks I’ve been doing this job and I think I might have worked out what I’m doing here. There’s obviously work to be done and I’m getting stuck in, however I still feel like an outsider.
New to the pack, some of the larger animals don’t know how to take me. Yet others are still trying to be open. We’re getting there. Slowly. At least I’m getting there.
The hardest part to deal with is the clients, I guess. They don’t trust me and, while my name maybe associated with The Really Mobile Project, I don’t think they ever will. It’s gutting because I’m not just some blogger off the street; I’ve spent the last 5yrs carving out a career as an expert in my field. Call it comms, word of mouth, community, dare I say it ‘Social Media’ and, in all honesty, I’m not an idiot (no laughing at the back please). I’m really not. I’ve never broken an NDA and I’ve always conducted myself in a professional manner. Yes, there is some bleeding across the lines with the new role, but really?
“We’re not going to show him anything he might blog.” — Really? Give me a break.
24hrs later – Validation. Defence. A small amount of insight and trust – as tenuous as it is – is restored. Although I fear this won’t be the last time it happens.
Not least the epic workload of the pages that have gone before. A job, not small, but not important either – at least, it would seem right now.
I want to be able to do my job my NEW job to the best of my ability but currently, I don’t feel I can. There is… the learning process. The transaction process that which, over time, defines how your tenure will be judged… information… there is much. Relationship building, plenty.
Unfortunately, in my infinite wisdom I managed to hit the ‘off’ button on my alarm this morning. OFF instead of SNOOZE. The latter would’ve made sure I was up before 7am. The former ensured that I found myself stirring a little after 9am. Bugger.
Up, like a shot. It’s 9:11. Shower. Teeth. Shave. It’s 9:20. Pack. Spray. Earphones. Leave the house, it’s 9:25. Walking, fast, I trip and stumble. My ankle cries out and I follow suit. Limping, I make it to the station. It’s 9:35. Coffee, rain and the 9:41 arrives on time.
Today is my first day at 1000heads and so far it’s going swimmingly!
I bought this Moleskine specifically to chronicle my travels this past summer. As it stands, the book itself is only a little under halfway full and here I am about to begin a new adventure with my new colleagues at 1000heads.
What I’ll use this book for from now on I don’t know. But knowing me, no doubt I’ll try and share as much I can…
I haven’t been home in over two weeks. I miss my bed. Not for now.
The long summer of travel is drawing to an end (after a bonus Oxfam-related trip to the U.S.) and, this coming Thursday, I formally start at 1000heads. I’m told there’ll be plenty of travel involved but I imagine it won’t be anywhere near as intense as this.
It feels like I’ve been getting my hands dirty again.
You can only sit in an office and strategise for so long, sometimes you need to get there and just do it for yourself. Go out and learn a few things, rediscover why you love what you do so much and ultimatelyreset your point of view on the world.
This past summer I’ve been through the deserts of Africa, the mountains of Wyoming and glaciers of the French/Italian Alps. From baboons in Botswana to Zebra in Zimbabwe… I’ve been the luckiest man in the world.
The Sun is setting over London as we make our final approach. I need to draw this to an end. The deep red sky brings a warm smile to my face and I sigh.
Six hours ago I was landing at London Gatwick, fresh from the Lucozade Challenge of Yacht Racing around the Caribbean. Now, as I write, I’m on a flight back out to New York (from London Heathrow mind, that was interesting) with my darling girlfriend and I am happy. Tired. Exhausted. Travel weary. But ultimately, for the first time in such a long time, truly happy.
You might scoff if I were to tell you “it’s been a long, hard summer” given the adventures I’ve been on, the places I’ve seen and the things that I’ve done but really, as much as all that that has been awesome, it’s the bits inbetween that have been hardest.
Being away from home every other week for just shy of ten weeks creates a strange instability around things. Plans are harder to make, promises harder to keep. A constant state flux one might say.
Not counting the stress and strains that places on any kind of loving relationship, there was the whole work mess to deal with too. Halfway through the challenges, all that additional…. worry was not helping the situation at all. The time I was actually at home, I was spending the whole time working. Leaving me tired. So so tired.
Rest soon. And sleep. Sleep, beckoning so sweetly.
At the time of writing, we’re all sat on the tarmac on flight LEAT509 waiting to depart to Antigua. Our plane is old school. It has propellers and as they start up outside my window, I’m reminded of my Mum’s old washing machine. I smile.
The winners Jon, Clare, Trevor and Al (joined by me and Sam) along with Captain Morgan, Shaun and Rob. Nine of us against ‘True North IV’, manned by some real experienced yachtsmen. We’re in it to win it and we’re not taking prisoners.
