My eyes are going square from Google image searches...

I was going to post this last weekend and never got round to it - and unfortunately it's still relvant this week!

I'm working on my third interior design assignment at the moment and trawling the web for pictures of "a room with something wonderful about it that you wish to emphasise". If you have such a room in need of some cohesion or design that you want to send me a picture of it would give me valuable practise.

You might get a few design tips for free in exchange - I can't promise the finished product will be any good but it might get better the closer I get to August and finishing my course!

Revolutionary Road

I don't often get excited about films but I'm really looking forward to this one:



(Ha! I managed to do that all by myself!)

I'm

Following Ben's itheme there's a new initiative set up by Microsoft to give money to charity and it doesn't cost you a penny...

You can find more information here but all you need to do is type a code into your display name in MSN to chose the charity you want to support. You'll see a little logo appear next to your name and Microsoft will donate a percentage of the revenue they get from advertising to your chosen charity. You can also set up a signature in your Hotmail account to do the same thing.

Keep your eyes open for the launch in the UK as it's currently only running in the US.

Hidden gem

I moved offices in January, for the fifth time since working for Norwich Union! Sentinel House on Surrey Street is supposed to be my department's final resting place for at least a few years now.

Sentinel was built in the 1980s as a flagship building for the company, complete with spire to match the NU logo. It has a well kept secret which you can see from the outside, but stained glass needs to be viewed from the inside to see it in all its glory. Unfortunately this one, four storeys high, has a column of lifts and balconies just a few feet away from it so it can't be seen properly.

There's probably an analogy in there somewhere with being cooped up in an office and not reaching your full potential...

Blogs on Blahtop

Ever so often my darling (but slightly weird) husband texts poems to people. He has a special blog which he updates from time to time with his better offerings but I think it's probably little frequented because he's a bit bashful about it.

If you like a chuckle and don't mind some idiosyncratic grammar add it to your sporadic bloggers folder.

I'll explain: on our trusty laptop we have a very organised favourites folder (because I'm anal like that) and the blogs are split into 'Blogs' and 'Sporadic Bloggers' (which DH changed to 'Spraddick'). Those who are sporadic bloggers don't enjoy our patronage so much! If you don't blog for two or three months you'll probably end up there but we still love you.

Resolutions for 2009

This post is overdue, not being quite the new year anymore, but here are my resolutions for 2009:

• Finish interior design course in good time
• Lose winter weight - helped by having weekly weigh-ins with a group of people at work!
  
• Be more groomed, have regular hair cuts (I hate hairdressers), don't go to work with wet hair etc - I did this on a regular basis because sitting under a hair dryer for 10 minutes (long hair) is just too boring. But make more effort I will.
• Spend more time with God and get involved with a church

That's it for this year and I'm pleased to say I've made a start with all of them. I still have my patchwork quilt to finish from last year's resolutions and I'll post pictures as soon as it's done. One more square to go.

I signed up to 43 Things which is handy for keeping track of goals and cheering each other on, although it doesn't always seem that active. I got an email from my past self yesterday asking me how things were going with God - handy nudge!

Making my new year's resolutions coincided with starting a new diary - I've kept a diary pretty consistently since I was about 14. I have a bit of a thing about stationery and was pleased to discover Laurel Burch's artwork through picking up this blank book in Waterstones. Keeping a diary is always more satisfying when writing in pretty books.

New art

New look for the new year, hope you like it. The new heading is from a painting called Dance by Alphose Mucha - one of the prettiest google image search results I've ever seen!

I came across Mucha while reading about the history of design. Born in 1860 in Moravia (now part of the Czech Republic) he trained in Paris after his work impressed one of his employers enough for him to pay for education. He began his career as they typical penniless artist, drawing pictures for magazines. His lucky break came in 1895 when he was commissioned to create a poster for a play, Gismonda. His work became an overnight senstation and his style became known as Art Nouveau. The movement's belief that everything was and should be art inspired a wealth of design, including the entrances to the Paris Metro* designed by Hector Guimard:



Mucha died from pneumonia. He contracted the infection after being arrested by German troops when they invaded Czechoslovakia in 1939 - he was still influencial enough to be one of the first arrested. He was eventually released but he never recovered from seeing his beloved homeland invaded and died soon after.


* Who would have believed underground systems could display such stunning design! Even London makes this list.

A prayer for the new year

Almighty God,
by whose mercy my life has been
yet prolonged to another year,
grant that thy mercy may not be in vain.
Let not my years be multiplied to increase my guilt,
but as age advances,
let me become more pure in my thoughts, more regular in my desires, and more obedient to thy laws.
Let not the cares of the world distract me, nor the evils of age overwhelm me. But continue and increase thy loving kindness towards me,
and when thou shalt call me hence,
receive me to everlasting happiness,
for the sake of Jesus Christ,
our Lord.

Samuel Johnson (1709–1794)