Our track looks like this:
Point A (near the top) is the start line and Point B (at the bottom) is the marker which we must sail around to come back again. Before the competition starts, the judge (on a separate boat – not pictured) raises a green flag signalling the start of a six minute countdown. It’s at this point the yachts start racing back and forth in front of the start line, jockeying for the best position and getting up enough speed for when those six minutes are up. 360 seconds later the judge raises a white flag and then the race really gets going.
It’s worth noting that in practice we had our starts nailed; passing the buoys at 6:01 over and over. On race day we did it againy taking the opposition by complete surprise; suddenly they were on the back foot and they knew it. We weren’t messing around.
For three of the seven legs we remained in the lead. Our hearts pounding. Ears out for commands from the Skipper, one eye on the next marker and the other on the competition closing in behind.
Somewhere into the fourth leg (it may have been as early as the third), Rob noticed something; the True North IV was gaining.
Now apparently, before the race today, several agreements were made about how it would be run. The main part of which we’ll come back to later butt the bit that matters most right now is that Rob and the Captain of the True North IV had a gentlemen’s agreement that they wouldn’t use a full skiff.
Well surprise surprise, when we looked up to see the True North IV suddenly gaining speed, there she was with a full skiff –
12 metre with just the main sail –
12 metre with skiff unfurled – see the difference?
Rob smiled, knowingly.
What they were doing wasn’t strictly against the rules (the judge had no idea about said agreement and therefore wasn’t about to disqualify anyone for using their yacht correctly), but you might have considered it to be a little unsporting. A fact reinforced by the sight of the opposing team placing their hands over their ears as they passed us to yells of “CHEATS! CHEATERS!”
Of course, the only real response was to unfurl our sail to its full extent and play them at their own game. So we did.
Whatever the result, it was nice to know that we pissed them off so much that they felt they had to throw everything that at winning. And win they did. But my God did we make it hard for them and my God was it a close finish…
On the final leg, with the Stars & Stripes still trailing, the True North IV made her final turns into shore to take the wind coming off the land. Like I said, we were trailing so we took a gamble. Being in second place – aka ‘last’ -Â means you really do have nothing to lose but everything to gain. In search of stronger winds, we turned the yacht out to sea.
It so very nearly paid off. By the time we crossed the finish line the finish line there were literally SECONDS in it. They beat us by HALF A BOAT length. I can’t tell you how exhilarating it felt to come that close to beating this professional and experienced team. Just magnificent.
Their boat was technically faster, apparently on one leg, their buoy was closer than it should’ve been, they had to use a full gib to catch us and they had probably the most experience 12 metre yacht captain in the world….
AND YET we still came that close to beating them. It feels now as it felt then, totally invigorating.
Later at the bar that evening, Rob tells us that today’s race was kind of a big deal for him. The night before he had called a meeting between our crew, the opposing crew and the race judge. They all agreed that the race today would be ‘for real’.
You see they race these boats day in and day out and could’ve quite easily made some decisions (that wouldn’t have been obvious to us), that meant they would’ve handed us the race. Rob, having trained us all week and seen how we respected the skill and the effort that went into it, insisted that this would be the case.
He told the rest of the staff that the race was to be exactly that.
No fudging it for anyone.
“Throw everything you’ve got at us.†he told them “Try and thrash us. If you do, it’ll be their fault. If you don’t, well then.. they’re awesome. Either way, these guys will not appreciate being handed the race and will know if you do…â€
Wow. What a guy. I for one am very glad he called it like that because, come the finish line, yes we came second – a very close second in fact. But we earned it.
—- End of Moleskine entry.
It’s with a tinge of sadness that I reach the end of the Caribbean notes like this. Rob, our 12 metre expert and pro, tragically passed away only two short months after we left. I wrote about it at the time and, if you’ve made it this far, it would mean a lot to me if you read ‘For Rob’ as well.
Thanks for reading. The Lucozade journals are at an end now, however the Moleskine itself is not. I’m going to keep writing up my entries as I go as, well, that’s what it’s there for.
I’ve not written here for a while. Most places we’ve been to this past summer have involved a lot of travelling. From one bed to the next, driving through Africa, riding across Wyoming or simply scaling mountains deep within the Alps. Believe it or not, these kinds of activities gave me a lot of free time to write and keep my journal.
However, for this trip – the fifth and final Lucozade Challenge of 2009 – we’ve been staying on ONE resort the WHOLE time. If I’m not up and at the Mac updating the Lucozade blog, then I’m out completing challenges with the winners. Every second I have here on my own, I’m uploading photos, editing videos etc etc… constantly online. No downtime with no connection, which means no journals in my moleskine
And so it is, we go home tomorrow and I’ve hardly written a thing.
Time flies huh?
On thing I must put down – Today. Has. Been. Epic.
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